Alpsee
I spent the day today hiking around the castles of Schwangau,in the Alps of southern Bavaria, and I found lots of signs for Alpsee. At first I giggled. That's what you'd say if you tripped on a hike here. (Alpsee!) More realistically, I thought it was pointing out overlooks where you could view the Alps (Alps see). Nope. It's the name of the lake that sits between the two castles of the Mad King, Ludwig. :)
I started my day with a wonderful German breakfast at the B&B where I'm staying. I have a tiny room with a fantastic view of Neuschwanstein and the Alps. It's a five minute walk into the little town that developed between the castles for the tourists, and from there my adventure began. I started with a tour of Schloss Hohenschwangau, which is the castle that King Ludwig grew up in. Sadly they don't allow pictures of the interior of the castles here, but they were pretty neat. Dan will be disappointed that the ceilings were not very ornate, but the walls of Hohenschwangau were completely covered in gorgeous murals. They were painted directly on the walls with an egg-based tempera paint. The most interesting thing in this castle was a piano that was actually played by Wagner. This yellow castle was pretty, but fairly basic since it was actually a hunting residence.
After the short tour of the interior, I headed out the back for a hike through the woods behind the castle. There are several lakes in the area, and I became a little disoriented when I hiked down to the wrong one! I found my way back to the Alpsee and to town without too much trouble, and had a gorgeous hike in the process. Once back in town, I grabbed the tourist bus up the mountain since it's a pretty steep climb to Neuschwanstein. The bus drops you off above the castle where you can hike to Marienbrucken, which is a bridge that spans a huge gorge and waterfall. From the bridge you have incredible views of Neuschwanstein and the surrounding area. I hiked past the bridge, and was headed for the river bed that feeds the waterfall, but the climb down was too steep for me. I now have a better appreciation of alpine walking sticks. :) So I settled for sitting and having a picnic lunch in the woods before my second castle tour.
Neuschwanstein is one of Germany's most famous castles....mostly because Walt Disney used it as a model for the castle he designed for Cinderella. Also because it's beautiful. :) Ludwig built the castle as an homage to Wagner whom he greatly admired, and each room is decorated based on the theme from a Wagner opera. The castle isn't finished because Ludwig was declared mad, deposed, and two days later, found washed up in a lake (probably murdered) before it could be finished. He only lived there for about half a year in the finished portion. The finished bit of interior is fabulous. Complete with murals throughout and even a man-made grotto in the king's quarters. The singers' hall is said to be one of the best performance spaces in Germany because of the incredible acoustics. It was built for performances of Wagner's operas, but Ludwig never had the chance to host one. There was also a huge mosaic masterpiece on the floor of one of the rooms, and the carving in the king's bedroom took fourteen guys four years to complete. Awesome. The canopy of his bed was all neo-gothic flying buttresses and church spires. My only disappointment was how quickly they pushed us through. You can only take guided tours, and those only last 30 minutes. You can't take pictures inside here either, so you have to absorb the beauty as you run by. I must also take a moment and mention the swans. Ludwig loved them, so they were everywhere. Chandeliers, flower vases, door handles, wild ones outside in the lakes, and several murals depicting Wagner's operas about the Knight of the Swan. Neuschwanstein even means "New Swan Stone." The last thing you get to see is the kitchen. Modern by the standards, this castle had a kitchen that I would have enjoyed cooking in. It was huge!
I finished my evening up with a dinner of deer goulash with cranberries and spaetzle, which are homemade noodles, and the required german dark beer. After all that hiking, I needed a heavy German meal. :) Tomorrow, I'm headed home.
Here are some pics of the area:
I started my day with a wonderful German breakfast at the B&B where I'm staying. I have a tiny room with a fantastic view of Neuschwanstein and the Alps. It's a five minute walk into the little town that developed between the castles for the tourists, and from there my adventure began. I started with a tour of Schloss Hohenschwangau, which is the castle that King Ludwig grew up in. Sadly they don't allow pictures of the interior of the castles here, but they were pretty neat. Dan will be disappointed that the ceilings were not very ornate, but the walls of Hohenschwangau were completely covered in gorgeous murals. They were painted directly on the walls with an egg-based tempera paint. The most interesting thing in this castle was a piano that was actually played by Wagner. This yellow castle was pretty, but fairly basic since it was actually a hunting residence.
After the short tour of the interior, I headed out the back for a hike through the woods behind the castle. There are several lakes in the area, and I became a little disoriented when I hiked down to the wrong one! I found my way back to the Alpsee and to town without too much trouble, and had a gorgeous hike in the process. Once back in town, I grabbed the tourist bus up the mountain since it's a pretty steep climb to Neuschwanstein. The bus drops you off above the castle where you can hike to Marienbrucken, which is a bridge that spans a huge gorge and waterfall. From the bridge you have incredible views of Neuschwanstein and the surrounding area. I hiked past the bridge, and was headed for the river bed that feeds the waterfall, but the climb down was too steep for me. I now have a better appreciation of alpine walking sticks. :) So I settled for sitting and having a picnic lunch in the woods before my second castle tour.
Neuschwanstein is one of Germany's most famous castles....mostly because Walt Disney used it as a model for the castle he designed for Cinderella. Also because it's beautiful. :) Ludwig built the castle as an homage to Wagner whom he greatly admired, and each room is decorated based on the theme from a Wagner opera. The castle isn't finished because Ludwig was declared mad, deposed, and two days later, found washed up in a lake (probably murdered) before it could be finished. He only lived there for about half a year in the finished portion. The finished bit of interior is fabulous. Complete with murals throughout and even a man-made grotto in the king's quarters. The singers' hall is said to be one of the best performance spaces in Germany because of the incredible acoustics. It was built for performances of Wagner's operas, but Ludwig never had the chance to host one. There was also a huge mosaic masterpiece on the floor of one of the rooms, and the carving in the king's bedroom took fourteen guys four years to complete. Awesome. The canopy of his bed was all neo-gothic flying buttresses and church spires. My only disappointment was how quickly they pushed us through. You can only take guided tours, and those only last 30 minutes. You can't take pictures inside here either, so you have to absorb the beauty as you run by. I must also take a moment and mention the swans. Ludwig loved them, so they were everywhere. Chandeliers, flower vases, door handles, wild ones outside in the lakes, and several murals depicting Wagner's operas about the Knight of the Swan. Neuschwanstein even means "New Swan Stone." The last thing you get to see is the kitchen. Modern by the standards, this castle had a kitchen that I would have enjoyed cooking in. It was huge!
I finished my evening up with a dinner of deer goulash with cranberries and spaetzle, which are homemade noodles, and the required german dark beer. After all that hiking, I needed a heavy German meal. :) Tomorrow, I'm headed home.
Here are some pics of the area:
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| Hohenschwangau |
posted by Claire | 1:19 AM
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