After a bounteous buffet breakfast we pack up and head into the Bavarian countryside. Several people comment about how similar it is to central Virginia, right down to the cows which dairy farmer Paul Thomas identifies for us. The roads are windy, the hills rolling, and the fields are speckled with something very similar to Queen Anne's Lace. Laura's brother Mark, who has joined the tour in Munich, jokes that it must be Queen Margaret's instead. After about a two-hour drive we arrive at Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle, while it looks centuries old, was built beginning in 1862, and was never finished due to the untimely and mysterious drowning death of its occupant King Ludwig II.

Elisabeth Westberg, Anna Plunkett, Annie Holt, and Susannah Rutherglen enjoy a good laugh on the bus	Lillian Ray	Diane Price, the CHS German teacher on the trip, in the courtyard of Neuschwanstein castle
The picture-book Neuschwanstein castle as we approach it on foot	Kassi Omohundro enjoys the spectacular view from one of the turret windows	The view she sees.
The view of the castle as we descend the mountain	Chaperones Mary Maher and Amy Lane enjoy a snack... well, two snacks... lots of snacks, really.	We travel through many picturesque towns and villages as we travel on to Salzburg

On to Salzburg

We ride on into Austria and Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. Our guide lets us in on the little fact that while Mozart was born there and the city makes a very big deal about its most famous citizen, Mozart himself was no fan of the city. He considered it "the sticks" and couldn't wait to get out of town and on to Vienna. We will will linger here tomorrow, taking a walking tour of the city and playing our first concert at the Hallstatt Congress Center, about a 75-minute drive out of the city. Then, like Mozart, we too will move on to Vienna.

Chaperone and CHS English teacher Patty Vandever is keeping a journal of the trip.
Here is today's entry.