Autobahnanza

Our last post from abroad?

It is now Saturday afternoon in Munich, and we are headed home tomorrow. This may sadly be, therefore, our last posting from abroad. Almost as interesting as our posts have been the places we have found to get wireless access. This afternoon we are enjoying an overpriced lunch at Hard Rock Cafe - Munich. Yes, it is a sad day when you eat at Hard Rock while in Germany, but FREE wireless for as long as you want speaks very loudly. This is the first time we have had free access (right, free with your meal :)

Yesterday we started out in southern Germany and had to have the car to the shipping agency by 4:00pm in Munich. Munich is about 100km from where we were, so we thought we'd spend the morning in Bavaria and still have plenty of time to get to Munich. Chris has already alluded to our directionally impaired host in Bavaria who gave us bum directions to Castle Neuschwanstein (the one Cinderella's castle is modeled after). It took us 2 hours and another trip over the Austrian border to cover the approximately 10 km that separated Garmisch from Schwangau, home of the castle. Thankfully, though we still had time to do the tour.

Neuschwanstein was not at all what we expected. It is basically a big joke played on the German Taxpayers by King Ludwig. He built it in homage to Wagner's operas, as a way of bringing his theatrical world into reality. Every room has paintings of scenes from the opera, and there is even a model "cave" in the castle, a scene from Tannhauser (?). This guy was nuts. The other fact we didn't realize was that construction stopped around 1886 - not really very long ago. A few more years and he could have had a car to go with his castle! He died early, and the castle was opened to the public less than six months later. I found the whole thing quite amusing.


Then we were off to Munich to drop off the car! Traffic was heavy, and we nearly ran out of gas, but we pulled in at 3:30, in time for the 4:00 curfew. I wonder what would have happened if we were late... They took off the front license plate so we could bring it home as a souvenir. We were sad to see it go, but we still have a key, so it really is still ours! The best thing that came out of giving it up was meeting another couple who had done the same program. We shared a cab with them and made arrangements to meet up at the Hofbrauhaus later. We had a great Munich-night at the Hofbrauhaus, one we'll always remember sharing with this other couple from Kentucky.

We're tired, about sight-seeinged out, and, if we have to admit it, probably ready to come home, but this has been an amazing experience. Thanks to everyone who has commented on our posts. You have encouraged us during our trip, and we have loved reading these. See you tomorrow!

posted by natalie @ 9:35 AM