The Romantic Road
On the road between Salzburg and Fussen
The Romantic Road is a famous road through the south of Germany. Over two days we traveled to many of the places along the road. The places were: Hohenschonau Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Wieskirche, Pfaffenwinkel, Nordlingen, Dinklesbuhl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber!!
First we went to Hohenschonau Castle. It is a castle that is yellow and you had to get a tour or you were not allowed in! We were nearly not allowed in anyway because Daddy had booked a ticket online but when we got to the register the lady looked at the paper and told Dad that he had booked for October 22, not September!! Even Mum hadn't seen it!! But the lady was very kind and she gave us some tickets for a tour that was at a later time than Dad had booked – lucky!!
Inside the castle was interesting. Many of the rooms were smaller than other palaces we have seen but one room was very beautiful. It was the Queen's bedroom and it was made out ion traditional Turkish style. Once upon a time, the king gave her a bed from Turkey so she wanted to rest of the room to look the same as the bed. So...the carpet was designed with Turkish patterns, the pictures on the wall were in Turkish style and the fabric of the quilt was also from Turkey. There was an age difference of 18 years between the king and the queen and the king had a secret staircase down to the queen's bedroom which was a bit cheeky!
Hohenschonau Castle
The view to the river below the castle
After seeing that castle we went to another one close by called Neuschwanstein. Both castles were built by the king called Ludwig and he got loads and loads of builders to make Neuschwanstein. When they were done, he moved from the yellow one to the new one and lived in that one until he died. We had to get a tour, but it didn't take very long. Inside the castle you were not allowed to take photos but I liked the colours very much because they were gold, blue and silver. The rooms were really spread out and the tour guide spoke really softly but maybe the rooms were really big or the tour group was massive and we couldn't hear very well. I do remember what she said about one room and that was that the chandelier had 92 candles in it and the paintings all around the room were the original ones from back in the who knows when!
Neuschwanstein Castle
Paddy and Dad
We stayed in a cool hotel in a town near the castles called Fussen. When we got to the hotel we did what we do: we rushed in to find our beds! I chose to sleep on the sofa bed and Patrick and Bridget slept in a room together. Mum and Dad started to share but in the night Mum woke me up and asked me if she could share with me because Dad was snoring way too loud because he had been drinking beer at dinner!
The next day, Dad said we would keep driving on the Romantic Road but stop at a few mini-stops along the way. First we stopped at a church called Wieskirche. Well, it took a bit more than just going directly to it as we got lost because of the GPS and a road that was closed. Along the way, Daddy stopped to ask a lady nearby but she didn't speak any English so Dad tried to speak German!?! It sounded like he could speak it fluently but I think she thought we were Hungarians because our car had number plates from Hungary so maybe she wondered what was going on. When the lady gave Dad the directions, we eventually made our way there.
One small thing – Wieskirche is in a village called Pfaffenwinkel (Faf-an-wink-el...silent P). What a funny name for a town!! Now, back to the church. The church was beautiful and it had incredible paintings on the wall and ceiling. Bridget didn't worry about the church because she just wanted to see the cows nearby and she loved the one that had the poo all over his leg the most and she laughed about that a lot.
Wieskirche in Pfaffenwinkel
Inside the church
I loved playing on the grass when we had our picnic!
Then we went to Nordlingen. At Nordlingen we stopped for a toilet break and a coffee. We drank our drinks quickly because we didn't not have a parking ticket and we were scared that the police would come and take our car away but they didn't so PHEW! The next town was called Dinkelsbuhl. Mum and Dad kept getting out of the car to take photos but we really only drove through so we could keep going to the next place where we were going to stop for the night.
Nordlingen
Coffee at Nordlingen
Nordlingen
Dinklesbuhl
Dinkelsbuhl
Dinkelsbuhl
Rothenburg ob der Tauber was the next town and I thought the name sounded really cool to say. Our hotel was right next to the old town but not in it. We had rooms next to each other and Paddy and I got to sleep in a big bed in a room by ourselves! We walked around the old town and went to the main church, climbed the tower to look at the old town from above, walked along the old city walls for ages, looked at some old houses and went into a special Christmas shop that was unbelievable! You weren't supposed to take photos in there, but my naughty Dad did! Both nights we ate dinner at the same restaurant which had a special area for children to play and yummy food so that was good.
Old city gate near our hotel, Rothenburg
The main gate in Rothenburg
Walking on the city walls
The city walls were really cool
Dad's naughty photo in the Christmas shop
Pat's friend outside the Christmas shop
After Rothenburg we drove all the way to 't Harde in The Netherlands. Dad said it was about 600 kilometres but it didn't seem to take very long.
So...that was my story of the Romantic Road. Now we are in Holland and I will write a story about being here with Mum and Dad's friend Margot soon.
Love Clare
xxoo
