Day 4 - Neuschwanstein

Day 4 we hopped another tour bus and headed for Neuschwanstein Castle.  This is the Castle that Walt Disney modelled sleeping beauty's castle after.

We boarded the double decker bus and headed out of Munich.  The bus ride was quite long and our first stop was Linderhof Castle.  I didn't even realise that this one existed!  When we walked up to it I was stunned...

Its only a small castle, more like a mansion, but this is where King Ludwig II spend a great deal of time during the end of his life.  He never married and his bother was insane, so there is no direct heir.  All of his castles have been turned into tourist attractions because of the money he owed at the time of his death.  There was heaps of interest in his life as he was such a recluse and was constantly building extraudinary castles using masses of local trades and material. 

We were unable to take pictures inside this castle, but let me tell you, it was amazing.  There were not many rooms, but these rooms were extreemly intricate in detail.  The walls from floor to ceiling were filled with carvings, all covered in gold or silver leaf.

The gardens were just as impressive as the inside of the castle.

After being totally amazed by Linderhof Castle, we jumped back on the scorching bus and headed to our next stop.  Oberammergau.

This sleepy little town was the birth place of the passion play.  This play began in the time of the black plague.  The town made a promise that if they were to be spared any further deaths from the plague, the town would perform the passion play every 10 years.  After the first performance, there were no further plague deaths and the town has performed the play every 10 years ever since.

We then got back on the bus for the expected highlight of the tour, Neuschwanstein.

As the castle came into view, my heart sank a little.  The entire side of the castle was hidden beneith scaffolding.

On arrival in the town of Neuschwanstein, we had to leave the tour company and make our own way up to the castle for a guided tour conducted by the castle's guides.  Again, we were not ment to take pictures, but we snuck in a few.

The detail of the interior was spectacular.

This is the court yard that was used in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The tour was quite short.  I think we only went through about 1/3 of the entire castle.  I do know that not all of it was finished prior to King Ludwig's death, but I really did think that there would be more to see and that we could take a bit of time going through the castle and be ble to take pictures.  So I was a bit disappointed.  It really felt like we were just pushed through.

From there we were back on the bus and heading home to Munich.

A great day in all, some things disappointing, but others taking our breath away.