Neuschwanstein Castle

We didn't sleep all the well in Füssen because the beds creaked and there was no air circulation. Listen, I understand not having AC everywhere, but does a ceiling fan hurt anyone? Come on! Anyway, we met the hotel's dog which saved the place a bit in our eyes and then headed out for the day.

Jackson and the hotel's dog!

The skies cleared!

Thankfully the weather broke and we had a beautiful day. We ended up being there on Germany's version of Father's Day so most places were closed. We had to grab an interesting breakfast at the local McDonald's before heading to Neuschwanstein Castle about 20 minutes up the road.

After some war losses, King Ludwig II wanted to build a castle and create a new kingdom. His castle was never finished, though, and he only lived there for about six months before killing himself. Bummer.

Seven weeks after the death of King Ludwig II in 1886, Neuschwanstein was opened to the public. It is now one of the most popular places to visit in all of Europe thanks in large part to it being credited as Walt Disney's inspiration for the Cinderella Castle at Disney World.

You can pay to tour the castle but we opted to just see it from outside and do some hiking instead. You can also pay to be bused to the top but we opted to walk. This was a great idea until we had McDonald's for breakfast and both felt terrible during the initial hike. Whoops. Since we were accidentally there on a national holiday it was extra busy. I'm just going to post a ton of photos because we were really impressed with the place and the area around it.

Let's hike up!

We started pretty far away!

Pardon me, Mr. Handsome!

Another nearby castle

How gorgeous is the area?!

Jackson got this shot on his iPhone! Unreal!

The bridge where Jackson got all his great photos

Mid-hike.

We hiked around for a bit then Jackson waited in line to go out on the bridge to get better views. I stayed back. We went for another hike then I talked myself into going on the bridge. That was dumb. I almost peed myself. There was nearly an international incident when a woman bumped into me and made my lose my death grip on the edge. Jackson snapped a photo and I dashed right back off that death trap. You know how sometimes you fear something and then once you do it you wonder why you were so afraid? This was nothing like that. I was 100% correct to be afraid. That bridge was so high, it was so crowded and it swayed.

"Take the photo before my heart gives out!"

Looking back at the castle while hiking

A feel for how high that darned bridge was!

One last look before we hike down

Oh, you want to do down via a staircase
over rushing water? GREAT! YES! LET'S DO THAT.
UGH UGH UGH

Loving life.

I WAS ON THAT BRIDGE!

More stairs. NEAT! 

I just could not look down

Jackson looked down a ton.

Truth be told we kind of expected the castle to be lame because it was such a tourist destination. We were wrong. It was awesome. People said they enjoyed the tour, but we thought the hiking was so great we couldn't imagine wasting time inside! After a great day of hiking we left Germany and made the roughly two hour drive to Innsbruck, Austria to spend a few days exploring a new city. 

Füssen

We grabbed our rental car in Zurich and headed into town for a bit. It turned out to be just a terribly rainy day. We walked around town for a bit and grabbed some lunch at a grocery store before deciding to just get on the road to Germany because exploring in the rain was no fun.

The world's best cookie shop

We made it out of Zurich without getting arrested for breaking 9,875 traffic laws. Between the rain and the language issues that was a tough one. Jackson navigated as best he could and I tried not to get us killed or incarcerated. It was supposed to be about a three hour drive and it was a bit longer than that due to the weather, but we made it without issue. Fussen is not a large town so we had to stay in a local establishment. There wasn't even a person working at the front desk. They gave us an access code via email and we let ourselves in. I don't hate this method, but some other travelers do.

A very Euro room

A gorgeous view

We got cleaned up and then headed into the village to get dinner.

How adorable is this place?!

SCHNITZEL! 

Jackson got something local. I cannot recall the name.
I do know that he envied my dinner, though. HA! 

Cute Füssen

The clouds swallowed the mountains

After dinner we wandered around town for a bit then took a drive around the lake to soak in the beauty. It was a cloudy evening, but it was still a beautiful little place to spend an evening.

PRAGUE!

I do not have a real reason but I'd always wanted to see Prague. Jackson really like to make my travel dreams come true so he agreed to the roughly 4.5 hour $70 train ride from Berlin to Prague, Czech Republic. We tried to come here a few years ago but there was a refugee crisis going on and there were safety concerns. This time things had calmed down so we hopped our train, eventually figured out that we could sit wherever we wanted (this never happens on trains in Europe) and headed out.

Still sick. Still thinking coffee might help.

Reading about our next stop while on
the train 

The train was pretty easy and the time went by rather quickly. We ended up sharing our little pod with a bunch of random folks who mostly kept to themselves. We finally got to Prague, got super turned around in the train station but ultimately found where to meet our Uber and headed to our hotel near city center. When I say we got turned around in the train station I mean we were both pissed at each other because sometimes, even after 12+ years together, we do not know how to communicate. This is also somewhat code for I was right and Jackson didn't listen to me. Sigh.

Anyway, our Uber was a fancy Mercedes style that isn't available in the States so Jackson was instantly in a better mood. Our driver spoke English and was super friendly so by the time we go to the hotel all was back to being well in the world. We stayed at another Intercontinental but this one had nothing on the Berlin location.

They did greet us kindly, though

Again with noticing Jackson's birth date upon check-in
and sending up treats!

Jackson insisted on trying this
and said it was not as good as at home

We grabbed a few snacks and then headed out to do some exploring before night fell.

Our first glimpse at the Charles Bridge

Construction began in 1357 and ended in 1402
it has aged beautifully

Petefish

All along the bridge little vendors are established selling their homemade works of art. We found a pair of earrings to bring home to Susie as she always brings us really good souvenirs from her travels and we normally forget. Once Jackson tore me away from shopping (I could have spent hours looking through all of the booths!), we headed for the Prague Castle which houses St. Vitus Cathedral. It was only a few kilometers away from the bridge but it was straight up a large staircase and our thighs were burning once we arrived. Sadly the cathedral was closed for the day so we just enjoyed its exterior beauty.

Fun fact: a cathedral houses the seat of the bishop of a diocese so every cathedral is a church but not every church is a cathedral.

Stealing hearts since 1344

I was trying to get Jackson to take a good photo of me
This is as good as it got--him making me laugh at the other tourists

The eastern facade

Doesn't it look like an angel is between us?! I think
that was St. Vitus shining on us!

The Prague Castle was technically closed by the time at we got there. You guys, this just meant that we got to walk around with far fewer tourists and didn't have to pay. Let's just say old St. Vitus must have been shining down on the Petefish family that day. I have photographic evidence above for proof. We wandered all through the castle and then ended up at a new staircase with a magnificent view of the city.

Prague showing off!

Such a gorgeous city

I love the spire in the distance

Hey good lookin' 

A view of the river on our walk back to city center

We wanted to try local food. It was a mistake.

I'd been following an American actress living in Prague for work on Instagram for months leading up to this trip and she always talked about how the food here was amazing. She's wrong. Jackson said the sausage was not impressive and it came just on a slice of bread. They mixed cabbage in with their potatoes. WHY?!  It was so gross. They also sell food by weight so you have no idea how much something will cost. It was a bit of an expensive disaster, but live and learn. The people watching in city center could not be beat though so all was not lost. 

We did end up getting an actual dinner back by our hotel. We were seated outside next to a nice couple from Canada and ended up chatting with them the entire meal. It is always fun to meet other travelers and share ideas on where to go next. We called it a night after that and rested up for another big day of seeing the sights.

Monday morning we hit the streets again to soak it all in.

Wandering through the streets

These roads have been ripping up feet and joints
for thousands of years

Church of Our Lady before Týn

Jackson looks so handsome here. Excuse me, Mr. Petefish

Just the church so you won't be distracted by Jackson's beauty

We took a quick look inside and it was quite lovely

St. Nicholas' Church

A panoramic view of the Old Town Square

Old Town Hall

Please note that we read that you could go to the top of Old Town Hall so naturally Jackson decided that was something we had to do. Yes, I love heights, please let's go up.

I'll admit the view of the city were impressive

You get a better feel for how huge the Tyn is

My best fake "I'm not holding on for dear life" smile

Another view of St. Nicholas

Prague Castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral in the distance

Another view of the city

You could tour the entire building once you'd pay to go up so naturally we poked around a bit.

This was the elevator shaft

After years of training Jackson just
knows to pretend to knock on doors! HA!

Quite the altar

I love  good ornate ceiling 

Prague Astronomical Clock

The architecture was stunning all over the city

They had snickers flavored gelato!!!!!!!!

Wenceslas Square

We wandered around town and eventually went to a place the American actress from Instagram had said was good. I was not feeling adventurous so I had plain chicken with mashed potatoes. It was excellent. Jackson got a pasta dish inexplicably but said it was quite nice.

Please note that water with gold in
it as it cost about $12 for the bottle

Head of Franz Kafka

Right by the restaurant was this huge art installation which is a bust of Franz Kafka spins in pieces, reflecting the writer's inner torment. It was oddly satisfying to watch it spin. We'd had a full day so we made our way back to the hotel to hit the spa for the evening. Having a really nice hot tub and sauna offering is a thing in Europe and we are big fans! 

Tuesday morning we woke up to a bit of rain. This is always a bummer but we just threw on our raincoats and headed out again.

Another view of the Charles Bridge

Rainy day Petefish

One last look at the Prague Castle

We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe to get my Mom her guitar pin then headed back to the hotel for one last trip to the spa before we left town. We were still fighting off this nasty bug so a little down time was not all bad.

We took a terrifying Uber out to the airport. This guy spoke no English and drove like he was in a Bond film. I have never been happier to get to an airport in my life. While we were wandering through I said to Jackson that "I'd kill for a smoothie right now. I just need some nutrients!" and it was not 5 minutes later that I saw a Fresherie smoothie stand. I almost cried. It tasted so good and I instantly felt like health was on its way back to me.

The best $7 I've spent in a long time

The best part of Europe is once you're there getting around is pretty quick and easy since it is right at one million times smaller than the United States. We had a quick 1 hour flight from Prague to Zurich that I think cost about $165 total. This was much easier than taking a bus from Prague which is really the only way to get back into Germany where we were ultimately headed.

Winging our way to Zurich for the next part of the trip

Someone who had a fruit smoothie versus
someone who would not pay a premium for one

We landed and caught our shuttle to the airport hotel. The hotel was new and it had a very happening bar scene. We dropped off our things and then went down to grab some dinner. Jackson had drink coupons so he had a few beers and I tried their fungus pizza. Despite the name it was one of the more excellent meals I've had while traveling. A good mushroom pizza is tough to beat. We eventually grew tired after chatting with the bartenders from all over the globe and called it a night. Prague was great but we were ready to be out of cities for a little bit and back in nature.