Our last day in Munich was actually spent, well, not in Munich. It was spent in Füssen. I had not heard of Füssen before Kun-Wei and I began planning our European adventure, but it soon became a major deciding factor when we were choosing between Munich and Berlin. Why did we care so much about Füssen?
One word:
Neuschwanstein.
Kun-Wei really REALLY wanted to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. And after a quick google image search, I did too. So, we got up bright and early to take a two hour train ride to visit the castle that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty and take an absurd number of pictures with my suddenly MIRACULOUSLY FUNCTIONING CAMERA. Sorry. I was really excited.
First picture of the day, Kun-Wei on a train!
We got to Füssen and decided to walk from the station to the castle. We passed this lovely round-about.
We passed cars. And buildings. And more cars.
Then we got into the crazy beautiful section of the trip. Kelsey's tip of the day: when you have the choice between walking and taking a bus or something, walk if you are capable and have the time. Seriously. We saw SO MANY beautiful things as we walked to the castle. We passed this lake that reminded me of Banff, Canada and Lake Louis. Apparently Kun-Wei fell into a Canadian lake once. That was a surprising tidbit of information. Nobody fell into a lake during this trip, so by that standard it was a smashing success. Also by every other conceivable standard.
More pretty lake!
Oooooooooooooh, it's a tunnel! I really liked the tunnel. Graffiti is actually pretty cool.
Spectacular landscapes!
Mountains!
Fields of green! 
Splotches of lavender flowers!
SO MUCH BEAUTY!
Magical stump or just a stump? Uh, dude, it's close to the flipping Disney castle. Magical stump.
Bubbling streams!
Moss covered rocks!
New friends!
Ok, I loved this snail. There were a weird number of snails on the road and even though they are kind of creepy and weird and slimy and I really don't like slimy things and I'm going to stop now, they were pretty cool. Look at its little antennae! Daaaaaaaaaaaaw.Now, the Neuschwanstein Castle was not the only castle around. There was also the Hohenschwangau Castle. I have heard/said (ok, attempted to say)/seen these names an almost indecent number of times and I still can't come even close to pronouncing or even remembering them. So if I am every recounting my adventures in person, please remember: New...errr...schanihoo is actually Neuschwanstein and Ho...ben?...schwag...aaaaaaaa is Hohenschwangau.
This is but a small sampling of the hundred thousand bajillion pictures that I have of these castles from that day. 
Seriously, there are a ton. Also, a lot of really beautiful view shots. This next one is on the way to Neuschwanstein. Kun-Wei told me fairy-tales during the long trek up the rather steep hill and it was WONDERFUL. She recounted "The Wild Swan" beautifully.
It is the Neuschwanstein Castle! Can you see Sleeping Beauty? Well, at least you can see where she'd be sleeping.
As cool as castles are I've realized that if I had to choose between a castle with no view or a hut with a typical castle view, I would definitely go with the hut. Seriously, can you imagine waking up to that? So much pretty!
Neuschwanstein Castle up close!
More close ups!
Ok, time for a quick history lesson. Neuschwanstein Castle was built for the Bavarian King Ludvig II and was inspired by the operas of Wagner. Construction of the castle began on September 5, 1869, but the castle was never completed. You see, Ludvig died in 1886 (under rather suspicious circumstances) and construction on the castle officially stopped in 1892 after a few parts were wrapped up. The king lived in his new castle for a total of 172 days. While he was residing at Neuschwanstein, King Ludvig II received news that he had been deposed due to alleged insanity. Not long after that the king and his psychiatrist were found dead in shallow water. Ludvig's death was officially ruled a suicide but there are quite a few questions still...The palace has only 15 or so completed rooms which is significantly less than the 200+ intended rooms. It was opened to the public almost immediately after the death of Ludvig II.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace (*grumble grumble*) so please please PLEASE google Neuschwanstein and look at pictures of the interior. Wikipedia has some nice ones. My jaw was slack the entire time we were wandering through the beautiful structure. Seriously, it was so opulent and, just, splendid. There were paintings depicting scenes from Wagner's operas, gold, other shiny things, etc. filling every room. Ludvig appears to have been a "more is more" kind of guy and it definitely shows.
Ok, more view now!
A bridge! A beautiful magic fridge. Excellent.
Gotta love snow-capped mountains. 
OH MY GOD, HOW IS THIS PLACE SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL?
Mountains and lakes and loveliness!
Me blocking the beauty. Sorry.
Ok, we couldn't take pictures during the tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle but I did manage to snap a picture of the GORGEOUS kitchen. Oh man, it's so nice. I want to cook in it. 
I'm sorry! I realize that there are an excessive number of pictures up here. There are a lot more on my computer. I got really excited about my camera working again...and it was kind of the perfect place for the camera to start working...
More mountains as seen from the castle!
And a model of the castle!
I just could not get enough of this castle!
So so so pretty! 
Uncompleted section of the castle!
Going away from the castle! Which would have been sad except that it afforded more lovely views!
We walked back.
While Neuschwanstein Castle was the uncompleted project of King Ludvig II, Hohenschwangau Castle was the same king's childhood home. It was built by Ludvig's father, King Maximilion II of Bavaria. It was built on the remains of a knight's fortress, first mentioned during the 12th century. It was the official summer and hunting house of the royal family and could not have a more beautiful/perfect location (in my opinion).
This castle had a cheeriness that I really appreciated. I think it's all the yellow. Yellow makes me happy. 
Ha ha, Neuschwanstein kept drawing our attention back. We'd manage to focus on something else briefly before BAM, it was obsessin' time.
We decided to see Hohenschwangau Castle because, well, we couldn't think of what else to do. This was a good decision.
They just don't make homes like they used to, do they? Where are my suits of armor? Hello?
Ok, everywhere you turned, there was one breathtaking view after another. 
And the sky was being all cooperative...
For such a simple garden, it was quite pretty.
I think those last couple of pictures spoke for themselves. Ok, I think most of these haven't really needed explaining/stupid captions but whatever. It's my blog. The next picture is of Füssen's May Pole! May Poles are a BIG deal in Bavaria. They represent a town and the things that are important to it (think, beer, lots and lots of references to beer). There is an absolutely delightful tradition in which rival towns steal each others May Poles and then hold the pole ransom until the stolen-from town throws the thieving down a great party! Isn't that wonderful? It ties together tradition and drinking and community and, well, shucks, it warms my heart. Sonja told us during our tour that a few years ago the Munich Airport's May Pole was stolen. When they called the police to report the theft, the police just laughed and laughed. Why? Because the bloody police had stolen it! Which meant that the airport had to buy the police force vast quantities of booze for a part-ay. Ummmmm, I love Germany. So. Much.
PONIES! There were horses and I wanted to go up and be friends with them and maybe steal one or two. But that did not happen. Unfortunately.
After seeing the Hohenschwangau Castle, Kun-Wei and I went back to Munich via train and had our last Munich meal at the Hofbräuhaus. It's Munich's most famous beer hall. We learned lots of disgusting facts about it during the tour (dudes at the beer house apparently used to just pee into troughs dug into the floors under the tables. They carried these walking-stick-like things to redirect...flow when it...threatened their personal hygiene. Ummm, I don't know how clear that description is but I don't think I want to make it any clearer so...use your imaginations. However, today there are proper bathrooms and the spätzle is delicious!
We had one last look at Marienplatz and then went to the train station where we took an overnight train to Vienna. It was very hard to leave Munich but Vienna was definitely more than capable of taking my mind off of what we had left behind. :)
Much love and cheers!
