Hello, Mrs. Evil Stepmother, can Cinderella come out and play?

a 1If Neuschwanstein castle looks a little familiar, that is because it is, as I mentioned before, the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland.

a 2The funny thing is… and yes, I know I like to throw a ‘thing’ into my posts whenever I can, but this is just a regular, run-of-the-mill funny thing… this castle isn’t that old. It isn’t like some medieval fortress built to protect the area from rampaging knights.

a 3It was built much more recently… by King Ludwig… known as the Mad King.

a 4He just had it built to look like an old castle… or, to be more accurate, to look like a big-budget movie set of an old castle.

a 5Basically, this was just a big clubhouse he and his friends could come and play in… a big-boy fort, if you will.

a 6I think he spent so much money on things like this that his own people eventually did away with him… somebody Google that!

a 7Because if it is true, then he falls into the same category as the King of France who was beheaded by his own people… remember, from my hilarious blog series; ‘Lifestyles of the rich and French’, back when we visited Versailles together… so maybe you shouldn’t take my tips on how to live like a king seriously after all.

a 8The fact that this castle was built at the expense of the commoners by a rich douche-bag with a Donald Trump complex doesn’t really detract from its beauty.

a 9It is still worth visiting… hey, at the very least, you might get to pet some horses, right?

a 11And hey, who wouldn’t build a castle for themselves if they had the money, right?

a 12Just open it up to the tourists when you aren’t there.

a 13Your family should make their money back in just a few dozen generations.

a 14Of course, it would be better if you could just use other people’s money.

a 15Oh, and see those little dots way up there? Be sure, when you do build your castle and then turn it into a tourist destination, to put it way up in the mountains… so crazy people can hang glide over it.

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The castle on the hill…

b 2Okay, people, it’s time to head up the hill to Neuschwanstein castle!!!

b 1Yes, you can ride part way up in a horse cart, but don’t get too excited… there is still a long, steep walk in front of you.

b 3The good news is that the scenery up there is awesome.

b 5b 6b 7b 8b 9b 10This really is one of the most beautiful parts of Germany.

b 11Remember we are only a few miles from the Swiss border. There are lakes and rivers and the alps towering majestically in the background.

b 12Small streams and big rivers run down the sides of the mountains, even in summer.

b 13All in all, not a bad way to spend a day.

b 14But if I just rode a bike up that hill, I sure wouldn’t be smiling.

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Because… horses!!!

a 1I swear this will be the last post for today…

a 2But that cute German town was full of cute German horses… and I had to try to pet all of them!

a 4There were carts you could ride most of the way up the mountain to the castle. We did end up riding in one… I felt bad for the horses, but hey, my mom is 92!

a 5First we had to fortify ourselves with German beer… and sausages and bread and cheese…

a 6Oh, and I had to try the wiener schnitzel… because, you know, it is just fun to say…

a 7And my mom really likes to get ‘fortified’…

a 8This horse was bored, and was picking on his buddy.

a 9I told him to simmer down.

a 10And, well, you know… animals… and babies… love me…

a 11So I got that all sorted out.

a 12Join me tomorrow when we go up there… to that big, fancy castle on the hill.

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A bunch of pictures of me… in Germany… because who doesn’t like me… and mountains… and lakes?

a 1We all love nature… but even the beauty of this pastoral scene of a mountain meadow in the German alps can be greatly improved by the simple expedient of adding me.

a 2Okay, the thing is… and I love this particular thing!!!… but I guess I told Mollie to take a few pictures of me when we were in the cute little town below Neuschwanstein castle… you know… to put on this here blog…

a 3And Mollie loves her daddy! There is a German mountain bike enthusiast, making dang sure the bad American tourist doesn’t steal her bike.

a 4Okay, I can take a hint… stop glaring at me…

a 5Is that sasquatch??? I didn’t know Mollie was going to take so many pictures of me when I wasn’t paying attention… I would have sucked in my stomach.

a 6Hey now… there is a weird wrinkle in my shirt in that picture that makes my man-boobs look even less flattering… dang it…

a 7Notice that I am the one carrying the heavy backpack with everybody’s extra jackets and all the snacks and the camera stuff.

a 8But that is how I wormed my way onto this trip, you might recall… to act as a Sherpa… and security guard…

a 9Look, I know I am going to do a lot of posts in the next few days, but if we can get through the Europe trip, we can move on to all the other cool stuff that has been going on in my life.

a 10Okay… seriously… it wasn’t that cold… what is going on with my nipples???

a 11Did I mention that I have gained back about 30 of the 50 pounds I worked so hard to get rid of? Sigh…

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A German lake, some mountains that may actually be in Switzerland, and some feet… oh my…

a 1Still just zooming through these last pictures of our day trip to Neuschwanstein…

a 2a 3a 4Mollie took a nice picture of her feet.

a 5a 6a 7a 8a 9a 10And, of course, no blog post is actually complete without at least one picture of yours truly!

a 11a 12a 13a 14a 15I just like that picture because who doesn’t want to walk to Pinswang/Tirol??? I think you even get to pass through Hohenschwangau on the way, and see some alps!

a 16My mom liked that one so much she is going to make it her Christmas card.

a 17

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Random pictures… without those annoying words I always add… of Neuschwanstein castle, the town below it… and that other, smaller, yellow castle on the hill nearby, which I really should remember something about, but I don’t…

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Okay, I am back from visiting my mom in the Bay Area and… awwwwwwwwwwww… baby swans!!!

a 1Yes, we took a little trip North to the Bay Area… (mostly for Willie’s third birthday, but don’t tell my mom that)…

a d 1And I have tons of pictures to share… of the party, and cute babies, and some awesome art I was working on and so forth…

a d 2But I am so close to finishing with the pictures of our trip to Europe, that I think I will spend a couple of days wrapping that up first…

a d 3We spotted these swans in the alpine lake beside the town below Neuschwanstein castle.

a d 5Mollie and I ran around the lake to get closer to them, then followed them back around.

a d 6I think Mollie took a lot of these pictures.

a d 7And who doesn’t love baby swans???

a d 8The parents were very attentive and patient… you know… like good parents are.

a d 11Oh yeah, the alps in the background. How beautiful is that?

a d 13And look, free bonus ducks thrown in!

a d 14Anyway, the next few days will be full of that last day in Europe and our day trip from Munich into the countryside just miles from the Swiss border. I hope you enjoy it.

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My blog… the gift that keeps on giving…

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Dang it… I mentioned Nazis again… so here is a picture of me petting a horse and also a bunch of pretty flowers to take your minds off… you know… those guys…

That last post was supposed to clear your mind of… those two earlier posts… but I talked about them again… so to make up for it, here are a few of the pictures Mollie and I took in the lovely little town in the valley below Neuschwanstein castle…

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And now, a fairy-tale castle and some beautiful scenery… you know… to get the taste of Nazi concentration camps out of our skulls…

a 1Our very last day-trip in Germany, on our very last full day in Europe, was to visit Neuschwanstein castle…

a 2We drove out from Munich for a few hours and Mollie finally got to see the Alps… which you have to at least see if you go to Europe, right?

a 3I spent a lot of time, after our trip to Dachau, thinking about how warm and friendly and nice and kind most Germans are. Maybe that is what makes the whole mess with Hitler so strange and terrible… that he could make ordinary people do the things they did. That is the lesson from history that we need to remember.

a 4Oooh… I think I see the castle… that little white thing on the side of that mountain way over there…

a 5That is a cruel sign to put on a barn in a field right where the cows can see it.

a 6The drive through the countryside was spectacular.

a 7And the castle kept growing ever nearer.

a 8It was a lovely day.

a 9The air was crisp and clean, the temperature mild.

a 10I took a lot of pictures on this little excursion… please Google Neuschwanstein castle… it is too interesting to not know about, and too much work to explain here.

a 11It is said to be the castle that Walt Disney modeled Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland after.

a 12The town below the castle is freekin’ charming.

a 13Did you spot my mom’s head at the bottom of that picture? HA!

a 14Also, this place was built under orders from the Mad King… Ludwig… (pronounced: Loodvig, if you in Germany)… so how can you not want to Google it now???

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