Travelogue :  Backpacking (Central/Eastern) Europe

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August 18, 2008:

Last night, Adam and I were cracking up so hard cause we saw this fobby, nerdy little asian girl wearing a red shirt that said: "Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere". It wasn't only the message that got us laughing our asses off, but the expression on her face as she waited for the elevator to arrive. Of course, we're sure it got lost in translation somehow when she purchased the tee, and misunderstood the sexual innuendo contained in the print. Adam then, proceeded to go up several floors in search of her so he could take a picture, but alas the girl disappeared into the night.

We woke up bright and early to check out of our 4U hotel, and into the Euro Youth Hostel. After leaving our belongings in the storage room, Adam and I walked back to the train station and caught the early train into Neuschwanstein Castle ("New Swan Stone").

The following pictures should be enough to paint the story of our trip there.

From Wikipedia:

"Neuschwanstein Castle (German: Schloss Neuschwanstein, lit. New Swan Stone palace) is a 19th-century Bavarian palace on a rugged hill near Hohenschwangau and Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse. Although public photography of the interior is not permitted, it is the most photographed building in Germany and is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Ludwig did not allow visitors to his castles, but after his death in 1886 the castle was opened to the public (in part due to the need to pay off the debts Ludwig incurred financing its construction). Since that time over 50 million people have visited the Neuschwanstein Castle. About 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared in several movies, and was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park and for the Cinderella Castles at the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland.

The palace is owned by the state of Bavaria, unlike nearby Hohenschwangau Castle, which is owned by the head of the house of Wittelsbach, currently Franz, Duke of Bavaria. The Free State of Bavaria has spent more than €14.5 million on Neuschwanstein's maintenance, renovation and visitor services since 1990.

The conception of the palace was outlined by Ludwig II in a letter to Richard Wagner, dated May 13, 1868;
"It is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin at Hohenschwangau near the Pollat Gorge in the authentic style of the old German knights' castles... the location is the most beautiful one could find, holy and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world."

Neuschwanstein was near completion when, in 1886, the King was declared insane by a State Commission under Dr. von Gudden and arrested at the palace. The King could hardly control himself as he asked von Gudden, "How can you declare me insane? You have not yet examined me!" Taken to Castle Berg, he was found on June 13, 1886, in shallow water in Lake Starnberg, drowned, along with von Gudden, the psychiatrist who certified him. The exact circumstances of his and von Gudden's deaths remain unexplained."

While we were waiting for our numbers to be called for the castle tour, we decided to grab a snack and relax.

Finally, we are inside the castle of 'LUDWIG' (prounounced: "lude-vig")

On the way back down to Munich, we ran into Bryon from the previous night's pub crawl. Somehow, he convinced an Asian family to let him be the 5th person on their 'super-saver' travel pass (you are allowed up to 5 people to qualify for the saver). It was funny seeing him get on/off the train with them as if he were their white adopted child. They even fed him sandwiches and everything!

Germany has been a blast so far!