Hello! Just thought I'd throw out a quick(ish) update as to what we've been doing these past few days.
Monday started out with a market in Dresden. There are markets literally in every city here, and they're like the Cleveland Heights Farmer's markets on steroids... So much bigger! This specific market was in the same location as the Dresden Christmas market, so the stands are permanently in Christmas decor. Just walking around that market- all of the smells are overwhelming! Ayla and I split a pack of sugar-roasted "hasselnuss" and payed way too much to ride on a Christmas Ferris wheel in the square.
We moved on to the Zwinger castle, which actually was meant to serve as a guard stand for the city, but the monarch who was building it died before it was completed.... Meaning someone else moved in and made it their castle! Ayla and I also went into the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, which had displays of Ottoman armor, weaponry, and treasures from the 14 and 1500s. There were some intense goblets made of shells, and embellished with gold people and animal figurines, diamonds, and other precious gems. We thought it would be quite fancy to have a goblet like that... But where do you grab onto it to take a drink?
We ate a nice German lunch (i think my soup was pure salt) and bought out train reservations for Paris, then peaced out to good old Castle Road.
The first castle we saw was in a quaint town called Kulmbach, and the castle was Plassenburg. We fell in love with the town- literally it was the German village you're probably picturing in your head right now. We also figured out why castles are always on hills; breathtaking visibility at the top, and no way an army can run up that thing without legs of steel. We all know P90x didn't even exist back then.
After exploring Plassenburg, we found our way to the middle of the town, where there was a fountain that MUST have been filled with bubble bath. We had fun throwing bubbles at each other. Which probably made the biggest mess in this entire town- it seems that every city or town in Germany is so clean!
Even though it was past dark, we made it to the second castle on our list, Schloss Ehrenberg in Coberg, and moved through to Bamberg, where we stayed in a Backpackers hostel. It was very small and personal- definitely better than the bigger hostels out there, because we actually were able to get to know others staying there.
This morning we conquered yet another hilly castle, Neue Resdenz, which was first named in the 1100s... Old. The last person to live in this castle was a doctor in the 1800s, and now it is open for events and the public.
The very last castle on our shortened castle road was Kaiserberg in Numberg- it was in the middle of the city, which was a first, but was too crowded and refurnished. We prefer the old and decrepit.
The rain greeted us in Munich, but we still were able to get over to Marienplatz and wander about a bit. Lots of fountains! We got to see St. Peter's church ( and we will get to go inside when it's open!) and it was literally breathtaking. Apparently there is a skeleton with jewels in its eyes on display inside, so we decided we definitely need to go back.
We found an Italian restaurant for dinner, where we experienced sharing a 5 person table with a couple we didn't know for the first time on our trip.
Plans for tonight? Decided.
Plans for tomorrow? Olympic Arena, BMW Museum, Englischer Garten, Hofbrahaus, random fishing and hunting museum (it had some nice fish and warthog sculptures outside- we were enthralled)
Plans for Thursday? Nymphenburg Palace.
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