Captains log 15/07/13 fairy tale time! Ok so we planned to take a trip to the royal palaces of Munich and Barvian Germany. We get up at at 630, slightly cloudy after the beer hall and have breakfast! The selection at the art hotel is amazing. They have anything and everything. I'm not feeling great so I just had some strawberry yoghurt why Bella had some fruit and a touch of bacon. And we head off finding our coach. Yay back on a bus again. Unfourtantly we were sat behind some strange American family that was clearly having domestics so that was a touch awkward but oh well, we have grown to dislike Americans more then normal after doing these tours, they are truly stupid people :)! We drive for about two hours before we get to a large hill and drive up, getting a quick history lesson from our tour guide, and trying to take in the vast and lovely country side. The palaces we are going too were owned and built by Ludwig II. The king of Barvira during 1860-1888 when he's father sudden died and he become king at just 17. This was a bad thing because Ludwig had never been groomed to be king because he was still quite young and also because he was a very shy and nervous person. The palace is in the most random area and is where he spent most of his reign there. It's hidden between a mountain, Forrest and a very small village. The palace is seriously smaller then my house although its covered head to toe in 23 caret gold leaf!! Sadly you can't take photos in the house so we don't have any happy snaps :( but take my world for it, it screams money! The whole palace is done in a strange French style, and Ludwig love French royals as well as how they ruled and lived. He has pictures of Louis the 14th and other rulers all over and also speaks in fluent French. There's 6 main rooms in the house, the music room, two meeting room, master bed room, dinning room and room of mirrors. It's so well kept Although it is only 130 years old. I do believe he is a strange man just from the things he had collected and how his palaces were set out. He collected porcelain vases and had 140 in the palace in all different sharps and sizes, he also collected porcelain swans ( it was his family's animal). Each room is decorated in certain theme, as I said before all French styled, and unlike most royals he didn't have any pictures or references to himself. The dining room was the most interesting to me, because he had a large square table on a lift system so his servants could make his dinner and lift it up to him ready to eat and he wouldn't need to speak to anyone or interact with anyone. It is also something to note that he had "dinner" parties there and the servants had to set and make food for 4 guests. His guests were royals from his family that had died 100 years before him... When I said he was a little strange I mean it. His bedroom was cool, it was set in the very traditional French style in which people were ment to be there to watch him sleep and watch him wake up, although he never had anyone stay there, he never slept in this bed. Instead in liked to sleep on this small 3 foot lounge in the room of mirrors. The whole room is wood carving and large mirrors, it's kinda creepy. To think he slept in there on a lounge half his size makes me so confused but hey it's good to be the king!! Our guided tour finished and we went outside, it's there we saw the amazing waterfall he had out looking his bedroom window! I'll put up a photo but it doesn't do it justice!! It was a huge staircase like set up with just constantly flowing water! Amazing! Anyway we headed back to the bus and went on driving for the main event! The Cinderella castle! However we stopped in a small village on the way. Nothing much just a bit of tourist shopping and an icecream! Over 50% of the village are skilled wood cravers! So there was some amazing pieces in there! We would have brought some but not sure we could bring them back so we didn't :(. Back on the bus, and we had just over an hour to the castle. I had a small nap but Bella listened to the semi history lesson! When we got there it is truly amazing and it sits on a hill by itself! It's so cool. This was our chance to stop for lunch, the town is so busy having up to 8000 people at day visit, so it's pumping. We're told you have to wait for hours if you don't go on a guided tour. We have two hours before our tour starts, and we settle down for a local beer and a lovely bratwurst. Finally some good German sausage! And lovely creamy mash! It was so good :)! We started the dreadful task of walking 45 minutes up a constant hill to get to the tower. It's a nice walk because of the thick bush that surrounds it, but it's hot and exhusting. However we get up there and still have just under an hour to the tour starts so I force Bella to go to the waterfall and the bridge! Which is where we got the amazing photo of the castle. It's a painful walk and climb around but the views are so good! Although we will be paying for it tomorrow! Feel the burn! We meet at the front and wait for our tour to begin. It's a good system so it moves quickly! We get inside and again it looks kinda newish. It's a shame only 1/3 of the rooms got completed. If I can set the scene for you, the castle is completely oppersite to his parents castle, and as a boy it was medieval ruins and it always inspired him to recreate a medieval theme. So he had it rebuilt, it took 17 years and never was finished. he had lots of money troubles and its easy to see way. For example in one room alone the music hall he had 7 painters working day and night. Ok about the castle, the first room we go into is the throne room. It's a giant room covered in pictures of Jesus and the apostles, a giant crown sharpe candler depicting the king between heaven and earth. The next room we went into was his bedroom, I should say that every room was themed after a story he liked, I can't remember them all but the best example was the search for the holy grail. His bedroom was completely wood cravings and was amazing, apparently it took the cravers over 5 years just for the bedroom alone. He had a private chapel in his room as well because he was a very religious man. The main piece in this room was the wash area. He had it set up so he would get fresh running water from the waterfall directly come out of a large swans head, pretty cool. He also had a artificial grotto made that again used water from the waterfall. I should note he had some of the first battery's ever invented and one of the first telephones, with two lines! One to his mums, one to the post office. He also had a central heating system in which the heat from the kitchen would travel though pipes and into large living areas so no need to have big ugly fire places. It's a shame that in the 17 years it was being built he only lived in it 170 days before he died. He was arrested for insanity, and died the next day. No one knows what happened but there is 18 different accounts on how it happened. Our tour finished and we headed back to the coahjch! This time going down hill :) we left and started the long drive back, we were exhausted so slept most of the way back. As we got into Munich we had a quick history lesson on it and then the tour was finished. Feeling very hungry we headed to our little Mexican place around the corner from the hotel and had 2 giant burgers!!! 400g of meat and packed with jaoppenos! It was awesome but top big for me! But not for Bella she smashed it. Feeling very tired and awaiting a food coma we headed off for an early night! Fairy tale over!! Scotland tomorrow!!