Elbegewa's Thoughts and Travels: Trip 2006 Part 1

This is our first trip to Germany, Austria, & the Czech Republic, taken in 2006.
It's divided into 3 parts, each on a separate page.
You can double click on the images to enlarge them.

Itinerary:
Part One:
     fly into Munich
     drive to the Weiskirche then overnight at Neuschwanstein
     drive via Linderhof and Mittenwald to Salzburg
     3 nights / 2 days in Salzburg
     take one day from Salzburg to drive to Berchtesgaden to day hike in the Bavarian Alps.
     Train to Linz, Austria, thence shuttle bus to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Part Two:
     Cesky Krumlov: one night, 2 half days
     Bus to Prague
     Prague: 3 nights, 2 1/2 days
              Saw opera Tosca at the Prague State Opera ...
              ... great and cheap compared to Seattle
Part Three:
     Train to Dresden
     Dresden: 3 nights, 2 days
     Drive to Olbernhau for an overnight to see where Ginny's dad grew up.
     Train, Dresden to Berlin
     Berlin: 3 nights, 2 days
     Fly from Berlin via SAS to Seattle via Copenhagen

1. Bavaria

From Munich's airport we drove to the Wieskirche, what may be the most beautiful Rococo church in the world, located between Munich and Neuschwanstein on a country road between Steingaden and Wildsteig .

The interior is spectacular, but I was not able to capture it adequately. Instead, I suggest seeing it at http://www.molon.de/galleries/Germany/Bavaria/Wieskirche/img.php?pic=3

Neuschwanstein was a bit of a disappointment to us. The view of the exterior was great, especially when you walk from it up to the Marienbrücke, but the interior was not nearly as intriguing as at many castles and schlossen that we've seen. But I'm glad we at least saw it.

Linderhof, which we drove to the next day was a very pleasant unexpected surprise - far more worthy of spending time there.

I'm not sure how we managed it, but we were able to squeeze in visits to Linderhof, Ettal Monestary, and Mittenwald during our one day drive from Neuschwanstein to Salzburg. Our regret was that we didn't spend more time on this leg of the trip. But heh, time is limited.