Fairytale Castles in Germany!! Plus Beer Houses in Munich!!
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good morning from Germany so this
morning we are leaving the Amma Magna
but our adventures in Germany are not
over we have two nights in Munich and in
those two nights we’re going to see some
castles we’ve got one Castle today one
Castle tomorrow the one tomorrow is the
one that inspired Cinderella castle at
Walt Disney World so being a Disney girl
at heart I’m super excited about that so
our transfer is almost here to pick us
up let’s get going
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so we have arrived at Castle number one
it’s about halfway between bills hoffen
and Munich so we’ve been driving about
an hour and we’re here now and
unfortunately the parking lot is a long
way from the castle itself so we’re
hoping we’re going the correct way
and it’s quite chilly today it’s like
the coldest day that we’ve had since
we’ve been here it’s 40° and it’s
snowing in parts of Germany right now
not snowing here thank
goodness all right we’ve made it I’m
going to try my pronunciation of Charles
nits Charles nits Castle probably wrong
but you know that’s what we’re going
with today until someone tells us
otherwise so we’re here I I don’t know
how much time we have I think we’re kind
of open-ended good thing about a private
driver so let’s go on in and there’s
church bells like dinging everywhere
around
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us it is very windy up here so we are
kind of on a hill overlooking the town
down below and there I mean the wind is
just whipping up here so the trees are
moving a lot you can hear the wind but
where we’re standing because we’ve got
tall walls on either side of us we’re
not feeling it yet anyway we’ve made it
inside and we decided to buy tickets to
do the actual tour of the inside of the
castle they’re €550 a person and they
give you all the information in English
or whatever language you speak for us
obviously English so we’re going to
actually get see the inside
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so this is a chamber of Curiosities
there’s all types of very interesting
figures that have been created and then
stuffed animals so this was 16th century
you know pre-scientific and and they
would just find these interesting um
animals from around the world like
there’s this you know things that we
recognize there’s an armadillo there’s I
saw a crawfish alligators things like
that there’s big turtle shells in here
and it was just it was like the early
museums were like these Curiosities and
there’s a collection here so the second
chamber is filled with Exotics from
around the world so a lot of ivory in
there um beautiful glass metals from
around the world so these collection you
know so the people went out around the
world and collected these things and
brought them back to Germany and these
are like early Museum items well so we
kind of just came outside turned a
corner and we have this massive
expansive view of the city below all the
roofs have that orange um tiled roof to
them and it matches the roof that’s on
the castle that’s not something I think
I’ve ever seen before where the castle
and the town have the same architecture
and and truly match each other beautiful
view from up here and the I think the
wind stopped it’s not as cold and just
look at that church it’s just truly
amazing to me how they built these
churches so beautiful and pristine and
tall I mean we’re talking before cranes
were around you know and this church
steeple so we noticed this when we were
driving through the German Countryside
is every time you look out the window
you see Church Steeples everywhere
that’s like how you notice where a new
town is is based on the church sitting
right in the middle of it and the
steeple coming up absolutely beautiful
so this Terrace that we’re standing
right here is um from the time of the
Renaissance and so you would come and
you could Overlook the town below you
could see the churches and then they
would have um activities up here there’s
a Bandstand behind me they would have
dinners and parties right here with
views of the sunset and views of the
vistas below so transn Castle was
founded in 1204 and from then until the
early 1500s this was the seat of power
for the Dukes of lower Bavaria beautiful
residence could you imagine living here
what’s interesting is when you see um
usually it’s the floors are very ornate
and elaborate and in here the floors are
very plain plank wood but the ceiling is
very detailed and beautiful and these
rooms just Echo very cavernous
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so I finished the walkthrough of the
castle this was a really good tour I
means they give you all the information
right here the tour is very easy to
follow you know you go from room to room
you can read the information you know
see the artwork see the the rooms of
Curiosities were pretty cool um and then
just seeing the different rooms of you
know this was a a state room this was
you know a welcoming Hall this was a
party room this was the chapel and just
everything is so very wellmaintained
here I mean 12:04 that’s a long time and
to have the the the beauty the history
and the culture all preserved definitely
good visit today we are getting ready to
leave and the church bells are tolling
that it’s noon but we just saw this
poster right here that shows all the
castles in Bavaria there are 44 castles
in this area of Germany that’s a lot
we’re going to see this one today trans
nude oh I’m so bad and tomorrow
Cinderella Castle I’ll pronounce it
correctly tomorrow I promise oh yeah we
are totally going to McDonald’s in
Germany for lunch it’s happening made it
to Munich after our transfer took a
little rest in the hotel and have come
for a walk so we were at Maran plat
square and we had to come see the Glock
and Spiel that went off at 5:00 p.m. so
it’s got set times um throughout the
year that it goes off every single day
and you just have to catch one of those
times so up here it’s 43 Bells 32
lifesize figures that reenact scenes
from Munich’s history the whole program
lasted about 10 minutes and and we got
here right at the beginning and caught
it and the best scene was there’s this
Knight coming around the corner and he
gets jousted and he falls back in the
whole crowd goes
oo so that was really cool to see I’m
glad we got to see that and there’s
Bells going off in the city right
now oh and by the way it was established
in 1908 so it’s been here over 100 years
so from a distance you think this is a
church because of the spires but it’s
not a church cuz when you get up close
you’re like well hold on that’s it looks
like a church but it’s not a church it’s
actually the town hall of Munich where
the glocken bill is and then you walk
through the gates of the Town Hall which
is where the glocken bill is and you
come to this this Courtyard is
incredible I mean like I totally wasn’t
expecting this I thought I was just like
walking through a building into another
town square or whatever but this is
incredible it’s dark Stone it’s the
architecture is insane so this massive
building and Courtyard complex dates
back to 1874 there used to be small
buildings and the town of Munich or city
of Munich outgrew those small buildings
so they started connecting buildings
together and made this one big town hall
I tell you what it’s impressive and then
the more you walk through the more
details you see there’s these crazy
gargoyles coming out of the wall there’s
statues built into the wall there’s Iron
Works there’s arches it’s just
beautifully
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constructed we have made it to the h
house here in Munich and we have a
reservation for the main dining room or
separate dining room whatever you call
it for 6:30 but in the meantime we were
able to get a spot at the Shared tables
so as of right now some are having beer
some are having pretzels I’m waiting for
the main event upstairs but this is a
really cool place instead of going
upstairs to the dining room or whatever
it is up there we decided to stay on
here P there’s live music we already had
a table so just got a cheese
with bacon as a snack and we have
ordered vener snitel that we’re going to
split because it’s supposed to be a
massive portion and I think pretty much
everyone at the table is getting meters
so I’m excited about that cuz we did not
get it in Vienna
cheesy bacon pretzel
goodness the Schnitzel is here so me and
Sarah ordered one plate we’re going to
cut it in half and split it that is
potato salad it looks like mashed
potatoes from here but I’m sure there’s
something different about it so I’m
excited to try this okay so I’ve got
snitel with cranberry sauce
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that’s so good so the pork is really
thin the batter is really thin and that
cranberry sauce just adds to it potato
salad that’s different than the potato
salad I’m used to it almost has a
vinegary taste to it good meal all right
I’m going to eat now well that was a fun
night at hofra house did I say it right
yes hofra house that was cool so not a
Beer Drinker doesn’t matter great
atmosphere good food that Venus
schnitzel was Dum got to try and make
that at home that’s something we’ve
never made at home so Castle number one
for today is in the books and tomorrow
is the castle
like the castle which
is oh my
goodness hey this one takes practice
okay nush Weinstein n Weinstein Castle
which was the inspiration for Cinderella
castle at Walt Disney World so I’m
excited about that see you in the
morning nush Weinstein Gooden Morgan
from Munich so we are here we have
gotten our group together we are in
front of radius tours which is our
meeting point and we are ready to take
our venture to the castle so they said
we’re taking the train to um the main
area and they will get get us on a bus
that will take us around new Swan new
newstein nanstein by the end of the day
I will know how to say it nanstein
castle and so the adventure begins we
are on the train we’ve got about a 2hour
train ride there and then pretty much
all day and a train ride back we will be
back in Munich around 7:20 p.m. so this
is an all day Affair but it sounds
pretty amazing so ready to get going
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our train has arrived in Fon and our bus
is waiting for us so from here I think
he say it’s about an 8 minute ride to
the castle but I think we’re stopping
for lunch first because it’s right at
noon and everybody’s hungry what a
beautiful drive in so it’s just Rolling
Hills going into these cute quaint
little towns
and then you get to the Alps and it’s
just like snow covered it snowed
yesterday so there’s snow on the ground
it’s in the 40 so in the shade there’s
still snow but where the sun is it’s
melted absolutely beautiful we got to
see a little bit of the castle from the
distance on the train now we’re heading
there after we eat we’ve made it up to
the point where we can see the castle
but first we have a break for lunch so
we have about an hour to eat lunch and
walk to the lake so we’re like hurrying
up he said there’s plenty of places to
eat but He suggests come here get a br
get some fries get something local get
something quick and move on he said you
don’t have to come to Germany for the
food you came for the castles
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and this is the view from the balcony
saw the balcony from down below
unbelievable look at that you can see
the other Castle from here you have a
beautiful view of the Alps it’s
absolutely amazing
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that that is a wrap today for new
vonstein no
new Stein Stein God I can’t get it right
n vonstein anyway that one that
beautiful castle up there it’s time to
get back on our bus to take us to the
train station to go back to Munich what
a glorious day it’s been beautiful
weather beautiful castle good day one
last dinner in Munich we are at AUST
auster
auster I’m terrible auster
which has been around since the 1300s
and we are having dinner here and there
is a live band so it’s like October Fest
everywhere we go last dinner in Germany
and we have schnitzel and
spatel that was so good I literally ate
everything on my plate and that was two
big portions of schnitzel and a pile of
spatel all gone best I think probably
one of the best meals of this entire
trip on the last day in Germany thank
you steo for the recommendation that was
good that is it for this trip one more
sleep and I head home tomorrow it has
been absolutely amazing and that last
meal in Germany was just like the icing
on the cake it was absolute perfection
today was I mean just magical really we
went to a fairy tale Castle I mean it
doesn’t get much more magical than that
and since you made it this far to the
end of the video I’m going to tell you a
little bit of something that I just
found out so Jason and I both just did
our DNA with ancestry and it came back
that I am 20% German which I would have
never in a million years guessed that so
I can tell you even though there’s
German in my blood I still cannot speak
the language I cannot get these words
right to save my life so I will have to
practice for the next time I am in
Germany but if you’re new to this
channel hit that subscribe button and
the notification Bell if you like this
video give it a thumbs up and we’ll see
you on our next adventure very soon
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bye a
The river cruise portion of the trip is over, but not the trip itself. We are taking a private transfer from Vilshofen to Munich with a stop at one of the 44 castles in Bavaria. Trausnitz Castle is about the halfway point between the two cities and we were ready to explore! You are dropped off in the parking lot and have the option of walking through the gardens or the street to the castle. Walking up to the castle, you can see the true size of it… it is massive! And it is extremely windy up here… because, of course, the castle sits on the highest precipice in the area. Once you make it to the courtyard, the wind magically stops and you can buy your ticket (5,50€) which includes a 4 page detailed information sheet about each area of the castle, and you can begin your self-guided walking tour.
Duke Ludwig I of Bavaria, founded the castle in 1205 and until 1503 during the Late Middle Ages was the residence and seat of government of the dukes of Lower Bavaria. From the Early Modern Age it served as the residence of the Bavarian ducal heir. This was a fascinating place to visit! There is a chamber of curiosities which in the 16th century was an early museum with artifacts and preserved animals from around the world… and some interesting pieces of art… you have to just see them for yourself. I found other ‘curiosities’ as well such as a horoscope that appeared to be devouring a child and an alter made to relics (in case you don’t know, relics are a piece of a person like a bone fragment). The architecture was beautiful and the views down into Landshut are breathtaking! I love how most of the buildings in this town, including the castle, all have the same orangish tiled roofs.
Once we made it to Munich, and after a rest, we took a walk to the Glockenspiel… what is that you ask? It is a magnificent and elaborate mechanical clock set into the steeple of Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall). It was completed in 1908 and has 43 bells and 32 life size figures that reenact two stories from Munich’s history. The presentation takes about 15 minutes and is done 2-3 times a day depending on the time of year. We caught it at exactly 5pm (I literally ran to make it on time) and it was beautiful. My favorite was the knight scene and when it was jousted from it’s horse, the entire square wowed at the sight! Afterwards, we took a stroll through the city and saw many beautiful buildings in this area. Also nearby was Hofbräuhaus, one of the original beer halls! We grabbed a table for some drinks, food and great live music.
I am a Disney girl at heart and when I found out I had the chance to visit the actual castle in Germany that inspired Walt Disney to shape Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom, I was there in a heartbeat!! Schloss Neuschwanstein is a two hour train ride from Munich and is an all day activity that I was really looking forward to. We met our excursion group at 9am and walked together to the train station. The ride was beautiful… especially when the Alps become visible! We pass through picturesque German village after picturesque German village! You can tell each town or village by the church spire at the center. Once we made it to the last stop of the train, a bus picked us up for the rest of the journey.
The first look at the castle was just beautiful! It sits high up on the base of the mountain with the Alps spread out behind it. The small tourist area of Schwangau is a grouping of restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops as well as the museum and ticket buildings for the castles… yes there are TWO castles here! King Ludwig II grew up in Schloss Hohenschwangna and dreamed of his fairy tale castle… which he built when he grew up just up the mountain. We walked the town, grabbed a bite to eat and walked to the lake. The views of the lake and both castles are spectacular from the town. But then it was our turn to go up the mountain. We took the shuttle bus up (it is a steep climb) and then walked the rest of the way up to the bridge… and WOW!! On one side of the bridge, you have incredible views of the castle and the other looks up to the snow covered Alps with a waterfall below. This is the perfect picture spot! It was a magical day and I could see why Walt Disney used this beautiful castle as inspiration.
We ended our day… and our trip, back in Munich for one last dinner. Our tour guide recommended Augustiner Keller and it did not disappoint! Very similar to dinner last night, there was a live Bavarian band, beer and lots of good food! This was one of the best meals of the entire trip and was the perfect ending to my trip to Europe. Until next time…
4 Comments
::waves::: looks fun!
How accessable were the castle tours?
To me this has been the best and most enjoyable Vlog series you have done.
Warm beer. We went to Germany in 1991 to visit all the castles we could and cathedrals. We saw Cinderella‘s castle but we couldn’t find the road. We didn’t have cell phones or GPS on those days. But we saw it high up on the mountain/hill across the fields.