Thursday, May 9
Up and at ‘em bright and early today. I was to be “on the bus” at the main train station by 8:10 for an 8:30 departure. While I was fairly certain those were somewhat fluid times, as it always seems to be, I also wondered if German promptness would reign supreme and that thought was tucked away in the back of my head as a minor transport glitch tripped me up.
I normally never have a problem with public transportation, especially subways. This was to be a cut and dry two stop ride on one S-bahn line from Marienplatz to Hauptbanhof. Easy peasy. Except when I got to the stairs to go down to the S-bahn, the one I thought I needed was closed, so I used the other. The train pulled up and even though the direction on the train sign was headed the other way, I took it, thinking surely they wouldn’t send me down the wrong stairs, right? Wrong. It was the wrong direction. So I got off at the next stop, switched platforms and then waited and waited....and waited. The trains were backing up and not arriving. I should have been at the bus in just a few minutes from my hotel, and here it was 8:15 already and I was 3 stations away! Gulp. I tried calling the number on my reservation to let them know I was coming but it wouldn’t go through. Gulp. Finally a train showed, I got on, and I made it to the train with 7 minutes to spare (before 8:30, not 8:10). I also wasn’t the last to board, so I’m not alone in cutting it close.
After the cattle car of the last bus tour I took, I was relieved to remember that I’d paid for the “premium” tour to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. I knew that meant a smaller group, snacks and a bathroom on board and better service. I had to smile when I walked up to a line of big Gray Line coaches and only one had a red carpet rolled out from its staircase. That was mine! The coach was huge but had half the number of seats. Lots of legroom and a cappucino bar to start! Snacks like chocolate and cookies and pretzels and bananas were constantly being offered. Bottled water and coffee flowing freely. This, THIS my friends, is how to do a bus tour. And it was worth whatever it was that I paid extra for it. There were only 19 of us, so everyone got a window and there were fewer of us to keep on time.
Annette was our tour guide and she laid down the law from the start. Lack of promptness will not be tolerated. The bus will leave without you if you are not there at the appointed time. Duly noted, we all said. And off we went.
It was about an hour and 15 minutes to Neuschwanstein. This it probably the most famous of Mad King Ludwig’s three castles he built during his short reign (Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee being the others; we’d see Linderhof later today). Ludwig was never really into the king thing. His parents thought he’d grow into the role, but he was a dreamer and not very serious about what he needed to know to be king. He never married or had children and was passionate about the composer Wagner and his operas. His father died when he was 18 and he took the throne and apparently hated it. He devoted his life to building these castles. He designed and decorated them himself. By all accounts he was a great boss, forming the first trade union for his workers. Only the architects feared him for all the changes he’d make once they’d finalized plans. The government grew tired of him spending money on the buildings and not doing much work, so they declared him insane and ultimately, at the age of 40, he was found drowned in a knee-deep lake along with his doctor. That’s sort of suspect given that he was a great swimmer. The exhumation of his body to determine an exact cause of death was refused and the “official” story is that he killed himself, although the circumstances certainly lend to another ending.
Anyway, we could first see Neuschwanstein as we wound our way through the beautiful Bavarian Alps and down into the flat near the town. At first I was struck by how small it looked, but I truly think that was in comparison to the massive mountains it was set against. It has 200 rooms, only 18 of which were actually finished.
We parked in the lower lot under Hohenschwangau, Ludwig’s father’s castle. We wouldn’t visit this one today, but in retrospect I don’t think that’s a bad decision. More on that in a bit. Annette said that given how gorgeous the day was, with bright blue sky, sunshine and white puffy clouds we really ought to go up to the bridge for that quintessential Neuschwanstein photo. Of course I was going to. So rather than walk the 40 minutes up (we only had an hour to make it to our assigned tour time), I took the shuttle bus which took only 10 minutes to where the trail to the bridge is.
“The bridge” is Marinebrucke, which is a wooden footbridge that crosses a pretty deep chasm nearby the castle. I hadn’t thought too much about it until I saw it and didn’t have too much time for my vertigo to set in before I was halfway across and taking photos. I didn’t dare get close to the edge or look down, I was there to get my business done and get off before too many other people got on. But man, it was an incredible sight. The weather was indeed perfect for this part of the journey and I’m thrilled the weather gods smiled down on me for this part of the day!
It only took 10 minutes to walk down to the entrance to the castle. While waiting at the turnstyles for our appointed tour time, I looked across the chasm to see the bridge and realized that good glory, that is damn high, and precarious looking! I’m glad I didn’t see it from that angle before I went!
The tour of the interior of the castle was crazy. First, it was just as well-organized as the Salt Mines tour last week: regimented and strict tour times, no dallying. We went in at 12:10 on the dot. It did not take long to be completely awestruck by the interior design of this place. Ludwig knew nothing about restraint. If he wanted gilding or 10 colors or feathers or fabric, he did it. He held nothing back. He painted rooms to match Wagner’s operas, he built a hallway like a grotto from one too. His chandeliers were massive and beyond anything I’d ever seen before. It was as if he’d decorated it all on a sugar high. And I loved it. All too quickly the tour was over (no photos allowed) and we had about 40 minutes to make it to the bus. It was a 20 minute walk down from the castle. I grabbed a cheesey pretzel and off I went.
To put the size of Neuschwanstein in perspective, the guide said that the Nazis used it to store their stolen art (that the Monuments Men recovered). They found 9000 boxes of art stored here. That’s a whole heck of a lot of art and just goes to show how much room there is there for all that!
Oberammergau was our next stop, really because it’s a nice mid-point between Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. I’d heard about it from travel research over the years and was perversely curious. The town is best known for its commitment to hold the Passion Play every 10 years here. During the Plague, the townspeople made a deal with God that if they don’t all die from the Black Death they’d do the play every year. Over time yearly became every 5 years became every 10 years. Now it’s such a draw that they built a huge open air theater with a sliding glass roof to cover the stage in inclement weather. They run the play for several months, 5 days a week. The theater holds 4800 people who sit there for 6 hours watching this play! Crazy.
Anyway, I didn’t think much of Oberammergau to be honest. I liked the story about the tiny cross at the top of the mountain and how on Mad King Ludwig’s birthday, they’d climb up there and light a bonfire in his honor (normal citizens seemed, and still seem, to like Ludwig better than his colleagues did). But the town is really touristy. The buildings are pretty but everything is a shop selling tourist stuff. LOTS of Christmas stuff, wood carvings, cow bells. We only had 40 minutes here, so I walked to the little church where the Passion Play was first held and back again. Then back on the bus.
20 minutes later and we were at Linderhof. This castle is meant to be a smaller version of Versailles, and it is indeed small when compared to Neuschwanstein. But still exquisite. The exterior appeared to be carved marble with classical statues. Inside though had Ludwig’s sugar-high, unrestrained hand all over it. I couldn’t help but think of the Coco Chanel saying about how you should always look in the mirror before you leave the house and take one accessory off. I think Ludwig was the type to put a few more on. He just did everything over the top. It’s like if a little kid were allowed to design it, no holds barred, no questions asked. The most breathtaking room was the last, his hall of mirrors, which was gorgeous. There was one spot where you stood and it appeared as if the room went on forever in either direction, which was of course the effect of the mirrors. But lost in all the gilded carvings and ornamentation were the 90 vases propped among them. I’d have missed them entirely if the guide didn’t point them out. Crazy.
Back to the bus again and the driver offered us our choice of beer or wine. So we got to enjoy a tipple on the drive back to Munich. Yes, I think this is truly the way to do the bus tours!
I was back in Munich by 6:15 and after much deliberation I’ve decided not to visit Dachau tomorrow but instead take a train ride to Salzburg. I had a hard time recovering emotionally from Auschwitz last week and I think I want to end my trip on an emotional high note. So I bought my train ticket while I was at the train station. I’m looking forward to a day there!
A quick pizza and glass of wine tonight and I’ve started packing to leave on Saturday. Early to bed for another early morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment