Saturday, May 25, 2024

Day 1 - Linderhof Palace + Neuschwanstein Castle

still like to leave the party early and go home, babe
and don't you know, babe
I'd rather sit here on my own and be alone, babe
Still Feel Like Your Man - John Mayer

Day 1 in Germany was spent taking a day trip to Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle. These were all King Ludwig II's projects too and so along with Herrenchiemsee, I saw all his different palaces. Decided to take a day tour for this because it's kinda hard to visit both places on your own. Side note: back in 2011, when I was planning the Europe trip with Mau, I had a conversation with a nice guy who I will call RayRay here who visited Neuschwanstein, letting me know that it's the sleeping beauty castle :D 13 years ago I wasn't 30 yet, so craziness was crazier and I did check if I could squeeze Munich in. I couldn't and looking back, even that trip was too ambitious; truly it required the energy of 20 something, though I was in my late 20s then. When I finally got to Neuschwanstein, I thought gosh somehow I made it there. What's yours will be yours, really. On that same line, what's not yours will never be yours I guess and the pessimistic me wonder if there are things that are just not destined to be mine :(

Okay back to the trip. The day started pleasant enough and we started at Linderhof. The sky was still blue at that time. Arriving in Linderhof, there's a bit of disappointment because some statues and fountains were covered and I think some flowering bed are not done yet :( So the whole look was not that great, not a perfect visit. I think they said it's because these are covered during winter and they haven't fully opened it up for the summer season. Linderhof itself is quite small for a palace. To visit the inside you also need to be on a guided tour and no photo can be taken inside. So again, I only have exterior shots.

What I can remember is, while the rooms are small, it's still quite lavish. It's still very inspired by the French King Louis XIV. The King's dining room is the same as the one in Herrenchiemsee with the porcelain chandelier that I like and the small false floor with the lift mechanism connected to the floor below it for the staff to load up dishes for the King. Maybe the King was like this palace is nice and all but small, so let's make a new bigger one with Herrenchiemsee. After the guided tour of the inside, we had some time to explore the ground, but I didn't have enough time to explore all. There's some viewing point on an upper elevation, but with many things being covered up, the view is not that pretty. I can imagine it can be quite pretty if everything is working as it should.

After Linderhof, we made a small stop in Oberammergau. Apparently they have a long history of wood carving here, so there's a number of shops selling mostly religious wood carved statues or nativity scenes. Of course there's also cuckoo clocks shops. I have stepped foot in Germany twice now and I still have none of those :( My good friend, Emilia, has one in her house. I guess I don't have one because I don't have a house of my own :( I remember there's also a shop selling christmas ornaments, so it's christmas all year round for that shop, there are always christmas trees. Another feature of the town is that many of the houses have painted scenes on the walls. Wikipedia tells me this form of artwork is called Lüftlmalerei in German.

After that it was time to go to Neuschwanstein Castle. It's the same thing as the other King Ludwig II's palaces, you can only enter with a guided tour so tickets are bought with the timeslot of your tour based on your language. The guide gave us our tickets and told us to make sure to be there on time. I was a bit worried about meeting the time because this place is famous and there's many tourists, so I decided to just get hotdog and apple strudel to go. Apple strudel to go is not a good idea. Ate the hotdog while waiting for the shuttle. There are 2 ways to get to the castle which is located up high. A small shuttle bus or a horse carriage ride. The horse carriage ride is more expensive. Both methods do not seem to have fix timing, they would go if there's enough people. I chose the bus because it's cheaper and it also drops you off at a place near a bridge where you can take pictures of the castle and also the stop is at a higher elevation than the castle so you walk down to the castle. The horse carriage drops you below the castle so you walk uphill to the castle. In any case, the guide recommended to not wait for either bus or horse when we're done, but to walk all the way down when we're done to the parking area where our meeting point was. Many people seemed to choose the bus too, it's quite packed. Getting off the bus, I made my way to Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge). There's a staff by the bridge and I recall seeing a counter by the bridge. I think the staff just needs to make sure the bridge is not overly packed. From one side of the bridge, you see a full view of the castle and on the other a small waterfall with a small stream. Seeing the castle from that bridge, it was where I got the feeling that it's remarkable that somehow I got there.

The bridge was quite full with people which did not make me comfortable; I was a bit scared I would accidentally dropped things like phone. I got to the end of the bridge and I saw there's a trail and people were walking it. I wasn't sure if I should do it but maybe I was too eager to get away from people that I did. I questioned myself many times upon doing it because it's drizzling and it's a hike up a trail which worried me who's not physical at all. I really asked myself if I should just go back because the trail is not very wide and falling and rolling down would be disastrous. Somehow I made it to a small viewing point. The first thing I saw was this frail looking elderly man who I saw on the bus walking back from it and I was quite stunned he made it there and made it way faster than me. A lady he was with did hold him but I thought it's amazing he made it and it kinda served as an inspiration that I should be able to do this too. Anyways, as mentioned the viewing platform is small and basically the castle just seems bigger from there. Seriously all pictures I have from King Ludwig II's castles and palaces are just the outside :D

I took my shots quickly and went back because it's drizzling and the thought of walking back the trail in full on rain scared me. I think even without the drizzle, the way the trail is just kinda too scary for someone like me. It's perhaps fine, but I have very little confidence of myself. On my way back, I met Indian parents with their very young kids. They managed to ditch their stroller somewhere. The husband asked how it was and I said I didn't recommend it with the drizzle and all. I cannot imagine them carrying their kids through the trail though perhaps they have parents superpowers. They heeded my advice though and turned back. Honestly though, you see my picture there, there's perhaps no point right? Below is a picture of the trees along the trail.

I had sometime to wait before my slot to begin, so I just waited around the compound eating the apple strudel. Neuschwanstein is very different from Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof. The theme here is medieval. I was told that the King was also very inspired by the operas of Richard Wagner so there's many influence there. I remember the rooms being rather dark. The King's bedroom here is so different. It's smaller and filled with religious wood carvings which makes it feel darker. Maybe the windows in the room were smaller too. The King is really rather eccentric that one of the room is a grotto, seriously like a small cave which I don't get. It's so weird, but okay he's a King with money to spend, so you do you I guess. There's also a big hall called the Hall of the Singers with a small stage on one end. One may think it's for performance or such, but they say the anti-social King didn't really mean it for that. There's a balcony on the castle which overlook the surrounding area and one can see the Hohenschwangau Castle which is the castle of King Ludwig II's parents. My pictures also show that apparently you can see the Mary's Bridge too.

It was raining quite heavily when we're done. Being the OCD I am, I googled the week weather forecast even before I departed and I actually packed an umbrella on this trip and brought it that day. I was still rather wet though. Last picture was a bigger look of the Hohenschwangau Castle from the parking lot. I guess if you're making a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle on your own, you may have time to visit Hohenschwangau Castle too and see what that's like.

Arriving back in Munich, I was actually quite cold because of the rain, like shivering cold :( So I decided to eat something soupy. Found a noodle place ran by Chinese. The portion there is really big. My noodle was so so and I tried my best to at least finish half of the bowl. When I was about to pay, they brought me ice cream, apparently it's free with the meal. I had to turn it down and turning down ice cream does feel sacrilegious to me, but I was cold, I just wanted to get back fast and get clean and warm. So that is day 1 about the castle and palace. Question, what is the difference between the two? I don't know. For pictures, please go here. I haven't been taking good pictures, I'm kinda embarrassed :(

:) eKa @ 12:43:00 PM •