Castles of Mad King Ludwig II

Today we took a tour bus and visited several castles commissioned by "mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

First, we rode a double decker bus over a mountain pass, which was an adventure in itself!

 

Then we saw a small castle King Ludwig II built in imitation of Versailles. We could not take pictures inside the castle, but Ludwig was a recluse, so he had the dining room built with a table for one, and the table lowered into the kitchen so it could be set with food and then pulleyed up to him without him having to see any servants.If he had to have important guests, he would have a large flower arrangement placed in front of him so he would not have the see the guests! Then he would eat as quickly as possible, and everyone else would have to stop eating because he was the king.

 

You can see the fancy gold plating as we wait to go into the castle.

 

The castle also has a garden.

Then we went to Neufschwanstein castle (New-swan-stone) castle, which was only one third finished when Ludwig died a mysterious early death. It was opened for tours sixteen days after his death. This castle was the inspiration for cinderella's castle at Disneyworld. The rooms have themes from Wagner operas.

 

the castle Kind Ludwig grew up in is also nearby. It is the yellow castle below.

We also stopped at a charming Bavarian village and enjoyed walking around and seeing the houses and the shops.

Tomorrow we got to Dachau concentration camp. We are very interested to go, but it will be much more serious than our day today looking at the giant ceramic swans of King Ludwig II. Then an overnight train to Rome, so I probably will not be able to post until Sunday.

 

Posted with Blogsy