The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886.Since then over 60 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. [Thank you Wikipedia!]
The first photo shows the newer castle that Ludwig II constructed and the second photo shows the original castle that his parents lived in. It took my brother in law, Hien 1 1/2 hours to drive us all to the castles. Keegan and I stayed with Hien, my nephew Christian and my niece Lisa at their flat in Munich. Hien is a taxi driver in Munich and is used to a lot of driving. When we arrived at the castles we learned that it would be a two hour wait to get tickets to one of the castles. After getting the tickets it would be a three hour wait to get into the newer castle (the first photo) and a one and a half hour wait to get into the older castle (second photo). I was given a choice as to which castle I wanted to visit and I chose the older castle with the shorter wait.
It had rained the night before and there were so many people there to see the castle! Everyone had their outdoor clothes and hiking shoes on. I was not dressed quite as outdoorsy as I would have wished. I was not in a happy mood after the drive there and a surprise (to me) two hour wait. We went to a beer garden after the two hour wait and I was quite the complainer under my breath to Keegan. Clearly I was not as subtle with my frustration as I thought because when Keegan came to the table I was saving for our group, he brought not only beer for him (he could drink legally on Germany) but a shot of vodka for me. Turns out my brother in law suggested I might need it to improve my mood. We all laughed as I downed the shot. If you know me, you know this was very uncharacteristic of me, but I must say it did the trick!
We took the castle tour in English and were not allowed to take photos on the inside. Unusual sights on the inside were huge paintings done directly on the walls with either the frames attached to the walls or painted around the paintings themselves. There were paintings depicting Bavarian or older European history or family history all over the walls and then writing directly on the wall explaining the paintings. All in German of course. Also, Ludwig's father's bedroom had a beautiful mural of an outdoor garden with climbing vines covering the walls of the room with lights embedded in the ceiling that could be turned to the night sky. Also a hidden staircase from the husband's room to Ludwig's mother's room above. They slept separately.
Many thanks to our wonderful family for such a memorable trip!
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