Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau

After leaving Munich, we took a train straight for the foothills of the Alps. This side trip was all my doing as Davis did not really care about seeing THE famous castle. I figured we may never make it back to this part of the world so we should definitely see THE famous castle while we were close.

of course I am talking about THIS castle: Neuschwanstein

The trust about THE castle is that it is not really a castle, more of a palace inspired by castles. It's younger than the American Civil War. It's not even finished. It happens to be the second castle in this immediate area. The first is where young prince Ludwig II of Bavaria grew up, well one of the places he lived in as a kid. It's the lesser known and not as epic.

the other castle: Hohenschwangau

The yellow one isn't that old either, still built in the 1800s. But there once was a knight castle on this spot until dumb Napoleon came along and wrecked it. Then Ludwig II's parents fixed up this nice place. We toured them both in a quick and crowded thirty minute session each. But let's back up a little first.

I may have lied a teensy bit about the weather being perfect the rest of the trip after Vienna. This day did start out cloudy and spitted a few drops of rain very sporadically but by the afternoon it was perfectly fine. We arrived at the train station at the closest town, Fussen, where we would be staying the night. Quickly we ditched our bags in a locker and set out for some castles. We thought the castles were just right outside of town. But we needed to get on an hourly bus that we had just missed. So, being quite skilled at walking, we decided to walk. All in all, we walked over 5km just to get to THE castle. But it was fine, we liked walking and it was beautiful country side.

Fussen's castle

path along the "romantic road" in bavaria

First glimpse

first glimpse here too

We bought our tickets and had plenty of time to dink around. They allotted enough time for the slowest walkers to make it to the little castle to start and THE castle afterwards. We were much too fast for the times given, so we grabbed coffees and sandwiches and took pictures.

 At Alpsee loving my sweet husband

yummy coffee in the rain with THE castle creepin' the back

swans everywhere

the gardens

looking into the tiny town at the base of the castles

Of course you can't take pictures on these tours. We made it up to the little castle in no time and waited for our tour. I really liked this castle. It's definitely worth seeing too. The art work inside was incredible  while still being believable that it was a home and lived in. The views all around were fantastic, just not fantastic enough for Ludwig II.

leaving or coming

Then we walked up a bigger mountain to THE castle. Again, we walked too fast so we took pictures and ate more food. The prices of snacks weren't too bad either here.

waiting

there was a little ski lift over there

view of the valley

this side's view (minus our heads)

Ludwig II wanted his own new fancy castle. He picked an even more epic spot as the location, also the site of old castle ruins, while still keeping the little one in view. THE castle seemed to be more of a gigantic liveable monument to fantastical  Richard Wagner operas. Wagner happened to be close to the family, especially Ludwig II, and wrote some of his pieces in their castles. Ludwig II was so obsessed with him, he only allowed Wagner to stay in the fancy guest room. What was finished of THE castle, it was decorated with some of the most beautiful artwork. I can't imagine what the whole thing would look like if finished. Of course, no pictures could be taken inside. But it was stunning. Ludwig's carved wooden bedroom took away my breath and blew my mind. So much handcrafted detail. Well, Ludwig II didn't even live there for a year before he died mysteriously. The day after he was declared unfit to rule, he was found dead floating in a lake. Seems fishy to me but they claim no one knows what really happened. He was a bit weird, reclusive, and terrible with money. He basically bankrupted his country building THE castle. Right after he died, they opened his supposed to be reclusive hide out to the public. The paying visitors had the debt of the construction paid off before the year 1900. Today it is one of the most popular places to visit in the whole wide world.

tower and davis

courtyard

waiting for our tour to start

view from the balcony

Alpsee, the other castle, and tiny village in a stunning location

that's the balcony we were on

There is a side path that takes you to this tiny bridge where you have one of the best views of THE castle. We made it on the bridge in between the crowds. Thank goodness for good timing, we left the bridge questioning what the weight limit could be.

classic shot

down below, bridge don't fail us now

We walked back down the mountain. Davis' knee was hurting so we opted to take the bus back to Fussen. All in all, so glad we saw it. The art work and the views were stunning.

heading back to Fussen

And in the end, we found Fussen was pretty awesome too. But I'll save that for later.