Day 4 - The Original Cinderella's Castle

This chapter could also be called Corn and Solar, as that is the majority of what we saw on our long drive from Braunsbach to Fussen. We left Braunsbach on Monday morning after watching Wolfgang kill the two eels he had caught in a trap in the Kocher the day before. We were headed to Fussen to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, made famous in the U.S. when Walt Disney created Disneyland and modeled Cinderella’s Castle after it. Many highways

and roads were closed on our route and one detour led to many more. The drive took about four hours and the scenery was lovely, with so many corn and solar panel fields. Seems there have been some changes here in the last twenty years, including many farms and homes are now solar powered, and more corn is being grown for bio-fuel than I can imagine.

We arrive in Fussen with time to spare, grab our castle tour tickets and start the walk up the mountain. The castle is spectacular from every angle. Unfortunately they are renovating the front, so we can’t get that classic photo that is on all the postcards. My kids make it up the hill without as much complaining as I anticipated, but Anna

predictably asks why we can’t take the horse carriage up.

The interior of the castle is beautiful, even if it wasn’t lived in for very long. We are able to explore the castle with a medium size group and an English speaking guide (special appreciation for Alexandra and Jan who endured the tour in English for us). There are many beautiful rooms including the winter garden which is a glass solarium type room with plants and flowers, and the main hall or throne room with no throne which has a beautiful artistic mosaic floor. The kitchen is pretty amazing with the enormous sinks, all the copper cookware,

the wood heated ovens and all the space. The kitchen had a manager who would sleep in a little room off the kitchen with a desk where he or she would order all the supplies and ingredients.

The castle was truly a work of art, and the mysteries surrounding crazy King Ludwig are fun to speculate about. This made for good conversation as we wandered the streets of Fussen that evening in search of good food and gelato. We found both.

Alexandra booked two rooms at the Luitpoldpark Hotel, right in the heart of Fussen. European elevators, especially in older buildings, can be quite small and the three of us were packed into one with our luggage like sardines in a can. Laughter was non-stop on the ride up to our room on the 5th floor. Our suite was enormous, with plenty of space for everyone to spread out and enjoy some quiet time before bed.