5.20.13 The “Mad King’s” Castle

5.20.13

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Today we took another excursion outside of Munich for that last day of the holiday. We journeyed to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which sits on the mountainside about a small village called Hohenschwangau near Füssen. As we set out we hoped for a less rainy day than the last. We groggily headed for the train and as usual I quickly fell asleep as the rumbling of the train lulled me into slumber.

 

When we arrived in Füssen we got off the train and onto a bus that would take us to the bottom of the hillside that the castle sits on. As we get off the bus we notice the clouds rolling in and realize that it will be another rainy day. We set off to explore the restaurants and souvenir shops for the tourists before heading up the mountain for our tour.

 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Sadly, we were not able to take pictures or video while inside the castle and I don’t think that I could accurately describe the beauty and genius of the castle even within a thousand words. I can tell you though that almost every room was decorated with murals and the walls that depicted and individual story. Every room has a different theme and every room had incredible detail in the architecture and woodwork. Imagine royalty, wealth and extravagance and you may be close to what castle looked like.

 

We learned from the tour guide that seven unknown student artists painted the murals through out the castle and that professionals would not work with King Ludwig II. The king who inhabited the unfinished castle for 172 days before his mysterious death was said to be hard to work with because he wanted what he had in his mind to be portrayed in his castle. He wanted the painting and the carvings to be from his ideas and not those of the artist.

 

We then made the trek back down the mountain, back onto the bus, train and then finally back here to the hotel. Now we prepare for more media visits after a short hiatus from them.

 

Guten Nacht!

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