Tricia's Travel Blog

Today we are going to have a unique experience. We are heading back to the town of my ancestors and meeting up with family that are 5th-8th cousin range. Our common ancestor goes back to the 1700s. I made contact with this relative about 8 months prior and we have been emailing back and forth ever since. I had told him we were coming to Germany and asked if he would like to meet up for lunch or something. Instead he suggested we stay in the area for a few days so he can show us around. We get up nice and early and pack our bags out to the car just before breakfast opens up. We have around a 90 minutes drive this morning to get to our Ankenbauer family's home, so we need to eat quickly and get on the road. This breakfast is not a buffet, instead they serve each table the same thing; yoghurt, orange juice, one hard-boiled egg per person, a platter of sliced meats and cheeses to share, bread bowl, and croissant bowl with butter and jam. I also buy a Schneeball from the bakery which me...

Breakfast here is also a buffet style with eggs and bacon and sausage. Plus rolls, croissant, fruit, yogurt and more. So far no places have had non-dairy options for yogurt or milk, so I stick to bread, meats and eggs. Today we are heading to two fairytale castles on the northern edge of the Bavarian Alps. We have reservations to tour the Neuschwanstein Castle at 9:20 AM. The castle is located up a steep hill that takes 45+ minutes to walk up, but there is also a shuttle you can pay to take you up the hill to a drop off location closer to the castle. They recommend being in the town below 1.5-2 hours before your tour to give you enough time to get up the mountain. By the time we get to the town we are only about an hour out from our tour, so cutting it a bit close. We start trying to figure out where the shuttle leaves from. We see some signs that say "tickets" and point up the hill so we follow that, but that leads to a building that is closed. Based on information sent by t...