The Land of the Swans

Here are pictures from my trip with the USO to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Disney World was based on Neuschwanstein (as well as the castle in Sleeping Beauty, my favorite Disney movie).

Hohenschwangau was the summer residence of King Ludwig II. I actually like this castle more than Neuschwanstein. Part of the reason was that the tour guide for this castle was fabulous and told many jokes. Also, the inside of the castle was intricate but not overwhelming more subtle details. For me, it is the details of place that makes it wonderful and unique and frankly, the main reason to visit a place rather than just looking at pictures of it on the internet. Most of the rooms had paintings where description was above it explaining the important of the portrait. It was absolutely fascinating. There was a room inside that showed the different phases of the moon.

Neuschwanstein was amazing. The inside of the castle was completely painted. The ceilings were all breathtaking to look at. There was one in particular that I loved, it was deep blue and covered with gold stars. It was extremely difficult to hear the tour guide for this castle. The tour had roughly 60 people in it including crying babies and the tour guide did not wear a mike so it was very difficult to hear her. And Neuschwanstein means new swan stone, there is a fun fact for Jeopardy.

But both tours only showed a few rooms of the castles and were very short (15-30 minutes maybe).

So the funny stories, the bridge to go on and take pictures of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau was closed due to the ice. But myself and three other people in the tour decided to hop the fence (since we had seen other people on the bridge). I slipped on the ice and fell when I got up one of the gentlemen that was with me asked if I needed help on the ice. I replied no I am from Minnesota and deal with ice all the time. As soon as I went to take another step, I slipped on the ice and fell again. It was pretty funny. But I think it was worth breaking the rules to get some of the pictures that I took.