Wellvital Hotel Rubezahl Schwangau

... free camping ahead :) We drove towards Munich and parked once again on the street in a small town, which has by far been our most common theme for free camping but is usually the safest choice for us. The best part about Fred is that he is small enough to park on the street and does not look like a campervan, so anyone who sees him most likely would think it was a mail truck or something…at least that is what we tell ourselves :)

... we hadn’t played cards since March 31- that was 4 months ago. I guess we haven’t had any free time for cards. We also found a hot chocolate mix so we had that before bed and after our Bailey’s. The country in the Bavarian area is just so lush, green, hilly, mountainous and plainly beautiful. The homes in the towns are still all well looked after and the flowers so beautiful and plentiful. What a great day this was.

This was a lovely little place we stopped at on the bus tour to the castles. Unfortunately, being Sunday, most everything was shut (except for the souvenir shops that is). They have a woodcarving school there that I plan to stop at for a weeklong course on the next trip. But of course it was shut that ...

... I had to make awkward small talk with the guide. Noticing we were Americans, he tried to show off his knowledge of recent events by talking about Hillary dropping out of the race... but then quickly revealed his own ignorance by claiming the US had a draft. Our first stop was Linderhof castle which was a bit... smaller... than we expected. It looked like a large marble house rather than an actual castle. It was so small, Molly just suggested I ...

... After the first few stops, some seats opened up, and we had a fine ride. After a looooong day of public transportation, we met Matthias, my supervisor, and took a subway (S-Bahn) from the main station in Stuttgart to the university. As soon as we stepped out from the station, it started pouring rain on us. Some welcome party... We found out that I have my own room but share a bathroom and kitchen with four other guys. Mom stayed in my room the first night but would find a hotel tomorrow.

... extremely class conscious and refused to admit the poor as equals of the rich. From the church I walked up to the Rathausplatz and found the TI. They gave me a map and some information, including how to find the Maximilian Museum where there was a special exhibit. (More about that later.) After getting help, I walked around the corner to a Schnellimbiss (Quick-bite place) and had lunch. Then I moved my car to long-term parking. Once I had parked the car in the new spot, I ...

... of 177 days. He died young and the day before his death his doctor said he was mentally ill and wasn't fit to be king. The next day he was found dead in a lake, with the doctor. We took the English tour of the castle and then took photos outside. On the way back to the farm, we went through Austria and saw big, snowy mountains. We went back to the farm and had fresh milk and a tractor ride.

Another work conference for my parents brought us to Oberammergau for a week. We stayed in the cutest little wooden cottage - like the whole thing ceiling to floor and including flowering window boxes was made out of wood! Totally picturesque like you've read about in Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Aromatic town bakery. Absolutely enchanting.

Today we drove up into the mountains to see the fairy tale castle, Neuschwanstein. This is another of Ludwig's castles, this one unfinished, and served as the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. It ...

... napkins.


We toured Linderhof, one of crazy King Ludwig's castles. It's the only one that was finished before he died. Even though it wasn't sunny, Rick made some gorgeous pictures.