Neuschwanstein and Environs

Hopfen-am-See

Hi.

We're back from Spain.  But right now I'm going to talk about Germany.  I just feel like it.

So, you know about Neuschwanstein, yes?  Of course you do.  Even if you don't think you do, you actually do.  You just don't know that's what it's called.  Have you seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?  Then you know.  Have you seen any Disney movie with the opening credits part that shows a castle with some sparkly arch drawn over the top and the music goes all, "Deeeee naaa na na na naaaaaaaaaaaa?"  Then you know Neuschwanstein.  

I'm just going to call it "Castle" for the rest of this post, actually. It's annoying to type Neuschwanstein.

So, we've been to Castle two times now, once in May 2012 with Paul's family and once in June 2014 with my family.  Why?  Because you have to go see Castle if you're anywhere near it.  Because it's Castle.

Here's the thing though.  Both times there has been something off with Castle.  

In 2012, it was half in scaffolding...

In 2014, we were there during an epic torrential downpour (that only stopped when my family was inside Castle, of course).

But regardless, a visit to Castle is always great.  Because even in scaffolding or hurricanes, the views around it are still beautiful.

Paul told me that I had to be sure to note that his Dad spoke the following words from the outlook near Castle's main entrance:  "This is the most beautiful place in the world."

So.  There you go.

Really quickly though, I want to leave off by saying that the area near Castle is also very lovely and has quite a few sights to see.

For example, there's the uber-Baroque Wieskirche about a 45 minute drive north.  It stands alone, surrounded by dairy cow pasture (and the cows have the bells around their necks!).

Or there's all the little villages that showcase the region's propensity to paint lovely scenes on their buildings...

But mostly, it's just a really nice place to go for a drive through the Alps and into the foothills...

Finally, I would like to end this post by dedicating it to our two rental vans from 2012 and 2014: Diesel-beast and Mom.  I am so glad we didn't damage either one of you.

********
I'm counting down the days until my third anniversary of living in Europe by recapping trips that I never got around to highlighting.  You can see the list of trips (and links to them as they are written) here.