Neuschwanstein Castle
On Sunday, January 28th some of the people from my classes and I woke up at 4am to catch 2 busses and two trains to Bavaria. One boy from India, a girl from Bulgaria and a girl from Sweden. I don't think it should take 5 hours to get directly from Stuttgart to Bavaria, but we had to weave in and out of mountains and valleys. We bought a weekend pass that allows you to travel inside Germany in a group for pretty cheap. We bought a 44 euro ticket and then split it between the 4 of us. This was the total cost of the trip, which is great! The train rides were absolutely beautiful. There are small towns in the middle of nowhere that sit in between enormous mountain ranges. Each town had a church with a bell tower, and the bell tower had a cool clock on it. It really looked like something out of a movie and I dont think my pictures can possibly capture how pretty these towns really were.
Bavaria is one of the largest states of Germany and sits to the north of the Alps and south of Stuttgart. Bavaria is known for having traditions that are unique to other places within Germany. For example, it is the only place in Germany where it is common to eat white sausages, Weiswurst. Bavaria is also known to be the most beer-loving region and used to have a law that states only three ingredients were allowed to be in any given beer: water, barley and hops. This law no longer exists, but it still puts things into perspective how much they love beer! There are actually a few Bavarian Villages in the states! They are established in Michigan, Washington and Georgia.
Bavaria is one of the largest states of Germany and sits to the north of the Alps and south of Stuttgart. Bavaria is known for having traditions that are unique to other places within Germany. For example, it is the only place in Germany where it is common to eat white sausages, Weiswurst. Bavaria is also known to be the most beer-loving region and used to have a law that states only three ingredients were allowed to be in any given beer: water, barley and hops. This law no longer exists, but it still puts things into perspective how much they love beer! There are actually a few Bavarian Villages in the states! They are established in Michigan, Washington and Georgia.
So, aside from the absolutely gorgeous train ride there, the castle sits in its The castle sits high up in the German Alps with the best view of the entire country. There are actually two famous castles in the tiny town, one called Neuschwanstein and another smaller one, called Hohenschwangau. It takes about 40 minutes to walk up to the big castle and about 20 minutes to walk up to the smaller castle. Also, there is a lake in between the castles that you can also talk a walk around. Ludwig II had the bigger castle built to replace and "beat" the smaller castle. Because of their remote locations, both castles survived both world wars.
This castle was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle in the Disney movie and has made appearances in several other movies. It became the blueprint for Cinderella's castle in Disneyland and was the location for the film Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang. Neuschwanstein became a global symbol for Germany and for Romanticism.
Typically, castles are paid for with government money, but Duke Ludwig II paid for the enormous castle with his own personal funds- and it essentially left him broke. He built the bigger castle in such an isolated castle to fit his personality; he liked to be alone and he was a bit crazy. Immediately after his death in 1886, the castle was opened up to the paying public. This was absolutely gorgeous to see in the winter, but in the summer months up to 6,000 people a day visit the castle.
Up close, it was so hard to take a good picture of the castle. It was so big it took me a few tries before I could get some good ones!
I could tell you all about the history myself, but I think the pictures are more important!
This castle was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle in the Disney movie and has made appearances in several other movies. It became the blueprint for Cinderella's castle in Disneyland and was the location for the film Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang. Neuschwanstein became a global symbol for Germany and for Romanticism.
Typically, castles are paid for with government money, but Duke Ludwig II paid for the enormous castle with his own personal funds- and it essentially left him broke. He built the bigger castle in such an isolated castle to fit his personality; he liked to be alone and he was a bit crazy. Immediately after his death in 1886, the castle was opened up to the paying public. This was absolutely gorgeous to see in the winter, but in the summer months up to 6,000 people a day visit the castle.
Up close, it was so hard to take a good picture of the castle. It was so big it took me a few tries before I could get some good ones!
I could tell you all about the history myself, but I think the pictures are more important!