Sorry I haven't been terribly active on here lately... It's been a busy week! I've also been sick unfortunately and any time that I'm not in class or studying or on a train I've been at home asleep. Alex's parents were visiting last week though and I want to talk about our final trip, which we did with them!
Last Thursday was a European holiday - Labor Day. Since we didn't have any classes that day, Alex's parents whisked us away on our road trip! Ahead of time, we weren't really sure on what we were going to be doing or where we would be traveling...it was all very hush-hush so it could be a surprise!
At about 10AM on Thursday, we headed off in the rental car and drove all the way to Rothenberg, Germany - about 4 hours away from Luxembourg City. We spent the afternoon wandering the city (per the advice of Rick Steves) and soaking in the small-town feel. Since Alex and I have such brief trips every weekend, we usually choose to hit the big cities just to give us a taste of those countries. We haven't spent much time in less-chartered territory - or small towns. So seeing a small town like Rothenberg was really fun and different. It reminded us a little bit of Bruges, but had it's own flair. There's an inner and outer city wall there, dating back to the Middle Ages (Rothenberg is a medieval city). We were able to walk along part of the city wall. It was unbelievable how long that thing had been standing there!
We also popped into a cuckoo clock shop. The shop owners were close friends with Rick Steves which I thought was really neat. The cuckoo clocks were adorable - and very expensive.
At night, we went on a "Night Watchman Tour" which was a really cool way of seeing the city. Night watchmen in Medieval Rothenberg served as sort of nighttime patrols/policemen and our tour guide was dressed up as one! He took us all around the tiny city and let us in on a bunch of facts. It turns out that it was through a strange twist of fate and coincidences that Rothenberg was not bombed by the Allies during World War II, and thus all of it's medieval originality has been preserved! Lucky Rothenberg!
On Thursday morning we hit the road again, for another four hours. Soon, we found ourselves in Salzburg, Austria. As we pulled up to our "hotel," I happened to glance at a sign on the gate. My jaw about hit the ground when I read this :
I've LOVED the Sound of Music since I first saw the film - I was about five. To stay in the actual Von Trapp family home was AMAZING! I couldn't (and still can't) believe that I was actually staying there. I totally freaked out (in a good way).
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Around the home, there were little blurbs on the history of the Von Trapps. It was really awesome to learn about the real family!
On our first afternoon in Salzburg, we headed to a Salt Mine. Unlike our 3-4 hour Salt Mine tour in Poland, this one was only about an hour. There were also cool things in there - we went on an underground boat ride and several steep slides within the mine! More like an amusement park!
We spent the evening exploring the center of Salzburg and investigating Festung Hohen Castle, which was built into a cliff. We didn't go inside, but the exterior was amazing! The city looked beautiful as the sun was setting, as well.
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We kept exploring Salzburg the following day - despite freezing temperatures and rain! We wandered the city center, looking at shops and outdoor markets. We found some classic Bavarian pretzels!
Eventually, we once again got in the car and headed off to our next stop. On the way, we stopped in Oberammergau, a teeny town that's known for it's painted houses. The homes there just have these gorgeous paintings on them! Some are fairy tales, others are religious depictions.
We also saw a lot of maypoles (since it had just been May Day). Maypoles traditionally depict images that tell about the town - each town has a personalized maypole.
That evening, we arrived in Schwangau. We spent the night there, and then on Sunday we headed up to see the much anticipated Schwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles. Neuschwanstein is well-known for being the inspiration for the classic Disney Castle. Walt visited and was inspired. It truly did look a lot like Disney!
First we headed into "the father's castle" - Schwangau. Both of these castles were unlike other castles I've visited; they had small rooms and each room had wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-ceiling paintings. There were also very detailed woodcarvings and other details. Rather than being open and stony, these castles were both more compact and cozy, with lots of dark woods. Sadly we couldn't take pictures inside but we got lots of exterior pictures!
Neuschwanstein was built by the son, Ludwig. He was determined to be mentally ill and was not allowed to rule, and at age 41 he was found dead in a lake on his property. No one knows for sure if it was a murder or a suicide, but it's very sad.
Neuschwanstein was built with all of the latest technologies, including a telephone. It's more lavish and detail-oriented than Schwangau. Since Ludwig died, he actually only lived in the not-yet-completed Neuschwanstein for ~100 days before he died. Construction was never completed and visitors were paying to see the castle within 6 weeks of his death!
This was my favorite castle.
Next, we headed towards Munich, and we saw Linderhof Castle. This was Ludwig's second home, and he made journeys here every two weeks, and he would spend two weeks here. The journey from Schwangau took 3 days at the time. For us it took about 90 minutes.
The inspiration for Linderhof was Versailles. Ludwig loved the Sun King and wanted to build a similar palace. When we got there, I immediately saw the similarities. There was a lot of gold, and a lot of excessive furnishings. The interior was simply breathtaking...there were so many tiny details. Ludwig preferred to be alone, and during mealtimes didn't even want his servants around him. In his dining room, he had a special table contraption installed so he could dine in isolation. The table would drop through the middle of the dining room floor into the kitchen, the table would be set, and it would be sent back up to him. A little unusual!
We stayed overnight in Munich, and caught a 6:30 train in the morning. After 8 hours of travel, we finally got to the Chateau for our class! A long day!
A big thank you to Alex's parents for organizing this trip! We had such a blast!
On Friday we got the sad news that John E. Dolibois - the man who the Chateau and study abroad program is name after - passed away. He was 95 years old. I'm thrilled that I got the chance to hear him speak at Miami in Oxford last semester. Here at the Chateau we all had a moment of silence this morning and everyone's very sad - especially those who knew him. It's not not disputable though that he had quite a long, full life. He was Luxembourgish himself, and his linguistic skills played an important role during the Nuremberg Trials. His family moved to Akron when he was young and later worked at Miami University as Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs. He passed away in Cincinnati. The Chateau and MUDEC program started under his name in 1968.
This Friday, we're excited to be attending a ceremony receiving the Heir Apparent of the Crown of Luxembourg (aka the PRINCE of Luxembourg) here in Differdange. I don't have a lot of information on this yet but apparently he's passing through Differdange (where our Chateau is located) and everyone's all excited for that. Sounds like Friday will be a full day of Princely activities.
