Schwangau

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My head felt like exploding this morning when I woke up, and what made it worse was that I didn’t have panadol with me. It’s lucky that I didn’t throw up and was still able to visit Schwangau.

I took the train at around 6:10am to Füssen. Two hours later, I got off at Füssen train station, then met Natalie, an Australian, at a bus terminus and took a bus to Schwangau together. We bought a Royal ticket to visit both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. With a bit of time left, I grabbed myself a white sausage with bread and some Fanta, before taking a 15-minute horse-ride to Hohenschwangau.

There’s no doubt that Hohenschwangau Castle is “uglier” than the new one, but it still worth paying a visit because King Ludwig II spent most of his life there. It’s surprising to hear that the old castle is actually a private property and is still serving as a home of a Bavarian duke, heir of former royal members. Built on the remains of the fortress Schwanstein which dated back to the 12th century, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II possesses a perfect view of Alpsee (especially from the King’s room). In 1829, Crown Prince Maximilian, later King Maximilian II of Bavaria, discovered the historic site and fell in love with the surrounding area. He acquired the property in 1832 and started the reconstruction of the Castle in neo-Gothic style until 1837. With a 30-minute guided tour, I was able to visit rooms including impressive Festsaal, Oriental Room (Queen Mary’s bedroom) and Tasso-Room (bedroom of King Maximilian II and King Ludwig II). After the tour, Natalie and I also hanged around the garden for a while before walking back to Hotel Müller to queue up for another horse-ride to Neuschwanstein Castle.

We waited for 15 minutes but our turn to get on the buggy ride. In order not to miss the guided tour and buy another ticket again, Natalie and I decided to walk up the hill to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Having walked along Neuschwanstein Str. for 30 minutes (shorter than expected), we made it! The fairytale castle was built between 1869 and 1886 under King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the style of a medieval castle with avant-garde technology at that time. However, ironically, King Ludwig II of Bavaria only lived in the castle for six months, and the castle was yet to be finished when he died in 1886. Standing high on a cliff above the Pöllat Gorge, this famous historical site had its interior based on German chivalric legends and the operas of Richard Wagner. It was opened to the public from 1 August 1886 and is now an asset of the state of Bavaria. During the 30-minute guided tour, I climbed 165 steps up where many of them were from spiral staircases (shamefully I felt about dizzy when I finished them), and visited rooms including Throne Hall, where paintings here show how Ludwig saw kingship “by the Grace of God”: as a holy mission, with powers that the Bavarian king had never possessed. Other pictures on the walls of the castle demonstrated three main figures: the poet Tannhaüser, the swan knight Lohengrin and his father, the Grail King Parzival. Otherwise, latest technology was showcasted in rooms of the Palas, the royal residence where they are fitted with hot air central heating. Running water was available on every floor and the kitchen had both hot and cold water. Even the toilets had an automatic flushing system. Another example is that the king used an electric bell system to summon his servants and adjutants.

Natalie and I bought some postcards at the official souvenir shop and got out the castle at around 1pm, then moved on to Marien Brücke. The road to the bridge was steeper and more difficult because of the melted snow on the floor, but it all worth when I arrived at the bridge. OMG it’s so beautiful. There is no better place to see Neuschwanstein Castle than here. Under a clear sky Neuschwanstein Castle, which is partly hidden in the forest, formed a formed a perfect picture with villages as its backdrop. As we tried to get a bit further, Marien Brücke started to give out some “noises”…umm a bit eerie…

We left Marien Brücke and arrived at the foot of the hill again at around 2pm, then I checked the bus schedule and decided to visit Tegelberg with Natalie instead of hanging around Füssen. It took us about 30 minutes or so to walk to the entrance of Tegelberg cable car, and it was around 3:30 already when we got to the peak of the mountain. Weather wasn’t perfect when we reached the peak. It’s a bit cloudy and windy, yet I was so excited to see such a beautiful snowy peak that I wanted to yell, “Yeah I made it!” Some slopes were a bit slippery and steep and shiny under the sun and I was careful when I climbed them. Schwangau and the castles look gorgeous from the peak. While the view of the village and the lake gave a feeling of “King of the world”, the café on the other side which was right next to cable car station provided a leisure and romantic atmosphere. I couldn’t help imagining having my own time with another half. I will come again, I swear.

We left Tegelberg at about 4pm, and shared some bread with Natalie while we were waiting for the bus to Füssen. 17:55, time for me to say goodbye to Schwangau and caught the train back to Munich.

I was so tired that I gave up the rest of my schedule on that day, which I planned to visit Allianz Stadium. But I felt so regretted after I got back to my hostel because I found out there was a live European Champions League match playing in Munich. Shit! I missed a valuable chance to watch a live match again. I shouldn’t have checked it before I arrived at Munich…sigh

I finished a drink (yes, again, just after two hours when my headache vanished totally) in the bar of my hostel. Then I went to bed.

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