Wherever the road (or plane) may take me.....: Here a castle....there a castle....

Here a castle.....there a castle......a day filled with castles. We were in Germany today to see 2 castles from the Bavarian royal family. King Maximilan built the first one on the ruins of another castle. It is called Hohenschwangau Castle (no idea how to say it but it rolls right off the tongues of the locals). It was his summer castle. Learn more about it here: https://www.hohenschwangau.de/556.html. Not too bad of a walk up. Did have to rest a bit but was up to the top in no time. It wasn't as big as some other castles we've been to but it was only his summer home (it was still quite impressive in size). The walls are magnificantly painted with designs and paintings. They painted right on the walls copying the practice of the Middle Ages. They have not been retouched and are in amazing condition. The colors are so vibrant. The castle also had woodwork for days that was to die for. So intricate and beautiful. Then after a quick sandwich on the bus (made the night before at the hotel) we were going to see Neuschwanstein Castle (your guess is as good as mine on the pronunciation). Think Disny castle. It is not far from his father's castle. Learn more about it here: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/. To get to the top it required a bit more stamina. Some people choose to ride a horse drawn carriage (long line) or a bus (kinda long line). About half of us accepted the challenge of walking up. It winded up with gradual steepness. It made it seem like you weren't that high up but from beginning to end it was quite the haul. Had to stop quite a few more times on the way up to catch a breath but slow and steady and we made it up in 30/35 mins. This castle was made by King Maximilan's son- Mad Ludewig. He became king and apparently began emptying Bavaria's coffers to build castles and things (which didn't go over well). This castle was not finished because he died under suspicious circumstances after being declared insane and unfit to rule. My mouth stayed open almost the whole 30 minute tour because of the plethora of paintings on the wall. So colorful, detailed and varied. AMAZING. Also the he wood work was impressive. In his bedroom it had carvings like those found in an old church. Sooooo worth the walk. Just wish pictures could be taken from the inside of the castles but no luck. As Art pointed out, it would slow down the groups tremendously (which enter evey 5mins). I would have to agree because I could have easily gotten in a hundred pictures in the throne room alone. O-M-G!! I can't even begin to describe it! We ended the night at a local restaurant that was so good some of us ate there all 3 nights. There was even a guy playing music (his partner was too busy in the kitchen cooking to join him). I'm pretty sure the others were happy to see us go, as our singing along to the John Denver and Elvis songs was a bit iffy :)

Hohenschwangau Castle