Domingo's cave-like atmosphere

Today we woke up late owing to the overwhelming hospitality we have been experiencing and our distinct lack of Bavarian genes. Thomas and Emmy seem bright and chipper in the morning... I am told by Crystal who wakes up early enough to see them off to work.

We enjoyed our coffee and watched the robotic lawnmower roll around the yard like a tiny android. Thomas calls him his "cockroach". Bob went out to the cherry trees and picked about 3 lbs of red and yellow varieties for our trip today.

Thomas had set up the GPS to take us directly to Schwangau so we hit the road ready to enjoy our first navigation-free day. I need to add here that the GPS was entirely in German and none of us really read the language or understand the voice. Long story short it told us the trip was 19 hours and 2500 Km long and we accidentally took a detour. Almost four hours later the long-abandoned device rested while we took to the castles (that are a 2 hour drive away)!

The first stop was to Hohenschwangau, situated in the area known as Schwangau on Lake Forggensee which is curiously enough full of swans. The castle was the residence of King Maximillion and his wife Marie and the home that King Ludwig II grew up in. It is lovely, filled with the original furnishings and paintings. The second floor is the queen's floor, the third belonged to the king. His ceilings are much higher and the rooms are grander but both floors are impressive.

The next stop (after the purchase of some desperately needed umbrellas) was to Neuschwanstein castle that sits atop a cliff above Hohenschwangau. The castle was one of many that King Ludwig II built during his brief life (he died at 41) and the inspiration that Walt Disney used for Cinderella's castle. It was extraordinarily expensive and along with his other projects left him in great debt at the time of his mysterious death.


The castle itself is remarkable and wildly over-the-top. It was intended to bring to life many of Wagner's operas in both style and vast murals depicting scenes from various works. Wagner was a great friend of the King who obviously was what we might consider an obsessed fan today. The throne room is likely the most stunning decorated like a Byzantine church, gold everywhere around the paintings of the apostles and Jesus. The floor is an intricate natural design with a wide variety of animals done in over 1 million mosaic tiles.


The most interesting room to me is the "Winter Garden and Grotto" which looks remarkably like Domingo's Restaurant in Raton, New Mexico. Apparently it was not unusual to have a cave in a castle but I walked through there thinking, "maybe he really was crazy". There is also an enormous music hall painted with a scene from Wagner that looks incredibly like Bambi. I think that Disney really liked Bavaria, we also saw dwarf characters working in mines on various artwork here.

Each room is more spectacular than the last, unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside either castle but I will try to drag some off the web.

We drove directly back to Thomas and Emmy's for another great evening. We ate and (shockingly) drank well into the night. Bob's stein magically refilled so regularly that it was almost a joke. We shared ridiculous jokes and enjoyed our last evening to visit.