272/366: Neuschwanstein Castle

On Day 272, my friend and I hopped a train and ventured out to Schloss Neuschwanstein, located in Bavaria near the Austrian border.   Built by King Ludwig II in honor of composer Richard Wagner, construction began in 1869 but was still unfinished at the time of Ludwig’s mysterious, sudden death in 1886.   The fairytale-like design of the castle later inspired Walt Disney when he created Cinderella’s castle at Magic Kingdom.  The castle, inside and out, as well as the surrounding area is breathtakingly beautiful, and I would have to say it now ranks as my favorite of the castles I’ve visited.  The image above was taken from the vantage point of the Marienbrücke (see below).

The Marienbrücke is a short hike away from Neuschwanstein and while it provides magnificent views, it does not feel like the most stable bridge in the world, especially with tons of people on it.

I like the concept of the image above, taken on the Marienbrücke, but am disappointed that I’ve tilted the castle a bit here.  This just goes to show how uncomfortable I was on this bridge.  I took one shot with my iPhone and then quickly tucked it away for fear that it would flip right out of my hands and disappear into the gorge far, far below.  I tried this idea with the locks on a bridge again the next day in Salzburg.

On the way to/from the Marienbrücke, you can get a postcard view of Hohenschwangau, Ludwig’s childhood home.

While at Neuschwanstein, I was inspired partly by British photographer Martin Parr (especially this image) as well as by the tourists around me to embark on a new project:  selfies.  This is one of many images I had fun taking that afternoon.

On the train ride back to Munich, the skies were simply gorgeous, but we still dozed off, anyway.

On a side note, I’m a bit behind still with posting and am going to confess that there’s some real crud coming soon on account of the fact that I’ve picked up a post-travel bug and am muddling through the week.