Recovering from Oktoberfest took a lot longer than I’d like to admit. Thankfully, by today, I’m feeling back to normal. And it’s time for us to say farewell to Munich and head to Fussen. Every train station had people in Oktoberfest garb getting ready to go party. And I absolutely love those calf-warmer things. Come to find out they’re called Loferls, or Poor Man’s Socks – they traditionally kept the veins in the leg warm, but you used less wool to make them than normal socks. Guess what my next knitting project is? And I have to make sure I have at least one pair done before Wurstfest so someone (aka, KL, or anyone else going with us) can wear them.
Found our train, time to grab breakfast and coffee and snacks!
KL, master of holding things! (RHL and I were terribly prepared this morning to hold things and KL rescued us).
Casinos are everywhere in Europe. Gambling is everywhere.
The scenery was very pretty on the way, when our view wasn’t blocked by trees or sound-blocking fences.
Oh look! Mountains in the distance!
After a pleasant train ride, we’ve arrived in Fussen! Cradle of European lutes and violins!
Someone’s house has a little tower on it…I want one.
KL navigates.
Hiking trails for later maybe…
Our hotels are near each other, which is convenient. I can’t remember if I booked the one I did because it was cheaper or if the one they were in was full.
My place! I like the look of this one. Very cute.
They stuck me on the top floor, apparently next to a room for Hobbits.
And I have a balcony and a lovely view! Dang it – I’m starting to wish we could have spent more time here.
Cute little room. I’m very happy with this one in particular. Time to meet up with the Ls and head out to explore. We have a castle to visit today.
The Lech River that flows through Fussen.
Castle walls! But not the castle we’re going to see. This is in the city of Fussen.
RL taking photos. She has some beautiful ones of the river.
Biking is very popular here. However, it seems tourists can’t handle hills, even when they have motorized bicycles. Or maybe their batteries died. To be fair, it was a long, steep hill.
It’s so cute here! Now I really wish I had planned on more time here!
But no time for sight-seeing in town yet. We have to catch that bus to the castle we came to see – Neuschwanstein Castle.
The bus dropped us off and we had to wander a bit to find the ticket office.
Well now…
To get to Neuschwanstein, you have to walk up the mountain a bit. Or you can pay to go slowly in a horse-drawn cart, which really didn’t go much faster than the walkers and apparently dropped people off only halfway.
Hohenschwangau Castle. Not as impressive as Neuschwanstein, and we didn’t go there.
It’s so pretty! I love being in the forest!
Near Neuschwanstein, there is a hotel. And, of course, stuff to buy.
There it is! Neuschwanstein! You can only enter the castle with a guided tour, and they sold tickets based on timed tours. We had a while to wait, so we looked around a bit.
The view beneath the castle.
This is the type of castle I picture when I imagine fairy tale castles (and that’s probably thanks to Sleeping Beauty – the castle in that movie was based off this one). And I’m sure that’s what the designer, King Ludwig II, intended to some extent. He also designed it as homage to a composer named Richard Wagner…and we’re pretty sure that was not a platonic relationship based on many things, but most importantly, one simple fact: the palace had absolutely no chambers (and Ludwig had no intention of adding any) for a queen/female companion.
The courtyard was filled with people, which was a little annoying.
Marien Bridge – we’ll go there after. Looks awesome.
The upper courtyard. The place we’re standing in was actually supposed to be a chapel, but it was never finished because King Ludwig II died (drowned) under suspicious circumstances.
St. George and the Virgin (I think) on the main palace walls. I’m always confused as to who gets St. George – both the Germans and Russians use the imagery heavily, even though he was Roman.
I bet the paraglider has an amazing view!
I wish plants like this grew easily back home.
So, like many places, no photographs allowed inside. Which is a shame – it was very elaborately decorated. Lots of murals and frescos of knights and heroic tales on the walls. I’m not a fan of large-group tours by any means, but it was neat to see this. This is the backend (ish) of the castle.
I wish this image didn’t come out blurry…but I still had to include it here. We’re heading towards the bridge we saw earlier.
…man. All the hiking we could do here! I definitely need to come back.
Hot air balloons! Reminds me of home!
We couldn’t decide if that was supposed to be Ludwig or Wagner on top…symbolically, of course.
The castle from Marien Bridge.
The waterfall beneath us.
And it’s time to head back down. The day is about finished and we don’t want to be caught up here at night. During the month of September, they have symphonies (German music, of course) in the castle.
I wonder if people in Europe are as interested in Old West stuff as we are in castles…
Another stupid blurry photo. I need to get better at this. We headed back into town to find dinner. This was a cool little wooden booth that served wine that you could enjoy in this public courtyard.
Obviously a touristy town. They set up a lighting system for the town (maybe just for the weekends). It’s pretty.