Couple of Castles

I've been super behind on my blogging lately, so I'm trying to knock a couple good blogs out in one night. It's not that I've been super busy, just super lazy. It's been so so cold here lately that all I want to do when I get home is light a candle, drink tea, clean and watch a good movie. Clearly leaving little time to blog. But it's time to play catch up. About 2 and a half weeks ago, I went to visit a famous castled called Neuschwanstein (I definitely just spelled that right the first time....no spell check! This is the castle that Disney modeled their castle after. This one is a bit more impressive in my opinion.

So a bit of history I remember on the castle(s). The first one I visited (the yellow one called Schloss )King Maximilian of Bavaria and his Queen Marie lived here. Well first they lived somewhere else but they vacationed and then raised their kids in this castle in Hohenschwangau (wow I spelled that right too... I feel so German) which is the city where the castles are. Anyway, the king and queen had 2 sons, and once Max and Marie died their eldest son, Ludwig II became king. He's also known as the Mad King Ludwig or the Fairy Tale King. He wanted to build another castle just for him...Neuschwanstein. Anyways the plans he had for this place were ridic and took years (obviously) to complete. He only spent about 170 days in the actual castle. Well he was only King for 2 years and was fired more or less for being 'mentally ill'. Which in hindsight may or may not be correct. He spent all his money making this castle beautiful and modern (complete with a cushioned 'toilet' right off his bedroom as well as his own private chapel...he was very Catholic). He was deemed mentally ill because (if I remember correctly) because he went totally broke after building his castle and it wasn't even finished yet! This is where the story gets sketchy. The day after he was 'fired' he and his doctor were found dead in a shallow part of the lake near the base of the castle. Murder? Suicide? Dunno. Here goes for some pictures....remember the white one is the Disney one. Oh and I wasn't allowed to take pictures of anything on the inside of either castle...bummer.

Side view of the castle

Entrance to Neuschwanstein

This is the view from the top of the mountain where Neuschwanstein is. Gorgeous right? Also note the lake where King Ludwig II was found dead. (See the tinyyyyy yellow castle in the middle to the right? That's his parent's castle Schloss)
My girls and I :)
Schloss Castle
The Kitchen :)

The view of the city of Fussen
Well that's about all for the castles! They were beautiful! I wish I remember all the history the guides told us though.

-Linds