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Published: October 10th 2007
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So…like I said before, European hotels LIE about having internet access!! So here I am, already back from my trip…but I’m committed to finishing my blog. So here goes.
On day 9, we picked up our rental car and sped to Bavaria Germany. When I say “sped,” I mean it!! We spent the morning on the autobahn, which Jeremy loved. I think our top speed was 125 mph, and even then, some of the other cars sped right by us like we were standing still. It wasn’t scary though - the roads are in really good condition, and if you don’t want to go crazy-fast you can just stay to the right. Several hours later we reached the site of two very famous castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.
Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II as his fantasy dream home and as an homage to Richard Wagner, a German composer. Wagner was famous for his operas, and the style of the castle and decorations within (knights, dragons, etc.) are references to the stories of these operas. The castle was built beginning in 1869, and was mainly for looks, not function. Its use as a defense was not really necessary. The
design and decoration of the castle is so extravagant, it earned Ludwig II the nickname “Mad King Ludwig.” He was so eccentric, in fact, that he was declared insane by a state commission and deemed unfit to rule (in 1886). He was arrested and evicted from the castle, which was not yet complete. This was devastating to Ludwig, and soon after his body was found mysteriously floating in a lake, drowned. There is still debate as to whether it was murder or suicide.
King Ludwig II never got to fully enjoy his dream home, as only 14 rooms were completed at the time of his death. However, within weeks the castle was open for curious tourists. This is the castle that Cinderella’s castle at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is modeled after.
The other castle right next to Neuschwanstein is Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig II lived as a boy. It was originally built in the 12th century but rebuilt by Maximilian (Ludwig’s father) after it was destroyed by Napoleon. It is in the same condition as in 1836, and provides more of an idea of Ludwig’s life than the virtually unlived in Neuschwanstein.
This makes a grand total of
four castles we toured on this trip. I have to say, the one thing I have learned that is constant among all castles, they are
hard to get to. One of the pictures shows Mary's Bridge, which Luwig II wanted a nice view of from his castle. To give you an idea of the time and effort it took to see these two castles: the picture of Mary's Bridge was from uphill. From the bottom of the mountain/hill, we lazily took a horse and carriage uphill to the first castle, I think it was about a 10 minute ride. We toured Hohenschwangau first, then we had to take a bus (or we could have hiked uphill for 35 minutes) to the Neuschwanstein castle. The bridge was right where the bus dropped us off (well, sort of - we had to climb uphill for a few minutes to get to it). From out on the bridge you could take beautiful pictures of Neuschwanstein. Then we climbed, uphill, for another 10-15 minutes to the castle and waited for our group number (they assign numbers and take in three at a time). I took the picture of Mary's Bridge out of one of
the windows of the castle (you couldn't take any pictures of the inside of the castle though). Then instead of taking the bus back down, we hiked downhill for 20 minutes, and we were actually going at a really fast pace. It was so steep that you had to literally lean backwards just to stay upright. But I didn't even mention the dozens and dozens of steps we had to climb within the castles to go between floors!! Needless to say, I was a teensy bit sore the next day. I mean, I have never climbed more hills and stairs in my entire life. It makes for great photo opportunities, but my legs, my poor legs!! They
still ache!!
Okay, so after the castles we hit the autobahn again and headed for Munich. After many, many wrong turns (not a good idea to arrive in an unfamiliar city in the dark) we finally found our hotel, which was literally 2 minutes walking distance from the Oktoberfest fairgrounds. So of course, we headed right there. But, that is another story I’ll save for another blog. More to come soon, I promise!!
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