Allison Abroad: Day 5 - Munich, Germany

Today we went to Neuschwanstein Castle, walked through the edge of the Alps, went on a bike tour through a small German town at the base of the mountains, went swimming in an alpine lake, and went down a alpine slide. Neushwanstein Castle is beautiful and the inside is very opulent - which is ironic because Ludwig II only lived there for 117 days before dying of mysterious circumstances, despite spending 17 years building it. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside. The castle remains unfinished, as Ludwig died before it was completed. The castle is up a pretty steep incline but the view from the top is well worth it. Mary's Bridge stretch across a ravine and gives a beautiful view.

Neuschwanstein Castle

View from outside Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein Castle from Mary's Bridge

View from balcony of Neuschwanstein

Front of Neuschwanstein

We then walked along several trails (where there were a lot of cows) to get to the location where our bike tour started. Luckily the rain cleared up along the way. The bike tour through the small town was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. The houses were so picturesque with green fields and the mountains in the background. We could even see Neuschwanstein from the paths. We biked down to Swan Lake which is an alpine lake. The water was pretty cold but it was really refreshing. The lake was surrounded by the Alps. Afterwards we biked back and went down the Alpine slide. This was definitely my favorite day of the trip.