Neuschwanstein Castle

 To help… the pronounciation is like this: New-Schwan-Stine. Hereafter, ‘the castle’.

The Castle is about an hour and a half to the south-west of Munich.  The castle is often referred to as the fairytale castle.  The castle is the basis for the Disney castle.  Walt Disney visited Neuschwanstein and drew inspiration.  However, the truth is more sad.  The castle was constructed by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria.  He was a young king and had high aspirations.  Unfortunately, not all Bavarians had the same aspirations and moves were made to depose the King on grounds of insanity.  It is unlikely that he was insane but this has become his historical reputation… Mad King Ludwig.

Ludwig died in mysterious circumstances and remains an enigmatic and sad character.  His legacy though is a beautiful castle (in the 19th century sense, ie not a castle with cannon ramparts and defensive measures but a castle that is stately and splendid).  Ludwig never saw the completion of his castle and he only lived a short period inside the castle.

I jumped ahead a bit.  

Our day started with meeting the tour folks at their building and the other tour-takers.  Pretty much all the other tour members (25 or so) were Americans!  They were a full cross-section of Americans: some decent, some loud and rude, some families, some downright stupid and some fat and lazy. Ho-hum!  Early challenges were: line up in single file and follow the guide to the bus.  The guide and his off-slider were Americans, themselves.  They showed great tolerance to the stupid.  I would have left them behind.  Karen thinks me a little bit harsh!

The guide announced the outline for the day (identical to what was advertised).  Of course, for the loud and rude, stupid and fat and lazy there were moans and groans about everything. ‘Oh, I didn’t know that…” etc.  Again, i thought this was an opportunity to throw them off the bus.  We hadn’t reached the autobahn and were only travelling at 60km/h.  if they landed on their heads, they would be OK.

So, the bus wound its way through Munich and eventually made the autobahn.  I was expecting the bus to move to Warp Factor 9 and go super fast (Star Trek like).  But no, it was just a regular highway/freeway.  I felt a little underwhelmed.  But… the Bavarian countryside was stunning, the weather was perfect.  An hour and a half past quickly.  We were there with the castle in the distance.  

Enjoying our bike ride.  The castle is above Karen to the left.

Before the castle though we had some other activities: a bike ride to Schwab See (Swan Lake but not the Tchaikovsky  Swan Lake), an option for a swim, a stop for lunch and then to the castle.  I refer you back to the stereotypes.  Marry that with a bike ride and some simple instructions.  I am amazed they survived.  The guide gave them complex instructions (ie two things to do) and only half could manage ‘put the left pedal down and the kickstand down’.  It truly was painful to watch.

Schwan See

We had a paddle but not a swim.

After lunch, the next challenge.  The group had the choice of walking up an incline or putting their fat, lazy, miserable asses on a bus.  50% of the group opted for the bus.  Karen and I with our well developed TMB walking skills, simply put our heads down and walked up the hill. An American, of 40 something years and his daughter, tried to out pace us.  Huh! Crushed him in 10 minutes!  Not that it was a race or that national pride was on the line.  It was a nice walk in the Bavarian woods.  We took some photos, of the castle, from a bridge.  Only 200 people were allowed on the bridge at one time.  This was chaotic but we got our photos and no one was thrown from the bridge.  Other stereotypes were in play: the ‘I can’t afford deodorants’ were there; the ‘I need to pose perfectly for my selfie’ were there; and the ‘I’ll just take my own sweet time to do what I want’ were there.  Of course the just ‘plain stupid’, and ‘I don’t know how a queue works’ were there, along with some unique individuals.

Intrepid walker! Ready, set, go.

The Castle!

Been there, done that selfie.

At last, we got our tickets to enter the castle.  Where we entered the castle was where the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car entered the castle in the movie (now I have to watch the movie again).  The Bavarian State run the tours.  We had a lovely young lady (blonde hair, blue eyes) who laid down the rules… no photos, no this and no that.  For a moment I thought we on the 3rd Reich Tour.  She was informative but unenthusiastic.  Her day was 14 tours.  I think we were about number 10 or 11!  However, this did not distract from the beauty and majesty of the castle. King Ludwig was visionary and embraced technology.  All this came at a cost which may have inspired the ‘he’s mad’ claim.

Castle done! Back on the bus and back to Munich.

We stopped at a pub for dinner (about 8:30pm) and some beer.  We ate traditional Bavarian food: a macaroni, cheese and onion dish; and a pork schnitzel.  And beer!  Karen was so thirsty that she downed her beer as if she was a beer drinker… which she is not.

When in Germany!

By the way, a lot of times beer is only marginally more expensive than water.  Beer is often cheaper than a soft drink.

Karen’s small plate.  My big plate!

Actually, it’s the perspective through the lens.

Really!!

I’m not feeling a lot of belief.

A short walk to the hotel!  Another day done.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Dachau.