Road trip Aug 6-9

Look at this hero-doing all of the driving and not looking at the scenery. So we would talk about how not cool it was. Pay no attention to the totally gross mountains to your left!

While I would have loved to zigzag through Europe, we sadly didn't have the time, so took a relatively straight route from northern italy, through Austria, through alllllllllll of Germany, then up through Denmark and across a big ole bridge to Copenhagen.

The Cortina bakery had such yummy little treats-so we grabbed a few to go with our lunch.

Nothing like a gas station picnic! And Van would like to show you her bathroom card. Multiple bathrooms required a small payment-she really liked the card she got in return.

What are all these adorable little wooded structures?? I can't remember if this was into Germany or still in Austria-but they are so cute!

Ahhh, Neuschwanstein! I always thought it would be fun to see. This is the castle that Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled after. Now, to actually get up to the castle, you either take a nice 45 minute hike, ride a bus or jump on a horse drawn carriage. We were too late for tickets into the actual castle, and as much as I wanted to head up and look around, the girls were not as keen-plus there were so many people. So many. So we just took a quick look around.

Van decided to help out for this picture.

Violet: I am not smiling, I am goofing around. And this was a picture because mom thought this was so beautiful but it was actually really boring.

Ahh, out of the mouths of babes.

So the story goes that the “fairy-tale” king, Ludwig II of Bavaria, built the palace to withdraw from public life after losing his power in the Austro-Prussian war.

It’s believed that he built his new castle as the centerpiece for an imagined kingdom—one in which he was the true king. Construction began in 1869 on top of castle ruins and workers labored day and night for more than a decade to complete enough of the home for Ludwig II to move in. Theatrical designers and artisans worked alongside architects to create the palatial home with state-of-the-art technology. Despite its enormous size and original plan to have 200 rooms, it was built for only one person to live in.

The private king was found dead just weeks after moving into his new home in 1886. His corpse was discovered in nearby Lake Starnberg; many believed it was suicide but others believed it was assassination. His psychiatrist, who certified him as insane, was found dead with him.

Yikes, right?

A vintage view, taken from the front of the castle (I ended up down a rabbit hole of randomness when I google how to get a photo of Neuschwanstein, and how there are people who are essentially climbing cliffs to get this view. Entertaining, but crazy.)

Postcard view. Must be using drones to get this angle!

The next day we drove to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of Germany's best preserved walled town. The old city still has the intact wall around it, and you can walk on it!

The water lily above was in the water under the bridge that the girls are on in the photos below. There's a tower! And a wall!

Don't go in, Lu!

Walking on the wall, over the town.

Love seeing all of the red roofs.

Just need the bow and arrow to defend the town!

Just keep walking....

Giant well and Violet.

Stopped to eat in a super cute restaurant, it was hot that day, and a large sign said air conditioned....but we sat in what was essentially around an open courtyard. So it is just the outside air, conditioned?? Rather than cold air conditioned? Anyway, the beer helped.

See the cute murals?

The local delicacy, the schneeballen. Essentially pie dough, fried and covered in powdered sugar or frosting.

A window full of encased meats!

This adorable street.

Evangeline wishing she could get in the fountain.

Pretty little corner. (Don't look at it on a big screen, I tried to remove a car and a lady and it didn't go so well, but doesn't look bad from a distance. But alas, such a Monet-'from far away it's OK, but up close it's a big ole mess.' One should try to get more Clueless quotes in on a regular basis.)

And pretty little ladies!

Then we went to the Rothenburg town history museum, lots of great displays and info...

But the coolest was the dungeons!

Some type of painful devices.

It's a schneeballen snack time! I was not a fan. But I tried them all. One advantage of having multiple children, I demand tastes. Mom tax.

St Jakobskirche, a 2-tower Gothic basilica dating to 1485. It is known for its high altar and religious artworks.

Pretty gardens and fun architecture.

So many pear trees! And these are all flat pear trees! I am assuming they must do some pruning to get them to grow like this, but it is almost like a one dimensional tree, growing up the house.

Tower and the city walls.

Got everybody in!

More pears along the walls.

More driving! We stopped in Wurzburg to look at the Wurzburg Residence, a Baroque palace built between 1720 and completed in 1744. It was closed, but we got to wander the gardens!

It was also fun to see the different snacks in gas stations in different countries-Austria with more chocolate and pastries, Germany with a ton of haribo (a whole wall!) and then licorice into Denmark.

Next stop:Hamburg!

Hotel beds with REMOTES!!

Garden sculptures.

Canals!

See all of my attempts at a photo of everyone in front of the chocolate museum Chocoversum. Unsuccessful, as you can see. But the chocolate museum? So successful!

Starts at a taste from the chocolate fountain, then you hear about the origins of chocolate, how the cocoa trees grow, fermentation, drying, grinding, etc.

You get to make your own chocolate bar!

White, milk, or dark?

Overloaded with toppings!

Lu was very careful with her topping placement.

We got to taste at the stages-the roasted cocoa bean, then the milled cocoa bean with sugar, then the final product!

Our guide was spectacular.

Love and some chocolate.

Look at all of those creations!

Bubble tea with Frida.

The Elbtunnel, under the river! The Old Elbe Tunnel was an engineering masterpiece in its time. The tunnel consists of two tubes, each 426.5 meters long, and runs under the Elbe. It connects the landing stages in the St. Pauli district with Steinwerder.

We're under water!

Frankie danced her way through the tunnel.

On the other side.

We took a little wander then headed back under the tunnel.

Everyone was getting hungry, so Josh looked up some options nearby, and there looked to be an area with lots of options, so we started walking.

Posing on big rocks with an interesting character in the background-there seemed to be more interesting characters the further Josh led us.

So as we get closer to the area with food options, we are passing lots of bars, as well as this alley that very specifically said NO LADIES ALLOWED. Josh popped in for a photo and just saw this:

Just pretty buildings! thinks Josh.

But then we see some other signs...Susie's show bar! Sex world! And poor auntie Moni was appalled that we were in the red light district/St Pauli district. Hehehe.

There was a Beatles memorial close by, so I wanted to go find it. We just had to walk by all the strip clubs to find it!

But also this pretty mural.

Once we found the Beatles, we headed back to the hotel, and Moni breathed a sigh of relief.

Such a cool police station in St Pauli.

The next morning we were off to Copenhagen! Hot dog stop in southern Denmark was too great a photo op to pass up. Only a few more hours till we see Sofie!