Füssen

Füssen & The Bavarian Castles

We arrived in Füssen in the late afternoon. The closer we were to Munich the more Oktoberfest lederhosen we saw (we avoided Munich for this reason). From the main train station in Füssen we took a quick bus ride to the city of Hohenschwangau. 

Everything was so cloudy and foggy, but from the bus we could see "the yellow castle" up on the hill (Schloss Hohenschwangau). We were looking for the famous "white castle" (Neuschwanstein), but couldn't see it anywhere.

We checked in to our hotel, The Alpenhotel Allgau and then ate at the restaurant attached. The cutest old little German couple ran the restaurant (she took the orders, he cooked the food). It was really delicious and we survived our most severe language barrier of the trip with no problem.

I had a classic German dish of pork, cheesy pasta, and apple juice (promise). I think Paul had schnitzel and french fries, his fav. 

After we ate we decided to walk around the city a little and also try to find Neuschwanstein. Everything was closed and it was only 7 or 8 o'clock! It was so bizarre. We walked down the the lake and it was foggy and eerie and cool. Then we started up a very steep road, following a sign to the castle, we couldn't see a thing. We forked off onto this dirt trail that ended up taking us into a creepy forest. We back tracked to the road and walked another 15-20 minutes and finally saw something, we were about 15 feet in front of the castle before we could make it out, the fog was so thick. It was fun to think we were the only ones who saw the castle that night.

(This one's for you Brynne!!)

(Below is the castle, haha. The visibility was insannnnnne).

The next morning, we found what we were had been searching for the night before:

This was the view of the castle from the front of our Hotel. I've heard rumor that the Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle was inspired by Neuschwanstein. It really did look like a fairy tale.

 I went outside while Paul sent some emails and couldn't stop taking pictures. The view from our hotel room porch was beautiful too. The cows in that meadow all wore cowbells and it was my favorite kind of alarm clock.

(Below, our hotel room - cute little porch and the castle peaking over the trees on the right).

After breakfast we had our tour of Hohenschwangau. We were almost late so we had to run up a very large hill to get to it. I was so sweaty and hot when we got there, but we MADE it. :) We even had time for a few quick pictures before the tour, then after the tour we took even more. The foggy morning made all the colors so vivid and nice. 

Then we headed up to Neushwanstein. Since we were early for our tour we went past the castle and hiked through the gorge that is behind it. There is a very high, skinny walking bridge called the Marienbrücke that goes across an amazing gorge. It gave us the best views.

The view from the castle looking down on the valley.

The waterfalls below the bridge were bright blue and so pretty.

The trees were just on the verge of changing. I think it was the first day of October and I was so happy we hadn't missed the pretty colors.

SO BEAUTIFUL.

The tour of the castle was really amazing. Not taking pictures inside was absolute torture. Our tour guide was so weird and was obsessed with how obsessed Crazy King Ludwig (who built this castle) was with Richard Wagner.

This yellow tree was the best in the world.
I felt like we were in Minas Tirith.

(Out the window, you could see the bridge we had been taking pictures from). 

We needed some more of that forest in our lives so we hiked down into the gorge.

Then back up to the castle for a few last pictures.

I made sure to get a picture with crazy King Ludwig in our hotel lobby. Then we were on our way! We decided to walk to Füssen instead of taking the bus. It was a long way, but fun to just talk to Paul and know that all we needed was each other and what we could carry on our back to have a great adventure. 

The roads between the castles and Füssen were just tiny little things and we got to see the area really up close and personal, something we would have missed if we'd just taken the bus back on the main road.

Bye castles!!!

The town of Füssen was so charming and great. We had some time before our train so we hung out in the main square with our favorite desserts (hot chocolate and apple strudel) and talked about what a great day we had had and rested our very sore feet and backs.

I think this picture on the left is right when I saw the cutest little German brothers riding bikes all over the square with their little striped beanies. 

And THEN we were on the train with the most annoying tour guide ever (walking down the aisle in the pic below) who we are sure is from Wyoming or near there (accent and hunting/camo hat). He took over the train for his tour group and we wanted to punch him and his annoying snorty laugh right in the face. Luckily he was only on the first leg of our trip and we still had many more legs to go. It was our longest travel day but the best news is, by the time it was over we were in SWITZERLAND!!!

But let's just remember those castles, shall we?