This is the view from our hotel in Austria. The lights on the mountain tops are two of castles in the Ehrenberg Castle Ensemble outside of Reutte. These are ruins of four castles that once made up the largest fort in Tirol. This part of Bavaria was beautiful with its mountains, lakes, ancient castles and palaces. This is one of the many gardens of the Linderhof Palace that King Ludwig lived in during the winter months. 
Notice the gazebo in the center of the picture. Had to hike there for Jamie. The palace was very ornate, to the point I found them gaudy. Ludwig even had an underground cave built where private operas were given, complete with lake and balcony seats.
Notice the gazebo in the center of the picture. Had to hike there for Jamie. The palace was very ornate, to the point I found them gaudy. Ludwig even had an underground cave built where private operas were given, complete with lake and balcony seats.Beautiful view of the Hohenschwangau Castle from Neuschwanstein Castle. 
This is the Hohenschwangau Castle where King Ludwig II spent his summers while growing up. There is a beautiful lake view and the surronding scenery is maginificient. From this castle you can see the Neuschwanstein Castle that Ludwig had built for himself.
This is the restaurant where we ate in Innsbruck. The seating was on the bank of the Inn River with the beautiful Alps behind. I had my favorite dinner of the entire trip here. - the roasted vegetables and meats were delicious and eating on the riverside created a wonderful ambiance. We hope to return to Innsbruck someday to spend more time.
I love the little fountains they have around the towns where you can wash up and fill up your water bottles.
This is the Hohenschwangau Castle where King Ludwig II spent his summers while growing up. There is a beautiful lake view and the surronding scenery is maginificient. From this castle you can see the Neuschwanstein Castle that Ludwig had built for himself.
A view of Neuschwanstein Castle from Mary's Bridge. It was a 45 minute hike from the castle, but truly worth it. The views were amazing. This is the castle that was the inspiration for Disney's Magic Kingdom Castle. King Ludwig II had this castle built for him but he died before it was completed. He even had a cave like room built beside his bedroom. 
Would you believe the castle here and the one below are the same one. Just from different angles. It was amazing inside.
Would you believe the castle here and the one below are the same one. Just from different angles. It was amazing inside.
Neuschwanstein Castle
This is the restaurant where we ate in Innsbruck. The seating was on the bank of the Inn River with the beautiful Alps behind. I had my favorite dinner of the entire trip here. - the roasted vegetables and meats were delicious and eating on the riverside created a wonderful ambiance. We hope to return to Innsbruck someday to spend more time.
I love the little fountains they have around the towns where you can wash up and fill up your water bottles. Below is a photo op that is set up in town.......
Here is the e-mail :
As we were wrapping up Day 3 - "Bavarian Castles 301", I decided to check our hotel reservations in Salzburg, Austria for Tuesday and Wednesday. We had booked a good deal at the Renaissance Salzburg to enjoy the comfort and earn some additional Marriott points. When I pulled up the reservation on the Marriott website, it showed a status of "CANCELLED". After a moment of orderly panic, I concluded something must have went terribly wrong for Marriott to cancel the reservation without notifying us and we would surely be able to find alternative sleeping arrangements.
I had left some unscheduled time in our Tuesday itinerary to allow us to exercise some options. We talked about what to do and concluded that either seeing the Oberammagau Passion Play (we had dinner in Oberammagau Monday night) which is playing now or visiting a concentration camp would be our top two choices. The weather threatened to be rainy on Tuesday and Joni has often said that she wanted to visit a Nazi concentration camp memorial (the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. really moved her). And since it would only add about 45 minutes to our drive to Salzburg to swing through Dachau, Germany, we decided to make Dachau our Tuesday morning destination. I gave both the girls a melatonin so they might sleep through my snoring with their promise to get up early!?!
We hit breakfast at the crack of 8:00am and I asked the hotel clerk to find us some options for accommodations in Salzburg. We were able to find a room for three at a pension near the train station (and the former Renaissance - it is now a Radisson and apparently the change was not an amiable one!). Not quite like the Renaissance (the desk clerk pointed out to me on our check in that "the Renaissance is a four star hotel and they are only a two"), but well located, tolerably comfortable, and costs less than the Renaissance. We were on the road to Dachau by 9:00am - so much for an early start.
The first hour of the drive was through the Bavarian countryside which runs through beautiful green valleys and alpine lakes surrounded by first forested, then craggy mountain peaks. It is truly gorgeous - probably the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen! The second hour of the drive was on the Autobahn where there is no speed limit, when there is no construction. If only Joni could have slept in the car so I did not have to hear the constant "you better slow down!" from the back seat! Exceeding 100 mph was not unusual, and yet I was never the fastest vehicle on the road. Driving can be fun!
Our experience at Dachau was very interesting and impressive. Joni teared up as soon as we started the audio tour by entering the gates of the former concentration camp. Much of the prisoner compound and supporting buildings (offices, crematory, guard towers, etc.) remain but none of the original barracks are still standing. A couple of barracks were recreated to show the conditions prisoners lived in throughout the operation of the camp. Over 200,000 prisoners experienced Dachau and very few lived to tell about it. The audio tour was comprehensive and well done, mixing facts with perspectives from surviving prisoners and liberators. It is hard to imagine human life being valued so little by anybody - it is truly a tragic period of human history that while not since matched in scope, unfortunately continues to emerge periodically throughout the world. We left Dachau feeling more somber than we began the day.
We stopped in a grocery store to peruse the local offerings. We purchased some great breads, fruit and some Bounty Dark Chocolate for our lunch then started our journey to Salzburg. The Autobahn delivered us to Salzburg in about 1.25 hours (averaged over 80 mph). The Salzburg Music Festival is in progress now so Mozart and Haydn are everywhere. There are concert venues set up in several of the large platz (city squares) and tourists abound in the old town.
Salzburg is watched over by a fortress (Hohensalzburg Castle) built on tall hill in the middle of town as a defense for the city. It is very impressive and gives a "Lord of the Rings" feeling to the city. We had time to visit the birthplace of Mozart and the home where his family lived in his teen years. Very interesting to see how the middle class lived in mid-18th century Europe. It helps you understand why the mortality rate for children was 50% and the life expectancy for adults was about 50 years. What a blessing to live in the 21st century where medical science and hygiene gives us so many more years to overcome our mistakes and weaknesses!
Tomorrow we will explore the Hohensalzburg Castle, enjoy a concert in one of the cathedrals or baroque halls, and take in some of the "Sound of Music" sights - Jamie can only think about seeing the gazebo where "I am 16, Going on 17" was sung.
Here is the e-mail :
As we were wrapping up Day 3 - "Bavarian Castles 301", I decided to check our hotel reservations in Salzburg, Austria for Tuesday and Wednesday. We had booked a good deal at the Renaissance Salzburg to enjoy the comfort and earn some additional Marriott points. When I pulled up the reservation on the Marriott website, it showed a status of "CANCELLED". After a moment of orderly panic, I concluded something must have went terribly wrong for Marriott to cancel the reservation without notifying us and we would surely be able to find alternative sleeping arrangements.
I had left some unscheduled time in our Tuesday itinerary to allow us to exercise some options. We talked about what to do and concluded that either seeing the Oberammagau Passion Play (we had dinner in Oberammagau Monday night) which is playing now or visiting a concentration camp would be our top two choices. The weather threatened to be rainy on Tuesday and Joni has often said that she wanted to visit a Nazi concentration camp memorial (the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. really moved her). And since it would only add about 45 minutes to our drive to Salzburg to swing through Dachau, Germany, we decided to make Dachau our Tuesday morning destination. I gave both the girls a melatonin so they might sleep through my snoring with their promise to get up early!?!
We hit breakfast at the crack of 8:00am and I asked the hotel clerk to find us some options for accommodations in Salzburg. We were able to find a room for three at a pension near the train station (and the former Renaissance - it is now a Radisson and apparently the change was not an amiable one!). Not quite like the Renaissance (the desk clerk pointed out to me on our check in that "the Renaissance is a four star hotel and they are only a two"), but well located, tolerably comfortable, and costs less than the Renaissance. We were on the road to Dachau by 9:00am - so much for an early start.
The first hour of the drive was through the Bavarian countryside which runs through beautiful green valleys and alpine lakes surrounded by first forested, then craggy mountain peaks. It is truly gorgeous - probably the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen! The second hour of the drive was on the Autobahn where there is no speed limit, when there is no construction. If only Joni could have slept in the car so I did not have to hear the constant "you better slow down!" from the back seat! Exceeding 100 mph was not unusual, and yet I was never the fastest vehicle on the road. Driving can be fun!
Our experience at Dachau was very interesting and impressive. Joni teared up as soon as we started the audio tour by entering the gates of the former concentration camp. Much of the prisoner compound and supporting buildings (offices, crematory, guard towers, etc.) remain but none of the original barracks are still standing. A couple of barracks were recreated to show the conditions prisoners lived in throughout the operation of the camp. Over 200,000 prisoners experienced Dachau and very few lived to tell about it. The audio tour was comprehensive and well done, mixing facts with perspectives from surviving prisoners and liberators. It is hard to imagine human life being valued so little by anybody - it is truly a tragic period of human history that while not since matched in scope, unfortunately continues to emerge periodically throughout the world. We left Dachau feeling more somber than we began the day.We stopped in a grocery store to peruse the local offerings. We purchased some great breads, fruit and some Bounty Dark Chocolate for our lunch then started our journey to Salzburg. The Autobahn delivered us to Salzburg in about 1.25 hours (averaged over 80 mph). The Salzburg Music Festival is in progress now so Mozart and Haydn are everywhere. There are concert venues set up in several of the large platz (city squares) and tourists abound in the old town.
Salzburg is watched over by a fortress (Hohensalzburg Castle) built on tall hill in the middle of town as a defense for the city. It is very impressive and gives a "Lord of the Rings" feeling to the city. We had time to visit the birthplace of Mozart and the home where his family lived in his teen years. Very interesting to see how the middle class lived in mid-18th century Europe. It helps you understand why the mortality rate for children was 50% and the life expectancy for adults was about 50 years. What a blessing to live in the 21st century where medical science and hygiene gives us so many more years to overcome our mistakes and weaknesses!Tomorrow we will explore the Hohensalzburg Castle, enjoy a concert in one of the cathedrals or baroque halls, and take in some of the "Sound of Music" sights - Jamie can only think about seeing the gazebo where "I am 16, Going on 17" was sung.
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