Day 9: Neuschwanstein Castle, a Luge Ride, and Salzburg
Brett and I taking a selfie from Mary's Bridge with Neuschwanstein Castle!
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Ludwig's New SwanstoneFirst thing this morning we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle. Andrea got us tickets and we hoofed it up a pretty steep incline to the base of the castle (for me it worked best to just pick my pace and keep going), and then a little further up to Marienbrucke for spectacular views of Neuschwanstein. The bridge, as well as the castle, were both extremely busy. We then met the rest of our group and at the appointed time headed through the turnstiles for our tour. You will visit 15 lavishly appointed rooms with original furnishings and wall paintings based on Wagnerian opera themes. You won't get more than 5 minutes in each room so look around fast. I really loved the wood carvings and wished I had more time to study the wall paintings. They were so well done and I wanted to follow their story along the wall in each room.
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'Mad' King Ludwig grew up at Hohenschwangau, below Neuschwanstein, dreaming up the perfect fairy tale castle. When he inherited the throne at 18 he was able to make his dream come true. Neuschwanstein Castle was built from 1869-1886 and is the epitome of the Romantic era. It is built of iron and brick but made to look like a medieval castle. It was only one-third finished when Ludwig died and construction stopped. Tourists were paying to see the interior within six weeks. During WWII the castle was used by the Nazis as one of their primary secret storage places for stolen art. It took the Allies a full year to sort and repatriate the art inside. Photos aren't allowed inside except for the kitchens area, so please enjoy our pictures of the outside and kitchens.
Having Fun on Our First Ever Luge Run!!
After our visit to Neuschwanstein and before we headed for Salzburg we hit the nearby Sommerrodelbahn, or summer luge course. Deb wasn't too sure but I encouraged her to go for it and she had fun! We all did! Andrea paid for 2 turns for anyone who wanted to go on the luge run, which almost everyone did. The first run I was a fast turtle, but the second I was more of a slow rabbit. We lined up with self professed rabbits first with the slowest turtles last:)
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Trumer Stube sign, facade, and our room. The view down our street with the flowers on our window boxes, Wiener Schnitzel for dinner, and Sacher torte for dessert.
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Pro-Tip: If you want to do night photography go with the night that gives you good weather. If the night was nice when we arrived in a city we went out and did our photography that night in case the next night's weather wasn't so great. Seize the moment!