Another interesting aspect of German history compared to the United States is that with our country being formed in rebellion from monarchies, we don’t have any royal history. Today we explored a little bit of Germany’s royal history when we visited Neuschwanstein castle a couple of hours outside of Munich.
We travelled by train again to the small mountain village that the castle is located in. At this point, the castle is so much of a tourist attraction that the village sort of lost some of its charm for me, but it really is beautiful scenery. Mountains and sprawling farmland speckled with trees, cows and the occasional lake are the most distinguishing factors. The sharp mountain peaks frame the ornate castle as it presides over the lush green valleys below. It is most assuredly something to behold. From below, the view just takes your breath away. It can only be matched by the view of the landscape from the windows of the castle. King Ludwug definitely chose his land for its location, location, location paying extreme attention to curb appeal. It is stunning.
It was quite a hike through a somewhat wooded area to get up to the plateau that the castle sits on, which was right up my alley. The inside of the castle to me wasn’t as interesting, possibly because the whole time we were taking the tour all I wanted to do was go be outside in the mountains. As a kid growing up in Kansas, my parents and I were always doing things outside and at least once a year we took a trip to Colorado to ski or camp or both. The Alps are kind of like the Rocky Mountains on steroids so I was just eating it up, and as a result, not particularly interested in the interior design of this castle built in the 19th century. After the tour a few of us walked over to a bridge that overlooks the castle and valley below, which was simply breathtaking.
After all of that incline hiking, a long train ride was a welcome respite for my fatigued body. Definitely helped me to recharge.
More to come,
Michelle
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