Disneyland Castle

Claire and I woke early with the plan of seeing the castle that inspired the Disney Castle--Neuschwanstein. Claire had done her research so we knew (kind of) how to get there. The morning trains were more expensive than anticipated, but we wanted those two extra hours since Claire had to catch a train in the evening, so we got our train tickets with minutes to spare and hopped on, headed to the town of Fussen. Did I mention our train was at 7:51 am? After the two hour ride through the scenic Bavarian countryside, we reached our destination. A quick bus ride deposited is at the ticket counter and we got our tour tickets for the castle. The timing worked out so that we were able to see the smaller Hohenscwangau Castle before hiking to our next destination.

Before the trip, I anticipated that the main attraction would be all there was to see. I was very wrong, and the pleasant surprise of viewing the mountain and waterfall scenery in addition to the Alpees Lake was incredible. The color of the water was an unreal turquoise, seemingly untouched by modern day pollution. After wandering down the path from the first castle, we wandered up the path to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Just about at the top was a great overlook of the Bavarian countryside and Claire and I spent some time just appreciating the view before it was time for our tour. I wasn't allowed  to take pictures inside the castle, but the rooms were so lavish and intricately furnished. The canopy of King Ludwig's bed took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make! The castle was never finished because the king mysteriously died days after being diagnosed with mental illness. The rooms and floors that were furnished were so elaborate and beautiful though.

After seeing the inteior, Claire and I walked to the Marienbrucke Bridge that gives an amazing view of the castle. I was scared that the scaffolding would detract from the view, but the view was hardly marred by the construction. We bought some souvenirs along with a late lunch, raced down the hill, caught our bus to the train station and hopped on our 3:05 train with a few minutes to spare. 2 hours later we were back in Munich in time for Claire to pack her stuff and catch her train.

My time to take on Munich solo.  I regrouped in my hostel room, and headed down to the bar, cell phone and map in hand as activities and ordered a beer at the bar. It wasn't long before I was talking to a Canadian, followed by a New Yorker, and I spent most of the night chatting with a Polish woman. I found that people are quite eager to talk about their travels--all you have to do is prompt them with questions. I heard some awesome stories and the people were all so friendly. I even scored an invite to a birthday party with some guys from Spain for tomorrow (not sure I'll take them up on it, but who knows...). I walked down the street with Polish Patricia, and decided to call it an early night since I had such an early wake up call. Plan for tomorrow is to see the city! I'll post updates when I can.