Today we got up bright and early and headed down to the breakfast area by 8:30 AM. We were very impressed with ourselves! We were the first in our group to arrive.
We had a simple breakfast, looked for hat and gloves for Andrea (no stores were open yet), and met up with everybody. We walked over to the train station to catch a train to Füssen. We bought the Bayer-ticket, which basically covered 5 people for 24 hours on any Bavarian public transportation (train and bus) for 27 Euro. We bought 2 of these to cover the 6 of us, which would give us the flexibility of splitting up (i.e. 2 people and 4, all 6, etc). It was a good deal.
The train ride to Füssen was about 2 hours, and covered some truly beautiful German countryside. We saw mountains, valleys, quaint little farming towns, wild cows (hi Kristi), and horses. It was another great change from all the urban centers we’d seen. Once in Füssen, we wandered about the little town. Unfortunately being Sunday, many of the stores were closed. We’d like to go back in the future.
We had lunch at a Rick Steves recommendation, which was excellent. I wish I knew the name…I’ll try to find out. The restaurant had a very personal, homey feel. It may have been somebody’s home…the portions were huge and very tasty. Andrea had pork schnitzel (yay, first time eating in 3 days!) and I had…something. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was pork on a bed of macaroni with this cheese that had an umlaut in its name, and a sauce you could dribble over it. It was very, very good, and had a German name that is totally lost to me. I highly recommend trying to order it that way…
After our great lunch, we headed back to the transportation station to catch the 78 bus to Hohenschwangau, where the castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are. We bought tickets for the English guided tour of Neuschwanstein (didn’t have enough time for both). The Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland is modeled on it (check the pictures, judge for yourself). We could see the resemblance.
We bought tickets for the minibus to take us from the base of the hill up to the castle. Otherwise this would have been a steep 40 minute walk. The bus took about 5, and was packed to the gills with people.
Before we got to the castle itself, we walked over to Marienbrücke, a thin wooden bridge over Pöllat Gorge, facing the castle. This offered a beautiful alternate view (although very windy and chilly). We took some pictures, then headed over to the castle.
The guided tour sucks, plain and simple. You have no other choice to see the internals of the castle, but they give you a very small amount of detail, and it doesn’t last very long. It’s worth it though, just to see the inside of the castle (especially because pictures and video of the insides of the castle are not allowed). Pay special attention to the crappy movie at the end of your tour; it’s even worse than the guided tour, although it does offer some more historical details than the guided tour itself did. 🙂
The palace was commissioned in 1868 by Ludwig II, also known as Mad King Ludwig (we know this last detail because of Rick Steves and the internet, not because of the tour). It was never completed, and a day after the king was deposed in 1886, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances (drowned in very shallow water, and the psychiatrist that had pronounced him insane was dead as well). The entire castle (whose name means new swan stone) is modeled on the works of Wagner, including a cave (!?!). The second floor was never finished. Much of it wasn’t, and Ludwig only lived in it for 172 days before his death.
By the time we got out, it was 5:50 PM. The last direct train back to Munich left Füssen at 7:05, and we still had to catch the minibus down the hill, then the public bus back to the train station. We headed down and lucked out in both cases, making it just a few minutes before out train left.
We were treated to a pretty sunset on the way back to Munich and finally arrived a little after 9 PM. Andrea and I headed back to the hotel to type up the last few days, eat a little dinner-to-go, and recuperate. Andrea’s tummy made it through a long day with a lot of walking; we’re both very excited that she seems to be finally getting better, a little bit at a time. I’m proud of her; she’s tough. 🙂
matt & andrea 