Princess castles, waterfalls and magic

After spending a few days in Munich, I drove 80 miles south to a tiny Bavarian town called Schwangau, Germany. This is where I found a little bit of magic, whimsy and fantasy on my trip. The famous Neuschwanstein castle!

King Ludwig II of Bavaria built the massive Neuschwanstein castle in honor of his favorite composer (and source of his secret romantic crush), Richard Wagner. He was reportedly infatuated with Wagner and wanted the castle to be a shrine to his works, as well as place for the performance of his operas.

The castle is the real life depiction of every gorgeous, opulent princess castle I'd ever seen or dreamed of as a little girl.  In fact, Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, had taken a European tour before he built Disneyland and they visited the Neuschwanstein castle. Mr. Disney was so awestruck by the castle, it became the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella's castles. See for yourself:

I can certainly see similarities!  To tour the castle, I parked at the bottom of the mountain, paid for admittance, and boarded a shuttle bus that took me to the top of the mountain. After dozen of hairpin turns and twists, the shuttle dropped me and my fellow visitors off at the top, a short walk away from the castle itself.

Part of the magical experience of visiting Neuschwanstein is the incredible walk up to the castle. There is a long path and the castle ispartially hidden,  tucked away behind trees, so as you walk, slowly, turrets and spires come into sight one by one. When I rounded the last corner, the entire castle came into view and nearly took my breath away.

Gorgeous doesn't begin to describe it. It's magical, grandiose and stunning.  I spent about 30 minutes slowly wandering around the outside, taking it all in.  As I strolled, I walked through crowds of visitors from all over the world.  There were dozens of little girls wearing princess dresses. They walked around, waiting to go in the castle, wearing tiny ball gown and princess dresses of white and pink tulle. It was so sweet, I remembered what it felt like to be 5 years old again, twirling around the living room like a princess. I secretly wished I had a princess dress on, too, instead of jeans. What can I say? The place is magical.

Only one side of Neuschwanstein is approachable by foot. On all other sides of the Bavarian castle, the ground drops off in sheer bluffs.  It's absolutely jaw dropping.

After a short wait, my group was ushered inside for the tour. Originally, King Ludwig designed the castle to have more than 200+ rooms dedicated to the performance and appreciation of Wagner's works. 200 rooms...!  In contrast, the White House has just 132 rooms.  Although, the massive Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms, with 78 of them bathrooms! Imagine cleaning 78 toilets.  Ugh.

But I digress.  Despite the plan for 200+ rooms in  Neuschwanstein castle, only 14 were ever finished. Construction began in 1869 and went on for more than 16 years. Sadly, Richard Wagner died in 1883, having never visited Neuschwanstein, and King Ludwig was devastated.  Just three years later (1886), he was declared insane and died mysteriously 3 days after his diagnosis. After his death, because of the massive debt King Ludwig amassed, his family opened Neuschwanstein to visitors.

Today, visitors can only tour the 14 completed rooms. Nothing can prepare a visitor for the dripping, gilded, opulent interior. His eccentric style is distinct and in my opinion, overwhelming to the senses. Every inch of every wall, floor, ceiling, surface was embellished in some way.

My favorite room was the Throne Room. The massive focal point is a chandelier, designed to look like the Byzantine crown.  It weighs over 2,000 lbs!

The castle is full of tapestries, murals of Wagner's works, gilded walls, mirrors and picture frames.

And more incredible chandeliers!

My senses were overloaded during the entire tour, but in a great way.  It was gorgeous, opulent and over the top!   It's hard not to get a little caught up in the love story, as well.  Imagine love so strong that a person would devote their life to honoring another, or building something so massive in their honor. Men built the Taj Mahal and Neuschwanstein, so perhaps men are the romantic gender?  Certainly not in my personal experience...

As I left the castle, I veered off the path to stop on the Marienbrucke bridge.  The long, narrow bridge stretches over a stream and several waterfalls and has an unbeatable view of the castle.  It feels as if this must be the very spot King Ludwig stood when he was designing the castle.  And for all I know, maybe it was.

I'm not a big fan of bridges, especially ancient ones that are just wooden planks with GAPS between the planks. Seriously, gaps! I prefer my bridges to be steel and secure.  But, despite my fear, I did walk out to the middle and allowed the tranquility of the place to wash over me.

There is no denying that King Ludwig II of Bavaria was a strange man. His unrequited romantic obsession with Richard Wagner took over his life, bankrupted him and broke his heart.  But that passion also gave his life purpose. His passion led him to build this gorgeous castle, which has brought millions of people joy and happiness. It inspired Walt Disney, who in turn, shaped the imaginations of millions of little girls about what a princess castle looks like. It inspired Disneyland, and surely inspires the millions of visitors that flock there every year. It's magical and romantic.

I stood on the bridge for so long that I missed the last shuttle down the mountain.  The sky was turning gorgeous shades of orange and the castle was transformed in front of my eyes.  As the sun set over Neuschwanstein, I felt optimistic. Maybe someday, I'd have someone in my life who wants to build me a castle.

As I started the long, slow walk down the mountain, I looked around a few times to make sure I was alone.   And then, I did a few little twirls in my imaginary princess dress.

Munich

March 12^th and 13th

I’m in Munich, Germany!

For some reason I cannot explain, Germany was never high on my travel list.  I have always been drawn to destinations like Ireland, Paris or Italy and not as interested in places like Germany or Poland.  Then, my parents lived in Germany last year for 3 months and raved about it.  I visited Austria in February and loved it. I learned there are obviously a lot of similarities between Austria and Germany and my interest started to grow.  I began suspecting that my German-disinterest was all-wrong. So, when I started to plan my route coming back from Prague to Italy, I realized I could come back through Munich. I decided to check it out.

I’m so glad that I did.  I found that Germany was much different than my expectations. It’s a wonderful country with a fascinating history, distinct regions, amazing architecture, delicious food and warm, friendly people.  I’m about half German and it was comforting to walk around a country where everyone looked like me…blonde hair, blue eyes and fairly tall. I felt right at home…which certainly is not the case in Italy, where my pale skin and blonde tresses stands out!

I only had 1.5 days in Munich, so I tried to move fast and experience as much as possible! The first morning, I took the subway to Marienplatz, the heart of Munich.  The first thing you see as you come out of the subway at Marienplatz is the impressive Neuen Rathaus, or New City Hall.  It's awesome!

The building houses the famous glockenspiel and I timed my visit to catch the 12 o’clock chiming. Now, I’m not a clock buff or anything, but the glockenspiel was so charming!  At the top of the clock tower, you can see a little alcove where the automated little men are dancing, then they joust with one another, and one is victorious! There is a a SHORT video showing you the glockenspiel here. 


Next, I toured the Munich Residenz, a massive complex of buildings that was the former house of the Bavarian monarchs.  I swear, I love touring castles, residences, palaces and mansions. It is so much fun to see how the other half lives...and it makes me feel so poor. How can you not feel poor as you stroll through rooms like this...

I particularly liked strolling through the rooms that contained the treasures of the monarchy. My absolute favorite piece was the traveling set of Empress Marie Louise of Austria, the second wife of Napoleon. It was made in 1812 by the most famous goldsmith of that time, Martin Guillaume Biennais.

I love secret things... secret rooms, passageways, hidden things, secret boxes, etc.  And this set has tons of hidden areas and items that fold into it. It actually contains 120 items, including dinner service for 2, a toiletry set, writing implements, sewing tools, a measuring rod, screwdriver, even dental instruments. It's made of silver-gilt, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, ivory and ebony.  The photo does NOT do it justice. 

My favorite room in the massive Residenz was the Antiquarium, which was the biggest room I've ever seen.  I took photo and video, but I still feel that nothing quite captures how big the space was.

After I left the Residenz, I strolled the streets of Munich, talking with people, window shopping and finally, finding my way to Der Pschorr Bier Garten to try to drink a beer. These videos say it all! 

It's true, I'm not a beer drinker. I've never had more than a few sips before pouring myself a whiskey or wine instead.  But, I really wanted the bragging rights of saying I drank my first full beer in Germany.  

I think it helped that I paired my Hacker Pschorr Heifevisen with some delicious weinerschnitzel and roasted potatoes.  

And before long... 

The bartender had told each of the servers that I was drinking my first beer (in German, so I didn't realize). I had wondered why they were all so friendly.  Well, when I finished, they clapped for me.  I love Germany!

The next day I had only a few more hours in Munich. I decided to head to Hofbrauhaus for my second beer. That was a huge mistake.  Hofbrauhaus only has 2 beers.  Dark and regular.  I tried the regular, which was bitter and awful. I choked down 2 sips and left the rest - I know, beer crime! I did love the charm of the Hofbrauhaus, though, and strolled around looking at the stein cages and girls in traditional dress selling pretzels.  

I spent a few hours strolling and shopping, admiring cuckoo clocks, buying gifts and a few beer steins.  And then, far too soon, it was time to leave Munich and head to the Neuschwanstein Castle.  

Germany was an awesome surprise. I can't wait to return to Munich and explore the rest of the country.  But next on my itinerary is the Neuschwanstein Castle, about 80 kilometers south of Munich.

Auf Weidersehen (goodnight!)