June 21, 2005

• When I was about 11 my parents told my sister and her boyfriend (who were living in sin OMG) that if they got married they would take them to Disneyland.  Well they did and so off to Disneyland we went.

  
  

  That was the first time I saw Sleeping Beauty’s castle.  When I found out it was based on a real castle I wanted to see it so bad I couldn’t hardly stand it.  It took over 30 years but I finally got to realize a dream.  It was worth the wait.  And the climb!  They may have called King Ludwig mad but the man had vision.  He knew what he wanted and the things he dreamed of and built are now something that people from all over the world come to see.  So far we have see Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Linderhof.  We still have two more of his castles to go.  But first a short tour with the giddy girl from Arkansas that got to live her dream of seeing Sleeping Beauty’s castle inside and out.

  
  

  

  
  

  It’s hard to tell in this picture so your going to have to take my word for it…I’m grinning ear to ear.  This castle is immense, huge, gargantuan.  Whatever your favorite is take your pick.  It dominates the entire valley.  And more than likely financially supports it too.  Over a million visitors every year.  I plan on going back in deep winter.

  
  

  This a partial view of the West facade.  When your inside you can look out any of these windows and see a magnificent view of Queen Mary’s Bridge going across a gorge .  The king’s bedroom is on this side.  He, of course, had a balcony overlooking this view.

  
  

  I told Nate I was going to ask this English couple if they would mind taking our picture and he said he could do it.  We got such a kick out of this one that we kept it.  This is the front gate house where in bygone days you would ride in your carriage through the gatehouse into the inner courtyard.  Now everyone has to schlep up the Mountain like Nepalese Sherpas.   Okay maybe not quiet that bad but pretty bad for an overweight out of shape semi-middle-aged American woman.

  
  

   

  
  

  This was taken thru the door leading to the balcony off the throne room.  That’s Alpsee.  Or literally in English Alp Lake.  In the background are the Tannheimer group of the Tyrolian Alps.  The border between Austria and Germany runs along the wooded hills behind the lake.

  
  

  I would have taken a hundred pictures inside the castle but I didn’t want my camera confiscated.  Not to mention it’s so dark that the ones that Nate sneakily took with my camera didn’t come out.  They have to preserve the paintings, fabric etc. and low light helps.

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

  Remember the bridge over the gorge?  This is it.  The gorge is so deep you can’t see the bottom from here because of all the trees.  I took this out of the king’s bedroom window.(The balconies are off limits.)   I stood in the middle of that bridge.  That sounds like an easy thing to do and it is if your not afraid of heights.(Remind me to tall you later about the panic attack in Trier.)

  
  

  However, I am afraid of heights, but I have wanted this for to long and I have come to far and climbed a Mtn. to boot.  So out I went.  I got dizzy..so I closed my eyes until it passed.  Then I couldn’t breathe so I closed my eyes again and counted to 10 while I took deep calming breaths.  Then I looked back to see my husband who’s not afraid of heights and there he was at the end of the bridge.  So I motioned for him to come out and he shook his head no.  I motioned again and he said no way.  So I went back and held his hand and we went across together. 

  
  

  There I am with my honey.  We’re in the bottom left of the picture.  Bear has his hand on his hip and a  gray shirt.  You can’t tell but I’m not even holding on to the rail.  Normally, in a situation like that I would have a death grip on something or someone.  Preferably the throat of whoever made me go out on a limb.

  
  

  Told you it was big!  This is just a small portion of the East side walking up to the front gates to go inside.

  
  

   

  
  

  Yeah, yeah, I know these are all out of order.  I’m new at all these pictures so give me a break okay!  I’m doing the best I can and it will probably get worse before it gets better. So hah take that.

  
  

  A much better view of the gatehouse.  And without our funny faces to ruin it. hah!

  
  

  Some quick FAQ.  Neuschwanstein was started in 1869 and was never finished.  King Ludwig lived in the partially completed castle on and off during construction. It was from here he was declared legally insane by American doctors who had never laid eyes on him.  He was taken from the castle and died a mysterious death on June 13th 1886.  Building on the castle was immediatley halted and less than six weeks later it was opened to the public for the first time.  Ludwig was a technology seeker.  He used innovative building techniques and had the most modern facilities available built into the castle.  For example, there is running water on all floors of the castle.  There is a spring located 600 feet (200 meters) above the castle, so gravity took care of the rest from the top floor to the bottom.  It has central heat, hot running water for the Kitchen, and two telephones.  AND he had a flush toilet hidden inside his bedroom.  Not bad for the 1880s.

  
  

  One last look at the beauty that is Neuschwanstein.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Not toooo bad eh?

  
  

  Now I’m going to go have a beer and before you get all shocked remember the time difference.

  
  

   

  • 12:59 am
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