Castles and Canals

As this trip has progressed we have to admit that it has become more difficult to find the energy to make a post at the end of each day. We’re starting to wonder if the all the travel is catching up with us. However, we’re still enjoying every minute and making the most of each day. 

In Fussen we visited two castles: Neushwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We went to Neushwanstein first, taking a horse and carriage into the Bavarian Alps where the castle is perched. The castle itself was pretty amazing, but we were disappointed in our tour. We had to schedule and pay for a tour in English, but our tour guide didn’t speak it very well at all. To make things even worse, the tour was overbooked. Sometimes the whole group would not fit into the room where our guide was doing his best to explain the castles intricacies. Despite all this, seeing the castle was still amazing. After our tour we hiked a little further up the mountains for a different view of the castle. The view from a bridge that went over a waterfall was breathtaking to say the least. 

As beautiful as the Neushwanstein castle is, if we were looking for a castle to live in, we just might prefer the Hohenschwangau. This castle may have been smaller, but it also had gardens and landscaping, and felt more welcoming in general. The tours for this castle consisted of smaller groups, and although there might not have been as many intricate carvings as in the Neuschwanstein castle it was just as lavish.

The people in Fussen were also really friendly. When we first arrived and were having trouble finding our hotel, one man not only called the hotel for directions for us, but then also led us a few blocks until we could find it ourselves.

We left Fussen on a series of train rides, eventually leading us to an overnight train that left from Munich. Neither of us really knew what to expect for this part of the journey, but it ended up being an easier experience than we expected. That may be partially due to the fact that we had our couchette compartment, normally intended to sleep six people in single bunks, to ourselves. Although it took each of us a little while to fall asleep, we both managed to arrive in Venice fairly well rested.

Venice seems to be the place to be if you like window shopping. Every other window here is full of either glittery hand painted masks or colorful Venetian glass. There are also plenty of pizza and gelato shops, both of which we have taken full advantage of. Of course, there are also gondoliers scattered across the island offering to sell you tours along the many canals of Venice. On our first day here we passed by one gondolier who, when we passed by on his original offer , chased us down moments later offering to give us a medium-length tour for the price of a small. The gondola ride took us under the Bridge of Sighs (which is unfortunately all but covered up at the moment) and by the homes of Marco Polo and Casanova. 

After our first night in Venice we were able to find a hotel that was willing to give us our last two nights in Venice for 70 Euros a night, which would have been amazing on its own considering how close it is to the Saint Mark’s Square. The deal is even sweeter when you take into account that it has its own full bathroom and even a little kitchen. The room is really more of a studio apartment. This opened up a lot of options for us, allowing us to visit local stores and butchers for groceries of our own and cook two dinners at our own place (allowing us to save a whole lot of money). The “apartment” also has a minimal view of one of the canals, which is more than we expected. The one problem is that the bathroom smells like dirty canal water, so we’ve had to stick with bottled water.

Among the things we have seen are the Doge’s Palace (which led us through the interior of the Bridge of Sighs), Saint Mark’s Square and the Saint Mark’s Basilica. We also took a trip to the island of Murano, which is where a good portion of the Venetian glass is made. We got to watch a few short demonstrations on how the employees there work the glass. However, the shops contained the same kinds of assortments of glass as we could find in the main island… although strangely for twice the price.

The Saint Mark’s Square seems to be the center of the tourist action, surrounded by many of the sights that are most popular in Venice. We have not yet reached peak tourist season, and yet during the day the square is absolutely packed and difficult to navigate. Strolling around the island proved to be difficult at first, seeming to be as confusing as a maze, but eventually we figured it out. Once that happened, we were able to stroll around and find little squares and piazzas that were not as busy with tourists.

Tomorrow, we head for Rome. We will try to update this blog again soon. Ciao!

~Melissa and Jordan