Rain on and off today made for cool, fresh air. Ever changing clouds and mist over the mountains and hills made for great scenery and photo ops.
We'd ordered tickets over the Internet for a 3:25 PM tour of Castle Neuschwanstein to avoid any ticket lines, but mainly to insure that we got a time we wanted today, not some future day. We parked the car and it began to rain, not hard but steady. We took the bus rather than an available horse drawn cart up to the castle because the bus would let us off by "Mary's Bridge", a bridge over a gorge that provides a great photo op view of the castle. Later, taking a horse drawn cart down would drop us off right by our car.
At 2:55 PM Norm suggested to Pam that while there was still time to look around more in the small village below the castle "we might as well catch the bus now". We were aware that when your tour number is called up at the castle (ours was #489), if you aren't there it's too bad, so sad. Half an hour sort of seemed more than enough time to get there. The bus we got on was standing room only. No other bus was waiting to load, so this was the last one for at least 15 minutes. Then began the climb. And we climbed and we climbed, at times almost vertically, it seemed. When we finally came to a stop, getting off the bus and heading down one tarmac path would take us to the castle whereas another tarmac path heading up would take us to the "Mary's Bridge" castle overlook.
It was by now 3:10, but we elected to go to the bridge first, which turned out to be a longer, more of an up and down walk than we thought. Once at the bridge, positioned high over a narrow gorge, its wooden planks moved disconcertingly under the weight of us and our fellow tourists. (It seems that "Mary's Bridge" will close in July for reconstruction - we found out why, up close and personal.) Obligatory photos taken, checking the watch revealed it was white rabbit time - "we're late, we're late!". So we hustled back the way we'd just come. At the place where the bus had stopped, we headed down the other path toward the castle. Now, to say again, it was raining and all of these paths were very wet. Trying to go downhill fast on a wet surface calls for some rather ungainly coordination to avoid either pitching forward or taking a keester plop. And that darned watch just kept ticking away.
Every turn of the path just brought us to more path. This was getting to be crisis time. When we finally got to what we thought was the castle entrance we were told "nope", we were at the exit. The entrance was a further climb up and around, out of sight. Arrrgh! Please Lord, no more trials. Weary but still hustling, we climbed further until we entered a courtyard and there it was on the other side, a turnstile over which was a sign flashing "489". The flashing number didn't instill confidence. A group of people had already gone through the turnstile and an adjacent clock said 3:26. We staggered over, all wobbly in the knees, and put our tickets in the reader. Yes! The turnstile light turned green for each of us. We caught up with our group just then entering the castle. Behind us our tour guide shut and latched the door. Safe! Then, wouldn't you know it, the very first thing we all had to do was climb a seemingly endless four flights of stairs to reach the first floor, with more stairs to reach floors two and three. Isn't there something about vacations being relaxing?
We did take a horse-drawn carriage back to the village. The industrious driver packed us in like sardines, not to the liking of some - much grumbling. Earlier we had seen full carts come down with side curtains in place against the rain. Lucky us that there was a break in the rain. We were able to take the slow, slow ride down with sides open. With two aromatic horses' butts practically in the cart with us plus the damp odor and other assorted smells emanating from the packed-in passengers, being enclosed in such conditions could only have been a most foul experience. Even so, our ride down wasn't exactly a lavender sachet moment.
Our hotel is actually about 3 miles way from Fuessen, in the whistle stop of Schwangau. Our second story room has a full, albeit distant view of the castle. Driving time from the hotel to the village at the base of the castle is about 5 minutes. Navigator Pam has received a Commendation First Class for keeping us out of Fuessen, which a drive-through showed to be crowded and touristy.
It wasn't long before we were back in our hotel that the castle was fully engulfed in the clouds.
At any rate, we have solemnly vowed that in the future we will never again be short on time for anything. That vow now joins all others we have made in a similar vein. And the beat goes on.
Church we tried to go into, but closed - on street leading to the castle:
View of the mountains through the doorway:
View of Castle Hohenschwangau off to our right as we approach Schwangau.
View of Castle Neuschwanstein.
Heading off to Mary's Bridge. Norm is in there somewhere, no umbrella, a blue jacket and shorts. Oh, and a very, very wet hat.
On Mary's Bridge, Norm and Pam smile despite standing on boards that seem to be auditioning for trampoline service.
Inside detail of a hallway ceiling.
The Singers's Hall.
The horse cart behind ours. Later, as we drove away from the small village, we passed four carts empty of passengers clip-clopping down our road, the horses no doubt heading home to a warm barn and some well deserved oats.
The view from our room when we first arrived, the castle visible in the distance. The balcony made a perfect spot for a bite of dinner later on.
Our room was on the top floor - middle - nice balcony seating area.
The quaint town:
Photos of photos:
As seen from inside the castle, Mary's Bridge in the distance may be seeming to sag under the weight of all those picture taking tourists.
More photos of the inside:
Servant's quarters:
Kitchen area:
We enjoyed a beer in the castle cafe:
Selfie of us in our carriage:
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