Castles & Friends

The rain woke us up at about 6:30, but we just switched our heads to the end of the bed so we could watch the storm out the window. It was pouring, and there was thunder and lightening. I hoped it would clear up, but we had our rain jackets, just in case.

We checked out and ate a hurried breakfast, then we went to the ticket center. We had ordered the tickets online, but we had to be there by 8:20am to pick them up, or they were invalid. I had read on TripAdvisor that the lines got very long, and since they are timed tickets, you could get there early and not actually get into the castle until late. Since we had friends to see on the way home, we needed to get in early. Breakfast didn't start until 7:45, so we were rather rushed. But, we made it, and we got our tickets. There was no line. It was a little drizzly by now, but not too bad.

There are two castles in Schwangau. Neuchwanstein, which you would probably all recognize, and Hohenschwangau, which you'd probably only recognize if you watch The Amazing Race. Hohenschwangau is where King Ludwig II grew up. It's on a hill that overlooks the village of Schwangau (now just inns, restaurants, and souvenir shops). That was our first destination. The map said that it took about 30 minutes to walk up the hill the longer (but easier) way, and about 15 to go up the steps. We decided to take the horse carriage. We sat in the carriage and waited. And waited. And waited. Our ticket was for 9:20 (and the carriage driver knew that), so we had some time, but it was still a bit nerve-wracking. He was waiting for more people to fit in the carriage. Finally, some people came. We made it up with a few minutes to spare, so all was good.

Hohenschwangau is a bright, livable castle. It's not huge by castle standards, but it was only a summer home. It is beautifully painted with scenes from German folklore painted on many of the walls. No photos are allowed, so you'll have to excuse my hip shots.

You can see Lohengrin on the wall on the left. The swan is just out of frame.

Wagner probably played this piano

Wagner definitely slept in this bed

The view from Wagner's room

Looking down on Schwangau

On a hill on the other side of the village is Neuschwanstein. King Ludwig II was a huge fan of Wagner's operas, and he had this castle built specifically to look like it was from an opera. The original design was even by a set designer, not an architect. It was built in the mid-late 1800s, but was designed to look like a medieval palace. The castle was not finished when he died, and it was turned into a museum 6 weeks later. Every part that was finished, though, was painted with scenes from Wagner's operas. Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland.

The hike up to Neuschwanstein is significant, and we didn't have a whole lot of time to get there after our tour of Hohenschwangau. So, we took the little bus. Again, you'll have to excuse the hip shots of the interior.

Neuschwanstein

He wanted his throne room to look Byzantine

The Singer's Hall

Looking over at Hohenschwangau from Neuschwanstein

After our tour, I wanted to go to the bridge behind the castle where the best pictures are, but the rest were too tired. So, I went up alone. There was a guy up there playing the hertie gertie, which was cool, and a guy selling cards and things that he had painted of the castle in watercolors. They were really pretty, so I bought a card. I got back down in time for us to catch the bus back down the hill.

Hertie Gertie

From the bridge

Jen & I went to a gift shop (I needed a canvas bag, of course), and the kids headed to the car. Then, we were off!

So, David has a friend that lives between Neuschwanstein and Mainz. She lived in CA for a year with her family and went to David's school. But, a family member in Germany got sick, so they all moved back. We went to visit them. I was nervous that it would be awkward, but it really wasn't. Her parents were very friendly and chatty. Her mom had made some wonderful apple strudel, and we spent a couple of hours eating and talking. Darlene (David's friend) took them to a dairy farm next door, and they got to pet the cows. We really enjoyed it, but we could only stay a few hours, because we still had the drive home.

Google maps had told us it would be about 3 hours. Darlene's dad said 5 or 6. It took a little over 4. We ran into terrible, horrible, no good, very bad traffic. But, we made it, so it's all good. Plus, I got to see some uber hotties at a rest stop. Woo, baby!

Emma says - The castles were really pretty, but they were small and not castle-y, I thought. And I have a pretty good idea of what is castle-y. But, they were nice places. I liked them. We had the best apple strudel ever at Darlene's house. I loved it! I got to touch and feed cows! It was fun and awesome.