May 21 - Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau

Another cloudy day, and the two castles are peeking out of the white mist surrounding the mountains again. We were hoping for a bright and sunny day, but this is our last day here, so after another wonderful breakfast, and then saying goodbye to Monika and her guesthouse, we're in the car and driving on the road leading to Ludwig's castle and his parents' castle.

Neuschwanstein was first that morning, with its Disneyesque turrets. (Or maybe we should refer to Disney's castles as being Ludwigesque, being that Ludwig built his first.) Neuschwanstein rises up into the sky... it is the largest castle that we've seen, even though many of its rooms remain unfinished.

The rooms that are completely decorated are outstandingly ornate, gilded with gold, crowned with crystals, sprinkled liberally with painted ceilings, marble walls, plush fabrics and priceless porcelains. This castle has an elaborate throne room, with a wide staircase leading up to the platform where the throne would have been, but the throne itself was never built because of Ludwig's sudden death. There is an extremely ornate and beautiful mosaic floor in the throne room, consisting of nearly two million tiny mosaic squares which took years to complete. The rooms in Neuschwanstein are darker than those in Linderhof, being that this larger castle has more carved wood ceilings, wood floors, and large pieces of carved wood furnishings. Linderhof was a bright jewel, Neuschwanstein is beautiful, just not as bright, not as alive.

Before leaving Neuschwanstein, we have a cup a hot chocolate in the pretty cafe in the castle. I buy my postcards, and a little china tea bag holder. My souvenirs from this trip are few and far between.... I've been concentrating on collecting the postcards, and the library of memories in my mind are more than enough to take home with me.

From there, we drove to Hohenschwangau, the castle of Ludwig's parents, the home where he grew up. Depending on which biographies you read, Ludwig has either grown older or grown up over the years. This castle is definitely royal, regal, stately, important. Its rooms are dark, filled with paintings, heavy wooden furniture, and huge silver and gold decorative items that were given to the royal family over the years. In Ludwig's room, there is a telescope standing at one of the windows, still pointing to the other side of the mountain where Neuschwanstein can be seen through the lens. It was at this spot in his room that Ludwig watched every bit of the building of his most famous castle.

After leaving Schwangau, we drive to Meersburg, to see a castle there which was built in 1548. Unlike Ludwig's creations, this castle is rather primitive in design, with bare wood floors, suits of armor standing ready, walls filled with the weapons of knights, simple five-candle chandeliers, and a bottomless pit of a well that is covered with wire mesh but is still frightening to the senses when you peer down into it. How many prisoners met their death down at the bottom of that? (I've read those Ken Follett books about the Middle Ages... it all comes to life in this castle.)

We then drove to a town called Titisee, in the Black Forest. We have a room for the night, at the Parkhotel Waldeck. The room is German and cute, the bathroom is tiny and cramped-- if I hold out my arms, I can reach from end to end. But as long as there's an outlet to plug in my European hair dryer, I'm happy.

Dinner that night was in the Waldeck's dining room.... beautiful wood-filled room, large tables, heavy chairs, a warm patterned rug. After this damp and cloudy day, the dining room warms us up right away. Once again, I point to the menu and find the salmon. When the waitress brings our dinner, the potato on my plate is covered in a yard of tin-foil, which is shaped into a silver swan. Of course, I inspect every inch of that foil swan before I touch it, imprinting the design in my mind so I can try to duplicate it when we get home.

The following morning, before we leave, there is a breakfast buffet which is included with our room. This is one of the most elaborate breakfasts we've seen... plates of local fruit, cheese and sliced meats, eggs, hot and cold cereals, jams, yogurts, vegetable dishes with corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. And the breads and rolls and biscuits--- too many to taste, all too beautiful, and we know that they're all delicious, so we choose just one or two.

The food, wherever we have gone, has been outstanding. From the smallest of cafes to the largest of the restaurants, everything has been proudly served and beautifully presented. A simple cup of tea or a glass of ginger ale becomes an event, not just a moment. Within the first week of our time in Germany, I had vowed to use my teapots when we get home... to make every cup of tea an event, simply by brewing the tea in the teapot instead of the cup. (We have been home now for over a week, and I have kept that promise to myself. I have also lingered over breakfast, enjoying every sip of tea and every bite of fruit and bread.)