So after I wrote my last blog, we ended up getting roommates :(
4 Irish Guys... But it really wasn't like we had roommates because as soon as they put their stuff down at like 11pm, they went out.
And they came back this morning at 7am!

That is truly partying till morning. And they were the typical loud & foul mouthed Irish. Another thing is apparently they don't like to sleep with pants on... Umm so when Meredith and I woke up at 9am we saw a lot of white Irish butts. Gross.

Anyways, I woke up and went downstairs to get my free breakfast :) Which was coffee and cornflakes. I have become obsessed with cornflakes this trip, which is so strange. Meredith joined me a few minutes later and we sat down there for a while.

Then we decided it was time to get ready for the day. We were going to Neushuanstein today. The train leaves every hour at the 51min mark, and it is about a 2 hour train ride. We were hoping to catch the 10:51am train out. But we had a few little set backs. Including Meredith losing a pair of really nice jeans :( So she had to e-mail all the hostels that she last remembers wearing them at. So that was kind of a bummer on the day.

So we had to change plans, and go for the 11:51am train. Which was okay because we had nothing planned for the day besides going to the castle. We got some Starbucks for lunch (a muffin and a coffee).... Starbucks is the only place you can count on getting an American sized coffee... Everywhere else a European large is like an American small...

So we got on the train and enjoyed our breakfast. A guy started talking to us and we all hit it off. He was 18 from Texas, just graduated high school and going to Columbia in the fall.. Oh and his name is Wes. Anyways, he was also going to the castle, so we just started traveling together.

We had to change trains in Buchloe, but the train was literally the other platform in a two platform train station. So it wasn't hard to find.

We made it out to Füssen where we had to catch a bus to the castle. You could take another train from the base nearly to the top... But we are young and doing it on a budget so we decided to walk. Which really wasn't bad. It was a little difficult because I am sick and its hard to breath. But at the same time there was a lot of horse poo on the path, so the stuffy nose may have been a blessing in disguise. There were a million flies too... but they were not interested in people at all, but rather the horse poo. It was really gross. The funny thing is that there is a little electric pooper scooper tractor. It is like those street cleaners that has little spinning brushes underneath.

We made it up to the castle in about 20 minutes and the photo shoot began. We learned a little bit about the castle on the free walking tour. So it was built by King Ludwig II, who was presumably gay. Which is something history books don't mention. However the throne would end with him.... It is assumed he was murdered by his uncle when him and his doctor were found dead from drowning in waist deep water although he was an avid swimmer... So there is a little more morbid cinderella castle story.

We didn't go in. Frankly because tickets were expensive. We also didn't do a tour beacuse they were also expensive. They included transportation costs of about 15 euro but Meredith and I had rail passes that were valid for the trip that we could use. So we just decided to do it on our own. And now I just have another reason to go back some day :)

There were also a ton of paragliders in the sky... Which is totally another thing I want to come back and do! It would have been absolutely gorgeous over the mountains, lakes and castle! Next time :)

We walked up to the looking point, which gave a great view of the whole city and got some more pictures. But it was busy and there wasn't much more for us to see... so we decided to head back down. On the way down I had to break down and get a popsicle :)

Wes could not believe that we had not been in a beer hall or beer garden yet. So we decided to head back to Munich and go to a beer hall :) By this time we were all starving! And the train ride back seemed to take forever!

But we made it. We decided to go to Hofbraunhaus, which is the most famous beer hall in the world. And boy was it crazy!

You walk into this huge Bavarian hall and just take a seat at any of the tables. Which are just long picnic style benches. There is a live band playing traditional music and all the waiters and waitresses were in traditional dress. And the beer oh my goodness!

They only serve it by the liter... in HUGE mugs! The waitresses would often be carrying 8 mugs at a time with the beer just pouring over the edges as they walked. It was the stereotypical Bavarian beer hall.

I am completely not a beer drinker. I never have been. But we were in Germany so I had to at least try it! So I opted for a Radler. Which is light beer mixed with lemonade :) And lemonade I like!

We also ordered pretzels, I got a Schnitzel (or something like that) which was egg noddles and cheese and fried onions. Meredith and Wesley both got sausage. Everyone voted that mine was the best :) Which is was delicious :) So Vegetarian wins!

The beer was good... but even mixed with lemonade I couldn't drink it all. So Wes and Meredith helped me out. We then walked back to the hostel (Wes was staying that the Youth Hostel which was on the other side of Jaegers... so now two doors away from our Wombats Hostel) ... We stopped by the shoe store on the way back to see what time they open, which is 10am. Tomorrow we take an early train to Zuirch, but we will come Saturday morning before we leave for Amsterdam to get the rest of our Birkenstock orders :)

We went back to Wombats where Meredith and I got our free welcome drinks. Which I got white wine and she got more beer. Wes wanted then go to his hostel to watch the soccer game. So we went with him. Meredith drank more beer haha, and I just had water. They say that German beer is so pure and has no preservatives that it does not give you a hangover... but lets see how Meredith is feeling in the morning :)

We didn't stay at the Youth hostel too late. We wanted to get everything ready for the morning because we were leaving for Zurich at 7am. So we got back to the hostel at like 10pm. We were hoping that our Irish men were only staying a night and wouldn't be there anymore... but that was not the case. However they were out so we didn't have to see them

And tomorrow we are doing a day trip to Zurich. Kind of an intense day trip, but will definitely be fun :)
-brooke.