We finished our tour with a big bang--a tire blow out, that is! NEW TIP: When you rent a car in Europe, purchase the "tire insurance." They won't tell you about it, but you really need it. We had a defective tire on the rental and were glad it didn't blow while going 130 on the Autobahn, but we didn't realize that you have to purchase tire insurance separately!
That didn't stop our last two days in Europe, though! After our three hour delay, we headed down to Bavaria and Wendy took us on a great new adventure---driving through the Black Forest at night on winding mountain roads, trying to find our hotel right by Neuschwanstein! She made it through to our wonderful hotel, which was about 200 feet from the castle and was the caretakers "cottage."
We saved money by buying the "Royal Pass" and seeing both Newschwanstein (the castle that the Disney one is patterned after) as well as Hohenschwangau, his parents castle where he grew up. One of the things we learned about the "dream King" was that he was capable of creating incredible beauty, but not capable of doing it on a budget. By the time he died, he had bankrupted his family's fortune (but not the nation's). Ironically, tourist travel to his many castles (the tourist trade) provide the primary income to Bavaria today!
This concludes our European tour and we will be ready for life in the states once again!
Danke for reading,
Ellie Kay
America's Family Financial Expert (R)
