Guten Tag! And happy hump day 😀
Here’s another Euro blog for youse guys. This one features Germany (mostly). Diving right in:
Day 4 (continued)
Zurich, Switzerland
Oh, the joys of navigating a foreign country. Remember how I mentioned before that we were always running late? Like the white rabbit in Wonderland, except two Asian girls that are bleary-eyed, flying across cobblestones with rolling luggage, in a land where no one understands the words that are coming out of our mouths. We were running through Zurich with our woes. Add one part constant tardiness to one part confusing bus/train transfer and you have a recipe for disaster. We left the Schilthorn in the Swiss Alps to head to our swanky hotel that we had booked in Munich. And then shit hit the fan. We made it from gondola to bus to train to Zurich, and from here we were supposed to grab a bus to Munich. Unfortunately, we missed that bus. And then the icing on top of that shitcake–that was the last bus of the night. So, wet, cold, stranded, hungry, and miserable, we decided F it–let’s just find a super nice hotel so we can soak our tears in pillows of Egyptian cotton.
We did a quick TripAdvisor search and found our lodging for the night at Sorell Rigiblick Hotel. It wasn’t in the heart of the city, which meant it was actually somewhat affordable. Zurich is $$$$$, y’all. We rebooked our travel to Munich for the following morning and then headed to the Sorell. (Side note: if you are thinking of traveling in Europe DEFINITELY get the Eurail pass. If you decide to travel on solely point-to-point tickets and miss your transfers as much as we did, then you might as well just flush your Euros down the toilet). Once we got to Sorell, we were pretty confused because NO ONE was there. The hotel was sitting on top of a hill in a residential area and the doors were all locked. We finally got the attention of the concierge, who let us in looking very puzzled. We explained our situation and that we had booked through TripAdvisor. He was unbelievably, incredibly super duper nice, offering us fancy tea with flower petals and going to all extremes to accommodate us. When we asked him about food options, he opened the closed kitchen and gave us a huge platter with an assortment of charcuterie, cheeses, and bread free of charge. We slid that down our gullets with a quickness. Hehe. Then Catherine started to get suspicious–like, this hotel is too remote and he is TOO nice. It did feel like we were Hansel and Gretel in the witch’s gingerbread house about to get fattened up and baked into little Swiss pies.
After we finished eating, the concierge carried our luggage up for us to the most luxurious room I have ever stayed in. It was more like an apartment, with heated floors, stove top, living room (surround sound system and flat screen TV), granite counter tops, etc etc. You could see a beautiful view of the Zurich skyline from the bedroom window. We nested right away and I let the waterfall shower head wash away my sorrows of the day. Sometimes, we are indulgent pigs. The concierge also made us a breakfast plate and brought it up that night since he knew we would leave before the normal breakfast hours. Talk about 5 star treatment.
Day 5
Füssen, Germany
Feeling refreshed after our stay at the Sorell, we grabbed a taxi at ~4:30AM to get to our bus to Munich. Once we arrived there, we stashed our bags in lockers and transferred to Füssen. This small town in South Bavaria is home to the castles of the Mad King A.K.A. King Ludwig II. The foliage was beautiful at this time of year.
We opted to do a tour package that included the Neuschwanstein Castle and the Hohenschwangau Castle. Don’t ask me how to pronounce them haha. While on the tour of the castles, we were all dying to know what made the Mad King, well, mad? Catherine and I had envisioned something along the line of Aerys Targaryen or Joffrey Lannister (Game of Thrones, woop woop). But we were disappointed to find out that he earned his nickname for his excessive extravagance and romanticism. Juicy tidbit, though: a few days after the royal council deemed him mentally unfit to rule, the Mad King was found dead, floating in a lake. Murder or suicide? We will never know.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the insides of the castle, but the tour guide allowed us to take the above shot at the castle window. The interior was extravagant, as is expected. There was a room dedicated to opera performances with murals painted at the stage backdrop. This is when our tour guide told us that Ludwig was an opera fanboy haha.
Sadly, we didn’t get to go on the famous Queen Mary’s bridge (Marienbrucke) since it was closed for repairs. This is where you would normally get the best photo op of the castles. I’ll cheat and throw one up from Google images. So much FOMO.
After our tour, we took the last train back to Munich, ate weird Chinese food, and went to sleep in our hotel. The only picture I have from Munich is of beer, because we really didn’t do anything other than eat and sleep.
This marks the end of our Germany (mis)adventures. Check out the video montage below. Next on our travel itinerary: the city of opera and decadent cakes, Vienna. Til’ next week! And remember–appreciate the little things, always.
Color my life 