JacksGirlz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 662
DAY EIGHT- Part 1
Today was an early day and out last full tour day. The guides impressed on us that this is THE MOST visited/photographed castle in the world with 20 million visitors a year. Therefore if we miss our specific touring time...thats it...we miss it and do not get to go inside. The power of the mouse will not help with that one. Se we were to all be ready and on board by 7:29am (ok 7:30 actually but we were not to be late). It was about a 2 hour drive to the castle, Neuschwanstein. On the way, Michael gave us more background on King Ludwig II. He discussed Ludwigs love of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. There was a lot of very interesting history ending in the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death in 1886. Neuschwanstein was the third castle that Ludwig II constructed. He never finished the castle due to his early death. The Wittelsbach family opened the castle up for visitors to help recoup the money that Ludwig had spent building his fairytale castles.
When we arrived in the small town just below Neuschwanstein we left Rudy and our large bus to get on a smaller but that would take us up the hill. We got off and walked up to the bridge for a gorgeous view of the castle and all the surroundings.
Here is Michael and DD (she is wrapped in the Bavarian flag)
And the turret with a "baby" turret style copied for the Sleeping Beauty castle
There were many locks on the chain link sides of the bridge. This is a custom to celebrate a marriage or an engagement. The couple sometimes decorate the lock or put names/initials and dates on it. They close the lock on the chain link fence on the bridge and then throw away the key into the river below.
After all the pictures we headed down the hill and climbed back up a different route to get to the entrance to Neuschwanstein.
There were no pictures or video inside the castle. Each room inside had a fantasy or fairytale theme often from the operas of Richard Wagner. Only 1/3 of the castle was finished so there are not tons of rooms to view. I think the tour itself lasted about an hour. The official tour guide was good but we tried to stay close to Michael to hear more interesting facts and to see what he pointed out.
After we exited the castle we got to take a horse and buggy ride down the hill to the small town below.
We had lunch at Hotel Muller (beef, fish and pork options). All the junior adventurers were good pals by now.
We had time to explore after lunch and Michael offered to take us over to the lake to view the Pre Alps. He suggested that we bring any leftover bread rolls with us to feed the ducks. All the kids grabbed the bread and we were off.
DD is a bread lover so she didnt let it all go to the ducks.
Since we had a little more time Michael said if we hurry we can climb the hill and visit the gardens of Hohenschwangau, the castle that was Ludwig IIs childhood home and was refurbished by his father Maximillian II. Neuschwanstein is built higher and bigger than Hohenschwangau. Most of us followed Michael right on up to the gardens and they were pretty and had a nice view of Neuschwanstein.
Swans were a theme here as well as well as at Neuschwanstein.
Here is the view of Maximillian's castle from Ludwig's castle
We boarded the bus exactly on time and took the 2-hour drive back to Munich. We even got to enjoy a surprise performance on the way home as part of our German history lesson. It was a lot of fun. Not sure if this happens every time but I dont want to spoil it for future trips. Once back at the hotel there was about 2 hours on your own in Munich.
I've hit the maximum limit on pictures so I will continue in Part 2.
DAY EIGHT Part #2 link below
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=48997285#post48997285
Today was an early day and out last full tour day. The guides impressed on us that this is THE MOST visited/photographed castle in the world with 20 million visitors a year. Therefore if we miss our specific touring time...thats it...we miss it and do not get to go inside. The power of the mouse will not help with that one. Se we were to all be ready and on board by 7:29am (ok 7:30 actually but we were not to be late). It was about a 2 hour drive to the castle, Neuschwanstein. On the way, Michael gave us more background on King Ludwig II. He discussed Ludwigs love of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. There was a lot of very interesting history ending in the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death in 1886. Neuschwanstein was the third castle that Ludwig II constructed. He never finished the castle due to his early death. The Wittelsbach family opened the castle up for visitors to help recoup the money that Ludwig had spent building his fairytale castles.
When we arrived in the small town just below Neuschwanstein we left Rudy and our large bus to get on a smaller but that would take us up the hill. We got off and walked up to the bridge for a gorgeous view of the castle and all the surroundings.
Here is Michael and DD (she is wrapped in the Bavarian flag)
And the turret with a "baby" turret style copied for the Sleeping Beauty castle
There were many locks on the chain link sides of the bridge. This is a custom to celebrate a marriage or an engagement. The couple sometimes decorate the lock or put names/initials and dates on it. They close the lock on the chain link fence on the bridge and then throw away the key into the river below.
After all the pictures we headed down the hill and climbed back up a different route to get to the entrance to Neuschwanstein.
There were no pictures or video inside the castle. Each room inside had a fantasy or fairytale theme often from the operas of Richard Wagner. Only 1/3 of the castle was finished so there are not tons of rooms to view. I think the tour itself lasted about an hour. The official tour guide was good but we tried to stay close to Michael to hear more interesting facts and to see what he pointed out.
After we exited the castle we got to take a horse and buggy ride down the hill to the small town below.
We had lunch at Hotel Muller (beef, fish and pork options). All the junior adventurers were good pals by now.
We had time to explore after lunch and Michael offered to take us over to the lake to view the Pre Alps. He suggested that we bring any leftover bread rolls with us to feed the ducks. All the kids grabbed the bread and we were off.
DD is a bread lover so she didnt let it all go to the ducks.
Since we had a little more time Michael said if we hurry we can climb the hill and visit the gardens of Hohenschwangau, the castle that was Ludwig IIs childhood home and was refurbished by his father Maximillian II. Neuschwanstein is built higher and bigger than Hohenschwangau. Most of us followed Michael right on up to the gardens and they were pretty and had a nice view of Neuschwanstein.
Swans were a theme here as well as well as at Neuschwanstein.
Here is the view of Maximillian's castle from Ludwig's castle
We boarded the bus exactly on time and took the 2-hour drive back to Munich. We even got to enjoy a surprise performance on the way home as part of our German history lesson. It was a lot of fun. Not sure if this happens every time but I dont want to spoil it for future trips. Once back at the hotel there was about 2 hours on your own in Munich.
I've hit the maximum limit on pictures so I will continue in Part 2.
DAY EIGHT Part #2 link below
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=48997285#post48997285
)
