Those of you who don’t know me…I think the world is made up of sprinkles and rainbows. It is also a magical place filled with princes, pixies, and fairytale castles. Today I encountered one of my fantasies.
We set out early in the morning in our Escalade blasting some J.T. Timberlake (sorry Joscha, we weren’t too savy with your music player) to attempt at two-hour drive into the German countryside to the Neuschwanstein Castle, nestled in the city of Füssen in the foothills of the Swiss Alps.
Now this is not just an ordinary castle. To be quite clear, it is the actual castle which served as the model for Sleeping Beauty’s dwelling place…yes it’s that beautiful. But actually more magical because it’s real. From all of our travels this past week and all of the other wondrous places I’ve been so fortunate to experience, this sight takes the cake.
So what’s the Neuschwanstein on this castle ?
Some facts…
Although this ethereal palace in the mountains looks like was built in medieval times, it was conceived and constructed in the late 1800s by King Ludwig II, aka “the mad king” who was the second king of Bavaria. Ludwig’s father funnily enough owned and lived in castle just down a few miles from his future son’s. But was little Ludwig satisfied with a lovely, already built and furnished castle in the mountains?…Of course not. It wasn’t the castle he’d seen in his dreams. So, once his father died when he was 18, it was up into the mountains to craft his vision.
Inside each room of this castle, pick a room any room, are walls and aritifacts laiden with gold and pastel-painted walls depicting each their own specific fairytale or myths of great love…the tale of Tristen and his Isolde scales Ludwig’s bedroom walls. Sigh.
Swans are a reoccuring theme throughout the castle and can be found carved into the castle’s structure, sketched into ornaments in the rooms, swimming through paintings, vases, tapestries, tiled floors…
The schloss (castle) was still being constructed at the time of Ludwig’s death…it remains so.
Sadly, lonesome Ludwig lived in Neuschwanstein alone, sans wife and family, but for only 172 days before he mysteriously passed away…
Never Enough
For the bee and butterfly, circling within the walls just wasn’t enough. There was too much more of this wonder to be savored from afar. So, we took to the hills. We scaled the mountain neighboring the castle and headed up. And I mean straight up. Before long, we were sole hikers.
The rest of the Neuschwanstein scene had dropped off and we were on our own scaling to the highest point to acquire the best possible view in our power. Roughly 30 minutes from the castle’s bases we were suddenly on top of the world. That was it. I was in my fairy tale, and there was no one around to bring me down to earth. This being said, there’s really nothing quite as freeing as breaking off from the pack and literally taking the road less traveled by.
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