To Rothenburg We Go

Day 4, in CCVA lingo, is known as the “day from hell.” It's historically the hardest day - the moment when the time change, jet lag and lack of sleep take their highest toll. The crash is almost unavoidable. To my surprise, this DFH was the best of my three CCVA trips. I didn’t sleep as much as I thought I would. Because I was among those not needing to make up for jetlag, much fun was had playing Euchre, the official card game of CCVA.

In the afternoon we stopped at the Neuschwanstein Castle, which Walt Disney used as his inspiration for the Cinderella castle in Disneyland. It was adorable sitting up on its own little peak of the alps. Why we had not yet learned that our visit to it would require having to walk all the way up - ALL the way up the mountain - escapes me. We pretty much thought we were going to die, but were comforted by the fact that we were all developing really great legs! The death-walk up was definitely worth it; the castle was gorgeous.

The outside, for once, was so much prettier than the inside since King Ludvic died before the castle was completed. After a tour of the castle, we walked up even farther to a bridge where we could get a better view of the castle. Our perch was super high up and the bridge to it more than a little wobbly, but we managed. And at least Lindsay can say that she’s been on the bridge, even though she had to look at my pictures to actually see the view of the castle!

Then it was back on the bus for the rest of the ride to Rothenburg. Rothenburg was everything I had imagined Germany to look like - almost exactly like Disney’s version of Germany in Epcot, only it was night time! German mascot Mickey felt right at home!

After dinner, there was time to tour the town for a little bit before heading back to our hotel - another charming hotel, which even provided gummy bears on our pillows!