Friday

Today we boared the bus early for us (7 am) - Disney has been really respectful to the sleeping habits of children and we usually haven't got on the bus until 9 am. However, it was a big morning as we traveled to Schloss Neuschwanstein (loosely translated as Castle of New Swan- swans dominate), the inspiration for Walt Disney to build the castle at the Magic Kingdom. It is exactly what you would think a castle should like like - nestled in the Alps and ornately decorated. Unfortunately, they didn't allow photographs inside, but you can see us walking over the moat with the castle in the distance. If interested, google Neuschwanstein and you can see the inside of this beautiful castle.

The story of Ludwig is fascinating - he was bethrothed to the sister of his true love named Elisabeth (Sisi). He went crazy because he couldn't be with her and he sat in his castle and wrote her letters. The Germans revere Sisi as the Princess Diana in their history - the same aura - a beautiful, tragic love story. Since King Ludwig was considered mentally ill, he couldn't rule the kingdom and died mysteriously in a lake... details of his "suicide," or more widely accepted murder, are locked by the family and cannot be opened for 100 years.

Jaci's observations:
Major industries in Munich - BMW (great museum here) - BMW got its start making airplanes (thus the propeller logo) and found success with its automobiles. Addidas shoes also has its headquarters here.
Men really do wear the little suede shorts with suspenders (laderh... can't remember how to spell it)

This will be my last posting ... although we are in the Four Seasons, they only have dial-up and not wireless, so it's been hard for me to get access. We leave tomorrow morning at 11:30, fly to Amsterdam and then direct to MSP.