PDPW Trip bonus..COFFEE and the WC

 During our trip our daily guide would tell us the total Kilometers we would be traveling each day.  This led us to seeing a lot of truck stops and drinking LOTS of coffee!!If we did just what the itinerary said we would have gone a total of 1634 miles.  That was a lot of time in a bus with the 45 people in our group.  They encouraged us to rotate on the bus so we got to know everyone.  It was fun to interact with different people each day. 

One of the fabulous truck stops.  They always had amazing coffee!  The Dutch in particular made it strong and incredible!  Just what we needed to fuel us each day.  They usually were small coffees, but thinking maybe that is why they were small. 

Do you see what that fueled...the need for public restrooms.  SHOCKER....when you go to use the restroom this is what you find. 

 

 

 So it turned out that one of our biggest expenses were the restrooms...or also called W.C., (Water Closet).  What an abrupt first stop without any Euro's needing to use the restroom.  We raided the bus drivers change bucket for emergency use.  It was quite the racket as we paid 70 Euro cents, which in return they gave you a 50 Euro cent coupon to spend in their store.  We did figure out to save all the German rest stops and Netherlands ones and we accumulated to get more coffee. 

 

Being back now, I do miss the wonderful coffee we had every day.

PDPW Day 12 Landsburg am Lech & Neuschwanstein

We started our trek to Neuschwanstein by stopping in Landsburg am Lech to do a bit of shopping and more touring. 

 The city was just beautiful and fittingly so as it was one on the historic "romantic road."  We didn't shop as much as wander around taking in the sights.  The sculptures and buildings were so cool. 

 Arriving we see the castle up in the distance. 

 Hohenschwangau Castle ironically at the base of the mountain.  It was childhood home to Ludwig II as his father purchased and restored. 

After trekking up the hill which is done by three ways: Walk straight up (wasn't happening), take a shuttle to a midpoint (not for the faint at heart with curvy wicked roads), horse and buggy (wasn't an option for 45 people, but a few took) we set off on another detour to view from this amazing bridge.  Amazing that we hiked all that way to see the sights, and amazing I walked out as far as I did.  Every board shifted and creaked as you walked out over a drop off.  There was a beautiful waterfall but apparently in my need to get off the bridge I missed that photo.  Whoops!! 

 YUP..I made it a 1/4 of the way and snapped this photo.  Nice backdrop!!

 

 What a view!!!

The castle as we walked up the mountainside

 Waiting in the courtyard for our group to be called. It was chaos as people crammed in the small area.  It was like waiting in the queue for your number (group number given) to be called. 

 Pictures weren't allowed in the castle as to preserve the original interior and save aging.  It was as majestic as the exterior.  On the website they show pictures from the tour.  I highly recommend checking them out. 

 The second floor wasn't competed and was left empty.  This worked out well for the museum to locate their items of history and information. I clicked a quick picture of the 3D model of the castle as it was so amazing. 

During our tour we were allowed to step outside on a balcony to take pictures.

 Down below you can see Ludwig's childhood home below.

 As all good things must come to an end, we finished our fabulous day of touring at the hotel with an amazing meal and farewell speech from Mathilde.  I couldn't have imagined spending two weeks with another tour guide or better group of people. 

PDPW Day 11 Oktoberfest

 

 

One of the highlights of our trip would definitely be our trip to Oktoberfest.  Prior to arriving I had no idea what we were heading into.  Our tour guide told us that we had reservations at the tent.  Little did we know we would be squeezing into a tent that holds 10,000 people.  I was shocked to find out that inside the 17 large tents and 21 small tents they seat 120,000 at one given time.  WOW!!  Let the party begin!!   

 

 Our Tent!!

 

We enjoyed one of the biggest pretzels I have ever had, and drank my Radler.  I MAY have opened a can of worms for others at the table with this one.  LOL!!  YUM!

 

Our table!!  PROST!

 



Our resident entertainers Jim & Randy

 

 

Kudos to Scott for buying Lederhosen and hat while in Germany.  Looking very authentic!

When you travel with a group made up of Wisconsin football fans..this is what happens

 

We had 6 tables and had one heck of a time getting everyone sitting still long enough to take a picture.  I can't imagine when we were each drinking a liter of beer!  The music was infectious and a good time was hard to not have amidst so many joyous people!!

 

 

A few of the other tents.  They were like small cities to gaze and enjoy the happy atmosphere.



 

Beer, Beer & MORE Beer!!

 

Having a bit of fun on the fairway....

along with thousands of others!  The tents were filling up fast.  The event is free to the public, but reservations are required if you are going to sit in a tent.  There literally weren't any other places to sit otherwise! 

 



The app showed the  status of how full all the tents were.  It was a good thing we went on a slower day.  Ha ha!!!I would enjoy going again, but definitely dress the part.  There were so many amazing outfits and very few didn't come dressing accordingly.   At the end of the day we had to make the trek back to the bus.  This event is so big that buses park quite a distance away and walking is the way we got back. City streets are shut down to avoid traffic build up in the region.  They recommend taking the train to get near or taxi.