Day 1- Endure a 8 1/2 hour flight over the big blue lake. Which I did not get to see because it was dark over the portion of the flight. I was really hoping to get to see Ireland, but it was all clouded over. Go figure. I did get to see England, the Netherlands and Germany from my plane window. I noticed that those countries don't section off land like we do. We do it in squares, they just create any 'ol shape. And the land wasn't cluttered with houses, and cities, and subdivisions. There was real space.
I arrived in Frankfurt, half dead asleep. My dad and I got lost in the airport trying to find the mietwagen (rental car) counter. Finally found it and drove to Mannheim. Mannheim was mostly destroyed during WW2 due to the industrial sites located in that area. So the city is very modern by German standards. I took a nap and joined my dad and his colleagues that night for dinner. Learned a lot about my dad's job. And the crazy people he works with.
So not a lot happened this first day.
Day 2-
My dad still had to work this day, so I spent it wandering around Mannheim by myself. I actually really enjoyed this. I walked around the downtown area and up a main street. It was nice to wander around and enjoy the people and the culture of the area. I even did some of things I saw other people doing, just to seem like a local. (Street cart pretzel and a gelato)
Day 3-
Today was our long day. We drove 3 hours to the region of Bavaria to visit a couple of castles. It was a beautiful drive. Got to see a lot of the German countryside which looked like it was straight from a fairy tale.
We visited Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau (Highland of the Swan). Crazy King Ludwig was born in Schloss Hohenschwangau, and he built Schloss Neuschwanstein. Crazy King Ludwig was obsessed with swans. Both castles were decorated in them. After he took over rule of Bavaria from his father he built Schloss (castle) Neuschwanstein. He had it designed by a stage designer, basically, because he wanted the castle to have a mystical feel to it. He resided in his new castle 100 some days before he was diagnosed mentally unfit to rule. The following day he was found dead by drowning alongside his psychiatrist. He details of his death are still unknown, and his castle remains unfinished. Very interesting.
Here is Schloss Hohenschwangau:
And here is Schloss Neuschwanstein:
Walt Disney modeled his princess castle after this one. The real deal is way more beautiful than the replica.
Day 4: Heidelberg
Now, Mannheim, where we were staying, was "new" Germany due to it being mostly leveled during WW2 because it was an industrial area, and were most likely manufacturing weapons or something. Heidelberg, just down the road, is old Germany. A classic town right on the Rhine. It was magical. I loved it. The town had some tourist aspects to it, but it didn't overcrowd the essence of the town itself. Our first stop was the cathedral in the town. We walked around, took some pictures, enjoyed the old church. I then spotted a sign that said we could go to the tower for 1.50 euro each. I made fork out the money and up we went. It was the best spent 1.50 euro on the entire trip. We climbed a stone spiral staircase, up to the tower. This church has been around since the 12th century and you could see it in the stairs.
Here's my dad:
And me:
We got to the top and I felt like I could see every square inch of Heidelberg. It was amazing. Kind of hard to describe if you weren't there. So here's a picture:
After the cathedral we went to the castle that was in Heidelberg. The castle here is more like a fortress. Built sometime in the 1100s. It had been destroyed and rebuilt from battles several times. There weren't many specifics on the the castle other than that.
Then we traveled to Speyer to see a cathedral there. This cathedral wasn't quite as stunning as the one in Heidelberg, but it was definitely bigger. This cathedral also had a crypt. This crypt held some tombs of emperors and such. The oldest being placed there in 1039.
Outside this cathedral was an interesting monument outside. I don't know if monument is the correct word, but I don't know what else to call it. It captured the moment of Jesus in the garden praying while his disciples slept. Then at the bottom there were Roman guards coming into the garden to arrest Jesus.
I thought it was an interesting choice as a piece of art outside this cathedral. I liked it a lot. And I was able to explain to my dad was it was, which was pretty cool.
Day 5: Schloss Garten/Castle Road
This was my last full day in Germany. That morning, we traveled to Schwetzingen. Schwetzingen had a well known castle and castle garden. I wasn't sure what to expect. But when we walked in I was completely blown away. The palace we went to has a massive garden. My dad and I were there probably three hours or so just exploring the grounds. It was beautiful. I kept thinking that if I lived in a palace, I would probably spend all of my time outside in the gardens. The flowers were beautiful, the trees were beautiful. There were little mazes off from the main pass. We found bird cages, fountains, parrots, ponds, bridges, statues. All kinds of things.
The history of Schloss Schwetzingen is that its first written record was in 1350. It was occupied by many different people, and the gardens really expanded in the 17th century.
Here are a few pictures:
I loved that place, I think I could have spent all day there.
After there we traveled along this road that my dad was suggested. My dad's co-worker told him there were castles there and it was right along the Rhine river. So we bit, and went for the drive. There was a castle about every 1/2 mile on this road. All were on the hill, overlooking the river. We took the time and stopped off at a little German town during our drive to eat. It was an adorable little town. There were ruins of an old cathedral there which was turned into a rememberence of the Jews who were wrongfully murdered during the holocaust.
We continued down castle road. We found a castle there that we were able to go into. This castle was like Heidelberg Schloss in that it was more of a fortress than a palace. For me it was the best because it was more out in the open and we were able to explore the grounds as we wished. It seemed every area was open to the public. It had underground tunnels and little nooks and crannies that I could explore. I loved being to explore at my leisure. I again, felt like I could have spent all day there. Just exploring and all. My dad wasn't so into me climbing into dark holes... party pooper. We are also forced to leave due to an impending thunderstorm.
That night we went to our airport hotel. I had my first and only German beer.
Day 6: Going home.
That morning I flew home. I was not thrilled about this. I think I could have just stayed there and lived happily ever after.
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