Bavarian Castles - Schloss Hohenschwangau

If you'd like to tour Schloss Hohenschwangau you must buy tickets in the town, (you can get tickets to Neuschwanstein at the same time) but you can walk inside the courtyard for free and take pictures of the outside. They don't allow photos inside either of the castles so we decided to save our money. The walk up to the castle was pretty easy but you can't leave that way. When you exit you must walk the long way down the hill (the horse and carriage route.) If you get lucky there might be a carriage dropping off people that you could pay to ride back down but I would highly suggest taking the walk. There is a nice area on the way down where you get a good view of Lake Alpsee or you can take a break on one of the benches and just soak up the scenery. Parking is available in the village for 5 Euro a day, you cannot drive your car up to the castles. Plan to do a lot of walking on your visit so where good walking shoes!

For more information check out the official website

Don't miss out on Austria

A week ago we got back from a retreat in Edelweiss and on the way there and back we drove through Austria. It was gorgeous! I'd never seen real mountains before. These are the Alps. (You know, the ones they crossed from Austria to Switzerland in the Sound of Music?) The roads twisted around the mountains and a crystal clear aqua blue stream of melted snow followed next to the road. If you go that route (you can get there without going through Austria) make sure you stop near the border and buy a vignette for 8 Euro (for 10 days) so you can drive on the autobahn. You don't want to get caught without one! 

Pennants...who knew?

I tried my hand at making one of these cute photo prop/decorations (actually I made two) this week and it was soooo easy! I cut the triangles out of felt, pinned them to a piece of ribbon and sewed them on. That's it. Really! I need to make a lot more of these. I think they look so cute in pictures. (Even though I made these for my friends baby shower, they will work double duty for me ;)

Foreign money

Do you have a problem when you go to the store to pay for something and have to sort through 4 different currencies to find the right money to pay for something? I finally decided to take everything but dollars and Euros our of my purse so it would be a little less confusing! (After all the Eis truck will take Euro or dollars but he wasn't too thrilled when I offered to pay with polish coins ha ha!)

Money from the Czech Republic

Backside

Czech coins

Coins from the Czech Republic ( What I got back in change) 

Polish Zloty

backside of the Polish Zloty

I had some paper money too but I spent it, hehe!

MUCH better! 

Köln, Germany

On the drive home from the Netherlands we decided to stop in Köln, Germany and spend the night.  This was definitely a GREAT last minute decision. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic and within walking distance of the Hohenzollern Bridge (the love lock bridge) and Dom Cathedral. I was lucky my husband had an extra lock along that we scratched out name into and left on the bridge. I have been wanting to do that for such a long time :) The city is so old and beautiful it reminded me a LOT of Paris.

Next to the cathedral is the Ludwig Museum and down the river a short ways was the "Schokoladenmuseum" (chocolate museum). Right outside the chocolate museum was an Easter Market!! My husband bought me a vintage suitcase to add to my collection and put a perfect ending on our vacation before heading home.