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Published: September 12th 2006
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OK, so not really, but close....the castle that inspired Disney to build the castle as he did....King Ludwig II's castle in Fussen in southern Germany. But before we went there, we hung around in Munich a few days....or should I say, we STOOD around in Munich for a few hours, and by few I mean EIGHT! So here's the deal....
We took a venture via Austria en route to Munich, Germany from Cesky Krumlov and arrived late afternoon. It was our first full day in Munich that was jam packed with excitement. In the morning we ventured to the grocery store and Ry, using his knowledge of German said, "There's something going on with the Pope." So, basically he saw the picture of the Pope on all the papers, but it wasn't until we went in search of our free walking tour in one of the main plazas that we found out what the papers actually said. Yep, Pope Benedict XVI was coming to Munich! Since the whole plaza was filled with police and barricades, and since our tour was to meet in the middle of it all at the big column, we decided to get patted down and pass
Pope Mobile
Here he comes... through security into the thick of it. Now this is 10:45am and there are already people lined up around the fenced off platform. So, we ask around and we are informed that at 3pm, the Pope will be arriving. We look around for the tour guide, but it was already past the meeting time, so we had a decision to make: to wait or not to wait, that is the question. Whelp, we waited. And waited. At 1:30pm we watched the big screens in the plaza of the Pope at the airport. Yes!...No! He was not arriving at the Munich airport, but rather getting on the plane in ROME!!!!! The crowd continued to grow and we decided we'd already waited three hours, what was two more. Well, long story short, two turned into four, but when we saw that crazy PopeMobile drive up, we were excited. Our feet hurt and there were so many people we couldn't move, but we saw Pope Benedict XVI in person! We have no idea what he said, as it was all in German, but we waited eight hours and saw the guy. Crazy.
Yep, that was day one. Day two, we actually did
the walking tour and saw the famous glockenspiel, visited the beer gardens, heard the history of Hitler and the Nazi's start in Munich, and saw loads of churches. After the tour we ventured to the English Garden where Ryan made me walk through the gobs of nude sunbathers. The park was HUGE (the biggest inner city park in Europe) and had a river wrapping through it. In the back we stumbled upon the largest beer garden. It seats 7000!!!! So, when in Munich....we ordered a liter of beer and a head-sized pretzel. On the way out of the park, we found people surfing!!! Yes, surfing on the river! It was an inverted wave coming out from the street/bridge....shoot, just check out the pic....it was bizarre to say the least.
On day three we got up early and headed south to Fussen, the sight of the Disneyland castle. We took a bus up to the top of a mountain and hiked up to this gorgeous castle located at the peak with the most magnificent 360 view imaginable. King Ludwig II became king at the age of 18 and was a bit eccentric. This castle was definitely a product of his
ego. The castle was never completed, as he mysteriously died before it's completion and only lived in this incredible place for 172 days! We took the guided tour that led us through the one-third of the castle that was finished. The cave and the wood workings of his bedroom were of the most impressive. He actually built a cave in the middle of the castle! And the canopy of his bed had the most intricate woodcarvings imaginable. It took woodworkers 4yrs just to complete the work in his bedroom! One of the most disappointing for me was the throne room. The paintings of all of Europe's kings and the King of kings, Jesus Christ, was beautiful, and the gold, 2000lb jewel-studded chandelier was amazing, but what is a Throne Room without a throne!!! It hadn't been completed by the time the king died. Outside the castle we were able to hike to Mary's Bridge where a waterfall and river flowed below. The water was a gorgeous torquoise and the view of the castle with the town in the background was breathtaking. We then took a horse-drawn carriage back to the bottom, jumped on a bus, then trained it back to
Munich where we grabbed our bags, hiked back to the train station and jumped on another train.....
Next up: Salzburg, Austria; Sept 11, 2006
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Mike
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King Ludwig
Ludwig had many castles. Is the neat one w/ the super neat grotto and boat in it? I remember that. As well as convincing two Canadian girls to help me smuggle two Hofbrahaus beer steins out of the place by sticking them up their skits and walking, slowly, out with them between their legs! Talented girls!! Mike