The castles on our hit list that day were the castles of "Mad King Ludwig". He became King of Bavaria at the young age of 18. Of course with the title of King he inherited access to the treasury (money) but since he was so young, no real responsibility. Sounds like the Germanic dream doesn't it? Of course all that power and wealth can go to ones head and make them a little... eccentric to say the least.
We started our castle viewing tour at Linderhof, otherwise referred to as Ludwig's "hunting cabin". He had plans for 7 castles and began work on 4 with this one to be the only to be completed. Remember, The Residenz - the opulent family palace, wasn't enough of a home and so he commissioned these others to expand his portfolio.
This castle was the smallest of the ones he had commissioned (and hence why it was finished) paid homage to King Luis the Fourteenth. All of the family portraits on the inside were of the French noble lineage and King Luis's family. The castle is surrounded by fabulous scenery and lavish gardens with fountains and surrounding buildings.  |
| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
My favorite part of the tour was our guide explaining Ludwig's trip to Versailles for inspiration in building his own castles (modeling after Luis XIV). Upon arrival, he found the Versailles had been turned into a museum and thought that was the most appalling thing to see King Luis XIV's home being toured by the public. His visit would have been different being of noble lineage. Upon his return he made a special note in his will and made it known that if he were to pass, his servants were ordered to fill the castles with dynamite and blow all of his castles to high heaven. As we can see, this did not happen. He died a mysterious death at the age of 41 and 3 months following his death, the castles were opened to the public to help repay the money he has spent building them because he had basically bankrupted the country.
The craziest thing on the grounds is the grotto he decided he wanted to have. Apparently he wanted a cave to host operas (for an audience of one - himself) and so he commissioned one to be built out of plaster and mesh and wood framing in the side of the mountain behind his castle. I guess when you have that much money, you can do whatever you want.
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
After we had wandered the grounds for a bit, we said goodbye to Linderhof and got on the road for a little while before making a pit stop for lunch along a creek. We got pretty familiar with the grocery store in the Leutasch Valley and had packed a picnic lunch of meat and cheese and bread which was pretty much our staple foods in Germany.
After being fully recharged, we were on our way to Neuschwanstein! The castle that inspired Walt Disney in creating his own. It's really a must see stop if you are in Germany.
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
When we arrived, it was still blue sky, but about 300 yards from the car Mike and Rob noticed the sky up ahead was pretty splotchy with dark clouds. They ran back to the car for rain coats and umbrellas. This was quite possibly the best idea of the day.
Neuschwanstein is located on the opposite hill from his family's castle Hohenschwa
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
This is quite possibly the hottest toursit spot in our whole trip. About every 15 feet there was a little stand trying to sell you something. Our favorite scene was of the Asian tourists taking pictures of the pictures on the calendars. Classic. The view from the top were pretty nice though.
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
While we were waiting for our timed entrance, we had some picture ops we took advantage of.
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
When our time came, we were shuffled into the lines and zipped right through the castle on their fast paced tour. They have it down to a science to get you through the castle as fast as possible (the whole tour took 15 minutes, maybe 20 at most) only to hurry you on to their two gift shops on the way out of the castles. Not one, but two!! Disney has some more lessons to learn from this place.
Upon exiting, the rain started. It was more annoying than really troubling and made taking pictures a little more interesting. I still managed ok though.
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| From Linderhof & Neuschwanstein Castles |
We were pretty well pooped at this point and decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. We found a tasty Italian restaurant the night before and liked it enough (and we were tired enough) to go back again. We didn't realize how delicious the Italian food would be there because we had forgotten we were only 2 hours from the Italian border. It was marvelous and a lovely way to end the day.
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