Germany Adventure – Day 4

Tuesday 23^rd September 2014 – Neuschwanstein Castle, Austria & Autobahn

Once more poor Steve was off to work but I am grateful for the time I got to spend with him on the weekend and hear the stories he had to tell as they will be a part of this blog too.

The four other adventures had a nice breakfast that involved Vegemite that Alwin brought over from the Australian store in Hessen, Germany for me and Svenja.  Steve likes his jar a little too much to share – I think he is the only non-Australian (who has also never visited Australia) that I have ever seen eat Vegemite straight from the jar and enjoy it! After establishing the difference between toast and bread (German’s call a bread like our gluten-free bread ‘bread’ and bread like Australia’s ‘American toast’ and instead of soft bread rolls they like them quite hard with a very strong crust) we set off for the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Which as my mother informed me is the castle that inspired Walt Disney and therefore all of the Disney cartoons and characters.

I was happy enough to let Svenja drive and so off we went in two cars (due to Vitus needing a lot of room) driving through more of picturesque Germany.

When we arrived we soon realised it was a popular place, especially on such a lovely day, and so Alwin generously waited in line to buy tickets for the tour of the castle while us girls and Vitus read the signs about the Royal Castle Hohenschwangau (the parental home of King Ludwig II who built the Neuschwanstein Castle).

Royal Castle Hohenschwangau Information

Alwin, Nikki, Vitus & Svenja at look-out

With an hour wait for our tour we hiked up the mountain to the castle (we were all fit, able and willing but there are buses or carriages to take you to the castles if you wish but dogs are not allowed on the buses). We made some friends in a New York couple and kept hiking to the look-out and the bridge to capture some great photos of the countryside and of the castle itself.

We then toured the inside of the castle, Alwin and Nicky graciously took an English tour with me (rather than the German tour), although the tour guide spoke broken English with a bit of German so it was hard to keep up with him at times. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the inside of the castle but if you want to know more about it and see some photos of the inside check out these links

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/interior.htm

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/tour.htm

Neuschwanstein Castle from bridge

Prince Ludwig II was crowned king at eighteen and was therefore quite a young king. He didn’t like people too much so he built his castle out-of-the-way near the forests to be able to also go hunting. He had a liking for swans (but I call it more of an obsession). The door handles were golden swans, the curtains had printed swans, the roof had painted swans, and there were pictures and statues of swans.  The castle had heating and running water and the tap going into the King’s bedroom was, yep you guessed it, a swan.  Even the ice-cream, cake and sweet moulds in the kitchen were swans! The castle has a mixture of gothic, medieval and more modern furnishings and design as the castle was built during those changing times so they weren’t a contradiction back then.  The king was medically diagnosed to be crazy after a few years and he was found drowned in the lake the next day (I will let you decide what happened there – as nothing is officially recorded).  I think the faces on the side of the castle are a good indication of what the King’s personality may have been like.

Side of castle

Castle entrance

Vitus & Svenja waiting

Svenja and Vitus had to wait outside or at the restaurant due to dogs not being allowed in the castle (however Svenja and Steve had already done the tour of the castle).

After sharing a couple of lovely pizzas with Svenja and her parents (which really was like being home with family), we were on our way to Austria to where Steve & Svenja participate in a medieval battle re-enactment.

It was quite anti-climactic entering Austria as there was a sign in German, Svenja stating “We are now in Austria,” and that was about as exciting as it got. We did stop to fuel up in Austria and I got to drive again (granted it was only parking the car but it was in fact still driving in Austria).

Driving in Austria

Aqua mountain water

We then arrived at the battle grounds and castle ruins. (Steve & Svenja please feel free to correct me with this story).

The battle they re-enact started with two Austrian brothers who were Protestant. The eldest Protestant son was given the castle and the other brother turned Catholic. The catholic brother went away and came back with attacking army and attacked the army from a fortified building they built…and lost.  They then built a castle on an opposite hill, once completed they attacked the Protestant castle from both sides….and lost again. They then built a castle on a hill on the other side so they could attack from high above on both sides and below from the fortified building…and finally won!

Austria castle ruins photo from car

We went to visit the ruins but unfortunately they were closed for reconstruction so I could only get photos from a distance – but thankfully Steve passed on his knowledge of the story and hear the map shows the years of the armies fighting against each other and information about the story they re-enact.

Austrian castle ruins sign

It was there we split up so that Svenja could take me on the autobahn. A little bit more exciting going through a tunnel to cross the Austrian/German border.  Now most people push the limits of their cars with the open speed limit on the autobahn however we first got on and had to go 80, than 60, then 40km/h! Haha yep road works! Thankfully they weren’t long and we got going at a quick pace.  Driving a small Nissan that isn’t made to go the huge speeds some do on the autobahn it wasn’t all that much different to driving on a highway in Australia except that when passing a car at a high-speed you just don’t slow down and keep that high-speed going (best part is no kangaroos to watch out for haha).

40km on autobahn

But we got home and had Bavarian sausages (white sausages that taste nice but quite herby) and a very nice sweet wine that is closer to grape juice than wine which is probably why I really enjoyed it (yes I actually found a wine that I like). I have also learned that locals are helpful to watch when eating local cuisine as often there are some things that you aren’t supposed to eat. The white Bavarian sausages are a true test of this as I watched everyone peel their sausages and questioned if you eat the skin or not. “Well you can but it’s not very nice.” Ah yes, thanks for the tip! 😉

It was here I sadly said goodbye and thank you to Steve for his hospitality and stories and even got a “Maybe we will see you in Australia” which I am sure Svenja was even happier to hear than I was.  Because tomorrow I would also say goodbye to Alwin & Nicky in the morning as Svenja and I go to meet up with Connor to visit the Dachau concentration camp.

Neuschwanstein Castle