Well, to be more exact, bus trips. And a whole lot of them.
Our second full day in Munich began very early when we met our tour group for the day in the centre of town. When one thinks of history in Munich, they often are drawn straight to the events of Hitler's leadership, negating the hundreds of years of royal ruling in Bavaria, this beautiful area of Germany. While we definitely didn't neglect exploration of the former, this day was firmly focused on two of the most beautiful castles (in my opinion) in the world.
The tour was to take us to two of Ludwig II of Bavaria's castles. King Lud (as we fondly referred to him as by the end of the tour) is often called he Fairy Tale King, due to reasons of which I'll explain later. He became King of Bavaria at the age of 18 following his father's untimely death, and largely ignored state affairs in favour of using the money for grand architectural projects. This use of royal funds (not state funds, however) was used as reason enough for his ministers to declare him to be insane. This claim has since been refuted, however Ludwig spent his final days under care, before his mysterious death following a walk with his doctor. It's quite a sad story, really, and made me feel bad for the royals: he never asked to be in power, and it was this power that lead to his downfall.
But before we could reach our first destination, a very long bus trip...
...the scenery was doable.
Our first stop was Linderhof Palace, which is the only castle that Ludwig lived to see the completion of. Ludwig was said to enjoy this palace during the winter months, where he could relax away from the spotlight. It was partially inspired by Versailles Palace in Paris and the comparison was evident. We were lucky enough to see this palace surrounded by snow - it was absolutely stunning.
We then stopped in Oberammergau for a quick coffee break, and a look at its Passion Theatre. This incredible little town is famous for its performance of the "Passion Play" every 10 years. When the bubonic plague was sweeping through Germany, residents of Oberammergau prayed to God that if no more people died from the plague in their town, they would perform this religious play every 10 years from that point on. Well, they kept their word and since 1634 (yes, you read that right) this play has been performed every 10 years by around 2000 people, all residents of the town. The last performance was in 2010 (the year was changed so it always ended in a 0 for ease of remembrance) and was performed from mid-May until the end of October. I had never even heard of this town before the tour, however the play is apparently a bucket list inclusion for many people - now, including me. Oberammergau was also the site of my first German apple strudel and yes, it lived up to its expectations. Tip: get the vanilla sauce served with the dish instead of ice cream and you won't be disappointed.
Finally to Neuschwanstein castle, the main jewel of the beautiful castles in Germany and the main reason why most of us were on the tour. This castle is the inspiration behind the Disney castle, and it's not hard to see why. Standing high on a hill with breathtakingly beautiful Bavarian landscape behind it, Neuschwanstein is the stuff (literally) of fairytales. Sadly, Ludwig did not get to see the completion of his beautiful castle that is now enjoyed by over 1.3 million tourists a year.
We walked up to the castle (about 40-50 minutes, 30 if you're pounding it out) before a few of us continued on to the lookout. I always wonder where they take some photos of these castles... is it from a huge ladder? Plane? Helicopter? Well, the famous photos of Neuschwanstein are taken from this little bridge over the valley. Follow the signs (and hoards of camera toting tourists) and there's no way that you'll miss it.
My family thought the walk would take more than its advertised 10 minutes so I soldiered on without them, eager to prove them wrong.
The walk only took about 8 minutes...
...and they showed up eventually.
We then went on a tour of the castle that was worth doing but not fantastic - too many people and a guide that had done it 15 too many times. The rooms were incredibly grand though, so I'd have a look through. It might be worth buying a book about the history though, as we didn't get heaps out of the tour guide.
After making it back down the hill, we were on the bus for 1.5 hours before arriving back in Munich, absolutely exhausted...but what a day.
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