in which we drag ourselves out of a cuckoo clock shop and visit the real life Cinderella Castle and GO HOME {The Great European Road Trip, Day 9: Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Oberammergau to Neuschwanstein, Germany}
finally, the very last day of our trip had arrived -- Monday, November 5. our flight didn't depart out of Munich until 7 PM, so we were determined to squeeze every last drop out of the day. however, i may have done a happy dance of delight as i packed up our suitcases and we loaded the van for the very last time.
we drove through the beautiful little town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and began climbing the hills toward Oberammergau. Oberammergau is famous for its Passion Play, which is performed once every ten years. the earliest documented performance was in 1613, so in 2013 they celebrated their 400th anniversary. they are actually performing again this year (2019) - i'm not sure why it's only a six-year hiatus this time! even though we wouldn't be able to see the play, we wanted to see the town and the woodcarvers. in particular, Father Aron was on a mission to buy a cuckoo clock. as we drove, we discussed our plan of attack. we would have to leave Oberammergau in plenty of time to drive the 45 minutes to Neuschwanstein Castle and pick up our tickets by 11:40 AM for a tour that began at 1 PM. it seemed kind of nuts that we would have to pick up the tickets so far in advance, but the confirmation email was very clear that if we didn't make it to the ticket office by 11:40 we would forfeit our tour. so the bottom line was that we would have about 30 minutes to spend in Oberammergau.
once we got there, we had a bit of trouble finding the main center of the town. you would think it would be well marked, but there weren't any obvious signs, and since the clock was ticking, we were looking around for anyone who could possibly give us directions. and then, we spotted him -- an elderly gentleman ambling down the road who looked like he had lived there all his life. Nick jumped out of the van and prepared to flex his German-speaking chops.
the man proved to be helpful but also quite talkative. eventually, with a "Danke schön!", Nick was able to bid him "Auf wiedersehn" and hop back in the van. we eventually found the downtown area and all the adults piled out of the van on a mission for clocks and other carved wood treasures. i decided to stay in the van with the girls rather than herd them into tiny shops full of expensive handcrafted woodwork. i may be nuts, but i'm not that nuts.
well, the minutes ticked on. eventually, the inevitable happened: "Mommy, i have to go potty!" great. i hadn't seen any signs for a public WC anywhere. there was a large posted map of the town just a block away from the parking lot, which had a few WCs listed, but i couldn't orient myself to the map (there was no "you're here" symbol, and none of the street signs i saw nearby corresponded to any streets listed on the map)! knowing that we needed to be getting on the road soon anyway, i decided to try to find the others in our group to see if they had come across any bathrooms. as luck would have it, i happened to find Chris coming out of a shop just as we were coming up the sidewalk. he explained that there was a bathroom in the shop but we should check with the proprietor first.
so we walked inside. the whole shop was covered with intricate figurines, clocks, walking sticks, and anything else you could imagine being carved out of wood. however, there was no proprietor in sight. Greta was desperate at this point, so i just went through a doorway and found the bathroom. much to my consternation, it appeared that this was the family's own personal bathroom! but Greta was already half-undressed and sprinting for the toilet. when we came out, the kind owner had appeared and in a combination of words and gestures i hopefully expressed something to the effect of "i'm sorry we used your bathroom without asking, but she really had to go!" the woman smiled as if to say, "of course! no problem!" and we rounded everyone up and headed back to the van.
Father did successfully find a cuckoo clock, as did the Pongracs (they also bought a beautiful crucifix)! but by now we were running half an hour behind. as Nick peeled out of the parking lot, we had a spirited discussion about whether or not we should call the people at the Neuschwanstein ticket office to let them know we were running late and to see if they could hold the tickets. but it was still possible that we would get there on time, and we didn't want them to just cross our names off the list. i just couldn't remember exactly what the layout of the castle was, and how long it would take to get from the parking area to the ticket office (Nick and i were here in 2012 as well, but we came to the castle on a tour bus so we already had our tickets in hand).
thanks again to Nick's expert driving and to St. Raphael, we pulled into the parking lot with just a minute to spare. there was a sign for the ticket office up ahead and we wanted to drive right up to it, but a parking attendant very clearly motioned for us to pull into the lot. Nick rolled his window down to talk to the next attendant who was stationed inside the lot, and explained the situation. and the attendant broke into a broad grin, and in a thick Italian accent, he said, "is no problem! there is not big crowd today! nooooo problem, you can still get your tickets, you can still make your tour!" then he showed us to a parking spot right near the entrance, and when we unloaded the girls, he exclaimed, "bellissima!! bellissima!" it was like being home again.
the tickets safely procured, we proceeded to make the trek up to the castle itself. we stopped for a little lunch at a cafe by the ticket office, and then caught the bus to go up to the castle since we figured that would be faster than walking ourselves (the map said it was a 30 minute walk). and it would have been, if the bus had left as soon as we boarded (it sat for probably 10 minutes) and if it hadn't stopped halfway up for an unknown reason. this bus experience really reminded me of Italy, and not in a good way! the driver made no announcement and there was no sign or stop. the bus was super crowded and there was no air conditioning. we were just sitting in the middle of the road. finally, about five minutes later, a trio of straggling walkers came up to the bus and boarded. i guess somehow one of the employees must have phoned to the bus driver to have him wait for them. so by the time the bus dropped us off just beneath the castle, we now really were cutting it close on time again! and of course it was impossible not to stop and look at the gorgeous views.
Schloss Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria on the ruins of another castle, Hinterhohenschwangau, in the late 1860s. Ludwig grew up in the castle on the opposite hill facing these ruins, which is called Schloss Hohenschwangau and is still open to visitors today. both castles overlook the beautiful Alpine town for which the castle is named (Hohenschwangau) and the two lakes, Alpsee and Schwansee.
we finally made it up to the castle a minute after our tour was scheduled. you have to scan your ticket at a turnstile and we made it through, breathlessly presenting our tickets to the employee at the castle entrance, when he spotted the stroller and pointed to the exit. "you have to take that to the cloak room, not allowed inside the castle", he said. "your tour started a few minutes ago but you can catch up to them." well, Greta just about lost her mind over not being able to ride in the stroller. Nick finally had to pick her up (while Cece was in the Ergo on my back) and we rushed up the stairs to the hallway, where we were given what appeared to be cordless telephones. there were actually handheld amplifiers that were connected to the guide's microphone so we could adjust the volume ourselves. Greta was delighted and that kept her occupied for most of the tour.
unfortunately, photographs are not allowed inside the castle, but we enjoyed our tour very much. the guide was knowledgeable but also kept things moving, which we appreciated. there was another toddler in the tour group who was acting like a normal toddler (not throwing a fit, but just occasionally asking questions or running around) and that made me feel better about having my own kids along! the tour itself only took about 30 minutes as the castle is unfinished -- Ludwig only slept 11 nights in the castle before his death under mysterious circumstances in 1886.
the official tour finished, we stepped out onto a large portico for some more photo ops.
we could see the Marienbrücke from the castle as well. this famous bridge is named for Queen Mary. unfortunately, the bridge itself was closed when we visited. eventually, we headed back up the path, stopping a few more times for pictures this time.
and that is the last of my pictures, but unfortunately it was not the end of our adventure. we made it to the rental car return, cleaned out the car and repacked our bags, gave away some of the home cured meats and homemade liqueur from Chris' cousins as we weren't sure it would make it through customs, and started the trek into the airport. we were flying Lufthansa, and they offer a dedicated family check-in desk so we happily walked over to get our boarding passes. annnnnnnd the agent couldn't find our reservation. she had no record of us having tickets. Nick knew that he had booked them because we were all traveling on the same flight to Rome (in case you thought the 9-day European road trip was crazy, Father Aron and the Pongracs along with forty other people from his parish were embarking on a 2-week trip to Rome!). finally the agent sent us across to a different booking agent, who was able to see that Nick had initially reserved the flights through Expedia, but something fell through on the Expedia side and our card was never charged for the flights, so they cancelled our reservation. the bizarre thing is that we booked our flights TO Munich within the same reservation, and those were fine -- it was just this leg back to Rome that had been canceled. absolutely unbelievable! but we also felt like idiots for not checking in earlier, or noticing the discrepancy on the credit card bill. anyway, we sent the others on ahead through security while we figured things out. thankfully, the flight did still have some open seats, which we had no other choice but to buy on the spot (ouch). we told the agent that we had 2 bags and 2 carseats to check, and he told us to go back over to the first agent to drop them off. so we headed back over, dragging all of our stuff, and she told us that the baggage fees would have been much cheaper if the second agent had sold us a baggage ticket! then she and her colleague at the adjacent desk started conferring in German in low voices and exchanging secret little looks. Nick and i just waited. finally, she said, "we have decided, we are going to do something. because we can. and just to make this easier for you. we are not supposed to, but ... we can." (more secret looks exchanged.) "we are going to charge you the discount rate for one bag, and one bag can go free. and the carseats are free. but do not say anything about this." we nodded, smiled, and thanked her. it was actually quite adorable how pleased they were to work the system a little bit for us, all with the greatest subterfuge and secrecy.
and the rest went smoothly! we made it on the plane, and back to our apartment, and slept very well that night. as i reminisce about this trip, nearly three months later, i still can't quite believe everything we were able to see and do. and St. Raphael clearly was looking out for us; despite a few hiccups, we never had a major snafu. there was no illness or injury or accidents. and we're all better friends than ever before (which, after spending so many hours in a van together with our young children, is a testament to the patience and love of our friends!). and we were so glad that Father and the Pongracs were in Rome for the next two weeks. even though they were staying in a hotel, we saw them at the tail end of mass at Santa Maria in Trastevere and joined them for a wine tasting (Greta had orange juice). all four girls were so excited to see each other and Greta and Cecilia talk about "Caw-ly-Wylee" and "Cwis-Angel" all the time (always with the joint name!). we definitely could not have done a trip like this with the girls without Carly and Rylee helping to entertain (and sometimes carry) them. Chris and Angel, you are our parenting role models! we hope and pray that our girls are as sweet, smart, loving and funny as yours as they grow older. and Father -- we can't thank you enough for all the hard work and planning you put into this. if nothing else, at least you got some good homily material out of it. Gummies and Uppy love you dearly!
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| photo credit: Angel |
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| photo credit: Angel |
we drove through the beautiful little town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and began climbing the hills toward Oberammergau. Oberammergau is famous for its Passion Play, which is performed once every ten years. the earliest documented performance was in 1613, so in 2013 they celebrated their 400th anniversary. they are actually performing again this year (2019) - i'm not sure why it's only a six-year hiatus this time! even though we wouldn't be able to see the play, we wanted to see the town and the woodcarvers. in particular, Father Aron was on a mission to buy a cuckoo clock. as we drove, we discussed our plan of attack. we would have to leave Oberammergau in plenty of time to drive the 45 minutes to Neuschwanstein Castle and pick up our tickets by 11:40 AM for a tour that began at 1 PM. it seemed kind of nuts that we would have to pick up the tickets so far in advance, but the confirmation email was very clear that if we didn't make it to the ticket office by 11:40 we would forfeit our tour. so the bottom line was that we would have about 30 minutes to spend in Oberammergau.
once we got there, we had a bit of trouble finding the main center of the town. you would think it would be well marked, but there weren't any obvious signs, and since the clock was ticking, we were looking around for anyone who could possibly give us directions. and then, we spotted him -- an elderly gentleman ambling down the road who looked like he had lived there all his life. Nick jumped out of the van and prepared to flex his German-speaking chops.
the man proved to be helpful but also quite talkative. eventually, with a "Danke schön!", Nick was able to bid him "Auf wiedersehn" and hop back in the van. we eventually found the downtown area and all the adults piled out of the van on a mission for clocks and other carved wood treasures. i decided to stay in the van with the girls rather than herd them into tiny shops full of expensive handcrafted woodwork. i may be nuts, but i'm not that nuts.
well, the minutes ticked on. eventually, the inevitable happened: "Mommy, i have to go potty!" great. i hadn't seen any signs for a public WC anywhere. there was a large posted map of the town just a block away from the parking lot, which had a few WCs listed, but i couldn't orient myself to the map (there was no "you're here" symbol, and none of the street signs i saw nearby corresponded to any streets listed on the map)! knowing that we needed to be getting on the road soon anyway, i decided to try to find the others in our group to see if they had come across any bathrooms. as luck would have it, i happened to find Chris coming out of a shop just as we were coming up the sidewalk. he explained that there was a bathroom in the shop but we should check with the proprietor first.
so we walked inside. the whole shop was covered with intricate figurines, clocks, walking sticks, and anything else you could imagine being carved out of wood. however, there was no proprietor in sight. Greta was desperate at this point, so i just went through a doorway and found the bathroom. much to my consternation, it appeared that this was the family's own personal bathroom! but Greta was already half-undressed and sprinting for the toilet. when we came out, the kind owner had appeared and in a combination of words and gestures i hopefully expressed something to the effect of "i'm sorry we used your bathroom without asking, but she really had to go!" the woman smiled as if to say, "of course! no problem!" and we rounded everyone up and headed back to the van.
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| we found out that the woodcarver and his wife both play in the orchestra for the Passion Play (photo credit: Angel) |
 |
| photo credit: Angel |
Father did successfully find a cuckoo clock, as did the Pongracs (they also bought a beautiful crucifix)! but by now we were running half an hour behind. as Nick peeled out of the parking lot, we had a spirited discussion about whether or not we should call the people at the Neuschwanstein ticket office to let them know we were running late and to see if they could hold the tickets. but it was still possible that we would get there on time, and we didn't want them to just cross our names off the list. i just couldn't remember exactly what the layout of the castle was, and how long it would take to get from the parking area to the ticket office (Nick and i were here in 2012 as well, but we came to the castle on a tour bus so we already had our tickets in hand).
thanks again to Nick's expert driving and to St. Raphael, we pulled into the parking lot with just a minute to spare. there was a sign for the ticket office up ahead and we wanted to drive right up to it, but a parking attendant very clearly motioned for us to pull into the lot. Nick rolled his window down to talk to the next attendant who was stationed inside the lot, and explained the situation. and the attendant broke into a broad grin, and in a thick Italian accent, he said, "is no problem! there is not big crowd today! nooooo problem, you can still get your tickets, you can still make your tour!" then he showed us to a parking spot right near the entrance, and when we unloaded the girls, he exclaimed, "bellissima!! bellissima!" it was like being home again.
the tickets safely procured, we proceeded to make the trek up to the castle itself. we stopped for a little lunch at a cafe by the ticket office, and then caught the bus to go up to the castle since we figured that would be faster than walking ourselves (the map said it was a 30 minute walk). and it would have been, if the bus had left as soon as we boarded (it sat for probably 10 minutes) and if it hadn't stopped halfway up for an unknown reason. this bus experience really reminded me of Italy, and not in a good way! the driver made no announcement and there was no sign or stop. the bus was super crowded and there was no air conditioning. we were just sitting in the middle of the road. finally, about five minutes later, a trio of straggling walkers came up to the bus and boarded. i guess somehow one of the employees must have phoned to the bus driver to have him wait for them. so by the time the bus dropped us off just beneath the castle, we now really were cutting it close on time again! and of course it was impossible not to stop and look at the gorgeous views.
Schloss Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria on the ruins of another castle, Hinterhohenschwangau, in the late 1860s. Ludwig grew up in the castle on the opposite hill facing these ruins, which is called Schloss Hohenschwangau and is still open to visitors today. both castles overlook the beautiful Alpine town for which the castle is named (Hohenschwangau) and the two lakes, Alpsee and Schwansee.
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| Schloss Neuschwanstein - the inspiration for the Cinderella Castle at Disney World |
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| approaching the castle |
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| Schloss Hohenschwangau |
we finally made it up to the castle a minute after our tour was scheduled. you have to scan your ticket at a turnstile and we made it through, breathlessly presenting our tickets to the employee at the castle entrance, when he spotted the stroller and pointed to the exit. "you have to take that to the cloak room, not allowed inside the castle", he said. "your tour started a few minutes ago but you can catch up to them." well, Greta just about lost her mind over not being able to ride in the stroller. Nick finally had to pick her up (while Cece was in the Ergo on my back) and we rushed up the stairs to the hallway, where we were given what appeared to be cordless telephones. there were actually handheld amplifiers that were connected to the guide's microphone so we could adjust the volume ourselves. Greta was delighted and that kept her occupied for most of the tour.
unfortunately, photographs are not allowed inside the castle, but we enjoyed our tour very much. the guide was knowledgeable but also kept things moving, which we appreciated. there was another toddler in the tour group who was acting like a normal toddler (not throwing a fit, but just occasionally asking questions or running around) and that made me feel better about having my own kids along! the tour itself only took about 30 minutes as the castle is unfinished -- Ludwig only slept 11 nights in the castle before his death under mysterious circumstances in 1886.
the official tour finished, we stepped out onto a large portico for some more photo ops.
we could see the Marienbrücke from the castle as well. this famous bridge is named for Queen Mary. unfortunately, the bridge itself was closed when we visited. eventually, we headed back up the path, stopping a few more times for pictures this time.
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| view of the castle from the parking lot |
initially, Father Aron had anticipated that we would be able to visit the Andechs Monastery, which operates a famous brewery. but we had a two hour drive to the airport ahead of us, and it was already 3 PM. the monastery was right along the way, but we literally would only have time to drive past it. so we'll have to save that one for our next trip!
the girls said "goodbye, castle!" as we pulled away and headed north for the Munich Airport.
and that is the last of my pictures, but unfortunately it was not the end of our adventure. we made it to the rental car return, cleaned out the car and repacked our bags, gave away some of the home cured meats and homemade liqueur from Chris' cousins as we weren't sure it would make it through customs, and started the trek into the airport. we were flying Lufthansa, and they offer a dedicated family check-in desk so we happily walked over to get our boarding passes. annnnnnnd the agent couldn't find our reservation. she had no record of us having tickets. Nick knew that he had booked them because we were all traveling on the same flight to Rome (in case you thought the 9-day European road trip was crazy, Father Aron and the Pongracs along with forty other people from his parish were embarking on a 2-week trip to Rome!). finally the agent sent us across to a different booking agent, who was able to see that Nick had initially reserved the flights through Expedia, but something fell through on the Expedia side and our card was never charged for the flights, so they cancelled our reservation. the bizarre thing is that we booked our flights TO Munich within the same reservation, and those were fine -- it was just this leg back to Rome that had been canceled. absolutely unbelievable! but we also felt like idiots for not checking in earlier, or noticing the discrepancy on the credit card bill. anyway, we sent the others on ahead through security while we figured things out. thankfully, the flight did still have some open seats, which we had no other choice but to buy on the spot (ouch). we told the agent that we had 2 bags and 2 carseats to check, and he told us to go back over to the first agent to drop them off. so we headed back over, dragging all of our stuff, and she told us that the baggage fees would have been much cheaper if the second agent had sold us a baggage ticket! then she and her colleague at the adjacent desk started conferring in German in low voices and exchanging secret little looks. Nick and i just waited. finally, she said, "we have decided, we are going to do something. because we can. and just to make this easier for you. we are not supposed to, but ... we can." (more secret looks exchanged.) "we are going to charge you the discount rate for one bag, and one bag can go free. and the carseats are free. but do not say anything about this." we nodded, smiled, and thanked her. it was actually quite adorable how pleased they were to work the system a little bit for us, all with the greatest subterfuge and secrecy.
and the rest went smoothly! we made it on the plane, and back to our apartment, and slept very well that night. as i reminisce about this trip, nearly three months later, i still can't quite believe everything we were able to see and do. and St. Raphael clearly was looking out for us; despite a few hiccups, we never had a major snafu. there was no illness or injury or accidents. and we're all better friends than ever before (which, after spending so many hours in a van together with our young children, is a testament to the patience and love of our friends!). and we were so glad that Father and the Pongracs were in Rome for the next two weeks. even though they were staying in a hotel, we saw them at the tail end of mass at Santa Maria in Trastevere and joined them for a wine tasting (Greta had orange juice). all four girls were so excited to see each other and Greta and Cecilia talk about "Caw-ly-Wylee" and "Cwis-Angel" all the time (always with the joint name!). we definitely could not have done a trip like this with the girls without Carly and Rylee helping to entertain (and sometimes carry) them. Chris and Angel, you are our parenting role models! we hope and pray that our girls are as sweet, smart, loving and funny as yours as they grow older. and Father -- we can't thank you enough for all the hard work and planning you put into this. if nothing else, at least you got some good homily material out of it. Gummies and Uppy love you dearly!
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