Saturday, March 5, 2011

I LOVE Bavaria

Really what's not to love!?

Picture it, a lazy Thursday afternoon at home in Baumholder, Germany. The hubs and I have barely said 2 words to each other all day because you know- we're being lazy and just bored witless. I see a commercial on AFN for Edelweiss..... I've heard of Edeweiss before and been told how amazing it is. I'd looked into booking a room 2 separate occasions before with no luck (nothing available). So I went over to the Edelweiss website and plugged all of our info in, and sure enough they had available rooms (shocking, for a Thursday night)! So we QUICKLY got our shizzle together, fueled up and got on the road. We didn't get checked in until about 830 pm, you see it's a 5 hour treck from Baumholder to Garmisch... the drive was a God-awful experience but it was ultimately VERY worth it.

We immediately feel in LOVE with Edelweiss, it has a very relaxing, welcoming vibe. We weren't there an hour and already made plans to go back for Christmas (and got details on how to go about booking a room for that)! Because I'm kind of a dumbass I failed to take exterior pics of the hotel, but the lobby was gorgeous:














We only had enough time to eat, explore what the resort has to offer (arcade for kids, casino for adults, multiple restaurants and bars, SPA, pool, gym.....), grab a few drinks then get to bed- that drive was rough. haa. We had to get up early Friday to see anything and get home in a timely fashion, we were up at 6AM got ourselves looking acceptable for being out in public, hit up the breakfast buffet and then made our way out. But not before the view from our room stole our breath away:















Amazing, right?

So we had to get home at a somewhat reasonable hour but I knew being so close we just had to stop by Neuschwanstein Castle (you may know it because it's inspiration behind the Disney Castle). I'm so glad we went it was amazing! Again with absolutely awesome views. I can see with King Ludwig had it built there (although he only live in Neuschwanstein for 170 days).
















I told you the views were awesome.


















The castle, itself wasn't too bad either..
Unfortunately we didn't have much time to explore the exterior of the castle as the Army intervened and we had to go running.... Such is life, right?
We did, however take the tour of the completed rooms of the interior castle (yeah, you read that right the entire castle wasn't completed before King Ludwig's "suspicious" death). You aren't permitted to take photos of the interior of the castle (not sure why- I was afraid to ask, our guide reminded me of the creepy weird character from Lord of the Rings- Galum?). But you could take pictures from the interior of the castle of the views...
my favorite pic from the trip.
























The last few pictures were of King Ludwig's childhood home Schloss Hohenschwangau. These photos were taken from Neuschwanstein, they are very close together. I picked up a few books on the history of the castle (the guided tour was just hard to follow with our Galum-like tour guide... still creeps me out) and can't wait to fill in a few of the blanks.

We had to leave Neuschwanstein quickly but it's ok because I KNOW we'll be back. I can't wait to tour Hohenschwangau, walk the bridge (pictured above), and spend more time taking in the views and snapping a few more photos with my love.

Yea, I know it's a CLOSE up, but there's only so much you can do when you're forced to travel alone and you have this bulky DSLR. I still love it! :)

10 comments:

Amanda said...

It's so beautiful there during winter! We went to Bavaria last fall, and loved it there! Glad you had a great time!

TASS said...

So pretty lady!!!! You know your camera has a timer..right? Just sayin ;)

Angie said...

So glad you had such a good time!!

Erin said...

Seriously, stunning. I see those pictures and finally get why you wanted to go to Germany.

hmb said...

Looks really pretty! That's a really good pic of you and your hubs!

Anonymous said...

These pictures are so amazing!! I"m so jealous! I will never get to follow the hubs to anywhere exotic... he will most likely always be in the states... Well, except when he gets to go to the cool places with out me (such as his Australia training mission).

I'm so glad you are getting to enjoy all that Europe has to offer!

ABW said...

Beautiful pictures! That was one of our favorite places when we were there from 1995-1998. (Yes, we are old!) Enjoy your time there!!!

Mrs. B said...

beautiful! I am so jealous!

Hannah said...

So many of my friends have been there - the photos are ALWAYS so beautiful. I hadn't known of anyone going in the winter (usually spring/summer) but it looks even more beautiful!

So jealous - sorry the army intervened but I'm glad you were able to enjoy that weekend together. Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

What beautiful pictures!! It is on our list of places to visit (been here a week tomorrow!). They look postcard-esque (I made that word up...lol). Sorry the Army cut it short!