Füssen

You lonely, noble building. How you tower undauntedly towards the blue sky!

Home of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, this quaint town is peaceful and surrounded by enchanting forests.

Although our initial walk through Füssen was under stormy skies, the sun began peeking through the clouds for luminous evening lighting.

After the evening stroll, we had dinner back at the hotel, the Altstadthotel Zum Hechten with our bus driver, Celeste. She has had many interesting adventures and was super friendly and cheerful! That night, a blustery storm passed through with pounding rain and flashes of lightening! But by morning, the skies cleared for a pristine day of hiking among castles!

Hohenschwangau

This castle was where Ludwig II of Bavaria grew up. All around town there were nods to him. There were posters, postcards, store window decorations and full sized cutouts for selfies with his image.

Neuschwanstein

This was one of the castles (or palaces) that he built as an adult. These structures were extravagant and gained him the reputation of "Mad King Ludwig". He had an ill-fated but apparently musical worthy story!

This forested trail led to the Neuschwanstein Castle and every once in a while revealed views like this one below.

This fairytale view was from the Marienbrücke, a bridge originally made from wood in 1845 by King Maxmillian II of Bavaria and named after his wife, who was an avid hiker. Fortunately, it was reconstructed later from steel in 1866 by King Ludwig. At the entrance there was a sign posting the limit of people allowed on the bridge at one time and a counter. We waited for people to come off before entering, but when we left, people seemed to be ignoring the limit and just squeezing on at will! Yeesh!