Rachel Upshaw: I'm 27 And I Spent My Birthday At A Castle

Last year my birthday fell on a Monday. The first day of my job in Berlin. Everyone was coming back from holidays, it was disorganized, I had no computer, and it was just a hard day in general.

Even though I had celebrated with friends before I'd left New York, and although the woman I was working for sweetly took me out to a nice dinner that night, it didn't really feel like my birthday. (I was raised to be a Birthday Monster, after all.) And so I promised myself this year things would be different.

While I still wasn't able to celebrate with friends and family (we'll save that for September when I'm back), my 27th birthday was drastically different from last year. For starters, I ate breakfast looking out onto the Cinderella Castle in Bavaria.

A month or so ago, Spiros had suggested we visit a few of his close friends in Southern Germany. It just so happened that we could go the weekend before my birthday, tacking on a few extra days to visit Neuschwanstein aka the Cinderella Castle.

Now, Spiros is not what I would call a "planner." I learned on our first trip together that he would much rather figure things out on the go. So it made it doubly special that he took the time to find a wonderful hotel - and book MASSAGES for us - ahead of time.

It was all perfect. (Well, if I am being honest, the scaffolding obscuring half of the view of the castle wasn't perfect, but oh well.) Still, it was completely wonderful. The castle was beautiful. The hotel where we stayed was charming. The massage was incredible. (Never did I imagine I'd be so greased up by a middle-aged German woman, but life's full of surprises, huh?)

Here are a few pictures!