Neuschwanstein Schloss

I made a trip with Alisha's parents to the world famous Neuschwanstein castle, a couple hours south-west of Munich. Americans and other people around the world may be very familiar with the Neuschwanstein without even knowing it - it is the castle that Disney's Magic Kingdom castle is modeled after! Even though the Neuschwanstein looks like an old medieval castle, it was actually built only 130 years ago by the flamboyant Bavarian king Ludwig II. Even after nearly bankrupting Bavaria with several projects as extravagant as the Neuschwanstein and being declared mentally unfit for rule by the country's parliament, then drowning in a mysterious incident in the Starnbergsee near Munich, Ludwig II is apparently still the Bavarian and German peoples most popular king. The Neuschwanstein was Ludwig's masterpiece, but he also commissioned and built The Residence in Munich and the castle Herrenchiemsee. Some of the pictures show a much smaller, yellow castle just down the hill from the Newschwanstein, right beside the Schwansee (Swan Lake), in fact. This was Ludwig's Father's castle, the Hohenschwangau. As you can see, it was snowing heavily on our trip, making travel to and from the castle gate somewhat treacherous. The guided tour we went on was somewhat disappointing in that we only saw 6-8 rooms. What's less, pictures were "not allowed" inside, so the few shots from inside were hastily taken while the guide wasn't looking. The castle exterior and how it is set into the rocky alps, overlooking Swan Lake and the alps on one side and the plains of Southern Germany on the other is magnificent.