finding netherland.: Germany, the Disneyland of Europe.

On the second day of our group trip, we woke up in our fancy shmancy hotel and had the best continental breakfast I've ever had in my life. Seriously, Europeans do continental breakfast right! I'm talkin' tables and tables of different meats, cheeses, breads, jellies, and, most importantly NUTELLA.

After breakfast, we loaded the bus and drove to Rothenburg, Germany. It's a very typical German town: colorful houses, tiny little cobblestone streets....a lot like Disneyland actually.

There were a lot of shops and we had some time to kill, so we walked through some of the shops. After walking through these shops, we concluded that:

1. Rothenburg really likes their cuckoo clocks.

2. In Rothenburg, it's Christmas all year round. Seriously. Nutcrackers were EVERYWHERE.

It was really funny to walk through some of the shops because a lot of the dolls and toys that were in these shops were the same dolls that my grandparents had brought back for me after their trip to Germany. So that was really funny to walk into a shop and realize that I already owned half the store.

After doing some window shopping, we made our way to the Criminal Museum. Yes, the Criminal Museum. Basically, it was a museum that showed the different reasons and means that people were punished in the Middle Ages. Kinda weird. But kinda cool. Here are my favorite crimes (is that a bad thing to say....? oh well.)

Chelsea and I were trouble-makers so we were put in the stocks for the remainder of the trip.

...just kidding.

After the museum, we loaded the bus and drove to the Ottobeuren Monastary. This place was INCREDIBLE. It was probably the most insanely decorated church i've ever seen in my life.

If you look closely, you can see the Saints' skeletons on display on the right and left sides.

Next was a visit to Hohenschwangau, Germany, which is where the Neuschwanstein castle is. If you've ever been to Disneyland, the main castle in the theme park is actually modeled after the Neuschwanstein castle. Unfortunately, the castle was under construction and so we were not able to take the bus all the way up to the castle. Which was kind of a bummer. But I guess I can just go to Disneyland and see the replica!

The Neuschwanstein castle....under scaffolding. womp womp.

We ended up just hiking around Hohenschwangau a bit instead and seeing the sights there.

(photo cred: Sarah Gross)

After Hohenscwangau, we drove to our final city of the day, Lindau, Germany. Lindau is a little island on the river, surrounded by the Alps. From the coast of Lindau, you can see Germany, Switzerland AND Austria, which is pretty dang cool. We ate dinner and walked along the coast, and watched the sun set.