Last Stop, Denmark.

Today was kind of our last day of vacation. We drove from Germany all the way to Denmark, and now we’re staying in a lovely four star hotel. The drive was a pain. I tried to sleep through the whole drive, but I just couldn’t. I was basically in the stage where you’re half awake and half sleeping, not knowing if you should be awake or not. The drive was so boring because there was nothing to see or do. Germany was flat and filled with trees, while Denmark was totally flat. There were no trees in sight.

All I did in the car was read and make some poems. I was inspired by the weather to make this one:

Once we drove up to the hotel, I was amazed. The hotel’s white buildings were very nice and well-kept. We walked into the reception and were stunned by the design. Everything was new and modern, which differentiates from almost all the hotels we’ve been to. My sister and I decided to explore the hotel, finding foosball tables, a Wii set, a billiard, an upgraded gym, a table tennis table, and a dart board. We played everything, and I’m telling you that our foosball tournament was very intense. Sadly, I lost and she claimed the victory. Though, I did get back at her in table tennis (on the Wii). 🙂

The rest of the day was spent driving in the city of Horsens and relaxing in our hotel rooms. When we were in the city, we went to go get something to eat. We walked back to the car, only to find a parking ticket hanging from the window shield. What happened here? Well, we were fined because we didn’t have a clock in our car. Yes, a clock. Apparently, in Denmark everyone needs a clock in their car to show how long they’ve been parked. The fines are huge, so if you’re driving in Denmark, buy a clock! You can get them in any gas station. We were fined a whole 600 kr (88 dollars!)

Anyway, I can’t wait to get back home. I’ve only been gone for two weeks, but I miss my house and my pets. Even though Norway has the worst summer weather right now, I can’t wait to go back.

Disney Castle Adventure

I started my morning with a typical Austrian/German breakfast: an open-faced sandwich with boiled eggs. I was surprised when I struck my knife against the egg’s shell and found that the yoke was hard, but the white part was runny. Yuk! I quickly gave it to my dad. Poor him, he had to suffer eating that weird egg. It still puzzles me how that could even happen… How can the yoke be hard and cooked all the way through when the white part is runny?

Anyway, our first stop today was at Hohenschwangau Castle outside the city of Füssen, Germany. The castle was a very light shade of yellow with gardens that surrounded its perimeter. The castle stood on top of a mountain, and it was right next to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for the Walt Disney castle). The place was filled with tourists from all over the world. I was literally suffocating from all the different people. They were from every corner of the world: China, Sweden, Germany, Austria, USA, Spain, the Netherlands etc. Just to think that so many people from different places came to see the castles was just amazing. Though, in my opinion, it was so cliché to go to a place like this during our vacation. It’s a place where everyone goes to visit and it just ends up being too much. Too many people, too much waiting, and too much walking around. The place I went to yesterday was so much better because there wasn’t a lot of people. It was a special little place that people wouldn’t think of visiting. I actually thought that the ruins I saw yesterday were better and more interesting than the castles. You can read more about it here.

Even though I was quite disappointed of all the people, I was impressed by the castles. The first one we went to, Hohenschwangau Castle, is a less popular castle, but it was very nice. It was built by King Maximillian II of Bavaria in the 19th century. I thought it was beautiful with its highly decorated rooms of exotic themes. One room had the theme of the country Turkey, another had a starry sky painted on the ceiling, and another room was made for the interests of the King’s son, Ludwig. The rooms were very elaborate and eye-catching. I sadly wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside because of copyright issues, but I do have pictures of the outside of the castle.

The view from the castle

Our next stop was Neuschwanstein Castle, which was higher up on the mountain. My family and I were freaking out because we thought that we only had 30 minutes to make it to our guided tour. My sister and I were basically speed walking up the mountain. We were kind of disappointed because we wanted to ride the horse-pulled carriage, but the line was way too long. Once we were almost to the top, my dad checked the times for our tickets, and we had a whole hour left… Well, my sister and I got some good exercise.

When I first saw the castle, I was stunned. It looked magnificent with its white façade an its beautiful view of Southern Germany. It really did remind me of the Walt Disney castle. I took like a million pictures, but here are just a few.

The back of the entrance

The entrance

The view

The castle was built and owned by the son of King Maximillian II. His son, King Ludwig II, was crowned at the early age of 18 1/2 years, soon after his father died. King Ludwig was known as “the king of fairytales”.  People say that he was crazy, but I have different opinions. After my reflection of the castle and its interior, I believe that he was depressed and lonely. I think that he was not fully accepted in his time period, which led to the fact that he wasn’t able to live his life in the same way we do today. Back in the day, a psychiatrist declared him crazy/insane without even meeting him to diagnose him properly. I find it strange that people found them both dead in a lake three years later. Today, the incident still remains a mystery.

After a long day walking around, bumping into people, and trying to find my way around Austria, I’m existed and ready for a good nights sleep.

Last evening in Austria. Colmar, here we come! To my followers, any suggestions of what to do in Colmar?

Exploring Germany

We spent a whole 6 and a half hours driving, all cramped in the same car. Let’s just say that I want to avoid any sitting areas as long as possible. It’s so cramped and uncomfortable to be in a car so long. There’s also not much to do, only read, play on your phone, or look outside. I actually wrote some poems on my phone. They aren’t any good, but I thought it was fun and I could pass the time. Here’s one of them:

“Lost in Germany”

Houses and buildings

Squares, rectangles, triangles

Brown, red, yellow

Streetlights are mellow

People stop and go

Wandering around and standing still

Sitting down and drinking beer

Sharing laughs and bits of cheer

They pass by in a blur

Colors and shapes mix together

We wave our hands and speed forward

We look ahead and continue onward

Fast beats pound in our chests

Gravity pulls us back

But we don’t stop

The meter is on its top

Once blue and clear

Is now gray and white

Bullets fall from above

No sign of a single dove…

We’re propelled forward

The banging becomes lighter

The grays and whites clear

The sky above is suddenly near

That was basically my impression of Germany. Though, I seriously did kind of freak out on the freeways. There were cars that drove so fast that it felt like we weren’t even moving, and we were going 93 mph (150 kph)! Sometimes, it would rain so hard that we couldn’t even see through the window. The rain was pouring down and we were going so fast, so the drops pounded on the window. It was also scary when we had to drive right next to huge trucks. I swear, they could’ve tilted over and fallen on us. Thankfully, nothing like that happened.

Rain

Most of the day was spent on the road, but we finally reached our destination. Once we got there, we found our room and explored the town. We were starving because we didn’t have food for hours. So what did we do? We went to the nearest Pizza Hut. The pizzas were good and they reminded me of America, but the highlight of the dinner was what my dad said. He was just looking at my sister’s face, and he said to her that it looked like she was bit by something. She was surprised and pulled out her phone to look at it. Then my dad said, “Does your phone have a mirror app?” And I just burst out in laughter. You don’t need a mirror app. You can switch the camera, so you can take a picture of yourself. My dad just doesn’t think sometimes…

We walked around the city, and I took some cool pictures

River

Old architecture

Neumunster

Alte Mainbrucke – A bridge erected from 1473 to 1543 in place of an old Romanesque bridge. Characteristic statues of the Saints were added around 1730

2 Countries in 1 Day

Today, I literally had to wake up at 2 in the morning. The reason was because we had to drive all the way down to southern Norway to take a ferry to Denmark. The ferry left at 7, and we had to make sure to arrive there on time. The ferry took us over some pretty huge waves. The boat just wouldn’t stop rocking. Because of this, there were children throwing up everywhere. It was gross, but also sad because the children were miserable. The vomit wouldn’t stop coming from their throats and the tears just kept on running from their eyes. Poor kids…

Well, I had a much better experience than them. I thought the waves where comforting and they made me sleepy. I was also fascinated, because I’ve never been on such a big ferry. While the ferry sailed over 34 knots (39 mph, 63 kph), I balanced my way up a flight of stairs and went on the deck. Wind blew my hair everywhere while I was trying to look across the ocean’s horizon. The wind was both chilling and refreshing.

After about 2 hours, we reached our destination. The first thing I noticed about Denmark was that it’s very flat. There wasn’t even one mountain in sight. Everything was flat for miles, and all I could see of civilization were a few barns. Though, we only made two stops, and they were both at gas stations. So, we didn’t really get to experience the “true” Denmark, since we didn’t go in any of the concentrated cities. Sorry, Denmark! I’ll get back to you later. The focus of the day was to drive all the way down to Germany.

It was a very unique experience crossing over the border line of Denmark and Germany. We had our passports all ready, and we were expecting to be stopped by border control, but there was no border control. I guess my family and I are still too American 🙂 haha. It was really cool when we crossed because on Denmark’s side, there were the four Scandinavian flags: Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. While on Germany’s side, there were three flags. I only saw the Germany flag, I didn’t catch what the other two where. I just thought that was really cool. I also tried to take some nice pictures of it.

All I can tell you is that when we crossed the border, it was like we were in a totally different world. All of a sudden, there were buildings all over the place with trees filling in all the gaps. There were roads, churches, houses, boats, and people were actually walking on the streets. In Denmark, we basically drove across the country in a matter of hours on a freeway, so we didn’t get to see much.

Since we came too early to check into the hotel, we parked our car and had our first German meal at a restaurant around the corner. My family and I were definitely rocking the tourist world with our baggy pants and our backpacks slung over our backs. Thankfully, we didn’t get lost, but instead found our way to the restaurant. We were greeted by a friendly German gentleman, who spoke English. We took our spots and found the menus on the table, but they were all in German! We survived though because our server gave us English menus. I just think it’s so cool because German and Norwegian have some similarities. which I find fascinating.

My amazing sister and my awesome dad 🙂

We read through our menus, and I knew exactly what to get: a schnitzel. I’ve never tried a schnitzel before, and I was definitely ready to try it today. I took a bite, and it was pretty good. It kind of reminded me of chicken covered with bread crumbs, but the schnitzel was just a little more chewy than that.

Schnitzel with potatoes and vegetables

After the delicious meal, we made it back to the hotel and checked in without any problems. It was finally nice to just relax for once. We’ve literally been on the move since 2 a.m. Now it’s time to gain some sleep while listening to the cars drive by and police sirens screech outside our window.