buy isotretinoin paypal The Hotel Muller had arranged tickets for us at the Castle Neuschwanstein in mid morning and then in early afternoon a tour at Castle Hohenschwangau. It was a beautiful bright blue sky day when checked out of the hotel and took the horse drawn carriage up to within a 15-minute walk to Neuschwanstein, the fabulous inspiration for Walt Disney’s castle.
Kiskőrös Schloss Neuschwanstein
While I normally subscribe to the more is better mantra, I have to admit that the eye candy here was simply over the top from the wall paintings, the architectural interest, the views through the castle windows, the intricate wood carvings, the decorative paintings, the objects d’arts, the lustrous fabrics and the lavish trims. Unfortunately, photos were prohibited. All I can say is that King Ludwig II of Bavaria had exquisite taste. Unfortunately he died “under mysterious circumstances” before the castle was completely finished. Perched high on a cliff side, the castle is somewhat difficult to reach and we were glad we were able to negotiate the steep climb.
Our guide spent time, explaining the history of the castle, the Wagner-inspired Romanticism, and a bit about Ludwig himself. All in all, it was hard to believe that Neuschwanstein was actually a summer or hunting cottage. Cottage is nowhere near an adequate description.
By the time made our way down the steep carriage way from Neuschwanstein to the area dotted with hotels, rest
Schloss Hohenschwangau
aurants, and souvenir shops, it was time to make our way up the hill to Hohenschwangau, the castle/summer cottage built by Ludwig’s parents ( Maxillian and Maria) on the ruins of a fortress for our designated tour. We climbed the path from the Biergarten by the Hotel Muller to meet up with our guide.
Again, this summer/hunting cottage is a dismissive term for this beautiful place. The views out the windows were spectacular on this “Indian Summer Day.” The tour was rather quick-paced and allowed little time to soak in the beauty of each individual element in its entirety. Our guide was witty, his command of English excellent, even cracking jokes and colloquisms. Â Mike and I especially liked the cobalt blue ceilings with gold stars affixed to its surface. When Mike mentioned it would be a fun thing to add to the dining room ceiling, all I could think of was gold leafing little stars for weeks on end! After making our way down the hill, we headed back to our car to continue on our journey to Augsburg.
Our road trip to Augsburg took us out of the Alps to rolling countryside similar to Pennsylvania. We saw farmers cutting hay, cows grazing by the road, and fine horses in their fields. We navigated through small villages and towns and found ourselves in a huge traffic jam. We headed toward Augsburg center to get our bearings. Central Augsburg is in the throes of major construction of public tram service and every turn we made encountered barricades. We found a parking space, walked much of the central shopping district, then headed to our hotel the Villa Aborea, and it’s spacious, comfortable rooms. We found a Bavarian restaurant nearby, the name was Berghof, Â and, since we skipped lunch, ate an early dinner in the charming, busy, local establishment.
The hotel was built as a private home in 1935, the current owners, a Veronika and Michael Dey, added an addition to house guests. The rooms are spacious, clean, and bright. The lot is situated just outside Augsburg on a tram route into city center. The yard is expansive with beautiful gardens, tended by Veronika’s father, who was the head landscaper at the Botanical Gardens until he retired. He is now 81.
Tomorrow we are off to our rental house in the Black Forest and Internet access may be unavailable – just a heads up, in case we go “dark”!
