The hills are alive, with the sound of Füssen

23.6.13 

After a later than planned night, Anna and I got up to start our day of travel to Füssen.  We were very excited to be heading into the heart of Bavaria and the Bavarian Alps. When we started planning our trip to Europe, I was researching things to do in Germany, and Neuschwenstein castle popped up.  Nearly every American has seen this castle, or one similar to it, without even realizing it. Walt Disney fell so in love with this castle, he modeled the Disney Castle after it.  It actually belonged to the Bavarian king, King Ludwig II until the time of his death, but more on that later.

After waking up and mobilizing, Anna and I headed to the train station.  We were a little confused at first what platform we needed to be on for our train.  We knew the train number and time, but couldn’t seem to find the platform number.  After wandering around, consulting Anna’s limited supply of Mobile Data (which has saved our behinds many times), and finally just figuring it out, we were on our train to Füssen.  Anna and I needed to study, so we both started reading for our classes; however, we weren’t feeling too rushed, we still had a week!

The train ride was very quaint and lovely.  The scenery was beautiful and I couldn’t help but just fall in love with the German country side.  The train was a Regional Bound (or maybe Express) so it was slower than the ICE (Inter City Express) trains we had been traveling on.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed my ride and was able to read a chapter.  Apart from getting yelled at (really just scolded) in German by the ticket lady—I can’t think of what you call them at this moment—the ride was wonderful.

As Anna and I approached Füssen, the view was gorgeous. You could see the castle nestled in the hills in the distance and we were incredibly excited to finally arrive in this quaint town, home to King Ludwig II.  The sky was grey, but it only added to the mystery of the mountains and the atmosphere. 

Around 14:00 (2pm) the train arrived at the station.  Since the both of us had been traveling all day and hadn’t eaten, we were determined to get to our hostel and then run out to lunch before exploring the castle.  The castle’s website said it closed at 18:00 (6pm) so we wanted to be sure to get there in time.  Apparently you can only go on guided or audio tours, so we needed to be sure to arrive in time.

After a little confusion on how to get to the hostel from the bahnhof (station), we were able to successfully navigate to the Old King Ludwig Design Hotel.  As we approached our quaint, yellow hostel, our cheer dissipated: it was closed.  Apparently from 12:00-16:00 the reception desk is not open.  It was not like this at our previous hostel.  Anna and I, hungry and travel weary, walked back to the city square, dragging and carrying all 80 pounds of luggage (apiece) to lunch.  We found a sidewalk café that seemed to fit into our price range and ordered lunch.

Remember, meals in Europe are a much longer ordeal than in the US, so that was good for us.  We ordered something German, but not too German.  Anna and I both were too afraid to ever try the white sausages, despite their fame in the region.  After about an hour and 20 minutes, we had eaten all we could, were exhausted and just tired of sitting in the same place.  We got up and wandered back to our hostel.  There was a nice little bench we sat on until 4pm came and Simone opened the reception desk.  She seemed very nice and showed us to our room (The London room).  It was all decked out with Union Jack patterns and pictures of the queen.  The beds were comfortable and there was room for a suit case, so we were satisfied.  Our roof window was open a crack and Anna opened it a little more, just to let some fresh air in. 

It was finally time to get to Neuschwanstein.  It had started sprinkling a little bit, but we weren’t afraid of a little water, and Anna didn’t want to carry her umbrella, so we headed out to the castle without any raingear. 

By the time we made it back to the station, we were already starting to regret this decision.  After some confusion on how to get to the castle, we found which buses would take us up to the little village surrounding Neuschwanstein and the other castle that was Ludwig’s childhood home. 

King Ludwig II's Childhood home (as seen from Neuschwanstein)

After a short ride up the mountain, we were in the region where the castle was, but not to the castle.  We still had to buy tickets and get up to the actual castle.  I stopped by an information window, fully aware that they did not sell tickets and asked directions on where to go.  I received an answer in German.  The lady at the information desk did not speak English.  This was the first time Anna and I had really encountered such a language barrier.  After some pointing and waving and the lady giving us a sheet of paper, I decided I’d try something else, and started walking.  It wasn't long before one of us noticed a sign to the ticket office—and by this point it was close to 5:30.  Anna and I were really regretting not bringing an umbrella, as the rain was not letting up.  In fact, it was coming down mercilessly.  We stopped and paid too much for a poncho—really just a plastic bag with holes—and finally made it to the ticket counter, where I proudly purchased out tickets to the castle…And found out it is a 40 minute to an hour walk up the hill and the bus stops running at 5 and the horse drawn carriage would be quitting soon.

We were lucky enough to catch the last carriage, with a cranky, reluctant driver, and headed up the hill.  By this point, it’s cold, wet and disgusting outside, but Anna kept reminding me that I was having the time of my life and of how much fun I was having.  (Side note:  Anna can be a little bossy at times).  

Finally, we get to the top of the hill and the less-than-cordial carriage driver drops us off near the base of Neuschwanstein.  We had made it in time for our 6:15 tour and even had some time to spare.  Anna and I found the observation decks at the base of the castle and started snapping awesome pictures of the clouds and gorgeous Bavarian town below.  We walked up to the castle courtyard—as we had to be there promptly at 6:15 or we would not make the tour—and took some pictures outside of my new residence.  I decided that I kind of liked the view, and the castle, and would invest some of my own money into finishing it and calling it home.  Then Anna slapped me back into reality.

Our tour began and we got to go inside.  I was beyond excited by this point:  we were going to be dry for a while! 

The castle was absolutely gorgeous!  The tour was around 30 minutes, as there were only 13 completed rooms when Ludwig died.  After his death, his uncle took control of the government and no one has lived in the castle since Ludwig II died.  It was turned over to the Bavarian government, but the family (I suppose they are what’s left of the Royal Family of Bavaria) gets a percentage of all the ticket sales of the tours—and something like 1.5 million or more tourists go through each year.  I’d say they have a pretty nice retirement going on there!

After the tour, Anna wanted to go see this bridge that was off in the distance between a ravine by the castle. Being a jovial fellow, I conceded and we started walking—still in the rain.  I will say, the view was gorgeous and I got my exercise in!  However, I seem to get a lot of exercise in everywhere we go. After quite a few pictures, we decided to head back to the hostel.  

Just admiring my future home

Now, by this point Anna was tired of wearing her plastic bag and decided that we should probably just toss them.  They were obnoxious and how much wetter could we get, really?  At this point, I agreed with her—again.  You would think that since she steered me wrong once with the rain, I would have responded differently the second time.  But I didn't.

So, like idiots, we threw away our ponchos, because, I mean, really?  How much wetter could we get?  The answer:  A lot.

Mind you, the walk is about a 40 minute walk.  By  the time we were finished seeing the bridge and everything else, there was no one around.  We had to walk down the hill back to the town at the base of the castle.  And walked we did.  In the rain.  With no poncho. And it was cold.  Very cold.  Another thing the poncho was doing that we didn't realize, for whatever reason, was keeping us warm.  Without it’s extra protective layer, our body heat was being sapped by the cold rain.  We literally were soaked to the bone. 

Finally, we made it back down to town, only to realize that the bus back to Füssen was no longer running.  After waiting for the bus to come, and then seeing everyone taking taxis, we were able to grab a taxi and head back to Füssen.  Now, you would think, in a region populated with tourists, most of which speak some English, that a taxi driver would have a basic understanding of English.  Ours didn’t.  We tried to tell him where our hostel was and tried to say the street name, show it to him on a piece of paper, but to no avail.  We finally just had him drop us off at the train station and we walked back to our hostel.

By this point, Anna and I were so ready to take the longest, hottest shower—separate of course!—possible.  We get back to our hostel and say hello to Simone at the front desk before going upstairs.  We decided to pay the 1 euro for towels instead of using the ones we brought with us.  I have been 100% successful in not having to carry around a wet towel this entire trip! 

Anna and I were talking about how nice it would be to take a warm shower, grab dinner, and then just relax.  This day had been miserable and we were ready for an enjoyable evening.

And then we walked into our room.  Remember how I said we had a window in our roof?  Now, also remember that it was raining.  Normally this would not be an issue, but it had rained so much while we were gone that the rain had pooled on the window and pushed the window in a reverse slop opposite of that of the house.  This reverse slope kept the pooled water in it until it was completely full and started overflowing, directly into our room.  That’s right; Anna’s bed was completely soaked.  Our floor was a puddle and our suitcases and backpacks had absorbed a large amount of water.  It’s not traveling if things don’t go wrong! 

Anna used the towels we had just purchased for showering to sop up some of the water.  I went downstairs to tell Simone about our damp situation.  Luckily, she was very understanding and assured me that this had happened in the past under such conditions.  Silly us leaving the window open.  Simone brought up lots of towels, got Anna new bedding, and did all she could to make things better.  Finally, our room was as dry as it was going to get and it was time for a hot shower.

After showering, Anna and I were in desperate need of food.  We had been traveling for too long, walking in the rain, and were weary.  Simone suggested we go to a little Italian pizza restaurant just down the street.  Anna and I were both in need of something other than heavy German food, and this sounded wonderful.  Yes, I know, we were going to be in Italy the very next day, but we didn’t mind! 

The restaurant was wonderful, the people were cordial, and the food was revitalizing!  Anna and I both got cokes:  because sometimes you just need carbonation.  This is unusual, because in most of Europe, cokes and waters are more expensive than alcohol.  Water is never free and there is no such thing as ice.  

Dinner was wonderful and just the change of pace we needed.  Since it was nearing 11, we decided it was time to head back to the hostel, as we had to get up around 5:45 to begin a long day of traveling to Italy! 

We both made use of the free, and strong, Wi-Fi at the hostel before we went to bed.  Anna skyped her family and I called Jena and facebooked while working on a blog post.  These things are harder to keep up with than you might think! 

Finally, it was later than we imagined—the days go by so quickly—and the morning was going to come too early.  We packed our bags to the best of our abilities—as we were both drying out lots of wet clothes—and called it a night.

While Füssen was wet, it was quite beautiful.  I learned not to trust Anna when it came to decisions regarding weather and I found the model for my future home (if only)!  Both Anna and  I longed for more time in Füssen, but Capri was calling, and we couldn’t say no to Italy!