There are two castles, Hoenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Hoenschwangau was actually King Ludwig's parents home and Neuschwanstein was the palace King Ludwig built for himself after he was named King at age 18.
We were lucky enough to find a hotel room at the last minute in a quaint hotel in downtown Oberammergau, where the castles are located. The town sits in a valley of the Alps, so our room not only had great views of the mountains, but of the castles as well. The town also overlooks a large lake, the Alpsee, which was ice cold and crystal clear. The hotel room itself, as you will see in the pictures, was not much to write home about, but the quaintness and the hospitality of the staff made up for what the room lacked.
On Friday afternoon/evening we walked around town, had a nice supper, walked around Lake Alpsee and then hiked up to the first castle, Hoenschwangau (the yellow one in the pictures). Hoenschwangau ("High Land of the Swans") was a summer home for King Ludwig's parents, King Maximilian II and Queen Marie, the main house for the royal family was located in Munich.
Later that evening we enjoyed viewing Neuschwanstein Castle from our hotel. It is illuminated at night, making it even more beautiful than during the daylight hours. It is hard to imagine someone actually living there at one time.
The next day we picked up our tickets for touring the castles. We had to tour Hoenschwangau first according to our tickets. The tours are divided into groups and each group is given a specific time and number to tour. It is a very well organized operation. When our tickets were reserved (the hotel did this for us), they must of asked for a language preference because the tours given in different languages according to the time assigned.
Hoenschwangau sits just across the valley and a little below Neuschwanstein, which is nestled in the side of a mountain. There is a telescope that remains (under glass) in the castle that is pointed directly at Neuschwanstein so King Ludwig II could view his "dream castle" being constructed. The rest of the castle was filled with original paintings, gifts, and decor original to the castle. Hoenschwangau is still privately owned by descendants of King Ludwig's uncle.
After touring Hoenschwangau, we were scheduled to tour Neuschwanstein next. Instead of taking the 40 minute hike (at a significant incline) we decided to go by horse drawn carriage, money well spent. Neuschwanstein was unbelievable. It took 17 years to construct, and after seeing it I understand why. Even after 17 years only 1/3 of the rooms were complete. Unfortunately, King Ludwig II only was able to live in his castle 172 days before his untimely death. However, by that time he had already drawn up plans for his next castle, Falkenstein, which was to make Neuschwanstein look like a tree house!
We had a great time, the only downside of the trip was our little H-Man was missing. I kept looking over my shoulder the entire trip to tell him to stay close! Beatrice did great, even though she won't remember her stay in Germany, I am sure she will appreciate the pictures of her birthplace!
Enjoy the photos from the weekend, unfortnately, there were no pictures allowed inside the castles, but I made up for it with numerous landscape and Baby Bea pictures!
No comments:
Post a Comment