Day 11--Black Forest to Heidelberg

So begins our last day in Germany.  We started the day with a stop at a cuckoo clock shop for Black Forest cake (and a shopping opportunity of course).

(a bit of Cherry Wine made in the Black Forest)

(Tea and Black Forest cake)

Back on the road, until a stop at a gas station for lunch again (very unexciting) on our way to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg

 Heidelberg is a university town that's skyline is dominated by the ruins of a castle dating from the 1200s.

After arriving in Heidelberg, we walked to the center and took the funicular up to see the castle ruins.

Beautiful views down in the city.

In one of the rebuilt buildings (with wine tastings if I remember correctly) was this huge wine cask.

Back down the funicular to town.

A bit of time to wander,

including a quick duck into the church.

(I even went into this antique store and found a three piece set)

Next back on the road to Frankfurt, as our trip comes full circle.

Some takeaways:

I would definitely love to go to Bavaria again (especially Rothenburg and Munich).  I'd like to try the Christmas markets, so Nuremburg would also be on my list.

Berlin is definitely worth more time as well.

We took the German Highlights Globus tour.  It was good in so far as I wanted to see the, well, highlights, but Germany is too big and there was a lot of time wasted on the autobahn and in staus.

I definitely recommend Alsace as a stop too if you can work it in.  It was super easy to get to Strasburg from Frankfurt on the Lufthansa bus and took about 2 1/2 hours (and was direct!).   They also have a Christmas market that I've heard good things about!

Day 10--Neuschwanstein, Lake Constance, and the Black Forest

Day 10 had a bit of driving, but with a nice amount of stops.  First the visit I was most looking forward to--Neuschwanstein!

(picture taken from the bus, the castle in the hills)

Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein in Bavaria was just as fairytale castle as I had hoped.  It is the inspiration for Cinderella's Castle in Disney World.  I loved it! 

 It is a pretty steep climb to get there (we luckily took a shuttle over the steepest part). 

(Map of the area)

Once dropped off, we detoured to Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge), which provides the best views of the castle.  

(view of the bridge from the castle)

We backtracked to the main road to start the walk up, with gorgeous views.

(Hohenschwangau Castle--would have liked to have seen this one too)

(of course, some scaffolding)

 The castle was extremely ornate inside, and filled with imagery of knights. Built in the late 1800s, it's a pre-Raphaelite wonder,  a romanization of the middle ages in grand scale.

Lindau

Next a longish drive to Lindau on lake Constance, where we had a lunch break to eat and take pictures.  The first place we went was of course down to the harbor to see the lake.

We stopped at this little place along the lake for a sausage and roll sandwich (delicious) and walked through town.

We were seriously rushing at first because of a mix up in our return time--Katherine had the return time wrong and it took me a bit to figure out why she was so stressed about what we could fit in. After realizing that we did have plenty of time left, we left the lake to wander a bit through town.

Next more driving to Birnau, also on Lake Constance 

Birnau

Birnau is the location of the Wallfahrtskriche, a baroque church, built from 1746-1749. 

God the Father,

thanks be brought,

You make the lake so beautiful

in the middle of your creation.

You are the Lord of the whole world,

who created and sustains them,

Praise, praise and honor to you.

(rough translation via Google Translate)

Back on the bus for another hour and and until we were at our hotel. 

Black Forest

Our hotel is in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest).

Dinner was in the hotel tonight (which was kind-of in the middle of a forest, anyway).

  (sliced pork, spatzel, veggies, and a potato soup).  

Next for a quick walk around to see a bit of the grounds before it got too dark,

 

then off to sleep!  Only one day left in this trip.