Liechtenstein and Mad King Ludwig

Hey everyone!  Are you ready for more touring?  Well, let's get started.  Liechtenstein, Bavaria is a doubly landlocked, German-speaking microstate in Central Europe.  It is a constitutional monarchy with the rank of principality, headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein.  It is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east and north. It has an area of just over 62 square miles and an estimated population of 35,000.  Now you know everything you need to know about Liechtenstein as provided by Google!

This is what we are going to see today, and yes, this is a postcard.  Can't beat them for photos only the professionals can get.  This is the castle that Disney used as his model.  Ludwig was just 19 when he became king of Bavaria in 1864. Rather than live with the frustrations of a modern constitution and a feisty parliament reining him in, he spent his years lost in Romantic literature and operas...chillin’ with the composer Wagner as only a young, single king could. From his bedroom in Hohenschwangau, the castle on the right, Ludwig trained a telescope on a ridge to keep an eye on Neuschwanstein as it was being constructed.

This was not a climb for the faint-of-heart, or anyone physically impaired.  There was a horse-drawn carriage that you could ride, but the wait time was a couple of hours.  So.....it was a slow, steady and steep climb.  What started out as a cool day turned into a warm one very quickly!

Everyone had a moment of jubilation when Hohenschwangau came into view, but quickly 

turned into......well, you don't really want to know.  Just trust me, it could have gotten very ugly.  

We still had a long way to go. 

Keep your eye on the prize!

YAY, we made it!

It is beautiful, but impossible to get a good pic of the entire castle.  Good thing there were two little shops inside the castle selling souvenirs and postcards!

Oh, jeez, we just need to stop taking selfies -- we just look goofy!

The rest of these photos are postcards, because no photography was allowed inside.  This room was called the Hall of Mirrors.  Just a wee bit decadent!

This is the kitchen -- some stove, huh?  I would loved to have taken a photo in this room, because that stove was completely covered in beautiful copper pots.  This was actually quite modern-looking.  Maybe "chefing" for King Lud wouldn't have been so bad!

This was the Throne Room, and King Ludwig's throne would be placed on that raised area when he needed to do anything official.  There is much speculation about King Ludwig.  Some say he was crazy & others say he was homosexual.  Whatever he may or may not have been, he was most definitely a very lonely person.  

We were all happy to get back on the motor coach and continue our journey to Innsbruck.  There was a lot of "bobble-heading" going on as most of our group nodded off to dreamland while Michael drove us safely to our destination.

Next up is Innsbruck and a Tyrolean entertainment experience.