Today was the first rainy day we’ve had since we were last in Germany a month ago! We picked up a rental car in Munich and headed south to Fuessen to see Neuschwanstein, ‘Mad’ King Ludwig II’s fairytale palace (literally – it was the direct inspiration for the Disney castle!). We didn’t actually go up to the palace, but rather contented ourselves with the still-spectacular views from the valley; the rain and mist made it look quite ethereal and mysterious! Then we continued south into Austria/Tirol to the foot of the Alps, where we hiked to our our next castle destination, Ehrenburg. This ruin once guarded an important pass into the mountains, and was attacked, occupied, attacked again, rebuilt, etc for hundreds of years before times changed and no one cared about it anymore. We could see it, and the fortress on the next mountain, lit up at night from our cozy pension-room window. Tirol is gorgeous even in the rain, and we’re excited to come back someday for another mountain adventure – skiing!