Schloss Neuschwanstein - Schloss Hohenschwangau - Oktoberfest

September 23, 2007

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 I got up at about 6:00 AM and ended up at Munich’s Train Station by 7:00 AM, which was a little quicker than I thought.  The train I was taking left at 7:41 AM.  I almost need all that time to get to the train.  It was at track 32 out of 36 and barely even in the train station.  The train actually goes to Fussen and then you take a bus 5 kilometers to Schwangau where Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenshcwangau.  There was a quick train change in Buchloe on route.  One of the things I have noticed on the train ride is the number of basketball hoops that are up in all types of places.  They are on barns, house driveways, factory parking lots, which I’m sure is a direct correlation to how well Dirk Nowitzke has made it in the NBA. 

I got to Fussen and the bus to the castles is right outside the train station.  It’s here I realized how hard it’s got to be for Asians or really most any other culture other than those of English background.  Most everywhere I go there is someone who speaks English or most places usually have signs in English as well as their native language.  This poor Phillipino kid was completely lost trying to figure out what he wanted to do.  I also had an Asian girl come up to me and ask if this was the bus to the castles.  I told her I hope so because that’s where I wanted to go also.  Then I explained the sign was in English also and it was definitely the bus when she still seemed a little worried.   

The road from Fussen to Schwangau is in the pretty valley with rolling green hills leading to the start of the mountains in Schwangau where the castles are built.  It’s really cool to go around the last corner and see this huge castle built up on the side of the mountain.  Luckily I was in the midst of my third absolutely beautiful day so you could see it as soon as you turned one corner. It started out as a little cold and foggy, I even had worn my jeans to start the day.  I had the backup shorts underneath.  As soon as I bought my tickets for the castles the jeans came off.  

The castle tours seem more organized then last time I was here in the early 90’s with Scott.  You buy your tickets in town for either castle or both.   The ticket for both was 18 Euros and they give you an assigned time you are to be in either courtyard.  It’s your responsibility to be there on time and they give you a bunch of different options to get to both castles.  One you can walk; two take a horse carriage or three; for Neuschwanstein only you could take a bus up the mountain to Marienbrucke.  Marienbrucke is the bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein.  

Bedlow would be proud of me I walked to Hohenschwangau up the difficult way.  It gave me some great views of Neuschwanstein and was well worth the steep ascent.  Hohenschwangau is a neat little castle with the most interesting thing to me is that all of the walls are all painted and are the original oil paintings directly on the plaster.  They are surrounded by plaster frames built directly on the wall.  There is the original telescope that King Ludwig used for 17 years to watch the construction on the mountain of his new castle Neuschwanstein.  All interesting is the piano used by Richard Wagner who was a frequent guest of King Ludwig.  He even built Neuschwanstein based on many of Wagner’s pieces. 

I left Hohenschwangau and took the long easy route down.  You pass the lake on the outskirts of town which has some of the clearest water you will ever see.  I could see the bottom for as far as the eye could see.  There were a couple of swans on the water and it’s so clear it looks like they are just floating above the ground not floating on water. 

I walked to Hohenschwangau but I wasn’t walking to Neuschwanstein.  I took the bus up to Marienbrucke for 2.60 Euros roundtrip.  The view of the castle from the bridge is breathtaking.  I was a little worried at the bridge having fairly creaky wood planks across.  It’s got steel supports but I want some steel under my feet not wood planks that seemed like they were going to let my fat but go right through.  I tried my best to walk on places where the joints were connected to the frame beneath.  I spent about 10 minutes at the bridge before heading to the castle.  It looks way farther away than it seemed.  I could have spent some more time on the bridge.  The nice thing is that it’s mostly downhill to the castle.  Of course that’s not the case to get back to the bus.  As I was walking to the castle I passed this poor guy pushing his kid in a stroller up this really steep incline.  He was hurting big time.  I had to wait about 20 minutes to get into the castle once I got to the courtyard. 

The only thing I don’t like about the castles is they don’t let you take photos inside.  The guide at Hohenschwangau said it had to do with copyrights.  Neuschwanstein is amazing.  You can see why Disney based his castles on this castle.  You really feel for King Ludwig when you hear the story of this castle.  Like I said early it took 17 years to build to the point he moved in.  Then he lived in the castle for between 170-180 days before he was deemed clinically insane and taken away.  Then he mysteriously dies in the insane asylum the next night.  I guess it’s good to the king until someone else wants to be king more. 

The rooms are amazing.  The first they take you into is the Chapel/Throne room that is based on a Byzantine theme.  The only thing missing is the throne which wasn’t made yet.  No one ever lived in the castle again after King Ludwig was taken away so construction halted and was never completed.  The third floor is incomplete.  It was going to be guest bedrooms.  Another neat room is the king’s bedroom.  Then man hours put into the wood carvings are mind boggling. The music room is the last room which unfortunately King Ludwig again never got to use.  He made this incredible castle based on Richard Wagner’s music and never got to enjoy a concert in it.  They did start using the music room for concerts starting in 1969.  They were actually closing down tours on this day a little early due to a concert being preformed that evening.   

I know there is no way around it because they just have so many people wanting to see the castles but the tours are really fast.  It would be nice to spend some more time in each.  Each tour was about 40 minutes.   

I walked back up the hill to the bus stop.  I had strategically skipped some photo spots on the way down the hill thinking I would want some breaks on the way up the hill.  Finally, a smart move on my part after almost a week of my travels. 

 When I got back to the village of Schwangau I stopped to get something to eat at the Wirsthouse.  So named because of the service that was the worst.  The view made up for the service. Neuschwanstein in front of me and Hohenschwangau to my left.  I had two boiled veal sausage and a pretzel.  I chose poorly.  The sausages were cold and undercooked even for me.  While waiting for everything I did get to witness about 7 – 10 hang gliders that started flying over Neuschwanstein.  I know it’s something I would never do, but if I did that would be an amazing place to hang glide.  It’s incredible how they just hover almost for so long in one area. 

The day had gone faster than I thought.  I expected to have to spend a whole lot more time in Schwangau to see the castles but I decided to head back to Fussen and catch the 5:07 PM direct train back to Munich.  I sent a post card from Schwangau to Caileen and Erin and saw I had about 25 minutes until the bus left.  I went to a store to get a soda and got back with I thought 15 minutes to spare.  The bus was actually getting ready to leave.  Something actually worked for me but that would end quickly.  I got to the train station and had a couple of beers at the train station bar which is as small as the one in Grimsby, England.  They had a Drunken Duck Pub sign inside.  Those signs are everywhere.   

I got on the train and since I had my laptop I was going to get ahead of the game in downloading my pictures.  Two things conspired against me, my clumsiness and the Nixvue’s crappy battery.  When I started to download the pictures after downloading them into Nixvue, which sapped about half the battery life of that machine, I started downloading them into my computer.  I wasn’t at a table just holding the laptop when the train hit a rough spot.  This is about half way into getting them downloaded into the computer.  I rearrange my grip on the laptop and hit one of the only buttons that can screw up this operation.  I hit the escape button which complete stops and ends anything I am doing.  I am really pissed off but I figure maybe I can squeeze this in a second time.  So I start to download again and I can see I am in trouble battery wise on the Nixvue.  With 3 stinking pictures left to download the battery dies and stops and deletes the entire operation again.  I basically spent over an hour trying to download my photos and got nothing accomplished. 

Well, I’m pretty much fuming but at least I’m getting into Munich at about 7:00 PM and can hit Oktoberfest for awhile.  That sounded like a good plan until I got there.  Everything I had read about trying to get into a tent on a weekend was true.  The tents were all closed with security at the door letting in people in line as people were leaving.  I made the rounds and decided to just head on back to the hotel since I had another real early day planned the next day.  I did grab a giant bratwurst for the walk back to the train station subway.  It’s just way easier to walk back there and catch the U-Bahn than trying to use the station at the Theresienwiese.  I got to the hotel, did my photo downloading……again and got ready for my overnight in Stuttgart.

Return To Munich - Marienplatz To Karlsplatz & Oktoberfest
September 21, 2006

Continue To Munich To Stuttgart & Cannstatter Volksfest
September 23, 2006