After 2 train rides and 2 busses we arrived in the quaint little town below the castle itself. It was of course filled to the brim with tourists like myself and my friends, and it was filled to the brim with tourist shops of all varieties. I did not actually shop in any of the stores due to the extraordinarily strict time frame given us by Sheffano but to be honest I find the souvenir shops to be all the same anyway. I spent my time taking pictures that didn't turn out because I had somehow changed some friggin setting on the camera. Luckily I figured this out when we got on the tram to get up the steep mountainside to the base of general castle region.
Upon exiting said tram we were told to go straight, Sheffano would not accompany us for this portion & we had exactly 15 minutes before he would move on. Initially I could not understand why our guide would not guide us but I soon figured it out. It was a short 2-3 minute walk on what had to be a 35-45 degree incline. No seriously it was like trying to climb a ladder only I think a ladder would have been easier. Sheffano had no idea how lucky he was that the steep climb/walk turned out to be worth it. The path led us to a large bridge with an absolutely gorgeous overlook of the castle in its glory. The bridge was over packed but I actually didn't care and offered to take quite a few people's pictures for them so they didn't have to do one at a time photos. It was also packed enough to allow someone to do the same for us without fear that our camera would be sprinting away (literally there were so many people it made exiting the bridge a challenge).
(the bridge)
Next we were to head to the castle itself. What I didn't realize was that in order to get to the castle we had to walk down the hill as the main entrance was lower than where the tram stopping point was. It was also about a 10 minute walk. Again it was a gorgeous area in the woods and to say it was scenic would be like saying a bonfire is just a little bit hot. Sheffano had us stop a little over half way to the entrance so we could be entertained by a singing minstrel. It was a song from the time period of Leudwig that sang of his life, insanity & subsequent early death. The entirety of the song was in German and Sheffano told us he would translate at the end...he did not. The reason I know what the song was about in general is thanks to my travel buddy Bettina who speaks some German herself. Following the brief musical interlude we finally made it to the castle entrance ourselves. Shaffano was not allowed to accompany us as he was not on staff with the actual company running tours inside the castle.
Luckily the guide for the interior of the castle did not lecture us and make us feel like we were having a pop quiz for a subject we had not studied for. He in opposition was informative and business like in his delivery. The interior of the castle was gaudy to say the least. It turns out that Leudwig had a thing for swans due to a myth about a young hero who saved the life of another man. There were many frescos depicting the hero who rode astride a giant swan. In later years this story somehow morphed into the Opera the Black Swan. Now I have no idea how the story morphed, I can just tell you that quite literally there were hundreds of swans either in painting or statue form throughout the castle interiors that were on display. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle so unfortunately I have none to share. It was an amazing sight to behold though, both interior and exterior.
The part that I found to be the most challenging was something I had anticipated but not to the degree we experienced. Stairs. I'm talking hundreds of stairs. It started with the climbs up the super steep walking paths, then followed by a climb up the royal tower steps. In all I think we climbed literally 4 or 5 stories to the top, then 4-5 stories down. After all of that there was no tram back down the mountainside so we had to walk. Now it wouldn't have been too bad, but about half way down the mountain my knee told me to pound sand and I had to hobble my way back to the bus to Munich. Luckily I packed advil so all turned out grand. For some reason Blogger won't allow me to upload the pictures I took from the castle so I'll have to do some research when I get home to see if there is a way to put the pictures up from my home computer. In the mean time I'll sign off for now.
Tschuss!!
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