I only got about four hours of sleep last night.  I fell asleep around 1:30, and then woke up a little before 6 because the sun was rising and I was facing the direction of an opened window.  It was alright because it gave me plenty of time to pack and allowed me to catch an earlier train to Munich than I had planned.

The train to Munich was 30 minutes late, which really threw a wrench into the German stereotype of punctuality.  The ride was pretty uneventful, I slept for maybe about 30 minutes before a ticket person came by to check my Eurail pass.

I arrived in Munich around 11:30, dropped my big pack off at the hostel, and then got on another train to Füssel to visit Neuschwanstein.  I decided to go to Neuschwanstein because it is one of the further day trips I’d planned on doing and since I activated my Eurail pass for today it made sense to ride as many trains as I could and make the most out of the 24hr period.

The train ride to Füssel was about 2 hours long including a transfer at Buchloe.  I really enjoyed the ride through the countryside and seeing how people live in the suburbs.  Many people appear to take a lot of pride in their gardens and backyards which I thought was pretty nice.  Once I arrived in Füssel I followed all the other tourists to a bus stop, got on the bus, and headed over to the castle.

The hike up to the castle was slightly more intense than I was prepared for.  Since my bed wasn’t ready at the hostel yet, I wasn’t able to put my computer or chargers in a locker so they were all in my day bag.  It was quite a workout, but my little day hikes the past few days in Heidelberg prepared me well.  To get to Marienbrücke, the iconic bridge all of the Neuschwanstein pictures are taken at, I gained roughly 90 flights of stairs in elevation.

I got to the castle too late to get onto a tour, but I instead went on a few different trails around the castle and turned around when it looked like it was going to be too steep/scary for me to try to get back down.  I took a bunch of pictures for couples and families on Marienbrücke, because apparently when you carry around a big camera people trust you more with their iPhones.  One guy offered to take my picture, and I tried to thank him, but I have absolutely no idea what language he spoke.  I think I got my point across.

I spent about 4 hours hiking around until I decided it was time to head back to Munich.  I took a bus back to the Füssel station, took a direct train back to Munich, and arrived around 8PM.  I checked into the hostel and met Joy, a Chinese exchange student studying in Italy who took a summer class at UC Berkeley two years ago.  I also met Sharon, who lives in my home town, Fremont, and works very close to my father in Redwood City.

After putting my stuff away I walked into the city center in search of dinner but couldn’t find anything open besides bars and Döner Kebap shops.  Although I now feel a lot better about eating alone, drinking alone seems very different and it’s not something I think I should get used to.  I got a Döner and walked back to the hostel.  Tonight will be an early night.