While I'm at it, I'll post the second update from England. England was definitely the highlight of my trip to Europe.
Our second full day in London was a wonderful day. It definitely made the trip worth it, and getting up at 3:30am the next morning to catch our plane back bearable.
We began with catching the Underground into town. After we got off, we found a small cafe and had an "English Breakfast". This consisted of bacon (Basically ham with lots of fat), sausage, toast, and beans. The beans were interesting, and I didn't enjoy them that much. Kayla had scrambled eggs on toast.
We then made our way to Buckingham palace. We weren't prepared for how many people decided to visit at that time as well. We found out after making our way around the monument in the middle that there was an event, a marching band from the Queen's Guard, that paraded through the streets. It was pretty cool.
We then made our way through Saint James' park toward Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. In the park, we saw tons of birds. Kayla was simply delighted and it made me happy to see her enjoying herself that much. See pictures on Kayla's facebook to see all of the interesting birds Kayla found.
We eventually came through and found Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. More testaments to the grandiose things humans can build when they put their minds to it. We then went to the Tower of London! While we decided it was too expensive to tour, we walked around it, by the water front, and then sat down in a park and played Organ Trail for awhile.
We then made our way to... 221B Baker Street! I was kinda disappointed though. They made the first floor into a museum, but have preserved the upstairs in a Victorian style. We only took a couple pictures from the opposite side of the street, then made our way to Reagent's Park.
This park was another wonderful park, and gave Kayla and I some wonderful times together. There were tons more birds, including some cute babies running around the edge of the water. To make it even better, they had paddle boats that we ended up renting and was able to get even closer to the wild life. It was a great hour of lazily paddling around the lake. Some nice people even tossed us some bread and we threw it in and got some pictures of all the seagulls swarming around us!
To make a fun day even better, and to spend the rest of the pounds we had, we went to this wonderful Italian restaurant, the Spaghetti House. We had this delicious chicken broth ravioli appetizer, a delicious bottle of Orvietto wine, and I was able to try some English beer (Which was pretty good). For the main course, I ended up getting an Italian style steak with some pretty amazing butter that melted on top of it. (Also noted, this was a great chance for me to slow down and enjoy my food a lot more. It was a pretty epic meal).
Then, I took a slightly wobbly Kayla back to the hotel on the Underground, were we watched some interesting English game shows and then passed out.
As noted above, we had to get up pretty darn early :(. Our plane left at 7:35, so we had to get to the airport (A 45 minute train trip from the middle of the city) by 6:40. Around 5 o'clock, there are barely any Underground trains running, so we had to catch a couple late night buses. Initially I imagined we would be waiting under a single light on the side of the street in the pitch black, but it ended up being pretty calm, with some nice people that helped us get on the right bus.
And that's it! I definitely want to go back to England, but would want to stay a little longer and tour the English castles. Especially the one linked with King Arthur...
Monday, July 8, 2013
Update: Castles!
So, we had a great time this weekend visiting southern Germany. The trip down was kinda hectic, and wore us out. We wanted to spend more time in Munich, but we left pretty late (As per my family) and so we got there in time to see the Glockenspiel, and that's about it. We then made our way to our Youth Hostel, took a long sight seeing tour (As my Oma firmly said, she was never lost, even if we didn't know where we were). We got there, and they were nice enough to reheat us dinner, as they had stopped serving it 2 hours prior.
Saturday was the fun day. We drove down to the small town situated between the two castles, and began our beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, and the mountains were beautiful. The castles are located in the middle of the Alps. We first took a tour at Castle Hohenschangau. This was a castle that was built in the middle of this beautiful area, and was used as a summer hunting and relaxation resort. It is where King Ludwig II grew up.
To get to the castle, we took a horse drawn carriage. It wasn't very pretty looking, as horses' don't draw very well... :P. But really, it was wonderful. The path went right next to the lake and the view just blew my mind.
The castle itself was beautiful inside. The main part of it consisted of 3 floors. The Queen's floor, the King's floor, and the children's floor. There was over 90 "Sectos", or painted pictures on the walls. They were created in a very romantic fashion. The walls were in great shape, even after 150+ years. All-in-all, definitely a place I'd love to live in.
We took a carriage back down, and then went to the bus stop. In all of our books, it said "Bus trip takes 30 minutes". In reality, it only took us 5. The twists and turns were kinda scary, but it gave us a chance to go and visit Marienbrueke, or Maria's Bridge. And the view from that bridge to the castle... gorgeous. Please see pictures posted on Kayla's facebook to see what I mean. It was situated over a waterfall, and I would have loved to go and visit the clear waters at the bottom. We didn't have enough time though :(.
Castle Neuschwanstein was very nice to go see again, and even more beautiful then I previously remembered. A couple interesting facts, it took 17 years of building before Ludwig II could move into the castle. He only lived in the castle a total of 172 days, before he died under mysterious circumstances and construction on the castle was halted. In his bedroom, the woodwork was the most impressive by far. It took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make all of the elaborate carvings in the wood. Also, in a hidden door in the King's bedroom, was a toilet with water that came up from the water in the mountain springs by natural pressure. The toilet also was fully automatic, and would flush as soon as the King got up off of it. Impressive for this being the 1860s. Finally, the entire tour includes 375 steps, while the tour advertisements informed us that there would only be about 300.
Interesting to note, I definitely have changed since the last time I went there. I must have been in a rush or not wanted to go to the castle when I was younger (I was 17 at the time), and don't remember much of it. I definitely appreciated the artwork this time a lot more.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle. So we took plenty from the outside and of the surrounding mountains. This is definitely a place that I suggest people should visit if they ever get the chance. The serenity and nature was very nice and made the walking well worth it.
Saturday was the fun day. We drove down to the small town situated between the two castles, and began our beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, and the mountains were beautiful. The castles are located in the middle of the Alps. We first took a tour at Castle Hohenschangau. This was a castle that was built in the middle of this beautiful area, and was used as a summer hunting and relaxation resort. It is where King Ludwig II grew up.
To get to the castle, we took a horse drawn carriage. It wasn't very pretty looking, as horses' don't draw very well... :P. But really, it was wonderful. The path went right next to the lake and the view just blew my mind.
The castle itself was beautiful inside. The main part of it consisted of 3 floors. The Queen's floor, the King's floor, and the children's floor. There was over 90 "Sectos", or painted pictures on the walls. They were created in a very romantic fashion. The walls were in great shape, even after 150+ years. All-in-all, definitely a place I'd love to live in.
We took a carriage back down, and then went to the bus stop. In all of our books, it said "Bus trip takes 30 minutes". In reality, it only took us 5. The twists and turns were kinda scary, but it gave us a chance to go and visit Marienbrueke, or Maria's Bridge. And the view from that bridge to the castle... gorgeous. Please see pictures posted on Kayla's facebook to see what I mean. It was situated over a waterfall, and I would have loved to go and visit the clear waters at the bottom. We didn't have enough time though :(.
Castle Neuschwanstein was very nice to go see again, and even more beautiful then I previously remembered. A couple interesting facts, it took 17 years of building before Ludwig II could move into the castle. He only lived in the castle a total of 172 days, before he died under mysterious circumstances and construction on the castle was halted. In his bedroom, the woodwork was the most impressive by far. It took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make all of the elaborate carvings in the wood. Also, in a hidden door in the King's bedroom, was a toilet with water that came up from the water in the mountain springs by natural pressure. The toilet also was fully automatic, and would flush as soon as the King got up off of it. Impressive for this being the 1860s. Finally, the entire tour includes 375 steps, while the tour advertisements informed us that there would only be about 300.
Interesting to note, I definitely have changed since the last time I went there. I must have been in a rush or not wanted to go to the castle when I was younger (I was 17 at the time), and don't remember much of it. I definitely appreciated the artwork this time a lot more.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle. So we took plenty from the outside and of the surrounding mountains. This is definitely a place that I suggest people should visit if they ever get the chance. The serenity and nature was very nice and made the walking well worth it.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Update!: Castles!
I owe you guys an update from London, which will come with the pictures still by middle of the week. But here is our current one.
We are going to a couple castles today! First one is Castle Neuschwanstein. It's Germany's most visited castle, and the castle that inspired the Disney's castle. Its high up in a mountain, and we get to take a carriage up there!
The other one is the parents of the person for whom Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for. Castle Hohenschwangau is completely furnished, while Castle Neuschwanstein is not. That is because the person Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for died under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the building of the castle.
Hope you all have a great day!
We are going to a couple castles today! First one is Castle Neuschwanstein. It's Germany's most visited castle, and the castle that inspired the Disney's castle. Its high up in a mountain, and we get to take a carriage up there!
The other one is the parents of the person for whom Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for. Castle Hohenschwangau is completely furnished, while Castle Neuschwanstein is not. That is because the person Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for died under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the building of the castle.
Hope you all have a great day!
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