NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

We are heading to Austria next week to ski and snowboard and flying into Munich. One of the first things I can't wait to do is tour this castle.

Mad Ludwig's Dream - Neuschwanstein Castle: Entrance tickets to the castle must be purchased at the ticket center in Hohenschwangau before you start the climb to the castle. Cost is 9 Euros for an adult. The mandatory tour takes a little over half hour. There are 165 stairs to climb on the tour, and 181 to descend. A recent traveler reports that there is now a cafe inside. Tours for the disabled in wheelchair and walkers are held on Wednesdays. See the links for more information.


Perched over one of the world's prettiest gorges, Neuschwanstein Castle is everyone's fantasy dream.  I can't wait! Below is a poem I found about the castle.

Neuschwanstein

Across the ocean and above the lands

Sits a legacy for all curious eyes.

An ivory castle on a lonely peak

Where even the clouds bow down

Beneath its soaring majestic spires.

It was the dream of one king not long ago

That flustered the brow of every fair maiden.

To build for beauty, hold art above war.

Dismissing tradition and logic for lies

And following a single dream to lands end.

He sat on the banks of the river Rhine

Imagining one original palace after the next.

Maybe he shopped in the Marienplatz

For velvet loveseats and porcelain swans

To adorn the seed of his hearts content.

But now the king has been gone for years.

And Bavaria has never quite been the same

Since the death of Kind Ludwig the mad.

His castles stand proud and greet the wanderers

And journeyman, and dreamers and historians alike.

Though all are rare in craft and dripping in style

One of his lonely dreams stands above the rest.

Reaching beyond the Alpine rolling skies

Coloring heaven with a touch of human royalty.

A place any Sleeping Beauty would pray to wake.

It is here, I fell in love again, twice in the time of a year.

First with the earth, its inhabitants achievements

And the very nature that hides them in its breast.

The lakes that capture the suns final rays,

The heaving mountains with their fancy caps of snow,

The whispering cow bells carried by the gentle winds

And the serenity of the painted villages sleeping below.

The second time was with a young mate

Who accompanied me to my secret place.

To cavort once the daily bustles had calmed.

He fell for the battlements I had loved before

Understood the treasures I longed to share.

He carried me up the mountain like a princess

To her new palace on the night they were wed.

He kissed me to the whimpering of waterfalls,

Then watched on as the sun sank to bed.

Blessed be whoever may fall upon this place

Tucked into the heart of the Bavarian Alps

For this is the spot where I proudly left my heart,

And left Neuschwanstein for widened eyes to behold.





~Robyn Schwartz~ (10/17/2001)