October 24th: Becky Visits: Part I

Hello!

I suspect this post is going to be a long one. In terms of words and pictures. But it's for a good reason.

As I have mentioned, Becky has been living in Paris for about a month now teaching English at a French school. Paris is about 5 hours by train to Ulm and she had a two-week break (for some unknown reason), so she booked some tickets to come visit me!

She arrived Saturday night (Oct. 19) and left early Wednesday morning (Oct. 23). We made plans to go to see Castle Neuschwanstein, Ulm, and a little bit of Munich. Then she was going to spend a day by herself going to see Dachau.

I left a little early to walk to the train station to pick her up. The walk is about 40-45 minutes from the house. I sat at the platform she was going to arrive on and read a book on my phone and listened to some music. Finally, the TGV train came screeching into the station and Becky made her entrance to Ulm. We talked for a little bit as we left the train station. I checked to see how much German she knew and what I could possibly teach her before she left. I had to make it a learning experience, afterall.

Becky's here! Yay!

We walked into Ulm from the Hbf, but it was night, so there wasn't all that much to see. The moon was quite bright and partially hidden behind some clouds and was right next to the Münster from the direction we were walking. This sort of gave Becky a bad first impression of the building because it is quite Gothic on the outside and the creepy moon did not help its appearance. We walked around just for a little bit and began the trek back to the house. We walked through Neu-Ulm because I wanted her to see it and because there were lights. Didn't feel like walking besides the Donau with no lights.

When we got back to the house, I was unsure who was home or what was going on. The light in the kitchen was on, but I did not hear anyone. And it was only 10:30, so the parents are usually awake at that time. Becky and I decided to have some bread and cheese (so European, as always) and chat in the kitchen. Eventually my host dad made an appearance and said he was listening to music in his study and didn't hear us. So we talked for a little bit about our plans and he asked Becky some questions. We then went to our bedroom and discussed the plans for the next day (train times, connections, etc.).

We woke up at our scheduled time, but took just a bit longer than we planned to get ready. So we had to run out the door, jump on a couple of bikes, and make our way to the Hbf in Ulm. It was still a little dark, but Becky got a better view of the Donau as we biked along it into town. We didn't stop unless we came to a red light, so we were moving at a good speed. While Becky locked up our bikes, I ran inside and bought our ticket. She might me inside and we jumped on the train that left a minute later.

The train ride was about 3ish hours. We had to change trains twice, I believe. But that is not a big deal. As we got closer to Füssen (home of the famous Castle Neuschwanstein), the scenery from the train only got more and more beautiful. We were floored at the rolling green hills, lakes, mountains, and fall leaves. It became obvious that we were on a train with a lot of tourists all going to the same place.

One picture taken from the train, hence the reflection. Still pretty.

Bus selfie! 

Upon arriving in Füssen, we jumped on a bus (which was also covered by the train ticket) and rode to the visitor's center. From there, we got to see the absolutely gorgeous scenery and Neuschwanstein watching us from a mountain range nearby. We stopped for some pictures and made our way to the ticket center. The ticket center reminded me a line at Cedar Point in mid-June. It was absolutely chaotic. The only difference is there were more languages in that line than at Cedar Point. The line was so long that by the time we got near the front, all (ALL, not just English) of the tours for Neuschwanstein were sold out. We decided to get tickets for the older, less-known Castle Hohenschwangau. I taught Becky how to say it before we got up to the ticket counter, don't worry.

After we got our tickets, we had some time to kill before our tour was supposed to begin. We walked by a grab-and-go kind of grill on our way to the ticket center with some typical German food, so Becky and I decided to go back to that. I ordered on our behalf and Becky was oddly impressed by my ability to order in German. I tried to explain that saying "two Bratwurst" in Germany isn't too difficult...whatever. Apparently it sounded "authentic." In any case, we both enjoyed the food and ventured to the nearby Alpsee (Alp Sea. Super original.). This thing was out-of-control beautiful. A lake set in a mountain scene with changing, autumn leaves. There were couples enjoying the view and enjoying a snack, Asian tourists taking a million pictures, and some young boys tempting fate by standing close to the edge of the lake and the ducks.

Just a snapshot of the ticket center.

Castle Hohenschwangau from the streets below.

The Alpsee. This photo doesn't do it justice, but hopefully you can imagine.

Selfie of me and Becky...taking pictures!

We enjoyed that scene (in which Becky took a million pictures along with the Asian tourists) for a bit before walking up a beautiful, wooded trail to Hohenschwangau. This hike was, of course, gorgeous beyond words. We really came at the right time of years--the colors were breathtaking. Finally, we arrived, after a short walk, to Hohenschwangau. Unlike it's more famous, younger sister across the valley, this castle is more ornate on the outside and also yellow. A bit more bold, eh?

We both took tons of pictures outside the castle and in the gardens/courtyard. The view of the surrounding mountains and fall leaves was incredibly from there, so we spent plenty of time taking pictures. Then we got to the line and waited for our tour number to be called. While in line, we saw the young boys from the Alpsee. They were speaking American English with two middle-aged women. I went over and said hello and asked where they were from. One of them was visiting her friend (the other woman) from Michigan and the other woman said she was originally from the States, but has been living in Ulm for years. Strange, right?

The beginning of the trail up to Hohenschwangau.

Castle Hohenschwangau up close and personal.

One of the garden/courtyard areas. Swans are the basic theme here.

Ain't she pretty?

A view of the city and mountains from the courtyard of Hohenschwangau.

Photos were not allowed inside. But it was quite lavish. The royalty living there (the Crown Family of Bavaria) lived comfortably, it is safe to say. Everything within the castle was actually original, so touching was absolutely forbidden. One thing Becky and I found interesting and bizarre was a house-warming gift from a royal family in Russia (I think?) of salt and bread. So in this case sat a loaf of bread....that was 200 years old. Like....why? Becky also got a kick out of the fact that the king's bedroom had a secret passage in the wall leading to the queen's bedroom. What a dog.

After the tour, we made way for Neuschwanstein. The trail up to the castle was a bit longer (and more steep) than the previous trail. But luckily the weather was nice and the scenery was pretty enough that we didn't complain too much. When we finally reached the castle, we went picture crazy. Taking pictures of the castle, the mountains, and the valley of Füssen (and much more, for that matter). Becky noted that the castle seemed rather plain up close. (As plain as a 19th century castle could be, I suppose.) And to an extent, it's true. Let's just say it is a photogenic castle. I'm sure the inside is absolutely incredibly, though. But alas, we could not get inside.

Neuschwanstein waiting for us...

Getting closer! This was a popular picture spot.

And if you turned around, you would see this gorgeous view.

In one of the courtyards of the castle. Tried to capture some more interesting features while also dodging people in the picture.

Behind the castle, tucked away in the woods is a semi-famous bridge. The Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge) was built for Queen Mary by the king so that she could get into the mountains faster. And also to enjoy the clichè, but incredible, view of Neuschwanstein. If you have seen pictures of the castle, I can guarantee that one of them was probably taken from this bridge. I was on the bridge for about 30 seconds. The bridge was basically wooden planks over small, metal beams. This meant that the planks would bend slightly whenever someone walked. And this bridge was PACKED with tourists. My fear of heights kicked in quickly, so I snapped a couple of pictures of the castle and got off and waited for Becky to do her thing.

The obligatory Neuschwanstein picture from the Marienbrucke.

My favorite view of the whole day. This was on the trail between Neuschwanstein and Marienbrucke. 

You can see the Alpsee on the left, Hohenschwangau just to the right of it (and the town below) and the beautiful farmlands just at the foot of the mountains on the right.

A picture of Becky taking a picture of Neuschwanstein. She didn't know. When I told her later, she just said, "We can call this the 'behind the scenes.'" 

After that, we made our way back to the bus stop. We had some time to kill again, so we went into a small souvenir shop right next to the bus stop. We looked around and ultimately got some ice cream bars and ate them outside. The sun had gone behind the clouds and it was clear it was going to rain soon. Luckily the bus came before the rain. When we got to the train station, it was only a small drizzle. It was clear that everyone in Füssen wanted to leave on that train, too. When the train finally showed up, people got right up to the tracks. The train stopped and the pandemonium began. People were acting like this was the last train of the day and it was leaving in 10 seconds. Pushing, shoving, blocking...really childish stuff. Because Becky and I did not feel the importance of fighting for early entry, we got on with minimal fighting and took our seat on the floor of the bike car of the train. We were in there with about 10 other people. It was actually quite nice. Plenty of leg room, not a lot of people talking. I think the people who fought for seats missed out.

After several hours and a couple of train connections later, we arrived in Ulm in the late evening. We were hungry, so we stopped at a fast-ish food place. It was a Turkish-owned Kebap, Dönner (gyros), and Pizza place. Believe me when I say these places are ALL OVER Ulm. We enjoyed our meal and enjoyed the bike ride back to the house where we crashed shortly thereafter.

This concludes Day 1 of Becky's visit. Because of how much we did and saw each day, I decided it would be best to break it down day-by-day. Less writing for me in one sitting and less reading for you at once. This way, you can read it over the next couple of days as I release them. Also, feel free to look at Becky's blog! She just posted her thoughts and experiences on Day 1. I tried not to overlap too much, but when you spend the day with someone, you will probably mention similar things.

http://beckygoesabroad.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/a-bavarian-dreamscape/

Expect a blog post tomorrow or Saturday about Day 2 in which we explore Ulm a little bit (we had to climb the Münster and go inside, of course) and make our way to Munich for some interesting sights and experiences.

Until then I will leave you with two quotes instead of just one.

"It just smells like Germany." - Becky, upon leaving the train station in Ulm

"There stands the castle, by yon tuft of trees." - Shakespeare