June 20 -- We had an understandably late start to our morning, involving going to the grocery store to get some breakfast. We headed to the only place in this relatively small town with hoards of people: the castles. We reserved a tour for 1:55 and went back to the grocery store to get lunch. We entered the Hohenschwangau Castle first, which was built by Maximilian the first. It was very ornate and filled with the original furniture and many gold, silver, and ivory birthday and wedding presents that were given to him, as well as hundreds of painting and statues of swans. All the walls were covered with enormous paintings, but they didn't compare to the view. Apparently his wife was quite the mountaineering woman (unusual for the day) and climbed many of the surrounding mountains.
Their son (Mad) Ludwig II also lived in this castle most of his life, but Ludwig was obsessed with castles and wanted to build his own. He started many castles but only one was completed by the time he died (either by suicide or murder...no one knows) at the bankrupt age of 40. The most famous of his uncompleted castles is right across the hill from his parents' castle and was our second tour of the day: Neuschwanstein. This castle is more well known and popular (read crowded) than the other one. Most people recognize this castle because not only is it picturesque, but also it was the muse for the Disney castle. Only 15 of 59 rooms were completed by the time he died even though they had been working on it for 17 years, and our tour consisted of seeing those 15 rooms. Just the wood work in his bedroom alone took 14 men 4 year to complete. This castle too is full of swans because apparently he liked swans a much as his dad did. The decor is over the top, and if I had a location like his with the incredible views in every direction, I would have incorporated the views into my design more so than the paintings that again covered every wall.
After our short tour, we walked up to Maria's Bridge for a good view of the castle and the surrounding countryside. It was very windy. By the time we walked back down to the car and found a place to eat, we had walked 11 miles (most of it on steep up and down hills), and this was supposed to have been our easier walking day.
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