This is Neuschwanstein Castle that the Cinderella/Disney castle is patterned after. It was built by Crazy King Ludwig in the mountains of Bavaria and has an interesting story which you can read on the link above if you have further curiosity.
From the castle there is quite a view, including this waterfall.
This picture shows a view of the city of Wurzburg. If you check the Wiki link, you will see the Residenz and Marienburg Fortress, both of which I toured. It is a historic and fascinating city. Many tourists visit here and generally I don't like places where there are tons of people, however, the history is so intriguing and rich, that I will tolerate it in places like this! My nephew Robert, whom I have never met lives about a half hour from this city.
Here is Jutta (pronounced Ewe-Tuh) taking a picture of me. I think this may have been at the Marienburg Fortress, but possibly in Rothenburg.
Here is my friend Jutta with her parents in front of one of the buildings in Wurzburg.
We spent some time on vacation with her parents and traveled to Wurzburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbuehl, Ost Allgaeu, Innsbruck, Merano and the Dolomites.
We stayed one week in Pfronten and if I had opportunity to go back, I would in a heart beat! The area is incredibly beautiful. In spite of my personal circumstances (I had my period and Giardia at the same time, about 2 months after Andy, my step Dad who raised me, died. And I was in a foreign country feeling physically miserable and embarrassed because my friends had to take me to a doctor and stay around with sick me, cancelling some of the fun plans they had!), I enjoyed the area. It has elements of my home state, Washington, especially when I was hiking, and elements of something else which I found quite magical.
This cow looks cute and harmless but very well could have been the source of my giardia! LOL They wandered the hillside like a scene from Heidi!
Along the trail we saw these grave markers from the 1940s. Likely these are people who lived on this farm in years past.
Here is Jutta on the same trail, which went through farm land and climbed up out of town and onto the crest of a mountain or a foothill to the Alps (not sure which), where we could look one direction and see Austria and the other and see Germany.
Here is Renate, Jutta's "Mutti" on the trail.
Here is a view from the crest of the trail, looking down.
Here are Friedhelm and Renate on the crest. They are an affectionate and companionable couple. I don't think they will ever understand how much of an impact that made on me. I feel like my Hubby and I have that same type of companionability, where anything you do together whether a big trip or a small task, can be delightful if you choose. After losing my Dad unexpectedly right before I graduated, I needed the stability of having some family time with a man present, although I often wonder if he was irritated by the bevy of women he took with him! LOL He was a good sport and a great tour guide. They showed me more places and things and gave me so many opportunities that I will forever be grateful for!
This is Friedhelm where we stopped for lunch. Do you see that blue-green mohair sweater behind him? That belonged to Anke, Jutta's older sister who was away at med school at the time. I used that for warmth when we hiked. It was part of the beginning of my love for mohair!
We also went to local places like Hengsteysee (Lake Hengstey), where we saw this tower called "Mauese Turm" or Mouse Tower.
You can't probably tell what's in the foreground of this parting shot, but it is a tiny nun in front of the HUGE cathedral in Munster.
We started out the girls' birthday with a complimentary breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. It was really good with lots of nummy stuff. The girls enjoyed their scrambled eggs with hot chocolate (a very rare treat for us!) and orange juice. Daddy got to enjoy eating pig which Mommy refuses to cook at home! LOL
I found them some cute backpacks at Costco... they aren't for little kids, so too big to use as a backpack, however they will be great to use as a suitcase. I used the backpacks as their wrapping for the soccer balls, princess Barbies, fun new girly DVDs (animated Anne of Green Gables, Madeline, Gigi - God's Little Princess, Beatrix Potter and 101 Dalmatians) and some new spring/summer clothes. They had a blast digging through to find what was in there.
This is A modeling her new beads . They loved the purses that Grandma and Grandpa filled with all kinds of neat stuff, including Princess tiaras!
And Aunt Shelley put together a fun gift package for them. Here they are looking at their new horse coloring books. She got them a fun card making kit and also little plastic sewing machines designed for their age level. J said, "Look Mommy, a machine to make yarn!" (She was a little confused as my spinning wheel and sewing machine live in the same place!)
It's amazing how kids can instantly make friends. At the entrance we met a family that live in Ukiah but are from Redding and were back to visit Grandma. They were about the same ages as our kids and had fun together.
J and Mommy. When she was looking at this picture with me, I said, "Who love you?!" And she said "Mommy!" I hugged her and then she thought a moment and said, "I think my Daddy loves me too!" :o) And yes, he does! After lunch we played on the playground for a little while.
Here the kids are walking through a bark hut, a replica of what area Native Americans lived in. There were also displays on early pioneer life, ecology and hands on science. Showing at the time was a show of Picasso ceramics...we did not view that, for obvious reasons! :o)
The kids were fascinated by this, never having seen large fish in person. There were several native species including sturgeon and rainbow trout that were so huge they looked like steelhead!
On the wall leading out of the museum were metal turtles engraved with the names of people who donated for the museum. I thought this would be a fun place to take their birthday picture. I asked them to face each other and J thought this meant cheek to cheek. A is looking a little bewildered and didn't want to be quite so affectionate at the moment.
In the end we resorted to the trick of Daddy jumping up and down, being goofy to get a decent picture! This is J on the left and A on the right.
This is the Sundial Bridge. It is certainly interesting and shows some graceful lines but I have not decided yet if I think it is beautiful or ugly! 
This white egret was gracefully fishing too.
Another perspective of the bridge.
Almost immediately we began noticing butterflies. You can see a few in this picture if you look closely. This was a golden currant and I think I want one of these bushes. You can't see in the photo but the individual flowers are cute and cheerful.
This is the other side.
His medium is sticks! This is made from willow branches and was at first odd, but once inside and close up, it
Looking out from in.
A repeated theme was butterflies.
This is A, just hanging out and taking a break. 
Here J takes a break with Daddy and is talking to him about the day. Behind her you can see the Eastern Redbud.
This is the medicinal herb garden. Naturally, this was one of the more interesting ones for me, given my background in medicine and interest in nutrition and health.
This is my little "lady", A. I think she was swimming in it! LOL
I haven't identified this one yet. It's fairly common in northern California but I have not found it's name yet. 
Soon we were heading back across the bridge. This is the base on the sundial side.
On the way out I noticed these "balls" in the oak trees.
There were a lot of squirrels running around in the trees too and they jumped so fast and agilely that they seemed like they were flying.
