Germany- Black Forest, Hohenzollern Castle, and Hohenshwangau Castle

Today was such a magical day. We woke up from our quaint, lovely hotel and walked around outside. The Black Forest is gorgeous! Afterward, we had the best breakfast in the world. I'm not joking. It was so tasty. There were hot German rolls available with fresh fruit, jam, nutella, meats, cheeses, and yogurts. The owner also made us fresh hot chocolate. After walking around outside, we were pretty cold (we are in the mountains here), so the hot chocolate was wonderful! It was a perfect German breakfast.

Next we went on a short waterfall hike. I can not believe how beautiful the Black Forest is! I know I keep saying this... but it is really fairy-tale country here. I can see why so many stories have originated from Germany.

Then we drove to Hollenzollern Castle. On misty, fogy days it looks like it is located in the clouds. I loved this castle. I felt like I would see Sleeping Beauty inside somewhere. We took a tour of the interior and it was amazing! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, which was a little disappointing because everything was so beautiful. We saw the dining hall (where they held grand dinners and balls), many of the royalty rooms, and the crown/jewels. My favorite room was decorated by one of the queens and it is called the "blue room." Everything is gold (the walls are hand-painted gold) with accents of blue, and painted portraits of women are hung on the walls. The castle is well-preserved and we even got to see the princess and her 3 children outside! The royal family has a special event tomorrow night so they were all gathering together for a dinner tonight. This castle is still privately owned by the family.

Afterward we drove into Fussen (in Bavaria) to see Hohenshwangau Castle (loosely translated it means "Swan Castle"). This castle had a more Spanish look to it. The castle itself is extremely old, but was ruined long ago. In the 1800's, it was "in-vogue" for royalty to buy old castles and fix them up (in the "neo-gothic" style). So many of the castles look like they were built in the dark-ages, but really they were just bought by royalty and made to look that way because that was the "in" thing to do. King Maximillian II bought Hohenshwangau and fixed it up. We also took a tour inside this castle and saw its many rooms. (Again, we couldn't take pictures inside.) These rooms were all beautifully hand-painted with stories from mythology. It's no wonder Maximillian's son, King Ludwig, was obsessed with mythology and fantasy. He built Neuschwanstein castle (above the Hohenshwangau Castle where he spent much of his childhood). We will tour Neuschwanstein Castle tomorrow. This is the castle Walt Disney studied for his own castles in movies and Disneyland.

We ate dinner at our hotel. And then Jaren went to sleep. I am still jet-lagged. I am wide-awake at night and tired in the morning. Hopefully my body will adjust soon.