For as long as I have heard of it I have wanted to see Neuschwanstein, a castle in southern Germany. It has been a life goal to see it. That is how badly I have wanted to see it. I finally got the chance this weekend. We have been in the town (not quite big enough for me to call city) of Füssen for two days. These two days have been fantastic. This town might well be the prettiest towns I have ever seen. It has snow. Right now in my Christmassy state of mind, pretty much anything with snow is fantastic for me. But this town has three castles, and that is ridiculous…ly awesome. It also has mountains. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see actual mountains.
Castles are some of the coolest things ever. Apparently King Ludwig II thought the same thing because he built a bunch of them in Bavaria. After walking through Neuschwanstein, I have decided I would love to shake that man's hand. He built this specific castle simply because castles are cool and he didn't think his land had enough of them. Even though it bankrupted Bavaria at the time, millions of people since then have enjoyed the fact that he did it anyways. Apparently though, Ludwig was considered have a few more cuckoos than the average clock and considered unfit to rule. Later he mysteriously drowned. Because of these events and the fact that Bavaria was bankrupted, Neuschwanstein was never completed. It is on the outside and it is mind-blowing.
After Neuschwanstein was built and it became popular, Walt Disney, another man who became bankrupt because he wanted a good legacy to leave, built a castle based on the one here in Bavaria. This shows me that castles, though they may bankrupt you, are totally worth it. I have decided I will live in a castle one day. Hopefully it won't bankrupt me.
People say Bavaria is the real Germany. It is beautiful down here, but I also think the rest of Germany is too. Germany, like Colorado, has a lot of different things in it and that's what makes it really cool. While Bavaria is awesome, if that's all Germany was, then it wouldn't be as cool as it is with the rest of it. But it would still be a country with a thriving economy. Saw a Maserati Gran Tourismo in Füssen. Seeing epic cars in Germany is becoming a thing that I can almost count on. It's nice.
Walt Disney and King Ludwig II both built castles and a Märchenland that they have become famous for, each in their own ways. They were willing to sacrifice a lot in order to make the world around them a better place. Their result: millions of people since have enjoyed their efforts and both have become very famous. Some day I hope that I can do something that while the people of my time may think I am crazy, turns out to be a fantastic idea and make the world a better place.
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On our day when we visited Neuschwanstein we also went to climb the mountain behind it to see if we could see it from the famous angle everyone has. I was also wanting a unique view to take pictures from since there are thousands the same on the internet. After climbing through ice and snow we finally made it to an overlook with an awesome view of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau the other castle there. I was beside myself and we stayed there for a while, some of us pulling out some food and enjoying the view. Of course I pretty much just snapped pictures the entire time.
I pride myself on being able to walk on snow and ice pretty much all the time. Since I grew up with snow, it is not that hard for me. But sometimes pride goes before a literal fall. I was walking back and was on the very last bit of the trail. There were people around who were having issues with the ice. Earlier I took the slightly harder way up the four feet (a little more than a meter for you Europeans) embankment and onto the trail because it was faster. Some other people were having a really hard time with it so it made me feel pretty good to do it. However on the way back down karma had her justice. I extremely rapidly made it down the embankment and right next to a ice covered rock that was between me and the parking lot. There was a collective gasp and I sat there for a moment embarrassed that I made such a rookie mistake on the ice. I did have my camera on my and a lens in both my right and left and right coat pockets. I managed with either skill or luck to not land anywhere near them. I rapidly checked on their health just the same.
Later we walked down another road, where no one was, to get a different view of Hohenschwangau and the lake. While we didn't see exactly what we were looking for, we still got an awesome view. The road down was something that interested me a lot. It was somewhat steep and covered in ice the entire way, most of the time black ice. Of course I walked where it was the safest, which was usually not on the black ice. I was just commenting on how I thought it would be hard to drive up when a car comes busting up the road. I was thoroughly impressed. As a Coloradan I can drive snow and ice okay, but this person impressed me. I don't think I would have tried it.
Once again my theory that people don't usually look at one's feet has been thrown out the window. Just about every time I wear flip flops here people comment on it. It's above freezing, therefore not cold enough to necessitate shoes. Of course the mountain hike i had shoes because I do recognize practicality sometimes. It never ceases to amaze me how much a simple thing like wearing flip flops in winter can smoke someone's system as much as it does the people here. Earlier, someone in a mall in Berlin asked me which country I was from and when I said America he thought I was from Alaska. He was from Sweden so he understood the feeling that there are lots of people that don't perceive it as that cold. He was fun to talk to for a little bit.
We are now on our way to Salzburg where we are spending Christmas. Since Munich is between Füssen and Salzburg we are going to spend a little time there today. I cannot wait to get to another awesome German city. Once out of Salzburg we head to Venice, Florence and eventually Rome. So far the trip has been a hundred times easier to travel than The Quest of Liechtenstein. Experience and a little more money spent on travel will do that though. Hopefully it will stay simple.
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