Day 5

Today was quite different from anything we've done before, and I think that it was quite necessary. We traveled two hours outside of Munich to Neuschwanstein Castle, built in the late 19th century by King Ludwig II.  It was breathtaking, not only the castle itself but the countryside around it. 

We loved our tour guide. He was Australian. We became friends quickly. 

The morning began with a strenuous hike up the mountain to the castle. We were near the Austrian border, so keep in mind that these mountains border the Alps. There was still snow up top.

We finally made it up to the castle and although the fog obscured some of the pictures, it was incredible to see. This castle is the closest to a fairy tale castle that I've ever seen and toured. 

After the tour, we had a brief lunch, which almost launched us into a panic because the restaurant was cash only and of course, none of us had cash. (Oops.)

Then we began the second half of our day, my favorite activity of the trip so far. We hiked about half an hour from the base of the mountain to where the company we were touring with kept their bikes. The walk itself was beautiful.

But it just kept getting better. We were given bikes, and then we had the most beautiful afternoon riding through the fields of the Germany-Austria border. Pictures don't do it justice, today was incredible. 

Our final destination was Swan Lake, which was just as beautiful as it sounds. 

After the bus ride home, we headed to Augustiner for another fun night at the biergarten. Afterwards, we walked around the city, where we stumbled upon an outdoor concert with food stands and the whole nine yards, which went on until midnight. Most of the music was American, so we naturally had a great time. On our walk home we ran into the rest of the group, and suddenly Munich felt just like home.