Germany 3

Germany 3 - Fussen and "The Castles"

So one of the high points of the trip for the girls was going to see the castle Neuschwanstein (apparently the castle that Disney based his "magic kingdom" castle after). Neuschwanstein was right next to another castle, Hohenschwangau, so we got a "two-fer" on this part of the trip! The nearest town was Fussen, which is quite close to the border with Austria and near the Alps. It turned out to be a very beautiful place, and we wished we could have stayed longer than the 2 days we had there!

The drive on the Romantic Road was quite beautiful. This was especially true as we got down to the area where we could start to see the Alps. Although it was a somewhat overcast day, you can see the looming Alps in the background of this shot, as a largely hidden behemoth rising in the distance. Quite dramatic. It was nice to see some REAL mountains after being out in the eastern U.S. for so long!

In Fussen, we ended up having by far the nicest hotel room and location of any of our stays! It was above a really nice bakery and restaurant, and we got to have that traditional German breakfast, this time enhanced with great bakery items! The room had a kitchen, bar area, nice eating area, a larger living room (shown here with the couch pulled out for the kids) and very nice "master bedroom" (seen through the door) and a great bathroom! We also had a great view of the mountains! Of course, this all cost a pretty penny, but hey, you gotta splurge every once and a while!

This was a restaurant that was right down at the end of the walkway shown on the left. German food was primarily pork, potatoes, and cabbage. However, it was VERY well prepared and we really didn't get bored with it during our trip (at least Claudia and Steve didn't!). This was another place suggested by Rick Steves, and it was quite good (as were most of the places he suggested).

This was a nice walking area right across the street from the hotel, with a whole range of outdoor eateries with a nice view of the foothills of the Alps!

Right in town was a smaller castle, the Castle Hohes Schloss. We didn't get a chance to see this in the day because of our time constraints. However, we did take a walk up at night and checked it out. It was a bit creepy (the girls were REALLY happy when we left), but also pretty in the shadows. They also had a neat courtyard area with various painted 3-D scenes that looked like windows with hanging flowers.

So the primary reason we went to Fussen was to see the castles. This is castle Hohenschwangau, which was the original castle in this beautiful area. It was actually a "summer home" for king Maximillian The Second, the ruler of Munich in the 1800's. This is where his son, later to be called "Mad King Ludwig", was primarily raised. The castle was beautiful, but unfortunately they didn't allow any pictures inside, so we got only outside shots.

So, as Ludwig was growing up, he fanaticized about building his own castle in the same valley as his father's. It turns out that his father died an untimely death and Ludwig became king at the young age of 18. He became a patron of the arts, and was particularly fond of the composer Wagner. He was obsessed with building the castle Neuschwanstein, pictured above (as seen through the mist from the castle Hohenschwangau). Unfortunately, his various artistic endeavors led the Munich elite to dislike him passionately, and they eventually had him declared insane (without a medical examination of any kind!) and removed him from the throne. The day after he was dethroned, he mysteriously died! His castle was never completed, and instead was quickly turned into a museum. As with Hohenschwangau, the castle was magnificent, but we couldn't take any pictures inside!

As we got close to the castle, it was too big to get a good shot of it. This is a picture of Claudia at the base of the castle, so you can get an idea of how large it is!

Right up the way from Neuschwanstein is Marienbrücke / St. Mary's Bridge, which had a wonderful view of the valley and of Neuschwanstein (see below, left). This bridge was quite the experience. It was made out of simple wooden slats that creaked when you walked on them and the bridge was PACKED so it seemed that it could all collapse at any minute! Needless to say, Sarah, who is afraid of heights, didn't make the trip out to see the view!

The view from the Marienbrücke was the best shot of Neuschwanstein and the valley beyond. You can see how really gorgeous this area was, and why the kings and their families loved it up there!

This is a shot from the trail leading to the Marienbrücke. You can see the castle Hohenschwangau in the background and a bit of the two lakes flanking either side of Hohenschwangau.Sarah is holding her precious Neuschwanstein snow globe (she collects snow globes and has almost 20 now!).

Down the road from Fussen is a famous rococo church, Wieskirche. Apparently, there was a little church in a farming area that had a sculpture of Jesus that "cried." So many people came to see the weeping Jesus that some rich benefactors got together and built this amazing church out in the countryside!