Romantische Straße, Fairytale Castles and the Alps

It´s been a while since we´ve posted..."I know" says my sister, Kylie, who we know checks this blog frequently :-).

Well, we´ve spent most of the last two weeks traveling through Germany. The leaves on the trees have been changing colour for the Fall/Autumn season so the landscape has been spectacular while driving through this country.

We started in Baden-Baden, known for its hot spring spas. We relaxed at the spas and walked through the Black Forest. I (Melissa) even went to Friedrichsbad spa where everyone is naked during the 17 stages of the spa treatment. It was definitely a new experience and surprisingly didn´t feel as strange as I thought it would.

Our next stop was Bacharach, which is on the Rhine River. We went on a boat up the river to St. Goar where we visited Rheinfels Castle. We also drove along the Mosel River to see the many vineyards. This area was very beautiful.

Then we drove along the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) to the medieval town of Rothenburg. This is where we celebrated Klas´s birthday. The town is full of stores selling cuckoo clocks and Christmas decorations. So if anyone visits us in Australia, expect to be woken up by our cuckoo clock (just kidding, it can be turned off at night).

We continued driving along the Romantische Straße to Füssen. We saw an IKEA store on the way. We stopped there for lunch so Klas could get his fix of Swedish meatballs and potatoes. We also purchased Kalles Kaviar - I dare any of our non-Swedish friends and family to try this next time you go to IKEA. Besides salt licorice, it´s the only weird thing that Klas eats.

We saw Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen. This is the castle that was built by King Ludwig II and inspired Walt Disney´s Sleeping Beauty Castle at his theme parks. We also took a side trip to Reutte, Austria, where we could see the Austrian Alps.

Finally, we went to Munich. This was our favourite place in Germany out of the towns we´ve visited so far - we will see Berlin next month. We went to the famous beer hall of Hofbräuhaus. Klas had a maß (1 litre) of beer. Some local people stored their maß mugs in a locker at the beer hall. Munich was a very fun and vibrant city with beautiful buildings that had been restored to their original form after World War II.

Now we are in Bolzano, Italy. We made a quick stop in Innsbruck, Austria, on the way. We´ve hiked here with views of the Italian Alps known as the Dolomites. Today we tried to get a closer look at the Dolomites but the weather didn't want to cooperate.

Next we head to Salzburg, Austria. The only reason why we are going there is because I want to do The Sound of Music Tour.


Hiking in the Black Forest at Baden-Baden - see the colour of the leaves


Oldest house in Bacharach


Bacharach with the Rhine River in the background


Celebrating Klas's birthday in Rothenburg


Neuschwanstein ("Disney Castle") in Füssen

Hohenschwangau Castle in Füssen


Klas enjoying his maß (1 litre) of beer at Hofbräuhaus in Munich


Hofbräuhaus


Olympic site in Innsbruck, Austria


We saw this house while hiking in Bolzano. It reminds us of the cuckoo clock that we bought.


Bolzano