Europe trip day 21: Bavaria, Neushwanstein

Friday morning, we woke up to this:

This was our hotel room-- with a little sitting area in the back and big windows that opened onto...

This:

And this:

And this:

This is the Zugspitze area of the Austrian Alps, and is a destination all it's own.  Another place I'd love to come back to.

But, our destination wasn't Zugspitze, but Fussen, Germany, home of Neuschwanstein Castle!

We drove back into Germany-- about a 30 minute drive through spectacular scenery.

We drove through the crowds and finally found a parking place.  We decided to visit Schloss Hohenschwangau first.  

(Google images)

Schloss Hohenschwangau was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II (Mad King Ludwig), and is a much more authentic castle than Neuschwanstein.  It was built in 1547 (well, completed then), although pretty extensive remodeling happened in the 1830's.

It's up on top of a hill, although not as high as Neuschwanstein.  We walked up the hill, which was not wheelchair friendly due to lots of steps.

Brigham waited for us periodically, taking a break to read his book:

We didn't do the full tour, becuase it would have been too long of a wait, but we wandered the grounds a bit and then headed back down the hill-- this time down the longer, but much more wheelchair-friendly, back road.

On this side of the castle, we had a good view of the beautiful Alpensee.  It is the most gorgeous shade of blue/green.

And then it was time to see Neuschwanstein Castle!  This is the most famous, but possibly the most overrated, castle in Germany.  It's amazing, of course, a fairytale castle.  It's also mostly fantasy.  It was never used as a real castle, although a fort had existed on the site before Ludwig built the castle.

The walk up the hill isn't easy!  Mosey was especially tired after all the walking we'd already been doing.

Looking back down the steep hill.

We had to make room for these guys several time.  This is the way to get up the hill!

Finally, we could see it!

Brigham had run up the hill ahead of us and was waiting patiently.  Reading, of course.  :-)

We stayed up near the castle for quite a while, although we didn't take the tour.

And then it was time to walk back down.
On the way down we stopped to get Quarkbällchen-- Bavarian snowballs, which are like donut holes.  Yummy!

Mosey was tired out.  :-)

The Alpensee is so beautiful.  We decided to go on a canoe ride before heading out.

Ben swam back to the dock!

We stopped for food in Reutte (McDonalds I think?  Something distinctly non-German...) before getting back on the B179 toward Austria.
The night before, we were greeted with this amazing sight:

(Actually this is from the other direction, but you get the idea).
Those are the Ehrenberg Castle ruins upon the hillside, and the Highline 179 Bridge right next to it.
The Highline 179 bridge is a 406-meter-long rope suspension bridge 376 feet above highway B179, crossing from the Ehrenberg ruins on one side of the chasm, to Fort Claudia on the other.  It was the worlds largest pedestrian suspension bridge, until another one in China took it's place a few months ago.  :-)

(Google images)

Ben and the boys hiked up the mountain to the entrance to the bridge.
I stayed below to watch.  Here's what I could see:

Meanwhile, this is what Ben and the boys could see:

Joseph was really not comfortable on this bridge, but he made himself cross.  I'm so proud of him! Of course, halfway through, some brusque German woman marched up behind him, lifted his arm off the rail, and squeezed past him without saying a word.  :-)
This is something I would NEVER, EVER do!
After crossing the bridge, they stayed up at the top of the mountain for a while, exploring the Ehrenberg ruins.
What a great day!