Monday, May 27,2013
We woke up this morning to a strange sight - blue skies and sunshine! Hooray! The high temp today is supposed to be about 60 degrees F and no rain.
After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed for the two nearby castles. Hohenschwangau was the getaway palace of King Maximillian II and Queen Marie, rebuilt in the 1830's, the original fortress was built by a family of knights in the 12th century. The palace is furnished and guided tours are given in English a number of times each day. There are frescoes painted on nearly every wall, most of which depict important moments in the family's history. The view from the palace is nice but pales in comparison with the view from Neuschwanstein.
From the Hohenschwangau castle, you have to take a bus or horse carriage up a steep winding hill. I suppose you could walk up, but it is pretty steep. The bus takes you to the Marienbrucke, which is a bridge, built across a gorge and waterfall, that offers spectacular views of the Neuschwanstein castle with the surrounding lakes and countryside in the background. We took some pictures up there but it was quite crowded as the castle is a super popular destination for tourists from all over the world.
Then we walked down to the castle entrance for our guided tour. The castle was built by King Ludwig II, son of Maximillian II. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see it finished. The entire second floor is unfinished and some parts, such as the terrace and chapel, were never built. That is not to say that the castle is not worth seeing, it definitely is! The rooms on the first and third floors are finished and furnished just as they were when the King lived there. The furnishings and decor are very extravagant, the king's bed canopy alone took 14 woodcarvers 4 years to finish! The king was a fan of Richard Wagner's operas and many of the rooms feature a Wagnerian theme.
After walking down from the castle to the village that lies below it, we headed to the small town of Ottobeuren to see the interior of the Benedictine Abbey there. We opened up the heavy door and walked in, and were overwhelmed with the detailed Baroque interior. Every surface is covered with a carving or fresco. We spent about 20-30 minutes here, cameras clicking away. I have to say it doesn't top my all-time favorite, St. Stephen's in Passau, Germany - but the abbey here is beautiful.
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