(no subject)

[rimturse]

There was a change of plans, so instead of having people over for dinner, we all went on an excursion to Neuschwanstein in Germany. It was raining buckets, my trousers and jacket was wet for hours, and the castle itself was a disappointment. The company was good, though...AND on our way down from the castle we saw a small salamander sitting so still on the road that C thought it was made of plastic. I picked it up and put it in the grass on the other side of the road, accompanied by "Oh my god, she's going to touch it!", "Ewwww!", "Look she's rescuing it!", "Boy, you wouldn't have done that would you?" from passers-by. Clearly, we have different opinions on what is dangerous or icky. This little fellow was sooooooo cute. It looked a bit like this salamander found on the net(edit had to change the pic as the first one did not allow linking to their pictures. Imagine this one, but much cuter - just big enough for the whole animal to fit in the palm of your hand). A little later, while taking a path through the forest, we saw it's big brother/sister, so apparently they were quite common there.

Next highlight was when we went for dinner and a saw a slow-worm by the door, which was rescued out of the restaurant by the boys. Third and final highlight was seeing a fox on the drive home. I swear that area was a biologist's dream.



pack orders
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Dragon sketch
(packed beads in the evening)

Comments

[navicat.livejournal.com]

Eee! Cute :) Was your one as bright as that? Such a lovely colour. Go you for saving the poor thing!

[frigg.livejournal.com]

No, mine was all black, but still cute! :)

[navicat.livejournal.com]

Ooo...black would be a good colour too :)

By an amazing coincidence...

[absinthe-dot-ca.livejournal.com]

You have no idea who I am, but I was also at Neuschwanstein in the rain yesterday, and saw the same little salamander (I presume it was the same one - a little black one that looked like it was made of plastic). Anyway, I have a picture of it - if you're interested I could e-mail it to you or something. Cheers!

Re: By an amazing coincidence...

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Ohhh that is so cool! Perhaps we saw each other there. Were you on the English guided tour that started at 16:15?

Oh and I'd love a picture of the salamander! My e-mail is maylini @ hotmail.com (remove the spaces around the @)

Re: By an amazing coincidence...

[absinthe-dot-ca.livejournal.com]

We probably passed each other on the path - I was on an earlier tour at 13:45, so I was likely headed down when you were headed up. Anyway, I just mailed the picture to you - enjoy!

Re: By an amazing coincidence...

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Got it, thanks! I was kicking myself for not having brought my camera.

The one I saw was smaller, I think, but this one is also very cute. Yes, we headed up around 15:00 - 15:30.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

OK, I have to ask because I've always wanted to visit it. What was disappointing about Neuschwanstein? Didn't they let you see much inside?

I'm not being snarky either because I know what you mean about disappointing. I thought Stonehenge was slightly disappointing too (just slightly) because it wasn't quite as big as I'd pictured and we couldn't get any closer than 120 feet all around it.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it was because my expectations were too high. I've been to quite a few European castles and I've always heard that Neuschwanstein was the one to top them all. The area itself was beautiful and while walking up you do get a few good views of the castle, but the view that you always see on the photos? The full frontal view? It's not possible to see the castle like that unless you sit in a helicopter, I think.

The castle was apparently never completed and we got to see just the bits that were finished. There were some servants' quarters, the kings bedroom, dressing room and sitting rooms (all very small), an artificial cave, a ball room, a theathre and a kitchen. It sounds like a lot when I list it here, but it didn't take very long for the walkthrough. I suspect we migh have seen just...hmmm 10-15% of the castle. The souvenier shops took up at least as much space as the show rooms. And of course the castle isn't that old and quite kitsch.

In the end I felt a bit cheated. It was quite a distance from the parking lot to the ticket sales (parking lot 4 euro, 20 cents to use the bathroom). Ticket w. guided tour (9 euro per person). It was raining buckets and we were advised by the ticket salesman to take a horse carriage to the castle as it was a steep walk that would take around 30 mins. So we did. We waited 30 minutes for a carriage (5 euro per person), then it was still a 5-10 mins walk to the castle, and then we had to wait 10 mins outside the castle for our tour to begin. The tour lasted 20 mins (about half of this time was spent walking up and down stairs) with the guide stopping 3-4 times for a small information speech. All in all it was a great hassle (and a bit expensive as well) for something not that impressive.

Most other castles have more to offer and are easier to access not to mention somewhat cheaper to visit.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Awww, that would be disappointing. I thought there would have been more to see inside. I didn't realize that it was so unfinished.

Did the literature tell what King Ludvig intended to do or show what the floorplans looked like? I always wanted a good set of floorplans for that castle. :-)

[frigg.livejournal.com]

There was a miniature version of the castle to look at, but I didn't see any floorplans - that's not to say that they don't exsist, though. :)