Europe Part II: Neuschwanstein

Visiting this castle was one of our favorite parts of the trip. It was quite a journey - it took 3-4 hours to get there and the same to get back, but it was definitely worth it. On the train ride there, we met a Canadian couple, Kevin and Linda, who were also on a little European vacation. They were going to see the castle as well. It was so nice to talk with them on the train. First of all, it makes the ride seem so much shorter, and second, it was refreshing to be able to have a conversation with people who speak English as their first language. We were able to exchange travel tips since they had just been to Salzburg, which is where we were headed next, and they had just arrived in Munich, where we had been for a few days already. It was fun to hear about the adventures they were having and get the inside scoop on some of the attractions.

So back to the castle. Neuschwanstein is probably the most famous castle in Germany. It was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. The castle was commissioned by "mad" King Ludwig, who was inspired by the operas of his friend, Richard Wagner, to build this fantasy castle. It was under construction for 17 years and still only 15 of the 200 planned interior rooms were completed, which demonstrates how ornate this place is. It even has a man-made cave inside - awesome! The king moved in when the castle was partially completed and lived there for less than a year before he died.

It was the perfect day to go to the castle. It was overcast: not too hot or too cold, and the clouds on the mountains behind the castle added to the fantasy. This is what we saw when we stepped out of the bus:

Below are pictures of Schloss Hohenschwangau, or "high swan county palace." This castle is very close to Neuschwanstein. Tour tickets can be purchased together, so we walked through both. Although Neuschwanstein is infinitely more impressive inside, we enjoyed walking through the grounds surrounding Hohenschwangau Castle.

You can see Neuschwanstein in the background of this one.

The countryside in this area is beautiful.

 This is a picture of Hohenschwangau Castle from the grounds of Neuschwanstein.

Below is a picture of the lake on the left in the picture above. 

Before our tour, we went to a bridge above and behind Neuschwanstein. The view was spectacular.

Entering the courtyard before our tour.

A lady approached me and asked if we would like her to take our picture together. When I nodded and gave her our camera she almost threw out the words, "Then of course you will do the same for us." She had the air of a salesman, tricking me into a purchase that had fine print. She could have just asked. Unfortunately, I did get the raw end of the deal. When I looked at the picture later, I realized that she cut off the top of the castle. It was just so important that our waists be in the picture.

I don't know how well you can see it, but in the picture below there is a sculpture of St. George slaying the dragon on the turret.

On our way down from the castle, we walked through the most beautiful wooded forest, which contributed even more to the fantasy surrounding this palace. Seriously, if I had seen little fairies flying around in there, I would not have been surprised.

We couldn't take any pictures inside, but believe me, it was fantastic. The king's wash basin had a stone swan faucet powered by natural spring pressure to make the water come out of the swan's mouth, or beak. I now officially understand why a toilet is sometimes called the throne. The king's toilet was just that, a throne, equipped with padded seat. The canopy over the king's bed looks like an ornate, wooden diorama; it took fourteen carvers over four years to complete it. Below is a really old picture of it that I found online. It's not very good, but you can get an idea. The carvings are over the bed in the back left of the room below.

When we were done with the castles, Jake and I thought we would find dinner in Füssen, a small city beneath the castles, while we waited for our train. Ha! Good try. I don't think that I explained before that everything in this part of Europe closes early. Even in Munich, the bulk of the restaurants and stores close at 8pm, which is shocking given the size of the city. In Füssen, a lot of the restaurants were closing at 6pm! We were too late, and we had a 3-hour train ride ahead of us. We finally stumbled upon a grocery store that was open and were able to buy some snacks for the ride, expecting that we would find something in Munich when we got back. However, as I already explained, things close at around 8pm in Munich, so again we too late. I don't know what we were thinking. So we ended up eating Curry Wurst in the train station, which is a white sausage on a roll with curry ketchup on it. Curry ketchup - never heard of it? Well, I hadn't either until I met Jake. It is so good! It isn't spicy; it just has the flavor of curry. And guess what. It's made by Heinz. It's always really weird to me when I find out that a big name company that we all know makes a product that is really popular in another country but is unheard of in America. We brought some home with us, purely as evidence of its existence, of course.