Nikon D3x, 50mm f/1.4 G Aperture: f/7.1 speed: 1/200 sec. ISO: 100, day light, handheld. NEF file converted to JPEG using Capture NX2, framed as taken no crop.

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With a stay at Hotel & Gasthof Fraundorfer in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, you'll be minutes from Werdenfels Museum and Richard Strauss Institute. The front desk is staffed during limited hours. Free self parking is available onsite.

The original Camino Not Chemo blog that became the timeless book, "Ordinary Magic" - see www.OrdinaryMagicBook.com

A small street in the Alstadt with cafes and shops.

Hillerod

The next day we woke up and had an amazing full English breakfast made by Lyn and Emmet at the Royalyn Guest house B&B we stayed at. Eggs, Roasted Tomatoes, Baked Beans, Sausage, Ham, Mushrooms, Toast, Hot Chocolate, Marmalade, Marmite, and all we could eat! After rolling ourselves out of the dining rooms we all met the group and took a 20 minute walk through one of the most quaint and beautiful places I've ever been in my life. We ended up at the Hathaway cottage. (The home of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife.) Doesn't it look like something from Disneyland? It stayed in the family for centuries until the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust bought it to conserve it. It still has original pieces of furniture, flooring, and the grounds are still a gorgeous garden. My favorite part of course was the gardens, full of statues and tributes to Shakespeare's plays. I took some time out of our tour and visit to sit in the grounds and read some sonnets. I'm so grateful to be here with such an amazing group of students that I have become such great friends with. It has been such a great time! this is the one group shot we got. And it's quite epic! After that we headed back to town, saw Hall's Croft (the house of Shakespeare's daughter and son-in-law Dr. John Hall) Then we were set loose on the town. I found a place to sit on the bridge over the Avon, watching people in the boats and barges, the swans searching for stray pieces of bread, listened to someone playing the spanish guitar, and ate my fish & chips. I love moments like that. I found my way up in the tower of the RSC theater, where you can see all over Warwickshire County. It is also the home of J.R.R. Tolkien and if you look out into the hills and fields, it looks just like the shire. Someday...I'll work here. And get paychecks with that logo on it. I then had some Indian food, met up with the group, and saw the most phenomenal production of Macbeth I've ever been privileged to see. I am constantly in awe of the quality of theater I have been blessed to see. I've only seen one production where I was disappointed. After the show I made my way outside, Looking over the avon, and was just in awe that I'm here experiencing these things, and said a prayer of thanks. (I find myself doing that a lot lately.) I knew I'd be sad to leave Stratford.

We set out after the bestbreakfast ever (not open for discussion) to visit the very castle after which the Walt Disney modeled the DisneyWorld castle. How exciting! I was going to get to go inside a real-life castle set on a rugged mountainside in Bavaria! Doesn’t it feel magical, just reading that? I'm probably going to see a unicorn! In 1869, King Ludwig II began construction on this romanticized medieval-throwback after his father died and freed up some excessive amounts of money. Oddly, he built it not a mile away from his father’s castle, where he spent his summers as a child. Called Neuschwanstein (meaning New Swan Stone), it is inspired by Richard Wagner’s medieval-themed operas. A quick glance will explain why Ludwig II is often referred to as “The Fairy Tale King;” his eccentric desire for an authentic medieval castle led to an architectural feat that was almost flamboyant in its expression of all things fantastical and medieval. In fact, it was not an architect that designed the castle, but a theater designer! So perfect did everything have to be that it took 17 years to complete the damn thing. Additionally, the man thoroughly ran himself into the ground with debt simply to possess something that looked like the castles from 400 years before his own time. So, um...this is what we ended up seeing of the castle. Yes, this is a picture of a poster. Who did he think he was? A king or something? And then, by some cruel twist of fate, Ludwig mysteriously drowned less than a year after moving in. Visit this page for a pictorial tour of the inside, and this one for general information about the castle. You want even MORE?! Check out The Castles of King Ludwig or Neuschwanstein (Opus 33). But here’s the thing. Sometimes, when things are built over 100 years ago, they eventually need reconstruction. So where we expected to see a breathtaking castle, we instead saw opaque scaffolding around something that was very b . . . presumably the castle we had just driven three hours to visit. Oh, and the waiting time to take the tour inside the castle? A sun-drenched four hours. Why, Gods of Tourism? Whyyyy!? (Implicit lesson: ALWAYS call ahead to make sure the piece of history you're visiting will actually be visible, and check the wait time) With thin smiles, we decided to visit his dad’s castle, which had a waiting time of only an hour. Ugh. His dad’s castle? Is this gonna be like black and white television to color? Tapes to cds? Faxes to e-mails!? Looking up at Hoheenschmangau, Ludwig's dad's castle Hohenschwangau, you're cool too. Don't let them tell you otherwise. Well, yes. Yes, I suppose it kind of is. No offense, dads. But even a castle that is completely outshined by the cooler, younger castle a mile away is a cool enough castle in my book. Hohenschwangau (meaning High Country of Swans), was built in 1833 in neo-gothic style by Ludwig II’s father, King Maximilian II. While it’s no Disney castle, he certainly made a good choice on location. Visit this page for an inside-look at the castle, as pictures are not allowed to be taken by the public. And buy your tour tickets ahead of time to avoid the absurd lines...and the heartache. Alas! Despite a minor setback, it was a wonderful day. It’s hard to feel disappointed for long when you’re nestled in a historic Bavarian stronghold (the secluded location is mostly why it was unharmed during World War II!) and you’re surrounded by mountains that remind you of home and a crystal clear lake and…hey, enough talking. Let’s have a beer and go swimming before heading home. To swim or not to swim? This is what it looks like when John tries to drown me Germany, you would have hauses of Jager I think I'll put my castle riiiight here. Is everybody ok with that? Just kidding, I don't care because I'm the king. Oh, and did I tell you that it’s chanterelle season? Hey, um...you come here often? After a long drive home, we picked up some local chanterelles cooked them in a brown butter and garlic sauce over pasta. Mushroom, Salami, and Brown Butter Sauce (quick style, use quantities to taste) Saute mushrooms and a chopped dry salami of choice in oil, remove from pan once cooked. To the pan, add butter (about 4-8oz per pound of pasta, supplement less butter with cooked pasta water or broth—added at the end— for a healthier option). When butter begins to brown, add chopped garlic and saute for about a minute. Add mushrooms. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley and parmesan and you’re golden. Serve immediately over pasta. Cooking the butter, garlic, and seasonings before adding the chanterelles and dry salami Voilà! Chowtime. (psst...click here to follow the Chowgypsy)

'Non-resident' millionaires intend to stay one move ahead of the chancellor

Former Microsoft executive Mich Mathews pays $11.5 million for Dawn Ostroff's Los Angeles home; a Northern California ranch sells for roughly $20 million; the price of a Las Vegas estate is slashed nearly 75% to $6.9 million.

HALF an hour before midnight, Vianden’s winding main street echoes with Lonnie Donegan’s 1960 hit My Old Man’s A Dustman.

near Ponte Vecchio, Florence View On Black

A lane in the great old town of Canterbury. I liked the city very much, it was a pity I had not more time for it.... just passing by from London to Dover.

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