Day 8: "What's that over there?"

There's not going to be a whole lot of pictures for today, we spent a lot of time on a train...

After an early wake-up call at 6:30, the Jackson 4 headed for the bus stop to take us to the train station. Our train ride consisted of 3 connecting trains- Heidelberg to Mannheim, Mannheim to Augsburg, Augsburg to Fussen. Fussen is a small town that is just a few minutes away from the Neu Schwannstein and HohenSchwanngau Castles. Upon arriving at the train station in Fussen four hours later, we were shocked to see a man dressed in full medieval garb. When we looked across the street, there was a full on medieval festival going on, apparently one that stretched the weekend. So, the only logical choice was to stow our stuff in a locker and head over there.
The medieval festival was absolutely astounding. There was a man with a hawk on his arm and another with an owl on his shoulder! We saw all sorts of people dressed in medieval clothing, from beautiful skirts to leather kilts. It seemed like the festival was a good way for craftsmen to sell their wares- we saw jewelrymakers, leather workers, actual blacksmiths with actual blacksmithing furnaces, cheesemakers from the Alps, woodworkers, and much more. The food was also impressive- our lunch consisted of a variety of bratwursts- including Mom's two foot long hot dog! There was also a dish called the "Crazy Potato," which was a potato cut so that it twisted around a stick and then fried in oil. During lunch, we got to see a band that consisted of two bagpipes and two drummers, which obviously made an interesting sound. The music was unique because the drummers played what sounded like rock beats, and the bagpipes moved almost as if they were playing guitar solos. It was like nothing we had ever heard before. After looping around a few times (for the cheese samples) we bought some mead and some cheese.
Once we had seen our fair share of the medieval festival, we decided to walk around the old city a little. We saw a beautiful castle, with many traditional elements- including staircases that spiraled down left so you could fight and slits for arrows (Psheeew!). Dad thinks he would have been an excellent medieval archer. After an ice cream break, we got our stuff and took a taxi up to our hotel, by the New Schwannstein castle.
Our hotel was absolutely amazing! We were situated right below the castle, and Abby and I could actually see it from our window. Once we dropped our stuff, we decided to head up there for the view and eat some cheese, crackers and "fancy mixed nuts" for dinner. The view was gorgeous, but we were surprised by how little the castle resembled the Disney castle. I guess it was just inspiration, after all. The castle was stunning, and we went up to a bridge so we could see it from afar and take pictures. We have a couple Christmas-Card-worthy shots as well.
We were ready to end our day by the time we made it back down to the hotel, so we decided to head down for the night. I'll be back tomorrow with more interesting facts about the castle!
Sarah Jackson