yay!! i DID get to make a snowman after all! me, troy, dimitri and maureen went on a road trip to neuschwanstein on boxing day, and there was actually snow there!
it was heaps harder than i thought it would be. and after troy realised that snow is actually wet, he refused to help me. the snow wasnt really sticking together very well so karl wasnt very big...
ok so maybe thats an understatement, he was tiny. and i had real trouble giving him a nose cos his head kept rolling off when i tried. eventually maureen came to the rescue and helped me hold his head while i attached a twig. no mouth but it was my first one so i was proud of the little chap:)it was a very nice day all around. the castle we visited was built by the 'mad' Ludwig the 2nd, who decided that, as well as about a hundred swans decorating every room, a fake cave next to the bedroom was an essential part of any serious castle. after we toured the inside we walked up to this scary narrow bridge and got a good view of the whole castle which was fun, walking along some icy paths through the forest in the snow.and dimitri slipped over which, once we all made sure he was ok, we all laughed ourselves silly about...just the angle he fell on...you had to be there. but it was a really nice day with the cousins, like being with my siblings, who i'm missing terribly.
Life is truly beautiful. I am having the best time travelling around Germany, the Czech Republic and now in Austria. My favourite place so far has been a little southern Czech town called Cesky Krumlov. Arriving at the train station, you walk over a bridge into the city walls and into another world, it is just magic. The town is set in the bend of a pretty winding river in the peaceful countryside and has the cutest cobblestone streets, renaissance frescos, great big castle with a beautiful huge weddingcake-like tower. Troy and I have concluded that small towns are by far the best, and this one was really special. We stayed in a great room, the attic of a cool hostel with wooden floorboards, funky couch covers, communal kitchen, and nice staff. We spent the first afternoon wandering around the streets and the lovely castle, and said hello to the bear living under the bridge. The Krumlov aristocracy decided sometime in the nineteenth century that what the castle was missing was a bear pit, so he is living there amongst the trees and apparantly every Christmas the local kids go and sing to him. In the evening we went to a tiny little gypsy bar near the town square and heard some excellent gypsy music. The band had a clarinet, double bass, accordion (or two when the barmans 5-year-old grandson joined in) and the most amazing violinist. In the bar was a great mix of locals and a few tourists being merry, clapping, whistling, singing and dancing along. We were talking to a friendly local and she said some nights it gets really rowdy and people start dancing on the tables. Add some great Czeck beer for 20 crowns (70 cents) and you have got the recipe for a fantastic night out! Needless to say we ended up staying in Cesky Krumlov longer than we had planned, and were sad to say goodbye this morning. Next stop Viennna and Salzburg!
