Europe
As promised and hoped for, I have finally uploaded my video (albeit quite condensed) of my October 2008 River Cruise along the Rhine and Moselle rivers as well as an independent tour of the Bavarian region of Germany.
Needless to say my video does not do this region justice, and I know now that I need lots of practice! But, I did capture some interesting footage, and the photos I am including in this article are much better!
So I hope everyone enjoys my YouTube debut!
It has been just less than a year since I visited Europe and I already miss traveling to this region of the world. European architecture is just amazing – I mostly like the fact that each town has a town center and everything is within a short bike ride, bus ride, or walk to stores, museums, parks, cafes, medical facilities, churches etc.
In Europe you see wide open spaces between towns, you don’t see urban sprawl unless you are visiting a large metropolitan city.
The fascinating regions I visited are steeped in history, and come to life when you go on the included tours offered with river cruising.
The 40 miles of river from Bingen to Koblenz are designated an UNESCO world heritage site as they contain more castles than any other river region in the world.
These feudal (Berg) castles date back to the Middle Ages and their simple purpose was to protect the lands from marauders and predatory neighbors, thus you will find these castles straddling the mountain side on river bends. In our minds they conjure romantic ideals, however their sole purpose was to protect the feudal landlord who employed, without compassion or consent, laborers whose back breaking job was to create these stone masterpieces.
It is interesting to note that the Rhine valley during the Middle Ages was of strategic importance for the Roman Empire as it was a main thoroughfare for merchants and trade.
And if you were a feudal ruler you could control the river, which was a powerful position indeed, since you could levy tariffs on merchants passing through.
The feudal Berg castles served a completely different purpose than the Schloss castles – the former was more of a military compound and the later was more of an elegant and pompous display of wealth.
The most famous of all Schloss castles in Germany is Neuchwanstein, which Disney replicated in Disneyland as Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
To stay in this town and have the castle visible from your balcony, as my sister and I did, was just magical. We visited many of King Ludwig’s opulent endeavors and all were just magnificent.
Hohenswangau, was Mad King Ludwig’s childhood summer home. From his bedroom window the crown prince could view the building of his dream home Neuchwanstein, the ultimate fairy tale castle.
From here we went through Oberammergau (where the Passion Play will be performed in 2010) and went to Schloss Linderhof, which was my absolute favorite castle. The castle itself is quite small but the attention to detail is just magnificent. The beautiful trails that meander throughout the gardens and surrounding forest are peaceful. The fountains are unbelievable as is the Grotto King Ludwig had built.
From here we went to Herrenchiemsee which is located on an island and looks a lot like the Palace of Versailles. In fact, King Ludwig built this castle as a dedication to Louis the Fourteenth (the Sun King), who was Ludwig’s idol. This castle was never finished and the most interesting aspect of a visit is the chance to see a castle in “construction” phase – so you can actually see how they build the walls etc.
Finally in Munich we did visit the Residenz Museum which was once the private residence for the Wittelsbachs, who ruled Bavaria for more than 700 years!
For more information on this truly fascinating region don’t hesitate to contact me, this was a dream vacation for me and I am happy I could share it with everyone!
Joyce Craddock
jc@incrediblejourney.net
888-729-6899
