Neuschwanstein

Well this day was a little different from most days, but that’s to be expected considering the circumstances. It was a little hard for me to focus on what I was doing rather than what was going on back home, but thankfully I was able to find some peace from God. I think today was just what I needed. We set off for the town of Fussen, where we got on a bus to the village of Hohenschwangau, where we hiked up to Neuschwanstein…welcome to Germany haha. Those first two are just stops on the way to the Disney Castle, Neuschwanstein. We had the debate on whether or not it was Cinderella’s Castle or Sleeping Beauty’s castle…ok let me clarify: Keith and Emily had that debate, I have no clue what those two movie castles look like haha. Anyways, we went to the castle used by Walt Disney as a model…it was absolutely beautiful there!

On the train ride in I saw the Alps in the distance, and these were the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen…these dwarf the Appalachian Mountains, and I’ve never seen the Rockies that I remember, so these win in my book. I was captured by this sight and stared in wonder for the rest of the train ride. The castle itself was amazing, yet not exactly what I expected. For some reason it wasn’t as grand as I had imagined…but that’s probably because I had unreal expectations. After touring the castle we followed this little trail to a bride overlooking the castle with an incredible view! Unfortunately there was scaffolding all over the back of the castle, but from a distance you can’t really tell in the pictures. We continued walking and of course ran off the main trail and hiked up this mountain. The views were simply awesome. Talk about a great place to unwind and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

After the castle we headed back into town and found some dinner before catching the train back to our host’s house. I cannot thank Brian and Destene enough for letting us stay with them…that was so kind of them. I got a chance to talk last night with some of my family. We learned Tuesday that my little cousin Jordan died in a car crash that day, and everyone is up in Charlotte. Brian, who is in Munich for work after living in South Carolina for a while, has Vonage and still has his SC phone number, so thankfully I was able to get ahold of Mom and Dad and talk to some people back at home. It’s hard being over here during all this, but getting to talk to some people was nice. Pray, and think of my family during this time. I know we’ll get through it…this is what families are for…