Saturday, 10 June 2006
I took an early train at about 7:45, changed at Buchloe. Gradually the snow-capped peaks of the Bavarian Alps appeared, and I arrived in Füssen station at around 9:45. Then I took the bus from the train station to the castles.
Fortunately, there was still a minimal line-up at the ticket counter, and I was assigned a tour of the Hohenschwangau Castle at 11:15, and the Neuschwanstein Castle at 13:15.
The village at the base of the two castles was quite gorgeous. To both sides were mountains, and there was also a picturesque lake further on. A road started from the lake wound upwards, and soon I approached the Hohenschwangau Castle. The castle, comapred to Neuschwanstein, was somewhat yellow in colouration. It was a pity that a wing of the castle was under renovation. But from the castle courtyard, there was quite an awesome view of the village below, as well as the plains and lakes and the distant Neuschwanstein Castle further up on the mountainside.
The tour lasted about half an hour or so, introducing us to the place where the royalty of Bavaria considered as a reclusive retreat (it is hard to think just how many castles, scattered around Bavaria, that they can choose to stay!) This was probably the first time, bar Schönbrunn in Vienna, where I had the chance to gaze at the almost sickening luxuries of the European courtly past. A notable room was King Ludwig II's childhood room, where the sky was painted with stars that would actually illuminate in the night (there were holes where light could come through), giving a sense of sleeping in the outdoors. The castle is full of Romantic-style paintings--full of medieval and heroic fights and battles, but no single drop of blood ("As though," our guide added, "they all died from heart attack.").
Then I came down to the village, and headed towards the Neuschwanstein Castle. The road uphill took roughly 30 minutes, thonged with people and horse-drawn carriages (and inevitably, horse droppings, flies, and smell as well). Midway uphill I bought a Wurst for lunch, which was simply hotdog inside a bun of bread, typical Bavarian fare.
Coming to the Neuschwanstein Castle, the view suddenly broadened. Gazing away, Füssen was visible, as well as the green farmlands and a blue lake, nestled at the feet of mountains. Sandwiched between the blue sky above and green farmland below, this was a glorious view.
The Neuschwanstein Castle has an interesting courtyard. Unlike Hohenschwangau, everything here is rather white in tone. The castle was a gigantic project initiated in Ludwig II's time, but was not completed at the time of his death (in fact, he lived in the castle for just about half a year). Thus, most of the rooms have been left unfinished (though the exterior is as refined as it can be). The decoration inside is as lavish as Hohenschwangau, but most of the paintings here were extracted from scenes from the music dramas of Richard Wagner, the late nineteenth-century German composer known for his leitmotifs and Nordic sources. Richard Wagner personally lived here for a while, and there was a bed and a piano for him, since Ludwig II was an avid admirer of Wagner's music. In fact, it can almost be said that the entire Neuschwanstein Castle was made in honour of Wagner's musical works. There was a room modelling an underground cave (by plasters), with lights of different colours projecting on the "rocks". The views out of some windows were simply stunning.
Coming out of the castle, I went to the Marienbrücke, a suspension bridge over a quite steep drop and a waterfall that was made seemingly precarious because it was full of people and squeaked as one moved along it. But nonetheless, it offered an excellent view of the Neuschwanstein Castle and the surrounding countryside. The trail leading from the bridge would go to the Tegelberg Mountain, but, alas, it was already 14:30, and I really did not have another two or three hours to spare, so I simply needed to miss Tegelberg, its view, and its cable car altogether.
I took a bus back to Füssen and took a stroll in this small town. Past the outer traffic roads, the inner town was very pleasant: cobbled streets lined with coffee shops filled with people relaxing. I walked up to a church, and then upwards to a fortress, about eight hundred old and started as a religious post of some sort. There a commanding view of Füssen was possible.
At about 16:30, I took the . The train was full of people--including many newly-arrived World Cup fans.