As for my day, myself, Alfred, Elena and Bruno headed out around 10. We got in the car and drove for about an hour and a half northeast of here to the edge of the Alps. The drive took us along the Autobahn for a while which was sort of crazy. The fact that there was no speed limit in many places resulted in pretty drastic speed variations. I do not think I liked this as I felt a bit sick a few times. We then proceeded through some flat lands all the way to to foot of the Alps. This resulted in some beautiful views of the snow crested mountains. Also fun on this drive... people driving on the right again! It feels so...right.
As for what we were doing at the foot of the Alps... we were visiting a few castles of King Ludwig. Specifically Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau we never toured, but got some great views of the outside. It is the castle that Ludwig and his family lived in for quite some time. Conversely, Neuschwanstein we did tour, and Ludwig spent very little time there. Much of the reason for that is a result of his death though. This castle however, is most commonly known because it was used to model Cinderella's castle.
The ticket office foe the tours was at the foot of the mountain, and is set up so that you can arrive at the castle whenever you want to control your waiting times prior to your tour. So, we had a quick lunch and then started the walk up. Its not that difficult of a climb, ascending a road that is not too steep. However, when we reached the top the views were spectacular. We could look out, away from the castle and just gaze over the miles of flat plains towards Munich. Even more impressive was the view towards the mountains behind the castle. There we could look down into a gorge and raise our eyes to see across a white frozen lake and then up into jagged, snow-capped peaks.
Lastly, we could look at the castle itself, with high white walls and tall, round, pointed towers. The courtyard was small, and was very much built to be the size of a waiting/greeting area. That said, it was still quite lovely.
As our tour began, we were explained that very few of the rooms of the castle were finished by the time of Ludwig's death. So, the tour was going to take us through those few rooms that were. Also, apparently Ludwig build this castle as a dedication to Wagner, who was Ludwig's favorite composer (and more as rumors would have it). But, as the tour progressed it became very clear that this castle was designed for Wagner.
Out first stop was in the throne room, which was funny because there was no throne. That said, the chandelier was a 2000 pound masterpiece, shaped like a crown. The room had a grand marble staircase leading to where the throne would have been placed. The walls on either side were pained with the 12 apostles. The back wall held paintings of the 6 sainted kings, while the ceiling over the pedestal was painted with Christ, displayed as 'King of King's. The floor was a giant mosaic depicting the plants and animals of the world and the remaining walls were painted with the tale of one of the sainted kings slaying a dragon. (One painting also had a castle drawn in it, apparently Ludwig's fourth planned castle, though it was never started.)
Our next stop was Ludwig's bedroom. At first the room seemed far less grant then that of the throne room, but closer inspection said otherwise. Here, apparently 4 woodcarvers worked for years, every day before completing it. The wooden canopy over the bed, as well as the carvings on the sink and reading chair were breathtaking, carved to resemble towers and arches of cathedrals and churches. Here, his walls were painted to depict scenes from one of Wagner's operas, though I forget which one. I also liked that the sink, with a faucet carved as a swan (the swan is everywhere!), had running water from a spring further up the mountain.
We left the bedroom through a secret (and yes... I would not have known it was there... the wood carvers were indeed good) door that led through his dressing room into his library (or a room that served that purpose). This room apparently surpasses all others in terms of swans. The room was decorated by hundreds. The walls were subtly carved in pictures and patterns using them. The door handles were the necks and heads of swans. The swans appeared in the paintings around the walls. Again, the paintings were of a Wagner fairy tale.
We left this room and passed through an artificially constructed cave. The cave was a memento of another of Wagner's works (noticing anything?). It was also crazy how real it looked. I was surprised. And this led us into the final room of the tour, the singer's hall. This grand room had a stage, with the back painted as the magical forest that surrounded the magical castle that held the Holy Grail. Meanwhile the rest of the room was painted of Wagner's works. The acoustics were terrific, as the ceiling was constructed with a large number of individual wooden pieces. Again... a beautiful room. Every time I thought I'd taken the whole thing in I noticed something new... like the trees, carved into the corners of the ceiling to ease the transition from the walls... This room also held the coat of arms of Ludwig, the only sign in the castle that connected it to his family, as there were no portraits of him or anyone else.
Thus ended the guided tour, but we then walked out of the castle through the kitchen, the last and final completed room. Sandy, far less exciting to discuss. We then headed around the gorge to Marien Brüke (Mary's Bridge), that spanned the gorge leading up to the castle. Here, if you could not guess, we got some more outstanding views, of everything previously mentioned. And that should have been the end, but the way down was more exciting than it could have been.
Rather than taking the regular and clear path, Elena proposed taking the ... less beaten trail. Which was fine for me, as I was in boots, but the snow and ice caused more trouble for... her... as her footwear was less ideal. This made the way down slower then it could have been, but also more entertaining. And, by the end, nobody had fallen, so all a success. This route also led me to the best view of the day of a different section of the Alps, and my favorite view of the mountains, so I was pleased. It also led to one of the better quotes of the trip. We all know that I love penguins, so, when Elena said, "I feel like a penguin", with a few 'penguin-like' gestures as she crossed the ice, I was vastly entertained.
We then returned to the car and back to Munich, with much the same effects and thoughts of the car ride. Back in Munich we watched a bit more news, I did some laundry, and we had dinner of salad and quiche. My evening was then vastly dedicated to figuring out hostels for Paris and Italy, which I am now gratefully done with and hope it all works out. However... I miss the hostels from my previous countries... they were all so easy to set up and arrange. Grrr. But... yea... today was awesome!
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