More From Munich

Yesterday we left Munich for the day to visit Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Hohenschwangau castle was built in the first half of the 19th century by King Maximilian II of Bavaria, and for many years served as the summer and hunting residence for the Kings of Bavaria. Yet it is the Neuschwanstein castle that is most famous, and apparently is the most visited tourist attraction in Germany.

It was Ludwig II, sometimes referred to as the “Swan King” and “Mad King Ludwig,” who envisioned and began building Neuschwanstein in the second half of the 19th century. Ludwig II died a mysterious death, and the castle was never completed. Ludwig himself spent less then 200 days living in the castle. Curiously it was open to the public only 6 weeks after his death. Of the two castles, Newschwanstein, which served as the inspiration for the Disney’s Sleepy Beauty castle, is certainly the most exuberant in its interior decoration. Unfortunately, photos inside are not allowed.
However interesting the castles may be, the experience of visiting Germany’s busiest tourist attraction at the height of the tourist season can be quite stressful. From the train station of the little town, called Fussen (about two and a half hours train ride from Munich), we literally had to squeeze our way onto the bus that took us 5km up into the hills to the castles.

Today we headed up to the top of Frauenkirche for excellent views of the city. We managed to avoid any sausage for lunch. Instead I had a some sort of a herring sandwich and Nick also had some sort of a fish sandwich at Viktualienmarkt. We then spent the afternoon at the Deutsches Museum, a place Nick has talked about ever since we met. He has been there before when he was in Munich 10 years ago.

We then returned to Viktualienmarkt for some fruit. After a brief rest we headed to the Englischen Garten for dinner.

Chinese Tower Biergarten, where we had dinner tonight.



P.S. Online again today, because Nick had to do something online for work.