Wednesday, June 15, 2011

"Hey New York! Miami!



It has been incredibly hard to make the time to update you all on our journey. Alas, I’m on a train with a bit of time to spare so here we go!

I’m not gonna lie. I cried leaving Paris. There’s something about that place that makes me feel like I’m at home. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s a city and it’s what I’ve been used to for the past 5 years of my life. But I think it’s more than that. The language, the culture, the buildings… it’s all beautiful and somehow comforting… as if I’ve belonged there all along. Needless to say, I can’t WAIT to go back!

Our next stop along the way was Fussen, Germany. Shout out to Jose Picos for recommending this place to us. He described it as a magical and was adamant about the fact that we’d love it there. Well… Jose you were absolutely right! What an enchanting place to visit! The entire town reminded me of a quaint Disney-like street. The people were incredibly nice, the food was insanely good, and the room in our hotel was spacious and comfortable. We even had a little balcony. It was the perfect place to quench my Paris blues. The only exception to this is that it was raining when we got there... and cold. Now all my NYers know that we've had the worst winter in years... 9 snow storms in all and it was just starting to warm up when I left town. So leaving nice weather just to get back in the cold again was not exaclty fun. We were so cold we actually had to purchase jackets. So far... they're our best buy yet. We used them every day and it's not like I won't be needing it again come late Fall. The rain has been following us since Paris (I think Paris was sad to see me leave and that's why it was raining). :-)

The main reason for visiting this particular part of Germany was to see the castles one of which you can see all the time at just about any Disney. Getting to the castles takes a bit of time, patience and lots of walking uphill. On our way to the first castle mom and I were huffing our way up a steep road and I thought I’d lighten the mood up. Acting like a game show host I said “Paaat… you’re walking up to visit the castle… how do you feel???”. Let’s just say she answered using a few choice #$%&*&^#... I laughed for several minutes afterwards. She’s feisty sometimes!

Both castles are amazing! Built in the 19th century, each is filled with lush decorations from floor to ceiling in a gothic style. It was intended to be King Ludwig’s summer home… and who could blame him. The surrounding area was gorgeous! However, he died shortly after it was finished and then a very short 6 weeks later the town opened it to the public as a museum. No hesitation there. One of the stories I found fascinating was the story of King Otto who never really acted as king. When he came back from the war he suffered from what I guess we would now call post-traumatic stress. They didn’t know how to handle it so they basically locked him up in a room for the rest of his life. A little harsh… I can’t imagine how that’d make him better but I guess back then it was out of sight out of mind.

Getting back from the castles to the town we were staying in was… fun. You had a couple options. You could take a little horse carriage down or the bus. We opted for the bus because it was less walking. This bus driver was… insane! He went down this very windy road incredibly fast making tough turns and dodging horses and tourists. It was Mr. Toad’s ride come to life! I wanted to video it but the bus was so packed I wouldn’t be able to get it. Mom and the “oh shit” handle got very well acquainted during those rides.
Like I said before, our hotel was great. Even better was the restaurant just inside it. I had the best schnitzel I’ve ever had in my life! Honestly it was the greatest meal yet! They also had this wonderful desert that was something like an apple donut with ice cream. So yummy! The town of Fussen is very small but filled with lots of places to shop. Along our way to the train station earlier we had to ask for directions from a very nice man who made small conversation with us… he asked us where we were from, where we were going, how long are we here… really nice guy. Later on when we were shopping out of nowhere we hear someone say “hey New York, Miami!”… it was our friend and apparently we were in his store. This store had some of the prettiest household things I’ve ever seen…beautiful angel statues and lamps. A bit of everything I’d say. It’s been nice meeting and talking to the locals along our way.

I was a little sad to leave Fussen and its little bubble of wonderful-ness… but Salzburg was next and the hills were beckoning.



H-less

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I told you that you'd love schnitzel