It's Tuesday and we left early again, this time for an overnight trip. Today we are going to southwest Bavaria see the 19th-century Schloss Neuschwanstein, above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in the Alpine foothills. To get there, we actually entered Austria for a few miles, then curved back into Germany. What a blessing the European Union is - no border crossing check points, passport controls, etc - it's just like going from state to state here in the US. The castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, with construction starting in 1868. The castle was built on the ruins of two previous medieval castles, Voderhohenschwangau and Hinterhohenschwangau. Construction continued off and on but was never fully completed. Ludwig finally did actually occupy the castle for 172 days, before he was deposed as king by the Bavarian government on June 9, 1886, and he was evicted from the castle within two days. The castle is magnificent and is often the castle we all think of when we imagine what a European castle should look like.
Before going to the castle, we spent a little time sightseeing until our bus was available to take us up the road to the castle. Hanna and Dieter got something to eat from a stand and I took photos of the Jägerhaus building, while DeeDee and Sabine wandered around. On the bus ride up to the castle, we got a good view of Ludig's father's family home, Schloss Hohenschwangau, a yellowish colored building much father down the mountain than Ludwig's Schoss Neuschwanstein. The bus dropped us off below the castle and we had to walk the rest of the way, with DeeDee pointing out flowers she wanted me to take photos of. Before going directly to the castle, we stopped at the Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge) that crosses over a very steep and deep gouge near the castle. It offers fabulous views of the castle and we have Hanna to thank for the amazing exterior photos of the castle she took from the bridge. I took tons of photos outside of the castle, but we were not permitted to take photos inside. I did find some interior photos on a website, which I have used above.
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