Neuschwanstein

10/30/2009

Today is Mama Lou’s birthday. Happy Birthday Mama Lou! I planned to go to Neuschwanstein Castle for my daily activity. Going to this castle is the whole reason I decided to leave Italy and come back up north to see it. Katherine and I missed it the first time we were in Munich and since we left, I had heard nothing but rave reviews about this castle. I was having a hard time letting it go that I had missed out on it. So since I had my two-month, unlimited travel Eurail pass and some time to kill before I met my mom, I decided it would be a perfect time to go back and see this famous castle. It is after all the castle that inspired Walt Disney when he was designing the magic kingdom castle.

I knew this castle would be a long day trip adventure, so I got up at 7 to get my day started. When my alarm went off, no one was up in my room. I felt kind of bad about making noise when I was getting ready for the day, but that’s what happens when you stay in hostels. While I was getting ready, I looked over and realized that there were two people in a top bunk bed. I thought this was interesting because the beds are not very big. It caught me off guard because when I looked out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a guy holding up a dread lock wig. It turns out that the dread lock wig was actually a person that was on top of the guy. I just turned away. The free breakfast that the hostel offered was very good. I made sure to fill up for the day. The internet was still not working in the morning, which was annoying, but I knew I could always go to Burger King in the train station if need be.

The train ride from Munich to Fussen was 2 hours. The times that my timetable book gave me for trains to Fussen were not correct (this is the first time I have ever encountered this problem) and when I went to check the information desk, they told me that I had 45 minutes until the next train. I would have to make a connection in order to get to Fussen. While I was at the information desk, I also made my reservation for my train ride for the next day from Munich to Bologna, and then also inquired on times of possible trains to take after Bologna. Even after getting a lot of sleep the night before, I slept for most of the train ride to Fussen. It was a very cold, foggy, morning, so there was not much to look at outside.

I have officially decided that I think German takes longer to speak and get your point across of what you want to say than English does. It is either that or the intercom give a message with a lot more information in it in German than they do in English. Also I have noticed that in the suburbs of most European cities, a lot of the structures do not look structurally sound. It is quite different looking from the country of the US.

When I arrived in Fussen, I knew I had to take a bus to the town that was below the castle, where you bought entrance tickets. While I was on the train, I noticed that there was also a tour on the train with me, so I just followed them to make sure that I was going to the right place. The bus cost 1.80 to get to the town and said that it cost 4.20 for the return trip. I thought this was ridiculous, especially because it was only a 10 minute bus ride.
At the town below the castle, I bought my entrance ticket. I could only get into the castle if I also did a guided tour, but since I was a student, it only cost me 8 euro. So far my day trip had been the cheapest day trip so far and it looked very promising and worth the money. From the town, you could look up the mountain and see the castle and then another schloss, which Im not really sure what it was used for because I didn’t go to it 9it wasn’t nearly as pretty). You had to walk up the hill to get to the castle. It ended up being a 30-minute, moderately steep walk, but I needed some exercise after Italy and the fall foliage was gorgeous. The temperature was brisk and in general it was a pleasant walk.

I had time to kill before my tour started, so I walked back down the hill a bit to get a sugar-covered pretzel from a stand just below the castle. Pretzels are a German thing, so I figured I might as well. I also bought a sparkling apple juice drink, which I also thought was appropriate because apples seem to be fairly common in Germany too. I had brought an apple and roll and honey along with me from breakfast as a snack. Together all of these would make acceptable day food.

The tour started at 1:30 and lasted for only a half an hour, but it was pretty good. King Ludwig II “mysteriously” died while the castle was still being built, so the third floor was never finished. It is not the biggest castle ever, so we were able to cover all of the finished room in that time no problem. The castle was really something else. I think I would like to live there. It is decorated in Roman style, not Gothic, so there is a lot of bright, colorful, cheerful paintings and beautiful woodworking. There was gold trip on everything and some unbelievable chandeliers and mosaics. Plus it had some pretty advanced technology in it for the time like a telephone and running water. Ludwig wanted the castle to be a magical place and that is exactly what it is. It is a pretty amazing building and totally worth the trip back to Munich to see it. Our tour guide was a weirdo that looked like the Shermanator from American Pie, but he was super timid and shy. He did an ok job with the tour, but in reality the castle spoke for itself.

After the tour finished, I walked a bit more up the mountain to a bridge that gave a great view of the castle. The bridge was called Mary’s Bridge and was suspended over a waterfall. Being on the bridge, suspended high up over a ravine like that was a cool feeling and gave an even better view of the mountains, castle, and countryside.

At this point, I felt like I had seen everything I needed and wanted to see so I headed back to the small town below the castle and started inquiring about ways to get back to Fussen so I could catch the train back to Munich. I thought paying 4.20 for the bus’s return trip was highway robbery and the bus didn’t come for another 40 minutes. So instead of standing around waiting, I decided to walk a 5 k “foot path” that would supposedly take an hour and a half back to Fussen. I figured I could use some more exercise too and I had time to kill, if anything I would be moving and not waiting for the stupid bus. Looking back, I find it interesting that I made this decision for two reasons, my foot had had a lot of work today and it is not really in my personality to go take the more energy exerted path.

At first, it was an incredibly enjoyable walk through the bright fall colored forest in very pleasant fall temperatures. Then all of a sudden the path veered uphill and the nice stroll down a footpath became a full-fledged uphill hike, switchbacks included. I realized that I was on a pretty extreme route when I passed by mountain bikers and rock climbers. 50 minutes later, I was a sweaty mess, but I had made it to Fussen in record time. I stumbled out of the woods and onto a road, which then I had to make the decision of which was to start walking because the signs were gone.

My gut told me to go right and I eventually came hffing and puffing to a girl, who thankfully spoke English. She assured me that I was in fact in Fussen and was only a 7-minute walk to the train station. As I walked through Fussen to get to the station, I passed this bakery that was selling the most unusual sweet treats. They looked delicious, so I treated myself to a caramel one of whatever this baked good was as a reward for my hard work. Fussen is a very cute quaint town, but in the German sense, not Italian… think Busch Gardens for both. I got to the train station just in time to catch the train back to Fussen. Perfect timing on my part, thank you very much, haha, and wouldn’t you know it, I was ended up on the same train as the tour group that I rode on the morning train with.

When I got back to Munich, my legs were exhausted. The Internet in the hostel was finally up and working so I was able to catch up on all of the things I needed to do. One thing I have noticed is that unlike Italians, Germans do not dress for the cold. Either that or their coats are deceptively warm. After getting everything done that I needed to, I hit the hay hard! What a day!