Adventures of Niffer and Mincent Continue (screw what day it is)

I think the last I wrote, it was right before leaving the Black Forest area of Germany and heading to Bovaria (another region of Germany) to see Neuswanstein castle. Let me tell you... it is huge! It is actually much bigger than I thought it would be. Well, that is not quite right. It is exactly the size I thought it would be because I expected all castles to be that big. Then after seeing the sizes of the castles from earlier in our trip, my expectations were lowered. And thus Neuswanstein ended up being bigger than I expected.

It was definitely pretty, though. Very fairytale-ish. It is strange to think that Disney chose it as the inspiration for the Disneyland castle just 50 years ago, when the castle is only about 100 years old in the first place. It was built by crazy Ludwig. It didn´t have the same level of history as the Eltz Castle that we liked so much, because it wasn´t built as a fortress. The only reason it was built was because Ludwig wanted a big fancy girly-man´s castle. He never finished it, and it remains only 30% finished, so the tour was a little disappointing. However, the views of the castle were amazing! Very very pretty. Disney chose well.

We stayed in a small bed and breakfast, that was located in a small town with two main features... an ambitious church (ambitious is a nice way to say obnoxious in this case) and some very horny cows. It is hard to say which was more obnoxious. The church (which, by the way, I usually LOVE churches) had a nasty habit of going off for 15 minutes at random times... including 6am. The cows... well... they were just horny. And right outside our window. Michael succeeded in attracting both of them by ringing our cowbell from Switzerland and giving his best MOOOO. They both came running. And there was much laughing.

After Neuswanstein, I had to say goodbye to Katya and Dirk. They were so friendly, I didn´t want to leave. Overall, meeting Katya went very well. It was a little strange having to find the balance between having known this person for 15 years, and yet not knowing her at all. Her accent was adorable. She had a Russian accent because... well doh. She´s Russian. But she also had a German accent because she´s been there for the last 3 years, and finally she had a little bit of an English accent because her courses were taught with Brittish English. Super-cute. Dirk, on the other hand, sounded a lot like Arnold Schwartzeneger. Yah, shuwa.

I also learned that no matter what country you are from... if you drive through a town called Wank, the guys in the car will chuckle.

We are now in Salzburg, which is where Mozart is from. There has been many discussions about where Salzburg fits on our list of favorites. It is so difficult to compare places because they are all so different, but Salzburg is definitely high on the list. It is surrounded by the Alps (and the hills are alive....). The old town is seperate from the modern city and is all in a very nice, compact area. There is a river, and a nice castle overlooking the town. There are a lot of neat churches, too. They aren´t the gothic style we have become accustomed to seeing, but are more Baroque (I think?). Super-purty.

Two of my favorite things about Salzburg... 1. Music everywhere! We went to a dinner concert last night, which gave us a sample of some of Mozart´s operas. It was nice because we would listen to 20 minutes of opera songs (we did have it translated in the program), then we would eat one course for the meal. It was a lot of fun, and great music and great food... a rare combination.

2. The little wrought-iron cemetary. Apparently it was (and still is) cheaper to make iron crosses for graves than a stone tombstone. An interesting side-note... families have to pay rent for graveyard space. Every ten years, they get a bill for their ancestors´ plots, and if they don´t pay, then their ancestors can´t stay. But anyway, the cemetary was a small, gorgeous little park that was tucked into the corner of the city. Each grave was a small garden. And those that know me best, know that there is something about a cute old cemetary that I absolutely love.

Ok, I should go before this becomes another book. We have our eyes set on touring one of the oldest saltmines in the world today... then we´re off to Vienna.