Oktoberfest and Other Bits of Germany 2

I thought I better finish this trip before I head out to Germany again and get even more behind on my blogging. I intend to have posted about all the trip days I've taken this year (including catching up on Japan and Shanghai) before returning to Vancouver. Let's see if that's at all possible (judging from my last exchange... no).

SO! The day after Oktoberfest, we decided sleep in a little and wake up at *cue drumroll* 8AM! But I'm sure the shock has worn off since bernZies has already posted about that on his blog (I will not get killed for this ridiculous nickname =D). This travel buddy was good enough to wake me up so I could see the sunrise, which at the beginning just looked like an orange blob to my sleep heavy unfocused eyes. He promptly told me to go back to sleep while he headed out with his camera to take photos (bernZ was actually the one who said you're going to mention this on your blog, aren't you? So I had to write about it).

Yes, I am bitter because the view was amazing and he
actually told me to sleep instead. (This is our hostel!)

Anyway, the breakfast was delicious and strangely German, but in a homey way (how? I don't really know, I've never had a German cook me a home made meal...). Anyway, we proceeded down the mountain and was greeted by this gorgeous sight that we never saw in the dark of the night. Needless to say, we spent longer than anticipated just taking photos.

Slightly random photo of a guy hang gliding near where we were.
Some dorks beside me clapped when he landed... 

Schloss Neuschwanstein was our intended destination of the day. We were forced to give up a few other attractions given our time limits, but Neuschwanstein was not to be missed. On our way there we stopped by some gas in Austria.

Random photo from Austria just for the heck of it.

And Neuschwanstein was definitely worth that one hour drive from our hostel in Garmisch. The castle, though stunning, totally paled in comparison to the breathtaking scenery. Have I mentioned that in my other post? I can't remember...

A section of Neuschwanstein against an amazing backdrop.

A work of art that could only be crafted by a creative maker.

After our short stay (about 2 hours? definitely would've liked more time!) at Neuschwanstein, we had to drop off my travel buddy at Stuttgart Airport so he could make it back on time to make his presentation! Time was a lot tighter than we had planned (I'm sure I mentioned the pains of construction on the autobahn. What Is that?! It should be outlawed), and by the time we got to the terminal, bernZ had to sprint to the departure gates.

I guess that was a slightly unnecessary side story. But because of that delay, dinner was late. The GPS also gave us instructions to drive into a road the opposite way because our lane was closed... So we were head to head with another car that doesn't speak English, so we half guessed what they meant and backed out of the road...

Anyway, going past the handful of GPS problems we had, we landed at Paulanner for dinner! Had no beer though... as usual.

A few more interesting side stories ensue to delay our arrival back in Maastricht... like one car needing gas but another car didn't know and overtook us as the leading car... then having to catch that car, make them pull over, and force them to stay behind us for the rest of the journey (or something like that, I can't quite remember anymore). But we did end up here safely (as you can obviously see) at approximately 230AM, marking the end of my journey to Oktoberfest. I apologize for this wordy, lengthy, and not very interesting post. Next up, my solo trip to Luxembourg!

By fishii with 1 comment