And so the adventure continues! Before I start off with this blog entry, let me just warn you... it's going to be a really long one with tons and tons of pictures. And who do I do all this for? For YOUUU. Awww...okay shush.
So, the previous day Sondra and I visited Heidelberg and Frankfurt. Two very beautiful cities in Germany.

So the next day, all of us were to assemble at the hotel lobby at around 9am to board the coach. It was an exciting day as all of us were going to embark on a journey to view one of the most famous and romantic castles in Europe - The Neuschwanstein Castle. Okay I know it probably sounds like a mouthful because it's in German. I know, I had a hard time pronouncing alot of the words when I was in Germany. Hahaha.

So anyway, Sondra and I both received our morning call at around 7am by one of hotel staff. Now I know why Sondra sneakily picked the bed that was not beside the phone. Blah... so yeah... every morning I'm the one who has to be awoken by the extremely loud ringing. Boo you Sondra! >:( So, the first night spent was so awesome. I don't think I've ever loved sleep that much. I've always been the sort who hated sleeping because I honestly feel that sleeping is just a waste of life. I mean, there's so much more to life than just snoozing away, right? But of course, after our extremely long long longgg day(and having to endure 24 hours plus plus of no sleep), sleep was very much needed. The both of us sure did sleep like little babies. If there's one thing I absolutely love about hotels is the fact that the beds are always super comfy! hehe, mega loveeee.

So yeah, when morning came, the first thing I did was to open our extremely large window to smell the fresh air! It's always really cold in the morning. I'd say probably around... 10-15 degrees? Definitely not lower than that because it was Spring when we flew to Germany. But still... comparing that temperature to the temperature that we poor Singaporeans have to endure here every single day, I'd say even if it was 20-25 degrees, I'd still love it so much more than the 30-40 degrees temperature we have here. So yes, indeed it was extremely refreshing to be able to experience such nice weather! :D

And guess what else I saw when I looked out the window? Definitely a sight that you'd NEVER see in Singapore. And I can guarantee that.



Look at the picture carefully. What do you see?!
Yup. That's right! 2 people riding their horses early in the morning. Honestly made me wonder... is that how they get around in Stuttgart? (Oh yeah, my hotel was located in Stuttgart. Hehe).
Super cool right? Hahaha.

So after getting ready and such, Sondra and I headed to the hotel restaurant to enjoy our a scrumptious hotel buffet breakfast! As we were short of time, we had to pretty much rush through it because the both of us took a really long time to get ready... Oh well.. what can you expect? Girls... :P



So this is pretty much what I have every morning. I know right..you're probably thinking. What in the world... it's a freaking buffet and this is all I'm having?! Well... I guess I also missed out the part that sucks the most. They had alot of sausages, ham, bacon and all..just that.. you know... I CAN'T EAT IT. :P So yeah... but it didn't matter because the eggs were honestly enough for me. They're the best scrambled eggs that I've ever had in my life and that's not even me trying to exaggerate. I honestly really mean it! Oh... what I'd do... to taste them eggs again... sigh..

So basically what I had was scrambled eggs, baked beans and french toast.



And this is what Sondra had! :) Eggs, bacons, beans, sausages!



So after a hearty breakfast, it was time to begin our journey! We boarded the bus and off we went!~ yayyy, so exciting. hehe. The sucky thing about living in such a big country though, I must say is that it takes really long to get from one place to another. Here, in Singapore, we already complain about a 30 minute train or bus ride. When I was in Germany, every day Sondra and I had to endure long bus rides. And I don't mean 1 hour. I'm talking about a 3 hour bus ride. So yeah, it can get kinda annoying but I guess that's something that everyone who goes to Europe is going to have to endure la, even if you take the public transport I guess. :) Sadly, we didn't get a chance to because we took the coach.





The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round~



Don't know why I was soooooo 'suay'(unlucky), but my nails chipped off. 2 nails! :(

So after a long bus ride, we made a short pit stop at a local petrol station. Got off the bus and boy was it freezing!



My outfit of the day! :)









The breathtaking scenery. I don't think I've smelt air so fresh before.





so purdyy. x)



So after about a 15-20 minute pit stop, it was time to board the bus again to continue our journey!



Bought Pringles to munch on during the bus ride. Cheese and Onion! Do they have this flavour in Singapore because it was absolutely delicious.



And bought a bottle of Evian water! :)





Oh did I tell you guys that to use roaming in Europe is extremely expensive?! No?! Okay let me tell you okay. So on about 2 separate occasions, I used roaming outside the hotel lobby. Okay thank god for free wifi in our hotel's lobby. But because of how inpatient I was, I decided to instagram and tweet when I was in the bus. Also, I even sent a picture to my dad from Germany with the Roaming turned on. Little did I know, I received a text message later saying that my data roaming usafe is $100.00 ! Just for doing those 3 things!!!? Crazy right? I know. So please, don't use data roaming in Europe unless you really really need to.I've learnt my lesson for sure! :P





So pretty huh?



Kinda felt that my Ray bans didn't really suit my outfit and so I changed to this brandless sunnies. Hahaha.



Do you see what I see? :O



Oh yes ... a mountain with.. with.. with... SNOW?!?! FO REAL?!





YUP! FO REAL! HOW AWESOME RIGHT?! Even though I never got to touch it, it was still surreal being able to see snow for the first time in my life. And REAL SNOW at that. :') *tears of joy*



breathtaking scenery.





Getting closer and closer to the mountain...





TADAH!!! ISN'T THAT JUST SO BEAUTIFUL?





It sucks that I had to take a photo from inside the bus. :( Would've been awesome if we were let off the bus to snap a few shots. Oh well.. Also if you realize, the pictures above look a little blue/dull. That's because the windows on the bus are tinted too. :(



HO...MA...GAWD....



:') *cries somemore*











The most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes upon. Without a doubt. Don't think anything is ever going to top this.



So after the bus ride, we finally reached our destination! :)



Saw this from inside the bus! My friend Nadiah kinda told me that at the Neushwanstein castle, they actually provide horse carriage rides all the way to the castle itself! But... because I was following a tour group, Sondra and I didn't get a chance to take the carriage ride. Instead... we got there by bus and then feet. :P blah... sometimes following a tour group can be pretty sucky because you don't really have the liberty to do whatever you want.



This is another castle. This one is called the 'Hohenschwangau Castle'. Noooooo idea how to pronounce this one. We didn't get to go into this one because I don't think it's open to the public.

Here's some information about the castle(if you're interested):

"Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschuangau (lit: High Swan County Palace) is a 19th century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria.

Hohenschwangau Castle was built on the remains of the fortress Schuangau, which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th century. A family of knights was responsible for the construction of the medieval fortress, and it served as the seat of the local government of Schwangau. In 1523, the schloss was described as having walls which were too thin to be useful for defensive purposes. After the demise of the knights in the 16th century the fortress changed hands several times. The decay of the fortress continued until it finally fell into ruins at the beginning of the 19th century".

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenschwangau_Castle)

Kinda pitied the horses though.... I mean it must be really exhausting to be one of those horses. Every day, all they day is pretty much the same old thing... and it must be really tiring as well. :(


After we got off the bus, we were given around an hour to get a quick snack before resuming the day's activity. Because the Neushwanstein castle was a very famous tourist spot in Germany, most of the restaurants were pretty crowded and so we settled for this small cafe and just had cheesecake! :)



Raspberry cheesecake.




Lemon cheesecake. :)



yummy yummy.



Didn't keep us full for sure, but it did help to ease the growling tummy for abit.



Thank God for our Pringles! hehe





Because winter was the season before Spring, the leaves on most of the trees were gone and were only just starting to grow back.



They had tons of pretty buildings there. I felt like I was in a fairytale. Like, every building I saw just looked so pretty and disney-like for some strange reason. If that even makes sense.... :B









After that, Sondra, myself and the rest of the tour group assembled at the agreed meeting point,and waited for a bus to take us up the hill to the castle.







2 other bestfriends in our tour group.



And so the bus came...





Our ticket! :D



So after the bus ride, there was still plenty of walking to be done. It didn't help that I was wearing boots with a slight heel to it. :(





Walking... walking... walking...






Stopped for a second to take a picture of the landscape! :D



Can you spot the castle? Sadly, certain parts of the castle was under renovation...







By the time I reached here,I was practically dying. Hahaha



Yayyy, finally reached the castle!!













It was beautiful.... just like how it was in pictures! So... for your information... here's some information about the castle that you might be interested to know! :)

"The Neuschwanstein castle was built by King Ludwig and enticed more than 1.3 million visitors annually with its fame as the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beaupy Castle. The castle was built in 1868 high above his father's Hohenschwangau Castle in the area he knew so well, and was never actually completed. It was his monument to the culture and kingship of the Middle Ages, which he venerated and wanted to recreate.

Designed in a medieval style but equipped with the latest technology of the day, it is one of the most famous buildings in the world and a central symbol of German idealism. The interior features picture cycles from old Norse and chivalric legends. The Singers' Hall is based on two halls in the Wartburg, and the Throne Hall, which celebrates power and authority, was inspired by Byzantine and early Christian churches' ".

Yeah I took off my coat because it's usually warmer in the afternoons. :)























Tour group briefing!















Because we were unable to snap photos when we were inside the castle, here are some pictures that I found off the internet! :) Most of which are paintings, but amazingly, they look exactly the same even in real life. :)





The Dining Room.

The pictures in the dining room show details of the life at the Wartburg castle at the time of the legendary singer's contest(about 1207). Richard Wagner has chosen this theme together with the Thannhaeuser saga as subject of one of his most beautiful operas.

The centre-piece of the table is a present by Munich artists to King Ludwig II. The sculpture of gilded bronze shows Siegfried fighting the dragon. The base of the table decoration is polished marble of Carrara. The total weight of the centre-piece is about 275 pounds.








The Throne Hall!

Stairs of Carrara marble lead up to the apse where a throne of gold and ivory should have found its place. But this project was never realized because after the Kind's death, all work planned but not yet begun was cancelled.



The King's bedroom.

The room built in neogothic style shows the richest oakwood-carvings, especially on the canopy of the bed, on the washstand, on the reading chair and on the centre-pillar. Fourteen sculptors worked 4 and a half years to complete this room.



The Dressing Room.

The dressing room is the only room of the Kind's apartments without a wooden ceiling. The paintings on the ceiling-in form of an unsheltered arbour- and the pictures on the wall are works by Eduard Ille, a pupil of Moritz von Scwind.



The Singer's Hall.

The Wartburg castle in Thuringia was the model especially for the singer's hall. The paintings in the hall itself and around the listeners' gallery show details of the Parzifal saga, the subject or Richard Wagner's most important opera. During the life of Ludwig II, the hall was never used. Only in 1933 festive cincerts were arranged on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Richard Wagner's death. During these concerts, the hall was illuminated by the light of more than 600 candles.



The living room.

The living room comprises the big parlour and divided by columns, a smaller siting corner, the so-called swan corner. The motifs of the wall-paintings represent the Lohengrin saga which inspired Richard Wagner to compose his opera.

The doors of the big romanesque-style bookcase are decorated with painting showing scenes from the tales of Tristan and Isolde, Parzifal and Siegried. The candlestick,made of gilded brass carried 48 candles.



How the castle looks like from far.





How the castle looks like during winter! :)

The tour was definitely a memorable experience. One that I'll always remember because you know, it's not everyday you get to enter a real castle!
Of course there are more rooms, but these are some of the main ones in the castle! I wish I could fill you in on more details on the history,the architecture etc that goes into every room but then... that'd be a book long and I don't think everyone would be interested to know now would they? Hahah, as for me, I am because I've always been fond of learning about the history, culture, architecture and things like that.











The waterfall flowing from in between the rocks!



The souvenir shop in the castle itself. :)





So after spending most of the day at the castle, it was time to head back! :)



Walk.. walk.. walk...





















candid shots. Me and my chubbyyy cheeeks.













Our tour manager, Victor! :) Sorry for the blur shot. Haha. Sun was shining so brightly I couldn't really see properly, you see.



View of the Hohenschwangau Castle from the top! Can you see it? :)











So after much walking, my feet were aching so bad. It was throbbing and it kinda felt like it had its own heart because I could feel it beating, if that makes sense. Hahaha. but yeah la. I didn't care if anyone was looking, I just took my shoes off and walking barefoot. Hehe.





The gorgeous Lake Alpsee! :D





Lake overlooking the mountains covered with snow ! :)



It was extremely windy over here and of course, really cold as well! Lemme show you a short video! :) You can tell how windy it is because of the sound of the wind.

Untitled from Sofia Dendroff on Vimeo.

Some camwhore shots! :)





Me and my BFF! :) I've known this girl ever since I was 6 years old. Started off as enemies, friends and then bestfriends. :) Oh how we've grown. :')



Besties forever. Next stop? LONDON! heh



Living the life.... really have my Mum and Dad to thank. Thank you Mummy and Daddy for sponsoring the trip. ^^ Really love you both so much.







How cute! :D

So after a long day it was time to head on back. We got on the bus and headed back to Stuttgart for our hotel! But first....



DINNER!!

Do you have any idea how incredibly large the meatballs and sausages are? Okay you can already see the sausage in the picture above!
But as for the meatball... omg... it was GIGANTIC! Sorry I didn't take a picture. :( It totally slipped my mind. But imagine the size of a snowball ok. Like a big snowball that's the size of your hand at least or your palm. Yup! That's the size of the meatball~





Chef on the left is pretty cute right? Hehe. well it's no surprise la. Most of the German guys were goodlooking!

And you see what's in the pan above? Yup, that's a serving for ONE!! THE HELL?!



So this is what we had for dinner! Super huge portion that Sondra and I had to share it! And despite sharing, we were still unable to finish it. Haha.



Had soup and potatoes too! :) Finally some real food after a good long day! It was definitely really fun! :D

So after dinner, we headed on back to the coach and pretty much slept in the coach all the way to our hotel.



Saw a hot air balloon along the way! How awesome is that? And best part is?It's the real deal! Unlike the DHL balloon Singapore used to have. Hahah. No strings attached either! And I could practically see the fire burning bright from inside the hot air balloon from where I was at! My camera can't zoom in that much. :( Unless I get the super duper zoom lenses which probably will cost alot! Will definitely think about it since I love taking photos so much! Haha.







And so yeah, that sums up the end of Day 3 in lovely Germany! :)
Went back to the hotel,bathed, changed, relaxed, headed to the hotel bar at night with Sondra and talked till 1am or so before heading back to our rooms and crashing the night away! Definitely an awesome day! :)

The next day awaits yeah? But for now, I've come to the end of this entry! Till the next one. Thanks for reading thus for! :)


Lots of Love,
Sofia Dendroff

And so the adventure continues! Before I start off with this blog entry, let me just warn you... it's going to be a really long one with tons and tons of pictures. And who do I do all this for? For YOUUU. Awww...okay shush.
So, the previous day Sondra and I visited Heidelberg and Frankfurt. Two very beautiful cities in Germany.

So the next day, all of us were to assemble at the hotel lobby at around 9am to board the coach. It was an exciting day as all of us were going to embark on a journey to view one of the most famous and romantic castles in Europe - The Neuschwanstein Castle. Okay I know it probably sounds like a mouthful because it's in German. I know, I had a hard time pronouncing alot of the words when I was in Germany. Hahaha.

So anyway, Sondra and I both received our morning call at around 7am by one of hotel staff. Now I know why Sondra sneakily picked the bed that was not beside the phone. Blah... so yeah... every morning I'm the one who has to be awoken by the extremely loud ringing. Boo you Sondra! >:( So, the first night spent was so awesome. I don't think I've ever loved sleep that much. I've always been the sort who hated sleeping because I honestly feel that sleeping is just a waste of life. I mean, there's so much more to life than just snoozing away, right? But of course, after our extremely long long longgg day(and having to endure 24 hours plus plus of no sleep), sleep was very much needed. The both of us sure did sleep like little babies. If there's one thing I absolutely love about hotels is the fact that the beds are always super comfy! hehe, mega loveeee.

So yeah, when morning came, the first thing I did was to open our extremely large window to smell the fresh air! It's always really cold in the morning. I'd say probably around... 10-15 degrees? Definitely not lower than that because it was Spring when we flew to Germany. But still... comparing that temperature to the temperature that we poor Singaporeans have to endure here every single day, I'd say even if it was 20-25 degrees, I'd still love it so much more than the 30-40 degrees temperature we have here. So yes, indeed it was extremely refreshing to be able to experience such nice weather! :D

And guess what else I saw when I looked out the window? Definitely a sight that you'd NEVER see in Singapore. And I can guarantee that.



Look at the picture carefully. What do you see?!
Yup. That's right! 2 people riding their horses early in the morning. Honestly made me wonder... is that how they get around in Stuttgart? (Oh yeah, my hotel was located in Stuttgart. Hehe).
Super cool right? Hahaha.

So after getting ready and such, Sondra and I headed to the hotel restaurant to enjoy our a scrumptious hotel buffet breakfast! As we were short of time, we had to pretty much rush through it because the both of us took a really long time to get ready... Oh well.. what can you expect? Girls... :P



So this is pretty much what I have every morning. I know right..you're probably thinking. What in the world... it's a freaking buffet and this is all I'm having?! Well... I guess I also missed out the part that sucks the most. They had alot of sausages, ham, bacon and all..just that.. you know... I CAN'T EAT IT. :P So yeah... but it didn't matter because the eggs were honestly enough for me. They're the best scrambled eggs that I've ever had in my life and that's not even me trying to exaggerate. I honestly really mean it! Oh... what I'd do... to taste them eggs again... sigh..

So basically what I had was scrambled eggs, baked beans and french toast.



And this is what Sondra had! :) Eggs, bacons, beans, sausages!



So after a hearty breakfast, it was time to begin our journey! We boarded the bus and off we went!~ yayyy, so exciting. hehe. The sucky thing about living in such a big country though, I must say is that it takes really long to get from one place to another. Here, in Singapore, we already complain about a 30 minute train or bus ride. When I was in Germany, every day Sondra and I had to endure long bus rides. And I don't mean 1 hour. I'm talking about a 3 hour bus ride. So yeah, it can get kinda annoying but I guess that's something that everyone who goes to Europe is going to have to endure la, even if you take the public transport I guess. :) Sadly, we didn't get a chance to because we took the coach.





The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round~



Don't know why I was soooooo 'suay'(unlucky), but my nails chipped off. 2 nails! :(

So after a long bus ride, we made a short pit stop at a local petrol station. Got off the bus and boy was it freezing!



My outfit of the day! :)









The breathtaking scenery. I don't think I've smelt air so fresh before.





so purdyy. x)



So after about a 15-20 minute pit stop, it was time to board the bus again to continue our journey!



Bought Pringles to munch on during the bus ride. Cheese and Onion! Do they have this flavour in Singapore because it was absolutely delicious.



And bought a bottle of Evian water! :)





Oh did I tell you guys that to use roaming in Europe is extremely expensive?! No?! Okay let me tell you okay. So on about 2 separate occasions, I used roaming outside the hotel lobby. Okay thank god for free wifi in our hotel's lobby. But because of how inpatient I was, I decided to instagram and tweet when I was in the bus. Also, I even sent a picture to my dad from Germany with the Roaming turned on. Little did I know, I received a text message later saying that my data roaming usafe is $100.00 ! Just for doing those 3 things!!!? Crazy right? I know. So please, don't use data roaming in Europe unless you really really need to.I've learnt my lesson for sure! :P





So pretty huh?



Kinda felt that my Ray bans didn't really suit my outfit and so I changed to this brandless sunnies. Hahaha.



Do you see what I see? :O



Oh yes ... a mountain with.. with.. with... SNOW?!?! FO REAL?!





YUP! FO REAL! HOW AWESOME RIGHT?! Even though I never got to touch it, it was still surreal being able to see snow for the first time in my life. And REAL SNOW at that. :') *tears of joy*



breathtaking scenery.





Getting closer and closer to the mountain...





TADAH!!! ISN'T THAT JUST SO BEAUTIFUL?





It sucks that I had to take a photo from inside the bus. :( Would've been awesome if we were let off the bus to snap a few shots. Oh well.. Also if you realize, the pictures above look a little blue/dull. That's because the windows on the bus are tinted too. :(



HO...MA...GAWD....



:') *cries somemore*











The most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes upon. Without a doubt. Don't think anything is ever going to top this.



So after the bus ride, we finally reached our destination! :)



Saw this from inside the bus! My friend Nadiah kinda told me that at the Neushwanstein castle, they actually provide horse carriage rides all the way to the castle itself! But... because I was following a tour group, Sondra and I didn't get a chance to take the carriage ride. Instead... we got there by bus and then feet. :P blah... sometimes following a tour group can be pretty sucky because you don't really have the liberty to do whatever you want.



This is another castle. This one is called the 'Hohenschwangau Castle'. Noooooo idea how to pronounce this one. We didn't get to go into this one because I don't think it's open to the public.

Here's some information about the castle(if you're interested):

"Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschuangau (lit: High Swan County Palace) is a 19th century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria.

Hohenschwangau Castle was built on the remains of the fortress Schuangau, which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th century. A family of knights was responsible for the construction of the medieval fortress, and it served as the seat of the local government of Schwangau. In 1523, the schloss was described as having walls which were too thin to be useful for defensive purposes. After the demise of the knights in the 16th century the fortress changed hands several times. The decay of the fortress continued until it finally fell into ruins at the beginning of the 19th century".

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenschwangau_Castle)

Kinda pitied the horses though.... I mean it must be really exhausting to be one of those horses. Every day, all they day is pretty much the same old thing... and it must be really tiring as well. :(


After we got off the bus, we were given around an hour to get a quick snack before resuming the day's activity. Because the Neushwanstein castle was a very famous tourist spot in Germany, most of the restaurants were pretty crowded and so we settled for this small cafe and just had cheesecake! :)



Raspberry cheesecake.




Lemon cheesecake. :)



yummy yummy.



Didn't keep us full for sure, but it did help to ease the growling tummy for abit.



Thank God for our Pringles! hehe





Because winter was the season before Spring, the leaves on most of the trees were gone and were only just starting to grow back.



They had tons of pretty buildings there. I felt like I was in a fairytale. Like, every building I saw just looked so pretty and disney-like for some strange reason. If that even makes sense.... :B









After that, Sondra, myself and the rest of the tour group assembled at the agreed meeting point,and waited for a bus to take us up the hill to the castle.







2 other bestfriends in our tour group.



And so the bus came...





Our ticket! :D



So after the bus ride, there was still plenty of walking to be done. It didn't help that I was wearing boots with a slight heel to it. :(





Walking... walking... walking...






Stopped for a second to take a picture of the landscape! :D



Can you spot the castle? Sadly, certain parts of the castle was under renovation...







By the time I reached here,I was practically dying. Hahaha



Yayyy, finally reached the castle!!













It was beautiful.... just like how it was in pictures! So... for your information... here's some information about the castle that you might be interested to know! :)

"The Neuschwanstein castle was built by King Ludwig and enticed more than 1.3 million visitors annually with its fame as the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beaupy Castle. The castle was built in 1868 high above his father's Hohenschwangau Castle in the area he knew so well, and was never actually completed. It was his monument to the culture and kingship of the Middle Ages, which he venerated and wanted to recreate.

Designed in a medieval style but equipped with the latest technology of the day, it is one of the most famous buildings in the world and a central symbol of German idealism. The interior features picture cycles from old Norse and chivalric legends. The Singers' Hall is based on two halls in the Wartburg, and the Throne Hall, which celebrates power and authority, was inspired by Byzantine and early Christian churches' ".

Yeah I took off my coat because it's usually warmer in the afternoons. :)























Tour group briefing!















Because we were unable to snap photos when we were inside the castle, here are some pictures that I found off the internet! :) Most of which are paintings, but amazingly, they look exactly the same even in real life. :)





The Dining Room.

The pictures in the dining room show details of the life at the Wartburg castle at the time of the legendary singer's contest(about 1207). Richard Wagner has chosen this theme together with the Thannhaeuser saga as subject of one of his most beautiful operas.

The centre-piece of the table is a present by Munich artists to King Ludwig II. The sculpture of gilded bronze shows Siegfried fighting the dragon. The base of the table decoration is polished marble of Carrara. The total weight of the centre-piece is about 275 pounds.








The Throne Hall!

Stairs of Carrara marble lead up to the apse where a throne of gold and ivory should have found its place. But this project was never realized because after the Kind's death, all work planned but not yet begun was cancelled.



The King's bedroom.

The room built in neogothic style shows the richest oakwood-carvings, especially on the canopy of the bed, on the washstand, on the reading chair and on the centre-pillar. Fourteen sculptors worked 4 and a half years to complete this room.



The Dressing Room.

The dressing room is the only room of the Kind's apartments without a wooden ceiling. The paintings on the ceiling-in form of an unsheltered arbour- and the pictures on the wall are works by Eduard Ille, a pupil of Moritz von Scwind.



The Singer's Hall.

The Wartburg castle in Thuringia was the model especially for the singer's hall. The paintings in the hall itself and around the listeners' gallery show details of the Parzifal saga, the subject or Richard Wagner's most important opera. During the life of Ludwig II, the hall was never used. Only in 1933 festive cincerts were arranged on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Richard Wagner's death. During these concerts, the hall was illuminated by the light of more than 600 candles.



The living room.

The living room comprises the big parlour and divided by columns, a smaller siting corner, the so-called swan corner. The motifs of the wall-paintings represent the Lohengrin saga which inspired Richard Wagner to compose his opera.

The doors of the big romanesque-style bookcase are decorated with painting showing scenes from the tales of Tristan and Isolde, Parzifal and Siegried. The candlestick,made of gilded brass carried 48 candles.



How the castle looks like from far.





How the castle looks like during winter! :)

The tour was definitely a memorable experience. One that I'll always remember because you know, it's not everyday you get to enter a real castle!
Of course there are more rooms, but these are some of the main ones in the castle! I wish I could fill you in on more details on the history,the architecture etc that goes into every room but then... that'd be a book long and I don't think everyone would be interested to know now would they? Hahah, as for me, I am because I've always been fond of learning about the history, culture, architecture and things like that.











The waterfall flowing from in between the rocks!



The souvenir shop in the castle itself. :)





So after spending most of the day at the castle, it was time to head back! :)



Walk.. walk.. walk...





















candid shots. Me and my chubbyyy cheeeks.













Our tour manager, Victor! :) Sorry for the blur shot. Haha. Sun was shining so brightly I couldn't really see properly, you see.



View of the Hohenschwangau Castle from the top! Can you see it? :)











So after much walking, my feet were aching so bad. It was throbbing and it kinda felt like it had its own heart because I could feel it beating, if that makes sense. Hahaha. but yeah la. I didn't care if anyone was looking, I just took my shoes off and walking barefoot. Hehe.





The gorgeous Lake Alpsee! :D





Lake overlooking the mountains covered with snow ! :)



It was extremely windy over here and of course, really cold as well! Lemme show you a short video! :) You can tell how windy it is because of the sound of the wind.

Untitled from Sofia Dendroff on Vimeo.

Some camwhore shots! :)





Me and my BFF! :) I've known this girl ever since I was 6 years old. Started off as enemies, friends and then bestfriends. :) Oh how we've grown. :')



Besties forever. Next stop? LONDON! heh



Living the life.... really have my Mum and Dad to thank. Thank you Mummy and Daddy for sponsoring the trip. ^^ Really love you both so much.







How cute! :D

So after a long day it was time to head on back. We got on the bus and headed back to Stuttgart for our hotel! But first....



DINNER!!

Do you have any idea how incredibly large the meatballs and sausages are? Okay you can already see the sausage in the picture above!
But as for the meatball... omg... it was GIGANTIC! Sorry I didn't take a picture. :( It totally slipped my mind. But imagine the size of a snowball ok. Like a big snowball that's the size of your hand at least or your palm. Yup! That's the size of the meatball~





Chef on the left is pretty cute right? Hehe. well it's no surprise la. Most of the German guys were goodlooking!

And you see what's in the pan above? Yup, that's a serving for ONE!! THE HELL?!



So this is what we had for dinner! Super huge portion that Sondra and I had to share it! And despite sharing, we were still unable to finish it. Haha.



Had soup and potatoes too! :) Finally some real food after a good long day! It was definitely really fun! :D

So after dinner, we headed on back to the coach and pretty much slept in the coach all the way to our hotel.



Saw a hot air balloon along the way! How awesome is that? And best part is?It's the real deal! Unlike the DHL balloon Singapore used to have. Hahah. No strings attached either! And I could practically see the fire burning bright from inside the hot air balloon from where I was at! My camera can't zoom in that much. :( Unless I get the super duper zoom lenses which probably will cost alot! Will definitely think about it since I love taking photos so much! Haha.







And so yeah, that sums up the end of Day 3 in lovely Germany! :)
Went back to the hotel,bathed, changed, relaxed, headed to the hotel bar at night with Sondra and talked till 1am or so before heading back to our rooms and crashing the night away! Definitely an awesome day! :)

The next day awaits yeah? But for now, I've come to the end of this entry! Till the next one. Thanks for reading thus for! :)


Lots of Love,
Sofia Dendroff