Neuschwanstein Castle Tour (From Sat. 4/15/06)
On Wednesday I took a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Bavaria. This is the castle on which the Disney castle is modeled. I went with an English-speaking tour group and met some fantastic people. The tour itself was interesting – the castle was built by Bavaria’s crazy king Ludwig II in the mid 1800’s, and he was fascinated with Wagner operas, so the castle’s interior decorating reflected this interest. A lot of beautiful woodwork and painting was done on the inside, and there were some weird themed rooms, including a “grotto” reading room that looked like the fake inside of a cave that you’d see at Disneyland.
The castle is high on a hill, so we had to hike up a long path to get there from the base (the weather was not great and buses were not allowed to go up there that day). So we hiked up the hill, went on the very quick ½ hour tour, and then our tour guide Roland (from England) took us on another hike out to a bridge from which the best pictures can be taken.
I do not like bridges, and this one was especially scary for me. It was built across a very deep valley between two hills, and if the bridge broke it would be a long way down. It was covered with snow, and almost everyone on the tour had managed to make the hike out there so there were 15+ people marching across it. NOT GOOD. I went out on it about a quarter of the way, took a very fast picture, and scooted back to the firm ground. Everyone else went across and of course nothing happened, but under the circumstances the fact that I’d even gone on the bridge at all was a victory for me.
Roland took us down an uncleared footpath down the hill from the bridge and back to the bus. Of course we were met by a snowplow making its way up the hill as we were about midway down, and the path was only wide enough to accommodate the plow and not us. So we had to wait in knee-high snow off to the side for it to pass. Luckily the group was very good-natured and everyone had a laugh at this (no one got mad). Eventually we made it back to the bus and then to the train for the 2-hour ride back to Munich.
Once we got back to Munich, Roland took a group of us to his local bar, which is an Irish pub. We had a great time listening to this fun band that played Johnny Cash songs and enjoying some drinks and food. For me it was a welcome change to my day-to-day life here thus far. The group who went to the pub included two American girls, Amanda and Laura, who are college students in Massachusetts and are studying over here this semester (Amanda in Regensburg, north of Munich, and Laura in Paris). They are SO fantastic and I loved hanging out with them. I have not met anyone as warm as these two since I arrived in Europe, and we clicked instantly. It made me so happy to know that Amanda is only a few hours away from me and will be here until July. Also, Laura will be in Paris until May and I hope to get to go over and visit her. Also at the pub was an interesting Canadian guy, Al, who travels during the winter and works in the summer directing boat traffic on water-runways in British Columbia. Al has been all over Europe and to a few places in the Middle East during this trip. He lives a very spare life, staying at youth hostels, eating sparingly, and saving money wherever possible. I couldn’t travel like that but he seems to be enjoying himself. There was also a couple from Philadelphia, both software engineers, who had met performing in an a cappella singing group. They were here visiting his daughter, who is an exchange student in Freiburg. Lovely people, who I enjoyed talking with immensely.
The castle is high on a hill, so we had to hike up a long path to get there from the base (the weather was not great and buses were not allowed to go up there that day). So we hiked up the hill, went on the very quick ½ hour tour, and then our tour guide Roland (from England) took us on another hike out to a bridge from which the best pictures can be taken.
I do not like bridges, and this one was especially scary for me. It was built across a very deep valley between two hills, and if the bridge broke it would be a long way down. It was covered with snow, and almost everyone on the tour had managed to make the hike out there so there were 15+ people marching across it. NOT GOOD. I went out on it about a quarter of the way, took a very fast picture, and scooted back to the firm ground. Everyone else went across and of course nothing happened, but under the circumstances the fact that I’d even gone on the bridge at all was a victory for me.
Roland took us down an uncleared footpath down the hill from the bridge and back to the bus. Of course we were met by a snowplow making its way up the hill as we were about midway down, and the path was only wide enough to accommodate the plow and not us. So we had to wait in knee-high snow off to the side for it to pass. Luckily the group was very good-natured and everyone had a laugh at this (no one got mad). Eventually we made it back to the bus and then to the train for the 2-hour ride back to Munich.
Once we got back to Munich, Roland took a group of us to his local bar, which is an Irish pub. We had a great time listening to this fun band that played Johnny Cash songs and enjoying some drinks and food. For me it was a welcome change to my day-to-day life here thus far. The group who went to the pub included two American girls, Amanda and Laura, who are college students in Massachusetts and are studying over here this semester (Amanda in Regensburg, north of Munich, and Laura in Paris). They are SO fantastic and I loved hanging out with them. I have not met anyone as warm as these two since I arrived in Europe, and we clicked instantly. It made me so happy to know that Amanda is only a few hours away from me and will be here until July. Also, Laura will be in Paris until May and I hope to get to go over and visit her. Also at the pub was an interesting Canadian guy, Al, who travels during the winter and works in the summer directing boat traffic on water-runways in British Columbia. Al has been all over Europe and to a few places in the Middle East during this trip. He lives a very spare life, staying at youth hostels, eating sparingly, and saving money wherever possible. I couldn’t travel like that but he seems to be enjoying himself. There was also a couple from Philadelphia, both software engineers, who had met performing in an a cappella singing group. They were here visiting his daughter, who is an exchange student in Freiburg. Lovely people, who I enjoyed talking with immensely.
posted by Jennifer at 05:16
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