Neushwanstein castle is a straight up fairytale & it
totally makes sense why it’s rumored to have been walt disneys inspiration for
the sleeping beauty castle. It’s amazing, especially in person.
But first, a fun story.
Before going to Germany we decided that we would rent a car
for Monday & Tuesday so that we could drive to the neuschwanstein castle
& to Nuremburg instead of taking the train. We had a couple of friends that
drove to the castle & said the drive was beautiful, & truth be told,
both Austin & I miss driving, plus it’s a shorter drive than it is to take
the train. So before going I rented us a tiny two-door car, rented a car seat
& called it good. Monday morning we got to enterprise excited to get going,
to find out that they actually can’t rent us a car seat. They’re not legally
allowed to, only car rentals out of the airport can do that, buuuuuut since I’m
cheap & didn’t go through the actual enterprise website, I had no clue
about this. The people at enterprise helped us the best that they could, &
pointed us in the direction of a auto store down the street that they thought
would sell a baby seat, so while I drove there Austin & cedar had to walk
down & meet me. Once I got there I quickly learned that they only had
booster seats, which cedar is way to tiny for, & I was trying to ask if
they knew of a place nearby, & luckily a customer who spoke English told me
there was a toys r’ us nearby, & weirdly/conveniently knew the address to
it (luckily we also had a gps too, otherwise I never would have made it), so
off I went again, leaving austin & cedar behind. luckily made it with no
major issues, until I had to try & find parking, which added a little more
stress till I found a street where I wouldn’t have to maneuver into a little
spot. Once I got there, I ran into toys r’ us, found a cheap-ish car seat,
found a worker, bought it & went back to find Austin & cedar wandering
around the street. . I was so incredibly stressed out over the entire
situation, plus driving in a different country is always a little stressful at
first so I was high stress all around.
If the original plan of getting a car seat at enterprise
would have worked, we would have been on the road no later than 11:30, letting
us have a lot of time on the drive to go through all the adorable mid-evil
towns along the way on the romantic drive, to take our time & enjoy
everything. But since it didn’t go accordingly & we didn’t leave till about
1:30, we got to enjoy the drive & the towns from the car while I tried to
get us to the castle as quickly as possible.
The thing about Germany in the winter is that it gets dark,
pitch black dark, incredibly early. We’re talking 5 pm here. Pure darkness.
It’s amazing & makes you insanely tired really early. We got to the castle
around 3:30 or 4 & booked it up, too impatient to wait in the line for the
bus, but I think we got there at the perfect time. It was sooo beautiful with
the sun setting, & the pink & blue marshmallow-y clouds in the sky, it
did not feel like real life. The walk up to the castle was so pretty,
overlooking the countryside of Germany, all the green fields speckled with
little houses & farms & the lake. I couldn’t get over it.
Everything looks so picture perfect & fake, like a fairy
tale. Especially when you are looking at the castle & it’s nestled into the
alps towering above the little hilly countryside. We opted not to take a tour of the castle (convenient, cause
we got there after the last tour even started), because no one actually ever
lived in the castle. Weird, right? Here’s a little history for you on the
castle: it was built by king Ludwig II of Bavaria, also known as the swan king
or fairy tale king, who actually lived in a castle across the way from
neuschwanstein. Ludwig died before the castle was ever finished, & once it
was complete the castle was open to the public for tours. The king was a patron
of the composer Richard Wagner, & drew inspiration for the castle from his
operas.
So rather than going on the inside, we rushed to the outside
of the castle & walked around the grounds, before it got too dark to see
anything. Walking around the castle was amazing. It wasn’t too crowded since we
went in December & so late in the day, which was ideal. We walked up past
the castle to the look out bridge, which was a rickety wooden bridge, that
creaked & wiggled from all the people on it, which made me a little
nervous, but the view was breathtaking. I still can’t get over it.
The best
part to me was seeing cedar running around & pointing. “oohing” &
“ahhing” at the castle. It’s so much fun for me to see him loving all these
places & just to see him at all these historical sites. I know he doesn’t
get it, & I know he’s not going to remember it, but I really just love it. Plus
he probably wouldn’t want to go to a fairytale-esque castle with me when he’s
older, cause that’s how boys are.
oh my gosh. that castle!!!!!! SO PERFECT.
ReplyDeleteyou guys are living the dream.
it is SO perfect, it's totally unreal. you have to go if you have the chance!!!
DeleteAmazing!! Love all your pictures!
ReplyDelete