The Haus

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My sinuses were still a mess this morning so I pushed back Oktoberfest a day. Instead, I went out to see Castle Neuschwanstein in the Bavarian hills.

Castle Neuschwanstein (German for “New Swan Stone”) was built by “Mad” King Ludwig in the 1800s as a tribute to Richard Wagner, the composer. The castle is one of the most visited sights in Europe and is a must see according to many.

I took the train down to Fussen, the Bavarian town closest to Neuschwanstein. I was surprised how long the train took. It was a local train that had many stops so an 80 mile trip as the crow flies took two and a half hours.

Once I got to Fussen, I took a bus up with countless other tourists to the base of the hill where the castle sits. There I got my ticket and it would be an hour and a half until my tour started. So I found a nearby biergarten and grabbed lunch. I caved and had my first beer in Bavaria. Thanks to Gus for teaching me the three most important German words - “Ein dunkle bitte” (a dark beer please). With it, I had a pork schnitzel sandwich. The sandwich was good. The beer was wunderbar.

Renee Sowinski had warned me to take the bus up to the castle since she remembered plenty of people that were panting after their hike up when she visited Neuschwanstein last May. I didn’t heed her advice and thought a walk up in the beautiful weather would be nice.

The information center said the walk should take 40 minutes. I think I did it in around 25 minutes. I really didn’t think it was that bad. And it was very scenic.

The exterior of the castle is beautiful. It sits high on one hilltop with another hilltop in the background. Its white façade stood out majestically against all the trees, whose leaves were just starting to turn to yellow and orange.

The inside was nice but it couldn’t compare with the external beauty and some of the other castles I’ve seen. If I went again, I’d be satisfied to just see the outside in various seasonal settings (there were some gorgeous posters of it in the wintertime).

After the long train ride back, it was almost dinnertime. I had but one choice on where to go - the world famous Hofbrauhaus. When I got there, the place was hopping. Tons of people had just shown up since the reserved sessions at Oktoberfest had just started. I walked around the inside and went out into the biergarten to find a table. Everything was full but I did find one open seat at a table with one older German and four 20-somethings.

The four 20-somethings turned out to be from Australia, with one of them from Morristown, NJ (where my former roommate Brian is from). They were all friends through a lacrosse camp they attended in the US. They’re finishing up their time at various universities and decided to meet up at Oktoberfest. We had a bunch of laughs. I was glad I didn’t dine alone at a beer place. I normally have no problem dining alone but in that type of environment you really need some beer-filled conversation.

I ordered a couple liters of dunkel bier, a huge soft pretzel and a pork knuckle. Again, the beer was terrific. And the pork knuckle was just as good. The pork knuckle is the pig’s knee and has a lot of tasty dark meat. It’s served smoked with sauce and a couple potato dumplings.

As I was finishing up my meal, another couple took the place where the German man had been earlier (he had too much to drink and headed home). The couple was from Sacramento, CA and had just arrived that day. The man was a huge beer fan and brews his own beer at home. He’s part of a homebrewers club. That sounds intriguing.

Tomorrow I am heading to Oktoberfest. I hope I can meet some fun people at the tents.

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Photos

Castle Neuschwanstein
A view of the castle on the walk up.

Dunkel
My beer from the Hofbrauhaus.

Pork knuckle
My dinner at the Hofbrauhaus.