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Friday, Mar 27, 2009
The first view of the castle was amazing. I looked up and saw it standing grandly, jutting out atop the tall cliffs, with the towers pointing towards the heavens. It reminded me of my first viewing of the Eiffel Tower in Paris—such a great feeling. The bus driver told me where to buy tickets and I exited the bus. I walked up the hill, observing all the neat things in the little village. There were hotels there too, but of course these probably charged more and were nowhere near the train station. The castles are close to Fussen, yet it's still about five miles away. I reached the ticket station and found almost no line. There was an option to buy tickets for both castles, but due to time limitations, I only wanted the “Disney” castle. The other one could wait for some other time. And despite it being more authentic and historic than Neuschwanstein, it just wasn't the castle I had come to see. With my ticket in hand, I began walking up the long path to reach the castle. It's uphill but not terribly steep and I found it to be good exercise. People did have the option of hiring a horse and carriage for the long way, but that seemed totally unnecessary. I wanted the freedom to walk around.
Eventually, I reached the castle. It looked enormous standing right below it. Despite it being the off-season, there was still somewhat of a crowd; however, the ticket system is pretty orderly and everyone has a ticket number, like when ordering a bagel—only the numbers are for groups of people at a certain time for a tour in a certain language. I had about an hour to kill. I decided to walk around, but there wasn't really anywhere to go. To the right of the castle, a small path led away, but it was blocked off with a sign saying the road was closed. Oh no! Was THAT the path to the bridge where I would need to go take my great picture? I was not pleased. I waited around and did some writing, and again noticed how everyone seemed to smoke in Europe. It's pretty unbelievable. They all look very healthy, but so many lungs are being destroyed quickly—and at young ages too.
Finally, my number came up (meant in a good way), and I passed through the turnstile. Our tour group had about 20 people. We went inside the castle and went forward until a closed gate stopped us. It definitely felt like another Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory experience. A guide finally came and unlocked the doors. We then began our tour. It was a quick tour, but an amazing one. The artwork inside is outstanding. The paintings are incredible and the carvings are downright awesome. Even the mosaic tiles were fascinating. Sure, Mad King Ludwig may have been insane, but he definitely had a spectacular castle. However, because the castle wasn't finished, the tour wasn't long. After about 20 minutes, we were done. Another sad part was that no photography was allowed inside the castle--I guess they couldn't have us competing with their own photographers and selling nice photos. Someone also pointed out that perhaps allowing pictures would have slowed down tours. I suppose that's a valid point too. Either way, I would've loved to have taken pictures. Once the tour was over, they led us to the gift shops. There must've been two or three of them selling numerous oddities and souvenirs. There was nothing I really wanted to buy, although some of the swans looked pretty neat. I did manage to get some great views from the castle. There was no rule about taking photos of the views outward. That was a nice bonus--or substitution, I should say. Finally I exited.
Outside I noticed the most peculiar thing. There were people who had gone past the barricades and were traveling down the path to the bridge! Normally, I'm not someone who likes to break the rules, but then again, I had traveled a long ways to take a photo of the castle from the bridge. Sure, it was a weak excuse, but hey, “everyone was doing it.” I could break the rules just this one time. I hopped over the barricade and headed down the path. Ah, the adventurous life of a criminal! I was a rebel (but with a good cause).
I traveled quickly, worried that I was going to be called back any time. But no one ever did call us. Fifteen minutes later, I found the bridge. There were several other people exploring it the same way. The wind up there was cold and rapid, almost attempting to blow us off the bridge. And when you looked down, you saw a vast drop into a tremendous gorge with waterfalls cascading down on several levels. I also noticed a lot of ice on the ground. Yeah, I could see how that path could become quite dangerous in the winter and why they would want to close it off. Yet it was an amazing sight. More amazing was the view of the castle. I snapped several photos and got some video as well. It was only towards the end of my video shooting that I noticed something-- something was not right. I looked carefully...there was scaffolding all over the back of the castle. It was being painted or was under renovation. Either way, my photos would not be sellable. You're killing me, people! Oh well. There was nothing I could do about it. I would simply have to come back another time, perhaps even in the summer. Heck, I don’t even need another tour of the inside of the castle, so I could avoid all the long lines. I returned down the path, snapping photos everywhere I could.
I then bought a pretzel at the refreshment stand outside the castle. The price was good. I think it was about a couple euros for a large pretzel. All prices now seemed good since I had been to Geneva. Even though euros are more expensive than dollars, everything just seems cheap when compared to Switzerland. If you must travel to Geneva, go there first. Heck, they could have charged me $40 for a coke, and I'd probably happily pay it, thinking, "I bet it's still cheaper than Geneva!"
I headed back down the hill and again noticed all the horse and carriages coming up. It would be easy to say that all people were simply lazy, but it also would not be fair. Some people do have disabilities. Some are handicapped and have problems walking up long hills. I imagine those people were also in the carriages, or perhaps people had small children that would have trouble along the way.
Of course, there are lazy people as well, who simply don't want to walk and take in the view. I'm not saying they don't exist. In fact, they're probably the majority. As well, there can be something nice and cozy about a horse and carriage ride as well. To each his own, I suppose. I guess it's easy to make rash judgements sometimes. The bottom line is that I enjoyed the crisp walk.
Back at the bottom of the village, I took more photos, and then went to wait for the bus. In time, it came and I returned to Fussen. I got my luggage from the train station locker and waited for a train. My next stop would be Rothenberg. When the train arrived, I bid goodbye to the castle town and journeyed north.