Day 4 - Friday 15th September - Munich

We've been waking up at 6am so no chance of being late for our tour. Showered, dressed and down for breakfast by just after 7am and we were at the bus for the start of our tour by 8.10am. The tour was to start at 8.30 but as they filled each bus they headed off, so we were in the 2nd bus and headed off about 8.15am. There were 6 buses in total. The sky was as clear as a bell and we were going to be very lucky with the weather with rain predicted late in the day. Our bus guide was Barbara, a lovely German lady probably in her late 50s and our bus driver was Klaus. The bus headed out of Munich and soon we were going past very lush green fields, the occasional herd of cows and picturesque little towns in the distance. Then The Alps came into view topped with snow and Barbara was very excited to point out Germany's highest mountain appearing right in front of us told us how lucky for us to have such a clear viewer of it as it's usually covered in fog or clouds. It was indeed spectacular. After about 1 1/2 hours we got to our first destination, Linderhof Castle. One of King Ludwig II of Bavaria's dream castles. It's the smallest of his castles and the only one he saw finished. His father had a hunting lodge on the land which he visited often growing up and when his father died he had the castle built in the early 1800s and spent a lot of his time there. It's not a big castle at all with smaller rooms than you'd expect in a castle, but just as elaborately decorated. Ludwig was a collector of small vases so we saw dozens displayed on little shelves up the walls. He was a great admirer of the French sun-king Louis XIV and took inspiration from Versailles in the decoration of this small castle which made it look even more over-the-top. It faces a beautiful terraced garden with a cascade of marble stairs with a music pavillion at the top and an ornamental lake resplendent with Neptunes fountain in the middle which shoots impressively up in the air each hour. Back on the bus.  Barbara was very particular about people being punctual for the departure, but we never found out what the consequences of being late were. I forgot to mention that seated in the front row just in front and on the other side from us was an odd couple - an older fellow probably in his late 60s and a younger woman probably in her mid to late 30s. We worked out that he was Spanish and she was Russian (probably a mail-order bride or internet match??) They were very lovey-dovey, holding hands, smooching and he only seemed to speak Spanish and she Russian. They communicated by speaking into their phone and it would translate what each one said. Really weird. So weird that one couldn't not look and listen! Anyway, off we went in the direction of our next stop,  Oberammergau, a pretty town in the Bavarian Alps. It’s known for its once-a-decade performance of the Passion Play in the Passion Play Theater which lasts 7 hours, and the houses have frescoes on them depicting the Grimm Brother fairy tales. This was our souvenir shopping stop so I followed the instructions and bought some souvenirs then we went to an Italian cafe and had lovely coffee and shared a pastry. Back on the road to our last destination, Neuschwanstein Castle, King Ludwig's fairytale castle on which the Disneyland castle was modelled. Building started in 1869 but it was never completed. He wanted it to be a monument to medieval culture and kingship. As we approached the village of Hohenschwangau we had our first glimpse of this beautiful, white, fairytale castle up in the mountains nestled amongst the lush green forest. The bus dropped us off at the Hotel Müller where we could get some lunch and use the restrooms. Barbara gave us or entry tickets for the castle - our entry time was 3pm, not a minute earlier. The only catch with seeing this magnificent castle is that it's way up the mountain. There are 3 ways to get up there: 1 - line up to buy a shuttle bus ticket, then line up for the bus, then walk 15 minutes to the top;  2 - line up to go up by horse-drawn cart, then walk 15 minutes to the top; 3 - walk 40 minutes uphill up the steep path. We bought a parmesan and rocket baguette for lunch, some postcards and then chose option 3 because we had time to slowly make our way up. I really don't know how some people made it up! All good at the start, then huffing and puffing,  but not stopping, we passed the place the horse-drawn carts stopped and made it to a very well-positioned and welcome kiosk where we had an icecream rest stop. It was just nice to be on flat and not sloping ground. Refreshed we trudged up the last section to the top, stopping to take photos of the castle as it appeared above us through the trees. At the top we rested and watched many skydiving groups coming out of the sky and floating down to the green green fields below us. The scenery was spectacular. We wandered around the back of the castle to see the little bridge, Marienbrücke, in the distance where people go photograph the castle. We didn't go to it because it was a 15 minute walk there and 15 minutes back uphill. When 3pm came we were herded in, were assigned a lovely young guide whose name I've forgotten,  and off we went with her. The tour took us through all the completed rooms of the castle. Ludwig only got to spend 172 days at this castle before he was certified insane by the government, which locked him up in Berg Palace, near Munich, and he died mysteriously and suspiciously in the nearby lake. The castle is enormous and again very opulent and excessive. The exterior is immensely impressive though and looks exactly as you imagine a fairytale castle. Once our tour was finished we got to take photos from the large balcony at the back which looks out towards the bridge. Then we made the rapid trudge downhill, which was no good for my fixed knee, onto the bus and on our way home. Klaus the bus driver had beer for sale so John got to have another German beer as we made the 2 hour trip back. Smooching was still going on in the front seat and two American blokes behind us didn't stop talking and then we had to listen to the woman in front of us on the phone complaining to her phone company about her phone coverage or lack thereof. So an interesting trip back but not peaceful. It just started to rain as we walked back to the hotel and it was about 7.30pm by then. I did a bit of packing and then went to an Italian restaurant very close to the hotel and naff two delicious meals linguini con vongole and papardelle con scampi. Fell into bed and slept like logs.