Neuschwanstein & Schwangau

Thursday was Jo's birthday and after having a little celebration in the morning, we drove from Rothenburg down to Schwangau (about 3 hours).  It was snowing when we woke up and got worse as we got onto the Autobahn.  In some parts there was snow on the roads and at one stage we got stuck behind 2 snow plough trucks:


We finally made it to Schwangau where the famous Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are.  The Neuschwanstein is supposedly the castle that the "Disney Castle" is based off.  It was still snowing and very misty so a bit hard to see (and photograph):


  Neuschwanstein                      Hohenschwangau


We had some lunch and then went for a tour inside Hohenschwangau (apparently Neuschwanstein is boring inside as it was never really finished).  This took a while as we had to walk 15-20 mins up a hill to get to the castle (and back down), so after all this we went and found our apartment for the night.
We had booked a place called Haus Luna, which is a traditional German style house with a few different apartments inside.  This was lovely as we had a 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen and lounge room.  Much better than hotel rooms!  That night we walked up the road in the snow to a place for dinner where they were very intrigued when I asked for a scoop of ice cream with my cake.  The lady looked at me strangely and said "You want the ice cream with the cake?  On the same plate?!"
I think I might have started a revolution.


Some more photos from Schwangau:

Schwangau

We now have only a few nights left before we leave, so I might have to post other pictures when we get home.

After Schwangau we drove to Innsbruck and saw the Swarovski Crystal World, Aplen Zoo and went up the mountain.

We are now staying in a farmhouse in the mountains 20 minutes south of Salzburg. It has been snowing almost the whole time, and the owners only speak very limited English.  It has been very challenging, but an amazing experience!