Die Konigschlosser and a King's View, too!

What an exhausting day! I started early for the King's Castles: Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Good thing because it was like being at Disneyland on July 4th. Hundreds of busses, cars and people everywhere. The later it got, the more people arrived.

My tour of Hohenschwangau was from 9:20 to 10:20am and then I was supposed to hike up to Neuschwanstein for an 11:20 tour. It's a one-mile steep uphill hike, and they say it takes about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I got lost in the woods leaving Hohenschwangau and had to backtrack about a half-mile. At that point, there was no way I would make it in time, and they only give you one shot. If you snooze, you lose. Fortunately, there is a bus that takes hikers about 15 minutes above the castle, so I took that and walked downhill to the castle, making my tour just in time!

This is what Neuschwanstein looks like from the entry courtyard. King Ludwig of Bavaria began building his fantasy castle when he became king at age 18. Prior to that, he lived in his father's castle nearby, Hohenschwangau.

It was under construction for over fifteen years, and by the time Ludwig was nearly 40, only a third of the castle was complete. He lived in it for only six months before he was declared mentally incompetent and then died under suspicious circumstances. Within six weeks of his death, tourists were visiting the castles to gawk at the opulence.

I'm glad I went, even though the display of wealth was extreme to the point of being offensive. The location and natural landscapes were incredible. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the castles, but they did allow us to take a photo out the window. This is a view from one of the upper windows at Neuschwanstein.

After leaving the castle circus, I went to a nearby town called Fussen. It was a place Ed had visited, so I wanted to see it. It was also packed with people on holiday, but I managed to find a parking place and did the recommended walking tour. It's a charming little Bavarian town with a medieval old town core, plus a high castle and a few old churches and Franciscan monastery.

No pictures of Fussen, as I was exhausted from hiking up and down those steep hills carrying the camera gear at the castles. Around 3pm, I headed back to my hotel, ten miles away in Austria, and sat for a while watching the gliders ride the thermals above the valley. I asked the hotel owner if she had ridden one and she suggested I walk across the river and over to the airport to ask one of the pilots to take me for a ride. So I did!

I rode in a glider once before. An airplane towed us up and then released us. We flew around for a while and then came down. This was different. Here, they have a big truck at one end of the runway and the gliders set up at the other end. The truck has two huge rubber bands attached to a pulley and a runner truck drives the other ends to the glider as the truck lets the slack out. The ends are attached to the glider on each side of the fuselage where the wings attach, and when the pilot radios that he is ready, the truck pulls the elastic bands tight. When the pilot releases his brake, the plane begins to accelerate and slingshots into the air. It was a lot like a carnival ride. My stomach was left somewhere back on the runway!

The pilot flies close to the steep mountain cliffs and does tight figure-eights to catch the up-drafts and take us higher and higher. We stayed up for about a half-hour. It was fun, but I shouldn't have eaten right before I went up! I managed to hang on to my lunch, but there were a few moments I wasn't too sure if I would!

The last two photos are of the landing approach. The airstrip is just alongside the river.

Tomorrow I drive back to Munich to drop off the rented car, then take a train to Salzburg. Thursday I continue by train to Ljubljana.