Hallo
So today we woke up at 7 and took the tram to haufbanhof which is the Munich central station where we bought our bavarian ticket for the train to fussen to see the famous castles! It was a two hour train ride but I slept the whole way! It was such a cute little town but we got the bus and hussled to buy our tickets.
First off was schloss Hohenschwangau which is the castle of Ludwig II parents. It was very pretty and all of the art was painted right onto the walls! We weren't allowed to take pictures though :( it was such a gorgeous view sand everything was so green outside and colorful inside. Lots of items and gifts plated in gold and most was done in the Romantic or baroque styles.
THEN was the Neuschwanstein castle!! this is the one that all of the Disney castles are created after and the main entrance looked just like the one in Disney world so I believe it! Unfortunately the king Ludwig II died before it could be finished and only 14 rooms were finished. We were able to see the dining area, the kings apartments, the throne room and the singing hall. The throne room was beyond incredible, covered from floor to ceiling in art. The floor had a stone mosaic of over 1million pieces! The walls of every room had art depicting a Wagner opera , the bedroo was the story of Tristan and Isolde ! The bed had the most ornate wood carvings, the details every where were so insane. The theme of the castle was also swans and in one room there were over 100 swans - in paintings, the door handles, the humidifier! They had a swan that filled with water that was placed on the stove so it would heat up and add humidity to the air!
There was also a grotto based on the Venus grotto in Tannhauser opera. So cool
The singers chamber was also completely covered in art and the back wall looked just like the scene from sleeping beauty when she is singing in the forrest! Everything was so pretty and considering it was finished around 1896 or so, it didn't look old or used at all. Then again, the guide said that Ludwig only lived in the castle like 172 total days before he died. Six weeks after he died the castle became open for tours...nuts.
According to the guide, this castle is one of the best known and most frequently visited buildings in the world! The sights looking out from the inside of the castle are enough to make you want to go there alone!
For dinner we took the train back to Munich and the. The tram to Marienplatz to the huge shopping area we went to on Monday. We had dinner at a nice outside restaurant and I had a glass of wine with Bavarian chicken and sauerkraut . Yummy. I wanted other things but I have to be super careful about being gluten free! Don't want to get sick! The waiters here don't seem to care how long u sit at the table and sometimes we have to ask for the check more than once. Everyone seems to turn meals into very long events here...not easy to get used to when in America they shove people in and out so quickly . There were street vendors and musicians too so we got to listen to a bass with two violins playing beautiful music while we ate and people watched!
Xo
