"Imagination creates reality" - Richard Wagner



This past Tuesday we took a day trip from Munich to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is sometimes referred to as the Disney castle. This is because it is rumoured to have inspired the design for the Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World, the same castle you see animated at the beginning of every Disney film you've ever seen. Whereas the Disney castle is more fantasy than real castle, though, this castle is the real deal. Isn't it?

It was surprising to see how close this castle already was to being a Disney fantasy, when it was being built only about 25 years before Walt's birth. The truth is, though it looks like a medieval castle, it was built between 1869 and 1886, around the same time as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eiffel Tower. The main purpose was not as the stronghold of knights but as a setting for the fantastical landscapes painted in the scores of the Romantic Opera composer, Richard Wagner. Each room actually had a theme related to an opera that King Ludwig II happened to like.

The fact that you could tell this building was designed with the tools of modern engineering gave a sense of uncomfortable perfection. Having visited many different castles and cathedrals all over Europe to date, the thing that impresses most is that they were built long before Newton set into motion the language of physics that would eventually explain why they didn't fall down. A castle where mystery is replaced by fantasy feels different.

These points, though, cannot totally diminish the qualities of the site. Without a doubt, the castle is beautiful, and its setting is truly imposing. The scenery in the Bavarian Alps that surround this hill-top citadel is stunning, with forested cliffs and cascading waterfalls. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day, actually, was hiking in the surrounding valleys, and occassionally catching a glimpse of the castle itself between the trees.

"We're not going to make our next train" - Monika

"Stop it." I said. Negativity could serve no purpose now.

Monika bounced from her heels to her toes in the cramped aisle by the exit. She exhaled purposefully, as if trying to compel her anxiety to trail along with the air rushing out of her. She flicked her head back towards the window of the door. Her torso, laden from the front with a bag containing the day's luggage and from the back with her main pack, followed suit slowly.

Our shortest transfer between trains along the Annecy - Munich stretch was only 10 minutes in Lyon. At this point in time, our arrival was at least 7 minutes late.

I looked out the door on my side of the aisle. I had to lean forward because the school bag slung across my chest was full, and it blocked my usual range of motion and visibility. It looked liked we were about to pull up to the station. On the other hand, I had thought the exact same thing about 4 minutes ago, and that had been a false alarm.

The appearance of the platforms and the squeel of the brakes confirmed it was no fake-out this time. "Ok, we've got two minutes." Monika was looking up from her watch.

The train came to a full stop. I tugged on the door clasp and said "let's go!"

We ran across the platform and down the nearest stairs. Onto a landing. Which way? Right. Down.

We were in the main hall of the station. Look up. Monitors. Ok, Strasbourg... Strasbourg... where was it?

"There it is! C!" Monika yelled. We started moving again immediately, instinctively. I caught a glimpse of the sign for our platform amongst the rafters.

The floor slapped both my palms before my knee connected. Most of my body now lay on the cold hard ground, but my feet were resting on soft canvas. As I rolled over and pushed myself up, I sighted the woman whose bag I had just tripped over. She held the leash by which her wheeled luggage was being pulled. Having been looking up, with my view obstructed by my own bag, I had totally missed hers.

"Desole" said the stunned woman, as I regained my feet. Response would be frivolous. Keep moving.

We ran to the sign we had found and bounded up the escalator, which was thankfully deserted. We arrived on our platform just to see our train already creeping along it...

Wait. There were people on the platform. They were standing and waiting, not leaving. The train was still creeping, not already creeping. It came to a stop and passengers started boarding. Thanks to the fact that our second train was a little late as well, we had made it.

"Do you think we'll get a chance to see Mont Blanc?" - Ilona, as we all stood looking at Mont Blanc





Friday's hike was particularly memorable. We drove to Chamonix, which is a very popular skiing and hiking hub in the French Alps. Chamonix is located at the base of a valley, of which the southern rigde contains Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe, towering at 4800 metres. Our hike was up the northern side of the valley, to a mountain-top refuge named Bel Lachat.




Doing a hike on the opposite side of the valley gave us breathtaking vistas of the high ridge during the entire walk. It was a reasonably tough hike, covering a change in elevation of 1200 metres to a height of 2138 m. But we had our walking sticks ready, and it was immensely enjoyable.

The photo on the right shows Monika and me standing in front of the high ridge, with Mont Blanc being the tallest point in the lineup. Thanks to the excellent weather and visibility we had, Ilona even got a chance to see it. Below is us on the balcony of the refuge, with the mountain Aiguille Verte in the background.

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." -
Ovid





Ever just need some time to relax? Have you ever actually been on vacation, and needed a vacation from your vacation? It was very convenient to have planned a week-long stay in Annecy, after our tiring cycling tour and then hectic visiting of England and Normandy.



Annecy was a perfect place to regroup and just spend some time enjoying ourselves. Aside from the hikes in the mountains, there has been tons of other fun stuff to do. Lac d'Annecy is awesome for pedal boating around, and it was even warm enough by the end of the week to go in for a dip.

The city itself also has a great lively atmosphere. Like in many European cities, you can spend hours just walking around, eating ice cream. While we were there they were also hosting an international animation festival, with free movies playing outside every night in the main park. We managed to catch one on the closing night, a pretty neat sci-fi comic-book style thriller.



Annecy was also all about food. One night we had a cheese dish called Raclette, which is a specialty of the area. Essentially it consists of a giant block of cheese melted over potatoes and smoked meats (You can see us at the table with the special cheese-melting device in the picture here). We had another speciatly cheese dish at a restaurant another night, known as Tartiflette. We've eaten sooo much cheese... Reblochon, Beaufort, Tomme, ... I tried keeping track of them all, but there was really no point in the end.