Fussen, Germany. Tuesday, 14th May 2019
I am writing the entire diary entry for yesterday (13th May) sitting comfortably in a chair on the balcony of Gastehaus Sankt Ulrich, enjoying the bright sunny morning with the musical notes of birds ringing in my ears.
Visiting THE Neuschwanstein Castle today! Hope the weather remains bright and clear. Set off after a nice breakfast at the cosy guesthouse's almost empty restaurant, at 09:30.
Strolled towards the Bahnhof(railway station), pausing on the way at Feneberg Supermarket to buy Ritter Sport and a tin each of Jim Beam Bourbon and Smirnoff Vodka-lemon. By the time we reached the Bahnhof, marvelling at the spic-n-span town, chilly winds had started blowing. Took refuge at a shop within the Bahnhof, where Urmila almost lost her mobile phone. She had left it on one of the display racks but thankfully it was lying untouched. We exited and braving the winds, walked to bus stop no. 5 to await the bus to Schwangau village, 4 kms away. A crowd of tourists had already gathered at the stop. The bus duly arrived and we occupied good seats.
As soon s the bus left the town of Fussen and turned right, we got our first views of the world-famous castle which is said to have inspired Walt Disney for his movie 'Cinderella'. It was perched high up in the mountains behind Fussen, surrounded by a pine forest with snow clad peaks in the background, guarding the castle. A super sight ! Within 10 minutes the bus dropped us at Schwangau village which was as charming as any in Germany; and we walked up to the ticket centre, above which was situated another castle - the lemon coloured Hohenschwangau castle. Got the tickets(reserved online at Nashik itself) and were deciding whether to use the horse-carriage or the bus to go up to Neuschwanstein.
The chilly winds decided that for us; and we opted for the bus. Purchased the tickets for the to-and-fro journey. The ride up to the famed castle took us through thick forests of pine-light and dark green. The latter almost look black, giving the Black Forest its name. The road was serpentine and we kept getting views of the snow clad peaks that now seemed so near! The bus dropped us off at a small
junction - paths branching off in different directions - in the woods. We first took the path to Marienbrucke(Maria's bridge). The path was first uphill and then a bit downhill, curving at many stages. There were chunks of fallen snow lying around, too. A huge crowd of tourists was swarming the bridge - the majority was Chinese/Japanese/Korean(they all look alike!). A security guard was manning the bridge, regulating the flow of humans onto it.
We were made to wait a while before being allowed to go on to the bridge with wooden flooring. The wait was worth it, as the view of the castle and the German countryside beyond was nothing short of spectacular! Nature's bounty is best seen and experienced in Deutschland! We clicked photos as if there was no tomorrow. Then walked back, only for getting our photo clicked on the bridge. This was obligingly done by the security guard. Reluctantly left the bridge and walked back to the junction. We now took the path towards the castle. This path took us straight into heaven - thick, pine forests on either side with Neuschwanstein beckoning us whenever it succeeded in peeping through the pines. At one point, on a curve, the pine trees to our left disappeared and we had an uninterrupted view of the amazing countryside that seemed to stretch endlessly as far as the eye could see! To our left was an unbelievable sight - snow clad peaks rubbing shoulders with one another, guarding a huge lake whose surface was so still, it seemed to be made of glass; and a V-shaped array of dark green pine trees adorning the hills surrounding the lake ! Next to it, as we looked a little to our right, the range of snow capped mountains continued, guarding another, smaller lake, with more pine trees clustered together !! Infinitely incredible!!!
Each trip to Europe conjures up something different and special! It is simply mind-blowing! I thank all the powers that be - mortal and immortal - for making this possible. Without doubt, the BEST place on earth, seen by me thus far! Shaking our heads in disbelief, we continued our way up to the castle and as there was still some time left for our castle tour to begin, went towards the souvenir shop cum restaurant near the foot of the grand edifice. Enjoyed hot cups of coffee in the chill. Whiled away the rest of the time before the tour commenced, admiring the surroundings and clicking away. Finally, we were ready at the entrance to the castle, at 13=45; 10 minutes before the start of tour no. 471.
The tour of the castle's interiors was short (approx. 35 minutes) and furnished brief information about king Ludwig II of Bavaria, who had started construction of the castle in the middle of the second half of the 19th century. It seems the castle took 17 years to be built! The interiors were quite impressive, as one might expect of a king's residence (photography prohibited!) and we came to know of the king's love for swans - hence the name 'Neuschwanstein' which means 'new swan stone'. Exited the awe-inspiring structure and started strolling back towards the junction, clicking photographs again.
The bus back to Schwangau was waiting and considering the crowd, we were lucky to get two good seats. It filled to capacity and went above - there were many standees. Enjoyed the short descent to Schwangau village. Stopped for a while at one of the lakes(seen from Neuschwanstein) to absorb its beauty and setting.. Trudged back to the bus stop for bus no. 73/78, that would take us back to Fussen Bahnhof. Just as we were reaching the stop, we saw no. 78 departing ! Groan! This meant that we were in for a long wait. The time was 15:45 and the next bus(no. 73) arrived only after 16:20. We had to brave the chill but were thankful that there was no rain. Back at Fussen Bahnhof by 16:35 or so. Hunted for a restaurant(we had suddenly realised that we had not eaten since breakfast!) and found Bistro Café Relax at a roundabout, close to the Bahnhof. Had draught beer, French 'Pizza' and coffee. As we were savouring the meal, a fog suddenly enveloped the snow capped peaks in the distance, obliterating them from view.
The sky darkened and it started raining. By the time we had finished eating, it was bright and sunny again, with the peaks re-appearing. Only the wet roads were proof that it had rained just a short while ago. Started the walk back to our hotel under a blue sky and bright sunshine. After we had passed the Feneberg market, we noticed that the sky behind us had completely darkened but the portion of the sky to the front was still completely blue with the sun shining brightly.
At that moment, Urmila's mother called from Mumbai and we paused to accept the call. By the time the 3-minute call ended, the entire sky had darkened and the sun was gobbled up by dark clouds! It threatened to rain but we scurried to our hotel which was just round the next bend; and managed to beat the rain by a few seconds !!
