At least thats what most people know it as...
We, however traveled from Garmish a WHOLE HOUR....to see the REAL THING.
Schloss Neuschwanstein
When we arrived it was so incredibly crowded...I guess its one of those tourist hotspots here in Germany. I hadn't seen such crowds since I tried to get on the MAX train during the Blazer game in Portland!
Regardless - we stood in line for 30 minutes to get tickets when we heard someone exiting say, "Oh, well, we go into the castle at 5PM." EEEEEEEEK. It was only 11AM. John and I gave that "look"...you know, the one where we both agree that a 6+ hour wait to see the inside of a castle was not going to happen... We decided instead to just go and tour the grounds instead. So, we checked out the hill we were about to climb and decided...
It was time to experience our first horse-drawn carriage. It was really fun and totally worth the 40 minute wait to get on the carriage. Especially because we got to sit right up in the front so the girls could watch the horses. Then half way up the horses...well, they got gassy. Our driver in his broken english described it as a "symphony." HA HA HA...And it wasn't just one - it was BOTH horses. Maddie couldn't stop giggling and Bella had this look on her face.
The castle was simply beautiful...and we didn't feel too badly about not going in. Especially when we found out later that visitors only got to tour about 4-5 rooms and that was it. I was really glad we didn't wait 6 hours for that.
From the carriage dropoff you walked up another 1/4 mile and rounded a corner to see this...
To get into the castle courtyard you turn to the left and are greeted by yet another tower
The gates to the courtyard cross over a shallow moat. You can see how crowded it was that day...
As you pass through the gates you are greeted by the main castle structure.
From up on that wall (in the above photo) you see the opposite side of the castle gates...
And the stairs leading to the towers...we were bummed those were off limits.
And, of course - the token "get your face in the photo so you can say you were there" picture.
4 comments:
We went in November '08 and froze our tails off! Flip side was no crowds, no wait. Just so you know, you didn't miss much inside the castle. I think our Xmas card picture that year was us in front of the castle...see my Facebook pics to see the exact same pictures, just with coats and chattering teeth. :)
THAT is cool!
SO MANY CASTLES! I'm officially jealous!
Wow, that's spectacular!
I hate going to places like that where they only let you tour a couple of rooms. It's always so disappointing. Something of the little kid in me wants to be able to explore every nook, cranny, stairwell, tower, and secret passageway. Anything less is just being teased. For a 6 hour wait I should think you should at least get to go up those stairs to that tower! :)
Great photos! I enjoy your family trips so much! You do such a great job chronicling them.
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