I sat in the backseat for the three hour drive to Schwangau and gave Dad his first opportunity to drive in Germany. He did pretty well even though we missed two turns when the GPS system confused us. I thought I’d be able to snap some pretty good pictures since I wasn’t driving today, but sitting in the back seat didn’t give me the kind of shots I wanted, especially at the speeds we were traveling. Coming into the Schwangau valley was just breathtaking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such beautifully kept farmland and everything was just so green. And as the Austrian Alps got closer and closer, they really provided a dramatic backdrop to the countryside.
It didn’t take us too long to get up the side of the mountain and both Dad and I were very impressed at how well Mom was handling all the walking. I think the sun and warm weather were her favorite part of the walk, but the views sure made for some good picture taking. When we got to the top, we still had about 30 minutes before our tour was scheduled to begin so we had time to wander around the courtyards and outskirts of the castle. I must admit I was most impressed with the view I discovered when I went into the men’s bathroom. The windows overlooking the Schwangau valley had the best view I’d seen so far from the castle.
Our tour of Hohenschwangau started at 3:30 and we learned that the present day castle was rebuilt on top of an ancient, fortified castle that belonged to local knights back in the 14th Century. This was the summer home of the Bavarian Royal Family where the future King Ludwig II and his younger brother Otto spent their childhood. When Ludwig became King at the young age of only 19, he commissioned the construction of a new, spectacular castle, to be built on top of a ridge opposite Hohenschwangau. He would name it Neuschwanstein (literally New Swan’s Stone), since the swan was an ancient symbol of Bavaria and part of the royal coat of arms.
The tour of Hohenschwangau only covered the first and second floors. The King’s living spaces o the 1st and the Queen’s on the 2nd. The children’s rooms on the 3rd floor were closed to the public, but the interiors and furnishings were still something to see. The most surprising thing I think we all came to realize was the entire tour of the castle took about 20 minutes. But I guess it’s timed that way to give visitors another hour to either make the long walk up the hill to Neuschwantstein or take one of the horse-drawn carriages which would allow a little time to grab something to eat inbetween (we opted for the carriage).
Work on Neuschwantstein began in 1869 and of the 63 rooms in the original plans, only 18 rooms were ever completed when all work on the castle came to a halt upon the mysterious drowning of the King in 1886. Ludwig II only got to live in Neuschwantstein for a total of 173 days before his death. Because he never married and left no heir and his brother Otto had been declared insane and lived in a sanitarium all his adult life, the crown passed to Ludwig’s uncle (his father’s younger brother).
We entered Neuschwantein when our tour began at 5:15. Our tourguide was a Chinese lady with a very slow English accent and not nearly as comical and entertaining as the Bavarian gentleman that lead our tour in Hohenschwangau. But she was still full of information and the beautiful interior rooms of Neuschwanstein just dwarfed any impressions made at Hohenschwangau. We were informed that since this castle was relatively new, it had been equipped with electricity and running water and all the modern conveniences that were available at that time. However, the elevator that was installed in the castle was not in service and we would have to climb nearly 170 steps in order to get to the 4th floor. I was worried because Mom kept lagging behind the group. But she was very proud of herself when she reached that last step down to the lower exit of the castle and even decided to make the walk down the mountain to the parking lot in Schwangau.
We were one of the last tours of the day and there was only one horse drawn carriage waiting to head down the hill when we walked by. They won’t leave unless they have a full carriage and they only had one empty spot left to fill before everyone else sitting there could be taken down. But everyone coming out of the castle was either in pairs or larger groups. So at the last minute, I ran back and took the last spot in the carriage and let Mom and Dad walk down at their own pace. My legs were killing me too anyways and I wanted some time to take some last few pictures at the bottom.
As evening began to fall, I pulled over on the side of the road for one last photo of Neuschwangau before getting back on the Autobahn for St. Englmar. Mom rested in the back seat and Dad fell asleep for a while too while I drove. I know all that walking was a little tough on both of them at times, but I was sure it probably did us more good than harm in the long run and we would all sleep pretty well tonight.
Dad got a second wind by the time we pulled into St. Englmar so we walked down to the street to our favorite local pub and found Michaela working again. I loaded the pictures I took for the day onto my laptop and she enjoyed going through them while we drank a beer and waited for our dinner to arrive. Dad and I both ordered the best steak, topped with a large pat of garlic butter and grilled, sweet onions. It was so good I can’t even remember what Mom ordered. We didn’t stay out too late and everyone went right to bed after a perfect day.
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