Our train left the Haufbahnhof at 8:50 today, as we headed for the two famous castles of the 'crazy King Ludwig'. After a slight hiccup in getting to the station, Errol bought the tickets necessary for todays trip. This was again very well researched so he knew what was needed, and corrected the DB lady when she tried to sell us something slightly different! Meanwhile, I found lockers for our bags should we decide to leave them at the station tomorrow if we go to Salzburg.
It is about a 2.5 hour trip out to Fussen, so I made the most of the time and finished yesterday's draft blog ready to publish when we get back to internet connection. The countryside is just beautiful - everything is so green! The houses are starting to look a little more Swiss, or what I expect Swiss houses to look like!
Once in Fussen, it is then a short bus ride on to the castles (this is also covered by the Bayern train ticket). They have hundreds of thousand of visitors every year, and tours run like clockwork. Errol had booked us in for a tour of each castle, and joined the line to collect reserved tickets (1 person ahead of him). The queue for people without reservations had hundreds in it!
The village below the castles is beautiful too, and set beside a lake with swans (there was only one today, but the guide assured me there are heaps of them) and paddle boats ......... just so picturesque. We bought tickets for the bus ride later, and had a quick lunch at the beer garden before climbing to Hohenschwangau (the older of the two castles) for our first tour.
It is hard to describe the rooms, and unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take photos. Most rooms were decorated with murals, painted straight onto the walls that were really just period paintings only not on canvas. We were shown the king's rooms and the queen's rooms, the dining room and billiard hall. Many rooms have small heaters in them. The walls are very thick, and have passages behind them so the servants could access the heaters and add wood without disturbing the royal family or their guests - central heating mach 1!! The king certainly knew how to pick a view - spectacular from most rooms. The tours only run for about 30 minutes - the only way they can get through the number of visitors they have daily, and if you miss your time, you just miss out.
Once finished there, we walked back down to the village to catch the bus up to Marien's Bridge. Apparently Ludwig's wife didn't like sitting and reading, she enjoyed hiking, so he had this bridge built for her for better access to hiking trails. The queue for bus tickets by now was quite long, but as we had already bought ours, we just joined the bus queue. It was a very steep climb up, so I am really glad we weren't walking it. The views were wonderful again, especially once a few of the crowd left. The bridge looks over Neuschwanstein.
Because Marien's Bridge is above Neuschwanstein, it was a downhill walk for our next tour. Ludwig spent so much on his castles that he virtually died bankrupt. I won't mention how he died, wouldn't want to spoil the trip for someone else! But as soon as he did, all construction work stopped, and it has never been finished. Our tour took in 2 levels in one section of the castle. They included the throne room (wow!!!), Ludwig's rooms, including his bedroom (took 4 woodcarvers 3 years in this room alone), the singer's room (for concerts) and servants quarters. Then on the way out we went through the kitchens, but not with the guide. Ludwig's bedroom has a basin with running water (only cold), the castle water comes from a stream above it, so there was enough pressure for the King to have running water in his basin. He also had a flushing toilet, and the castle had a sewerage system - pretty amazing for the 1800's.
We have just about maxed out on the photos today (a few more below, but so many more I could have include) this is a trip I would recommend to everyone. Bought rolls and drinks from one of the food outlets at the Haufbanhof, then back to the unit for a quiet and late dinner.
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