Day 13 in Fussen, Neuschwanstein

Day 13 in Fussen, Neuschwanstein

I slept so well last night that I was ready to go this morning – I did not sleep well the night before.  We had another great breakfast and left early to be at the ticket shop to pick up reserved tickets before 10 this morning.  Paula had decided (very wisely as it turned out) not to try touring the castle because of the more than 300 steps she would have to climb.  She spent the time taking a horse carriage ride almost to the castle, walked around a little, and then took another carriage back to the little village at the base.  She toured gifts shops and enjoyed Black Forest Cake and Diet Coke while she waited on us.  She may have made the best choice of us all!!  The others of us took a bus ride higher than the castle and then walked even higher to stand on Mary’s Bridge in order to have the best view of the castle.  I walked to the center of the bridge and took photos – can’t believe I was able to do that.  I must be growing stronger in resisting my fear of heights because it didn’t bother me too badly, even when the boards creaked as I walked across them. 

After Mary’s Bridge, we began the walk downhill to the castle – it was a hard walk even though it was down hill.  The surroundings were beautiful as the leaves are turning and many are bright yellow – not many reds though.  We got to the castle and waited for our tour to take place.  Evidently we had chosen a very good time because there were never any long lines like we saw later when we returned to the village.  We began the tour with a long, long, long climb up a spiral stairway.  Guess which floor of the castle we were on after that climb??  Go ahead, guess!!  The first floor.  I found that discouraging since we would have to climb more!!!!  We went through quite a few rooms and the decorating of the rooms was extreme, to say the least.  My very favorite was the carved wooden canopy of his bed – just amazing.  It had to be done three times before he was satisfied. I can’t really describe the style of the rooms except to say that it is like total immersion in a series of paintings – everything is decorated.  The servant quarters were the only rooms that I would have felt comfortable living with, but I can understand, sort of, how royalty might feel differently about the surroundings.  The doors throughout the castle were beautifully made.  I loved the kitchen, but I would never want one like it.

By the time we left the castle, I was exhausted.  One thing that really surprised me was the number of stairs even though I thought I was prepared.  Even the Grand Staircase was a circular stairway and I did not expect that.  I am very glad I went to see it but I am even more glad that I will not be doing it again. 

We walked down a long, long, long, way to get to the area where the horse drawn carriages wait to take people down to the village.  I don’t understand why walking down hill is difficult, but it was for me today.  We had to wait for the second carriage since a large tour group took the first one.  We could have walked on down to the village, but I for one had had enough walking, period.  At the village, we looked around a very little bit and then got in the car to go to see Wieskirche.

The trip to the kirche (church) and Wies required about 30 minutes of driving, but the scenery was beautiful.  Truly.  When we arrived at the church, I was too tired to even get out of the car.  The others ventured out but only Sarah had the energy to go into the church.  You should read the history on Wieskirche on the internet – it is quite interesting.  We then returned to Fussen, after taking detours to take photos of cows and stacks of firewood, and immediately went walking in the historic area of the city.  What can I say – we don’t stop just because we are tired.  We had sandwiches in a café and then went our separate ways. 

Some of us went to a yarn shop and bought yarn – I now have two scarves that need to be made of German yarn and I have not yet finished the one from Switzerland that I began several years ago!!!!!  After the yarn shop, I saw a small shop selling small buildings that can be placed together to make a village.  I had seen items like this before but had never been interested before.    Well, that’s changed.  I was not totally interested until she showed me one that was modeled on the restaurant we saw while on tour in Rothenburg.  Now, I’d like to have more.  Frank, Rachel – any time you want to give me a gift, go to www.leyk-shop.com and make a choice.  This will be a good choice for me for many years.  As I was leaving, I asked her where the cemetery was and she did not understand.  I mentioned several words related to the idea and she recognized ‘headstones’ and gave me directions. 

I wandered down the street and finally found the gate to the cemetery and this one was very similar to the one in Oberammagua – very neat and well cared for.  The oldest graves I found here were from about 1905.  I also found a list on the wall of the cemetery of people from Fussen who had died during the First World War.  At least I think that’s what the list was for.  As I walked around, a family came up to me and the family asked me a very long question but was not too disappointed when I said I only spoke English.  I wish I also spoke another language – I really do. 

After leaving the cemetery, I walked back to the roundabout beside my hotel and went into a very exciting store – the grocery store.  I bought toothpaste – I hope Colgate only makes toothpaste because that’s what I bought.  I also bought my mother some chocolate bars and I also bought some cough drops because my throat was a little sore.  I got back to the hotel and found that all the other girls were in our room and were having a Sissi party.  Paula and Linda had bought a Sissi torte (a small, exquisite chocolate cake) and we all had a piece while we discussed our purchases, our experiences, how we needed naps and what time we would meet for dinner.  Then we split up to rest, relax, repack, knit or type a blog!! 

We had dinner in the hotel’s ‘traditional’ restaurant and we shared meals because none of  us were very hungry.  Then we had the adventure of explaining how we wanted to pay for our rooms.  The man receptionist was very nice about it all and accommodated our unique way of splitting the bill.  So we are all paid up and will be ready to drive to Appenzell in the morning.  We have already decided to go shopping here again before we leave – just a little shopping and maybe just at the grocery store.  Maybe we’ll revisit the yarn shop.  Who knows where we will end up before leaving Germany.  We will sleep tomorrow night in Appenzell, Switzerland and then the next night in Zurich and then back to the USA.

When editing this as a group, we realized that we might sound a tad geriatric, but that’s okay because age really has nothing to do with having fun.  Actually, it may increase our ability to appreciate all the fun we are having.  So, just label us the Geriatric Travel Group and know that we enjoy what we do.