Fussen

The next morning Andy & I woke up super early to catch a bus to Dublin so we could fly to Memmingen, Germany (Memmingen is just west of Munich). Of course we both woke up late and missed the bus, but were able to catch another bus (albeit by paying extra, of course) and luckily made our flight. The airline we flew on, Ryanair, has very reasonable fares, as long as you don't take any luggage. Ryanair only allows one carry-on, so we had to stuff everything we would need in a backpack for our two-day trip. This was a little challenging for a girl with camera gear, let me tell you.


Andy, mirroring my feeling of total exhaustion, but happiness to have made it on the train. The sign behind his head was pretty amusing, too. The most challenging part of this trip was catching the train from Memmingen. Since the Memmingen airport is located at the equivalent to an old air force base, it is not located next to the train station. Andy and I practically ran the entire 3 miles between the airport and the train station, in the snow, with our backpacks. Andy has longer legs than me, so he was moving pretty fast, and I had a hard time keeping up. Luckily, we made it with 5 minutes to spare. We were both very happy we hadn't missed the train!


A view of one of the platforms at a station where we had to switch trains between Memmingen and Fussen. At one point during the trip the train stopped, and we knew something was up when everyone in our traincar seemed to be getting off except for an oriental couple. When I tried to ask one of the train staff what was going on, he gave me a strange look and kept walking. Apparently he didn't speak English, and neither me nor Andy speak German. We decided to get off, and were glad we did because they were detaching our car! We got on a different car and were off again.


Even though it was a little difficult to see due to the fog, I was excited to get my first glimpse of the Alps from the train.

We got off the train in Fussen and were able to figure out which bus to get on by pointing to the bus and saying my butchered version of 'Neuschwanstein' to the bus driver, who nodded. I wasn't sure we were actually going in the right direction until we arrived. Luckily, were in the right spot! This was our first view of the castle, or 'schloss' in German.

The little town around Neuschwanstein, Schwangau, had the quintissential Bavarian architecture that you would expect for a German Christmas scene.

A second castle, Schloss Hohenschwangau, is also in the Schwangau district. This was apparently the castle of King Maximillian II, who is the father of King Ludwig II, who built Schloss Neuschwanstein. We didn't have time to tour this one, but it was neat to see the exterior view while walking around the village.

Another quintissential Bavarian building.

We weren't really sure where the trail was that led up the hill to Neuschwanstein, but after attempting to ask someone (who didn't really help), we found what appeared to be the trail. Of course it was all uphill and snowy. As would be expected for someone 6'-4" and really in shape, Andy kicked my butt hiking up the hill. The walk through the trees was pretty, though.

The sign for Marienbruke, or Marien's bridge, which offers a view of the castle. when we got to this point, the signs pointed to a trail that was supposedly closed for the season. Having traveled 3,000+ miles to get here, no sign was going to stop us from seeing the bridge and the castle view from the bridge, however. So, 'rebels' that we are, we forged ahead.

Andy on the bridge.

The view from the bridge was pretty spectacular. I was a little bummed it was so hazy - I could just imagine how beautiful this view would be in the summer with morning or late afternoon light shining upon the castle. Oh well, still not too bad of a view!

Andy and I infront of the castle.

We walked back to the main trail, then walked a little further to get a view of the bridge and the castle. Then we turned around and looked for a way back down the hill.

Of course the trail that appeared to lead straight to the castle also had a sign, which, from what we gathered from the picture, was supposed to be closed. We again said too bad, we traveled this far to see the castle, so we took the trail. We were treated to an amazing view of Schloss Hohenschwangau along the way.

As we continued down the trail, Neuschwanstein became closer and closer.

The massive castle made us feel ant-sized.

We didn't get to the castle in time to take the tour, but wandered around to get some different views of the exterior prior to heading down what turned out to be the main road between the castle and village.

One last view of the village and Neuschwanstein before going to the bus pick-up.

We again weren't quite sure if the bus was actually going to show up, but fortunately it came and we made it back to Fussen. I had forgotten to take a photo of the town prior to heading to the castle, so I snapped a quick freehand one. I didn't really have time to setup the tripod, so it is a little blurry, but it gives you an idea of the town.

The Fussen train station. We hopped on the train to make the four hour trek to Stuttgart. By the time we got there at midnight, we were downright dead tired, but very happy we had the opportunity to see such neat structures and get a taste of Bavaria.