Today we hit the Bavarian castle heavyweights, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. They are impressive. Neither was ever a fortification and Ludwig II was declared insane and never finished Neuschwanstein, but golly... they are impressive places to see. They are also popular. I felt like a genius because I'd made reservations for our guided tours in advance. (Guided tours are the only way you can see the castle interiors.) There was a huge line at the ticket center for the walk ups, but I sailed right past it and picked up our tickets.
Not knowing better, I based our transfer times on the ones the castle publishes, but what they call a 20 minute walk, our crew did in 10. So, because I'd padded it the other way, we had plenty of waiting around time... but it was the non-stressful, when will it be our turn, let's sit in the shade... type of wait time. Not, the ... oh my gosh, are we going to get there in time... type of wait. Plenty of time for pictures outside. Which is good, since they don't let you take pictures inside.
We toured Hohenschwangau first at 10:55am. [They do very efficiently run their groups through in five minute intervals in a variety of languages.] Hohenschwangau was interesting because people actually lived there.
After that, we grabbed a quick bite to eat while we hiked up to Neuschwanstein. This is the big "fairy tale" castle, the one that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland. The one that no one ever really lived in. It's still very, very impressive.
After the castle, we walked up to the Marien Bridge above the castle for some pictures of it from that vantage point. The bridge was kind of crazy. It was built in the 19th century out of steel and wood. There were 100's of people crowding on it to take pictures and you could feel the bridge straining under the weight. It's a sheer drop for 100's of feet over a waterfall. Naturally, we clambered out there, too. For our own pictures. I'm sure that some day, we'll hear about a tragedy involving that bridge. But thankfully, not today.
After we got back to Füssen, it was time to do some laundry at the hotel and have a nice dinner. Again, we opt'd for Italian and Laura and I enjoyed some quiet time sipping wine and chatting while we sent the kids out to play in the plaza and exhaust themselves. It was a good feeling.
Tomorrow, it's off to the castle ruins in Ehrenberg and we've promised the kids a soak at a spa.
