Neuschwanstein Castle

Ever since my friend told me about a beautiful castle in Germany that inspired the Sleeping Beauty castle from Disney I've been wanting to go and see it. Roy and I had been umming and aahhing about where to go for our long weekend at Easter (a bit of a luxury umming and aahhing over where to go in Europe) so a few days before the weekend arrived I decided that I wanted to go and finally see it. We also hadn't been over that side of the country, nor had we been to Austria (we can now say that we have been to all of the countries that surround Switzerland).

After spending a night in Liechtenstein we drove a few hours to Hohenschwangau, Germany passing through Switzerland and Austria along the way (we went through four countries in a matter of 2-3 hours). The route took us through beautiful landscapes of snow-capped mountains, rolling green hills and lush, green forests.

We eagerly peered out of the car windows waiting to spot the castle perched atop a mountain. While I thought at the time that the weather wasn't all that nice, I think that it added a certain charm and mystery to the surrounds. It was cold but we were prepared and it was drizzling with rain but the forest on the mountains was shrouded in mist and clouds. Very beautiful!

The Neuschwanstein castle in part was covered with scaffolding for refurbishments that have been going on for many years but it was still very beautiful to see. Something that I didn't know before we went was that there is also another castle in the village of Hohenschwangau which was also very grand and beautiful.

Hohenschwangau Castle 

Neuschwanstein Castle 

We lined up to buy tickets to go inside of Neuschwanstein and soon realised that in order to go inside we had to be guided and since it was a rather busy weekend the tours were booked up for many hours ahead. In hindsight we should have done a bit of research and perhaps pre-booked our tickets. I wasn't too disappointed that we couldn't go in. I was quite happy admiring it from the outside. The castle is a fair way away from where you need to park your car so there are walking paths, buses and even horse and cart to add to the fairytale feeling. Roy and I opted to walk up since it wasn't that far and got a ride down on the horse and cart because my silly knee was playing up.

Sufficiently Disney-like.

In the courtyard of the castle. We didn't need a ticket to get in here.

After we checked out the castle we stopped in at a cafe nearby which sold these really tasty donuty things. They were called some name in German, which I neglected to memorise but they also had an english name for us plebs which was 'Bavarian Snowballs'. They were deep fried and covered in powdered sugar. I expected them to be oily and fairly dense like Dutch Oliebollen but when you bite into them they fall apart in your mouth and are so incredibly light and delicious. Naturally we went back for more.

Our lovely ride - Susie and Yuli (spelling?)

Very close to the castles and tourist town of Hohenschwangau is a beautiful lake called Alpsee where Roy and I ate our picnic lunch. I can imagine that it would be a really nice spot for a sunny day picnic.

Despite the weather and opting to not go inside we had a really nice time admiring this fairytale-like castle and it's surrounds.

A rather tiny country!

On the long, easter weekend Roy and I took a road trip through four different countries. We travelled along the extensive motorway network of Switzerland to Liechtenstein. The tiny country is nestled between Switzerland and Austria and is one of two doubly landlocked countries. It's also a fifth of the size of Logan City in Queensland. A novelty to say the least. We had lunch in the capitol city, Vaduz and had a wander around afterwards (It didn't take us long to see the city - it's very small).

Liechtenstein is a principality and the Prince and his family live in a castle on the side of the mountain which overlooks the city of Vaduz (and majority of the rest of the country).  On our way up to our accommodation we stopped off for a look at the castle. Because the royal family live there you can't go inside the castle but it was nice to look at from the outside.

The hotel that we stayed at was perched on the side of a mountain in the town of Triesenberg which offered views of a lot of the country and the nearby mountains in Switzerland. In the last couple of weeks Martigny had started to shed it's winter coat and adopt a more spring feel to it but I think this part of Europe was still holding onto winter for a little while because it was rather cold. Luckily we had checked the weather before leaving and packed our winter woolies.

Sampling the local beer. We didn't have a fridge in our hotel room so we used the good, old outdoor fridge - I guess it was lucky that it was still cold outside, otherwise we would have been drinking warm beer.

Eating a tasty Easter tart.

Waiting for dinner to arrive in the hotel restaurant.

Even though Liechtenstein is a lot like Switzerland it was still really nice to see. I really wanted to post myself a letter so I could get a postage stamp from there but unfortunately because it was easter weekend the post office wasn't open. Perhaps next time we're over that side of the country.

Red Ice

On Saturday we went and saw a grand final ice hockey match - Martigny Red Ice vs EHC Winterthur. The venue which was filled to the brim with revellers  - naturally majority of them were going for Martigny since it was their home turf. In Switzerland, it seems that they take their sport cheering very seriously. A large group of seasoned supporters wave homemade flags and chant in unison constantly throughout the game. There's even a 'conductor' to keep the chanting in time. It's hard not to get swept up in all of the excitement.

Everyone was there to have fun, watch the game, drink beer and support their team. It had a great atmosphere and it was exciting to see such support for a small town hockey team. Martigny beat Winterthur 3-0 which set the crowd off in ecstatic cheering, clapping and chanting. It was a great night!

Spring

It always excites me when spring comes around in Europe. In Brisbane there is no real distinction between seasons so I've never really enjoyed seeing the lifeless, brown plants transform into lush, green life again. In the last couple of weeks I have dragged my seemingly dead plants from under their winter shelter, found a spot for them to catch the 5 minutes of sun that touches our balcony and gave them a good feed of water. To my delight our three dead strawberry plants have come back to life. They survived the cold winter and will live for another season (unless I kill them accidentally).

My roses are sprouting shoots everywhere which is lovely. I'm hoping that I get a few flowers this year because last year there was only one.

I'm not too sure what's going to happen with my jalapeno plants though. I followed some advice on a website and cut them right down to brave the cold winter so they look like sticks at the moment with no sign of life yet. I'll persevere to see if they come out of their slumber.

Last week I bought some new plants to freshen up the balcony. I usually try and stick to growing plants that I can use like herbes and vegetables but I felt like my little 'garden' needed some colour. So I bought some pretty, purple flowers.

Rosemary, Thyme and Mint. 

Basil.

When walking through the forest it's nice to see wild flowers sharing their colour amongst the brown, winter ground.

The local apricot orchards springing some new life.

So refreshing after a cold, white winter!