FUN-travel: Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria
September 27, 2013 by Susan Clarke
Day 8 – Monday, September 23 – Füssen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria – sunny w/clouds – high 60’s
What I LIKE
- 7:30 – machine cappuccino not bad
- 8:30 – breakfast – really nice spread
- 9:00 – drive to castles (I’m so on time I got another 10 travel bonus pts!)
- 9:10 – park & walk up to ticket booth
- 9:15 – pick up tickets for 9:25 reservation tour for 10:25 (you lose your position if late)
- 9:30 – get in line for bus ride to top – 1.80 Euro pp
- *really long line
- 9:55 – bus finally comes
- 10:05 – arrive for walk to Mary’s Bridge for photo op (over 100 yrs old & engineering fete)
- offers spectacular views of Neuschwanstein Castle
- 15 walk down to castle entrance
- 10:24 – arrive for 10:25 tour – just made it!
- 1st floor – servants quarters & kitchen
- 2nd floor – never finished – supposed to be guest wing
- 3rd floor – features Throne Room – 2000 lb chandelier – gold plated brass can be lowered to floor – floor consists of 2 million mosaic tiles – all walls & ceilings are painted
- living quarters contains kings bed & took wood carvers 4.5 yrs to carve
- contains multiple huge wall tapestries
- features man made cave & winter garden area – w/colored electric lighting & real waterfall
Mary’s Bridge
- 4th floor – study & office
- concert hall he never experienced – completed 1 week before he died – once a year concerts held here
- over 300 stairs in tour
- kitchen has multiple ovens & stoves – state of the art for 1869
- 10:55 – tour over
- go to 2nd floor for 3D movie showing the original final castle plan
Neuschwanstein Castle FUN-facts:
- runner up for one of the New 7 Wonders of the World
- inspiration for Sleeping Beauty & Disneyland castles
- built from 1869 to 1886 by King Ludwing II
- he died mysteriously and building ceased
- he was spending way too much money & was declared insane
- next day he & his psychiatrist were found drowned in a Munich lake
- only 1/3 complete
- only lived there for 172 days
- designed by a stage painter – not an architect
- gravity fed fresh water & sewer systems
- built over the ruins of 2 medieval castles
- incorporates state of the art technology for 1869
- Europe’s most spectacular castle
Hohenschwangau
- Chris wants to walk back up to Mary’s Bridge for back up photo op
- 11:45 – need to get back down for 12:25 tour of 2nd castle
- take 30 minute walk trail & book it down in 15
- then walk up to Hohenschwangau castle for 2nd tour
- childhood summer & hunting home of King Ludwig II
- 12:25 – starts on 1st floor – Queen’s living area
- includes “king size” billiard table, study & library, bedroom & living room
- 2nd floor – kings quarters
- 1:30 – cappuccino break
- **2:00 – back to car
- 2:20 – found it and drive out (always need to remember visuals for finding them)
- 1.5 hr beautiful drive thru countryside before autobahn
- ***4:30 – get iPod to work!
- 5:30 – arrive Salzburg proper
- 6:00 – arrive Hotel Rosenvilla – more like B&B w/15 rooms in residential area 15 min walk to town
- 70 and sunny!
- 6:15 – happy hour – Trummer Pils beer break
- 6:45 – walk to city center for mini Oktoberfest
- 7:30 – dinner @ Hagenauerstuben – caramelized sheep cheese on mixed leaf salad, fried sausages w/cabbage, mustard & fresh horseradish (finely shredded looks like cheese & really hot) Hannes Reeh “Unplugged” merlot – Yummy! $85
What I DON’T LIKE
- 6:00 wake up – no coffee until 7:30
- *have to “hurry up & wait” for 30 mins
- **can’t find car – Chris thinks it’s in a different place than I do – feel minor panic – there are multiple parking lots w/lot more cars than when we arrived
- ***car radio totally complicated for manual operation
Lake at Base of Hohenschwangau
FUN-fact – During WWII, Neuschwanstein took on a sinister role. The Nazi’s used it as one of their primary secret storehouses for stolen art. After the war, Allied authorities spent a year sorting through and redistributing the art, which filled 49 rail cars. It was the only time the unfinished rooms were put to use.