Yesterday I lived a fairy tale. My German friend Antonia and I took a train to a small town in the southernmost part of Bavaria where Neuschwanstein Castle is located. I didn't know much about the castle except that it is one of Ludwig II's - the "Fairy Tale King" - most famous and most visited castles in Germany. What I learned is that he grew up visiting his family's "vacation castle," Hohenschwangau, right across the valley. Enchanted by the natural beauty, his last great endeavor before he mysteriously died at 40 in Lake Chiemsee was to build this perfect palace on a mountaintop in the region. It was never finished inside, and he never even lived in it. The castle was opened to the public just weeks after he died, and so it is more of a museum than a historical monument. Walking through it, you can tell it hasn't been lived in. It's absolutely perfect and nearly all the furniture, decorations, paintings and rooms are exactly as they were when it was built. Pretty amazing!
When Antonia and I arrived, it was a beautiful sunny and humid day, which was so lucky because there have been multiple thunderstorms each week, and the weather has been anything but predictable. We rented bikes (good thing, because we ended up traveling about 25 km on them and saw far more than we would have on foot), and headed to the small village at the foot of the mountain where Neuschwanstein (New Swan Stone) is, to buy tickets. As our tour wouldn't be until five hours later, we hiked up to see the other castle, Hohenschwangau. It is a gorgeous, Spanish-influenced palace, with tropical gardens and warm colors. The contrast to the austere Alps and lakes is incredible.
Afterwards, we rode our bikes through the old town about 5 km away, and then headed down a road that was called "Three Castles Road," thinking we would see some other sights. Instead, we accidentally biked into Austria. Whoops! We cycled through fields in a gorgeous valley, fed a horse an apple, had lunch, and then headed back towards the castles because our tour would soon start.
After racing about 2 km (on foot) up the mountain to reach Neuschwanstein, we arrived in line as our tour was heading into the castle, and breathless, saw the beautiful bedchambers, throne room and singing room. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed, but I was so impressed with how different from other 19th century buildings the design of the rooms was. For instance, the throne room was modeled after a Byzantine church - the mural behind the throne (which was nonexistent because Ludwig died before it was made) depicted the Apostles and Jesus, to represent the King of Kings above King Ludwig. The "singing room," where concerts are still held to this day, had pine ceilings for the best sound quality, and there were huge paintings of the Holy Garden where the Holy Grail is hidden, replete with squirrels, fruit trees, and forest life.
We walked onto the balconies and there were sweeping views of the entire countryside - you could see for miles. Then, we hiked up to a bridge that spans the deep valley and waterfall behind the castle. From there, there are exquisitely magical views of Neuschwanstein. It was unreal.
After a long day, we biked back into town and got gelato before getting back on the train, returning to Munich around midnight. Such an incredible day! For some amazing additional photos, see the album to the right.
