Few things have really stuck with me from my German language class in high school. One of those things was the saying "Oh nein! Mein Schiff ist Kaput!" Which is what one would say were they to lose a ship playing "Battleship" (auf Deutsch). Another one of the things that stuck with me was a blurb about "Lustiger Ludwig," meaning "Crazy Ludwig."
Who was crazy Ludwig? Well, I'm no history professor (or even a high school German teacher). In fact, I'm nobody. But I do know a little bit (now) about the man they called "Lustiger." He was Ludwig II, son of Ludwig I, who was the son of Ludwig 0 (I believe). Like all Germans, Ludwig had a weird fetish – but uniquely, his was a "Castle Fetish," and…after he ascended to the throne of "King of Bavaria" in the mid 19th century, he built a bunch of them. Three. The most famous one was the Schloss Neuschwanstein, which was (apparently) the model for the "Cinderella Castle
So anyway, that story stuck with me…because the name "Lustiger Ludwig" made me giggle. The same way the word "Einfahrt" (entrance) also makes me giggle. Erika and I decided that we'd make the pilgrimage out to the most famous castle in the world (according to me), and see what the big deal was.
We woke up completely on schedule, and ended up leaving a bit late (breakfast took a while, as did some early morning internetting on the free computer downstairs, and hairs needed drying, et cetera). We got a ticket for 8:52 AM, and scheduled our return trip for 3:00 PM. We figured that we would only really need 4 or 5 hours at the site before returning home.
The train arrived. We rode the train. The train stopped. We got off the train. Nothing really interesting, except for a couple of American girls behind us talking about how they couldn't wait to get back home to eat at a Chili's restaurant…or a Taco Bell. Pretty amazing, these American folk.
The little town of Fussen
Fussen was pretty adorable – we were expecting a tourist way-station for people making the trek out to Neuschwanstein…but it was actually fairly cute, and Bavarian.
We eventually found coffee, then found our way back to the shuttle bus, which took us to the foot of the two castles (there's another, smaller castle called Hohenschwangau in the area). Off the bus, we went and stood in a fantastic, 45 minute line.
Don't know if you're doing the math at this point, but by the time we got to the front of the line it was 12:15 PM. Now, something they don't tell you – if you're going to see both castles (like we wanted to do), you had to leave 2 hours between the first and the second castle – and you had to see Hohenschwangau first. And the tours were of the timed entry variety. And you could only see the interior of the castles via the tour. So…we were set up with the 12:45 PM tour in Horschangau, and the 2:45 PM tour in Neuschwanstein…meaning we had approximately negative 15 minutes to make it to our train back in Fussen (the shuttle took about 10 minutes). Oh well, we thought…we'll just buy another ticket at the station – prices weren't that bad.
Our first stop was Hohenschwangau, the small yellow castle in the shadow of the big white castle. Actually, to be completely accurate, our first stop was the courtyard of Hohenschwangau – our tour didn't start until about 30 minutes after we got to the courtyard. So we did what we've been doing when we've got time to kill – puttered around and took pictures.
Finally our number was called. I must say – for those of you visiting the region, do yourself a favor and see both castles. The tour was great – our guide (the first tour guide we've actually had our entire trip) gave the tour in very good English. He was funny, engaging, and very well-educated about the area, and (specifically) the castles. He worked well off the cuff, and he made that littler castle much more interesting to us (in the long run) than its bigger, more popular cousin.
Speaking of which, after a fantastic little picnic overlooking a clean, picturesque alpine lake adjacent to the two castles, we made our way up to the massive, monolithic Neuschwanstein. There were quite a few more people at this castle, naturally. We sat around for another half-hour or so until our tour group number was called, then made our way through the castle.
Which was very cool. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of breathtaking moments, and the kind of Germanic artistry that I really, really enjoy…detailing the history of the Bavarian royalty, a bunch of depictions of various works of Wagner (a favorite of Lustiger Ludwig), and some great (really expensive) artifacts from the time.
But for some reason, the bigger, sexier castle didn't appeal to us as much. Maybe the second tour guide wasn't as good (though she was fine…just not as good with the English…and a little too quiet to be heard sometimes). Maybe the second castle just seemed like a shrine to excess (when Ludwig died before its completion, all construction halted forever…so his grand plans – and they were excessively grand – will never be realized). Maybe it was just difficult to picture anyone living in Neuschwanstein, making it seem less personal. Either way…it was still very breathtaking…but I'd give the nod to the first castle over the second.
By the time we got back down to the base of the mountain, it was 3:15, and our train was long gone. So instead of fighting the crowd to get back to Fussen, we decided to walk the 5 kilometers into town…and we found a trail marked "Die Romantische Trail" (which is German for "Your Wife Will Love This Trail, Dude. It's Worth The Pain In Your Feet).
And it was worth it. Again, if you're going to visit Neuschwanstein, I recommend either walking there, or walking back from Fussen via this trail. Breathtaking views. A trip right by "Der Schwansee" (Swan Lake …no, not that Swan Lake Bavaria
Back in Fussen, we found the Bahnhof (train station) and purchased another ticket (turns out we didn't need the second ticket – our pass was an "all day" pass – but…oh well). We experienced another uneventful train trip, and arrived back at our hotel around 8:00 PM.
Now, Erika decided to do something that I've never had the courage to do – ask the people working at the front desk of a hotel "Where's a good place to eat? Something not too touristy?" Well, dude pointed us to a restaurant two blocks away called Lenz.
Turns out Erika asked a very good question, because Lenz was fantastic. Best waiter we'd had so far…close to the best food we've had (I still hold a soft place in my heart for the baby pig that first night in Munich), and a pleasant, easy ambiance that made for a great dining experience. We went back with our bellies full of food, and a mouth full of thanks for the dude at the front desk.
Tomorrow we're going to the Englisher Gardens, which have a Japanese Garden
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