We were so excited to go to the Disney castle!! (Referred to as the Disney castle because it was the inspiration for the Disneyland sleeping beauty castle). We were warned a couple days earlier by the couple we met in the pool, that the castle was being renovated and that part of it was covered in scaffolding. Even though we knew that beforehand, it was a bit anticlimactic to pull up and see this giant bandaid perched up on top of a cliff. Despite the slightly less than ideal view, and not so promising weather, we bought tickets to go inside both castles. (yes, there are two.)
Our first tour was of Hohenschwangau Castle, the summer home of King Maximilian II. I really don’t like being told that I can’t take pictures, however, I followed the rules a bit better than I did in the ice caves... Maybe because in my mind, anything Disney related demands the utmost respect.The views from the castle were amazing. There were so many intricate gold and silver statues and decorations that were beautiful but otherwise completely useless. The servant corridors and sneaky passageways would have made it a great place to play hide and seek.
We decided that this was the castle that they copied for Mario :)
As cool as Maximilian's castle was... it was nothing in comparison to the castle of his son King Ludwig II.
Neuschwanstein Castle!!!
I really don't know how to describe the inside of this castle to you. It was AMAZING! The detail on everything was so much more ridiculous than any other castle. One thing that I really appreciate about Ludwig is that he liked color! Just even standing in the entryway of the castle, the carvings and moulding on the walls and ceiling had details highlighted in bright blues and pinks and yellows! My initial reaction was that it was almost Dr. Seuss-like. Everything from the gold covered throne room, to the artificial cave hallway, to his average-size bedroom that took 14 woodcarvers 4 years to complete. The walls of every room were covered with scenes from Richard Wagner's operas. Ludwig was so obsessed with Wagner that the entire inspiration for the castle came from him and thus he dedicated the castle to him. Nick and I were both convinced that there had to be secret messages and meanings hidden in all the paintings. Taking into account Ludwig's "mysterious death," we really don't understand how nobody has made a movie about this guy yet!? After our tour, we followed the progression of people along the one-way route through the castle... until we got outside and I decided that I wanted to go back and get something from the gift shop inside... sooo we snuck back in the back door and went allllllllllllllll the way back, up the endless spiral stairs, though all the rooms, getting looks from everyone as we squeezed by. (Have I mentioned that Nick is a keeper? ;)
To end the day, we walked out to the suspension bridge that overlooked the side of the castle that wasn't being renovated. Nick had sneakily bought me a tiara when we were in the castle, so I got to be a princess in the picture :).
From there, we ran back to the car in another rainstorm, got completely soaking wet, and spent the evening driving back to Zurich (and arguably getting the most lost that we have been on the entire trip).
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