The Other House on the Rock

Above: View of Fussen from Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavarian Alps
Two views of the castle below: from the path and from the Marionbrucke the "poster" picture.

No picture but visit site for Alex Jordan's House on the Rock, Madison, WI

Recommended if you find yourself in that part of the country: http://www.thehouseontherock.com/html/attraction.htm

Please fasten your seat belts and keep your seats in the upright position. We are visiting Bavaria and the best known tourist site in Germany, Neuschwanstein. This prototype of the Disney Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyworld still stands in the Alps at Fussen. In October '06 we joined international tourists trudging up the hill to tour the landmark.

We had visited Fussen in May '03 but due to throngs of tour busses only seen it from a distance. It is the newest of fairy tale fortresses you find in Germany. It is not in ruins because it is just over a century old having been built by "Mad" King Ludwig of Bavaria in the 19th C.

( Wiki-pedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria)

There are three ways to reach the castle: 1. Hike up the steep hills. 2.Buy a ticket on a bus that takes you part way for a small price. 3. Pay 20 euro to take the horse and carriage that almost gets you to the gate. We chose the bus. From the staging area where busses drop tourists it is a steep walk to the bridge for the photo-op view of the edifice. At this point 20 euros does not seem like too much to have paid for the horse and buggy. It is a wonderful vantage point and we bucked up and decided to enjoy it. We still were not at the castle and became painfully aware of the trudge ahead of a couple of 60+ yr. old travelers. I was wishing I had prepared for these hikes by doing a little more leg work at home. As we climbed we were shamed meeting those health-conscious Europeans coming up the mountain carrying their walking sticks. I don't want to climb those mountains but maybe I could just buy the walking stick and have my picture taken that way. Do you think I would fool anyone who knew me? Maybe I could fool some of you who don't. I was the one taking a break everytime I saw a bench. This is when one of us uttered the line, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" to paraphrase Shakespeare.

There is an advantage to traveling off-season. The lines are shorter. We had tickets to tour the castle at an appointed time. This was an incentive to keep climbing up the hill and keep the breaks short. We were a few minutes early and visited with others waiting in the courtyard. One gent from the UK was wearing a tee shirt with those familiar golden arches and the logo "Mc S...t". Fill in the blanks yourself but I do not think he likes America's most visible export to Europe, Mc Donalds. He was too polite to discuss it with a couple of Americans.

The view from the castle is awesome. No wonder Ludwig hid out here. It had central heating, indoor plumbing, and electric lights along with all the amenities suitable for a king. This was a great improvement on it's medieval counterparts. I believe it took 17 years to build and the king only occupied it half a year. Swan motifs are everywhere. There are floors of the building that were never finished. It is imposing and it's location on the rock offered Ludwig some delay from the forces who eventually dragged him out and deposed him. They were upset with his politics or lack of and his spending a fortune on the fortress. I think he had the last laugh and a lasting legacy that draws millions of people and their money. Maybe if he had lived a little longer he could have built Frontierland, Adventureland and Space Mountain too.