Day 10: old buildings, a crazy king, lots of meat, and an extra country!

The weather today was supposed to be good, but not as good as tomorrow, so S and I elected to visit castles today and hike tomorrow. I rented a car around the corner from our apartment, and we headed out at around noon. The owner of our apartment gave us a couple of suggestions of places to drive to, and we started our trip with a visit to a little basilica in the town of Ettal. It's a beautiful little church, with lots of pretty, both outside and in.

From Ettal, we drove to Schloss Linderhof, one of King Ludwig II's castles. Ludwig was a crazy dude, obsessed with opera and shy of having people look at him. He built all these crazy castles so that he could hide away from people. Linderhof is actually pretty small, but it's very beautiful.

Ludwig also built himself a grotto where he could watch people sing Wagner arias. Creepy.

S asked me why the Germans seem to love Ludwig so much. My first thought was that perhaps it's not that the Germans love Ludwig so much as it is that Ludwig left such a legacy that it's easily exploitable. Then, a few minutes later, I started thinking again... Germany, in the last 150 years or so, has had two batshit crazy leaders. I wonder if their focus on Ludwig isn't deliberately placed to divert your attention from the other, batshittier, one.

Anyway, next we ate lunch:

Then, a drive through Austria...
...en route to Neuschwanstein Castle!

This is yet another of Ludwig's crazy castles, and it is beautiful inside. Crawling with tourists, naturally. We snapped a bunch of photos without other people, but it was tough to do.

Also, here's a pic of Ludwig. Eat your heart out, Shepard Fairey!
After that castle, a drive home through the Alps, Bavarian dinner in GaPa, and home. To bed, to bed, to bed! Hiking tomorrow!