What a view to wake up to!
Now back to the lost cat key scare… Seriously thought we lost them! Thankfully after much searching and more panicking, we found they feel into the backpack. Already changed parking spot just in case!
We stood in the queue for castle tickets before the office opened and managed to get them for a reasonable hour – win! With a few minutes to kill, we sat in one of the disappointingly basic restaurants for a coffee. And then we walked up to the castle – right before it there is another restaurant, a beautiful chocolate box building, but inside – so basic! So basic! Jemma keeps saying: how can they do this, with such amazing outsides, how can you not make it better inside?! I guess the answer is simple: the place is so popular they don’t really have to try harder.
But there are more ways in which the area is a victim of its own popularity. Yesterday in the Hohenschwengau Castle we felt quite rushed, having to speed from room to room following the guide and the annoying audioguide which you couldn’t control at own pace either. Turns out Neuschwanstein is even worse – equally rushed, but with a larger group and an even more annoying audioguide. Effectively we were always two rooms behind when the next stop came up in the guide, and by the time we got to the room described, we already forgot half of it.
But enough ranting – there is a reason why it’s like that – the castles are extremely popular, and with all the people wanting to visit, you just have to rush. And they’re popular, because they are just awesome. Oh my gods, are they awesome!
Neuschwanstein is a creation of a crazy but beautiful mind. The more I hear about Ludwig II, the more I think that today we would just recognise him as a massive nerd of the Middle Ages, much more interested in living in his stories than the real world. But a massive nerd with a massive amount of money. Today he would probably build himself a Minas Tirith or a Winterfell.
The castle is so amazingly placed, and so glorious, it really feels like a fairytale. It also really misses the main tower they never built – I hope it does get constructed at some point, the architectural balance demands it. Inside, we were most taken by the murals that had more than a hint of a pre-Raphaelite style and followed the various Medieval knights stories and tales.
Here a more general reflection. Ludwig II was deposed by his nobles and treated as mad, unfit for office, and unable to rule. He supposedly ruined the land to finance his fairytales and dreams. Well guess what – nobody remembers any of those nobles who were so much smarter, or any of those poor people who suffered so much from the King’s extravagance. But now everybody knows the ‘mad’ king and his extravagance is what fuels the tourism in the land, giving jobs to thousands of his subjects’ descendants, and bringing joy to millions of visitors. So who is mad now, eh? How much more Bavaria would benefit from the King’s imagination if only they let him bring more amazing dreams to life? Stuff yourselves, simple, practically minded people!
One more comment – check out the photo of the posters. Did they just decide the castle is not awesome enough and photoshopped a few more mountains as a backdrop in the winter one?
