John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 6 - NEUSCHWANSTEIN


Neuschwanstein Castle

We start our day shortly after breakfast, as our coach takes us into nearby Bavaria on another breath taking journey past the mighty Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. We will also drive along the fabled “Romantic Road” and the “Deutsche Alpenstrasse” which typify this region. On our approach we recognise “Neuschwanstein” instantly as this fairy tale castle clings to the side of the valley. Constructed in pink granite it was the life time project of the famous Bavarian King Ludwig whilst paying homage to his idol Wagner. An inspiration for Walt Disney and the location for part of the classic film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

A culmination of Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles Neuschwantstein is revealed to us in all its glory combined with glorious views from the castle over the valley.

It should be noted that the steep incline up to the castle may cause difficulties for those with mobility issues. The guided tour inside Neuschwantstein Castle itself involves climbing hundreds of steps and although there is a lift, users would also not have access to the full tour.

Please note also that the lift has to be pre booked and only operates at certain times which may not coincide with our tours. You may decide instead to admire the stunning view of the castle from below and take a stroll around the lake.

We leave early afternoon as our next stop is at Oberammergau famous for its Passion Play which the local residents introduced in the 17th century in the hope that God would spare them from the bubonic plague. This tradition has lasted the test of time and shows are performed every 10 years. This historic town captivates all visitors. Why not take a late lunch at a Bavarian cafe or simply stroll around the ambient streets.

Back at the hotel for dinner, we can reflect on the magnificent sights we have seen during this wonderful day.

Janet reported that she had “a good sleep,” and continued: “I wasn’t awake long [after going to bed]. [I] awoke just after 5am and dozed. Mr. B[lackbird] was singing away like billyo (and still is: it’s 7am).… It was sunny and already warmish. I went on the balcony and had a good look around. What a view! Surrounded by mountains. I could get used to this! Breakfast.”
 When I woke up, Janet was in the bathroom. She vacated the bathroom just after 6.30am, and I occupied it after that.… Janet told me that she did have, in fact, two Coke Zero yesterday evening. We took steps to pay the amount owing, and I was very, very apologetic to David. The menu on the breakfast table for this evening had these items:

Moussaka
Cream of vegetable soup
Beef cheeks and mashed potato[i]
Coffee semifreddo

[i] There’d also have been a vegetarian choice here.

I don’t quite understand my notes just here:

Dinner (acceptable) 6.30 on the day
We decided not to go

Yesterday, we were told that dinner would be at 7pm this evening. Perhaps we were told at breakfast time that “dinner” would now be at the, to Janet and me more “acceptable”, earlier time of “6.30[pm]”. Nevertheless, because I didn’t fancy any of the items on the menu, “we decided not to go”; we decided to look for somewhere else to eat.


Today’s route
as plotted by Google Maps
Click on image to enlarge.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 08:09:02
Boarding the coach at Hotel Hocheder, Klosterstraße 121, Seefeld in Tirol

“At 8.15am, we set off,” Janet wrote. “It was still sunny and warm.”
 My notes next mention “Tunnel to Deutschland” and that we “entered Deutschland, 08:27”; so that indicates that we went through the Tunnel Porta Claudia, and almost immediately afterwards crossed the border into Germany (or “Deutschland”, as the sign said: at “Scharnitz” on the map).
 “Through Klais, 08:37”, the notes next say, adding that it was “Route 2”. The notes don’t mention Garmisch-Partenkirchen, through which we passed, nevertheless. We entered from the east and exited northwards.
 According to the notes, we turned “left along the provincial road to Oberammergau, 08:57”. We “entered [the] Ammergauer Alpen national park, 09:03” and went through “Ettal, 09:04”. We diverted off the B23 to turn “right into Oberammergau, 09:07” (the B23 bypasses Oberammergau, so we diverted along Ettaler Straße to go through the town) before we turned “right onto [the] ‘23’, 09:13”. We didn’t stop in Oberammergau. We went “through Unterammergau, 09:15”.
 The notes next mention the “Romantischestraße” into which we turned “left” at “09:26”. (The blurb for today says, “Some of our journey will be on the fabled ‘Romantic Road’….”) We went through “Wildsteig, 09:28”; and at “09:31” turned “left to Wies, arr[iving at] 09:36”.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:39:50
Approaching the Pilgrimage Church of Wies


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:42:14
„Wieskirche: Wallfahrtskirche zum Gegeißelten Heiland“
(“Church of Wies: Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour”)


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:43:20
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:43:40
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:43:46
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:44:16
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies


Wednesday 5 July 2023 09:45:14
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies

My notes indicate that at “10:04” we passed a sign pointing to “Füssen”. When we reached the junction to which the sign pointed, though, we didn’t continue ahead to Füssen but turned “left, 10:06”, and passed a “Maypole”. (I’m not sure of its location as I write this some weeks later. Just after the turn we passed St. Colomon’s Church; but there’s no evidence of any maypole in its environs in the photo taken at 11:25:00, which shows St. Colomon’s Church.) Bernie told us of the arrangement for meeting at Neuschwanstein Castle: we’d be given tickets with a specific tour number, for which there was allotted a precise entry time. If one was late for this, one would not be admitted. I scribbled down his directions of how we would meet:

Arr[ive] clockwise left
around the castle
arr[ive] there 10–15 minutes
before [the] stated time

I also wrote:

1864–1886
Ludwig II

Those were the years that he was king of Bavaria. He commissioned the construction of lavish palaces, including this one, spending all his own private revenues on these projects. Construction of Neuschwanstein Castle on the site of the ruins of medieval twin castles began in 1869 but was not still completed when he died in 1886. In the end, Ludwig II only lived in the palace for a total of 172 days.
 Bernie also told us when and where we should meet after the tour of the castle:

2.45pm back to [the] coach

 “We arrived at the castle at ca.10.35am,” Janet wrote: not actually at the castle, but at a parking place some 1200 yards west of it (as the crow flies). To the north of the parking place was another castle, Schloss Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig II had been brought up.
 “[John] decided to walk part of the way up with the ‘Hong Kong people’, but I had felt very travel sick and couldn’t face that. Instead, I took a horse and carriage. It was fun!”


Carriage ticket

 In fact, I went all of the way up with the “Hong Kong people” to the gatehouse at the east end of the castle, but returned to an area (Neuschwansteinstraße 20) “part of the way up” near the castle where there shops selling souvenirs and refreshments, and a viewing platform which was provided also with seats and tables under a shelter.
 The locations from where and to where Janet got the two-horse carriage are shown in blue on the map below (i.e. “Kutsche zum Schloss Neuschwanstein” and “Schloss Neuschwanstein (Kutsche)”). So from where she got off the coach, she had to walk up a further 260 yards to Neuschwansteinstraße 20, where she found me; and from there it was another 200 yards around to the gatehouse of the castle.


Showing the way from Parkplatz P4 to Schloss Neuschwanstein
Click on image to enlarge.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 10:38:30
Views from Parkplatz P4, Alpseestraße, Hohenschwangau: (east:) Schloss Neuschwanstein


Wednesday 5 July 2023 10:39:14
Views from Parkplatz P4, Alpseestraße, Hohenschwangau: (east:) Schloss Neuschwanstein


Wednesday 5 July 2023 10:41:32
Views from Parkplatz P4, Alpseestraße, Hohenschwangau: (north:) Schloss Hohenschwangau


Wednesday 5 July 2023 10:50:42
At Parkplatz P4, Alpseestraße, Hohenschwangau: Bernie hands out tickets.






Our tickets: “Tour: 458”, “Entry 12:50”


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:01:38
On Neuschwansteinstraße: looking back at Schloss Hohenschwangau


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:03:56
On Neuschwansteinstraße: a glimpse of Schloss Neuschwanstein ahead


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:05:32
On Neuschwansteinstraße: horses and carriage returning from Schloss Neuschwanstein

The three “Hong Kong people”, with whom I walked up, lived in Somerset. They were: Ray, aged 50; his wife Rosanna, aged 40; and her older sister Cindy (45). There was an older woman in their party, a friend from Devon; she was the one who had seen a doctor yesterday about shingles on her feet. I’m not sure where she was at this precise time.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:14:24
On Neuschwansteinstraße


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:19:34
On Neuschwansteinstraße: another glimpse of Schloss Neuschwanstein


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:24:08
On Neuschwansteinstraße: Forggensee to the north


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:25:00
On Neuschwansteinstraße: St. Coloman’s Church, Schwangau


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:27:16
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:31:02
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20: views of Forggensee to the north


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:31:12
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20: views of Forggensee to the north


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:31:18
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20: views of Forggensee to the north


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:33:44
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20: Schloss Neuschwanstein to the south


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:35:58
At Neuschwansteinstraße 20: Schloss Neuschwanstein to the south

As I say, after we got to Neuschwansteinstraße 20 and I’d taken some photos, the “Hong Kong people” and I went around to the gatehouse,—


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:44:00
Schloss Neuschwanstein: gatehouse at the east end


Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:46:28
Schloss Neuschwanstein: Rosanna and Cindy at the gatehouse

—then we went back to Neuschwansteinstraße 20, where Janet’s and my paths crossed.
 “I met [John] and we bought a drink,” Janet wrote. “He also had a ‘hunter’s sausage’! At 12.35pm we met Bernie outside the castle and went inside about 10 minutes later.”
 So it was that the photo (below) of the plan of the castle (located at the red blob ● labelled “Standort”), where we met Bernie and others, was taken at “12:25:04”, and the first photo after we passed through the gatehouse, of the “Unterer Schlosshof”, was taken at “12:36:42”.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:25:44
Schloss Neuschwanstein: plan


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:36:42
Schloss Neuschwanstein: waiting in the “Unterer Schlosshof” (lower courtyard)


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:39:20
Schloss Neuschwanstein, view over the southern wall of the “Unterer Schlosshof”: the Marienbrücke


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:39:28
Schloss Neuschwanstein, view over the southern wall of the “Unterer Schlosshof”: the Marienbrücke


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:40:12
Schloss Neuschwanstein: the “Viereckturm” (square tower)


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:40:28
Schloss Neuschwanstein: steps up to the “Oberer Schlosshof”


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:41:06
Schloss Neuschwanstein: waiting in the “Unterer Schlosshof” for our tour “458” to be admitted “12:50”

“Just before we were allowed in, the heavens opened,” Janet recalled. “We were in at 12.50pm. Stunning inside! I really did not expect that! Wow!…”
 We climbed the spiral staircase in the “Square Tower”, and proceeded along a corridor. I can’t remember what stairs up and down there were after that.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:51:50
Schloss Neuschwanstein: spiral staircase in the “Viereckturm”


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:53:08
Schloss Neuschwanstein: proceeding to the start of the tour proper


Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:55:32
Schloss Neuschwanstein: the start of the tour proper in the “Red Corridor”

Photography wasn’t allowed within the Palas. We had audio guides to carry with us, which conducted us from room to room. As we did go from one to another, there was a glimpse of a room fashioned like a rock grotto, which was undergoing repair or refurbishment so we couldn’t enter it.


Grotto, which was glimpsed while going between rooms
Josef Albert, ca.1886 (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München)

The most impressive rooms were the “Hall of the Singers” and the “Throne Hall”. Ludwig II was a fan of Wagner’s operas, so in many places there were paintings of people and scenes from Arthurian and Germanic legends. The “Throne Hall”, though, was decorated with sacred art, paying homage to the idea of royalty as bestowed by the grace of God.


Hall of the Singers
Sängerhalle (singer’s hall, music room), Neuschwanstein Castle, Upper Bavaria, Germany. Photograph by Joseph Albert 1886, postcard published ca.1890–1900. Detroit Publishing Co. print no. 17484.


Throne Hall
Throne room, Neuschwanstein Castle, Upper Bavaria, Germany. Photograph by Joseph Albert 1886, postcard published ca.1890–1900. Detroit Publishing Co. print no. 17479.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 13:25:30
Schloss Neuschwanstein: views west, of the Alpsee, from the Throne Room


Wednesday 5 July 2023 13:25:38
Schloss Neuschwanstein: view west, of the Alpsee and Schloss Hohenschwangau


Wednesday 5 July 2023 13:25:54
Schloss Neuschwanstein: views west, of the Alpsee, from the Throne Room

Janet wrote, “The tour lasted about ½-hour, and we were going to go to a bridge for views” — the Marienbrücke, seen from afar from the Lower Court earlier — “with the ‘Hong Kong people’, but we all decided not to because it was pissing it down! So we headed back down. We found a café [within the castle premises] but, as we didn’t have enough time, we headed off to find the coach. Despite wearing my pac-a-mac, my hair was soaked! My trainers also. Apart from that, I was OK. [John] wasn’t too bad — he had only a brolly — but his trainers were also wet through.”
 We didn’t have refreshments in the castle’s café, but we did purchase a large-format, colour-illustrated book “The Royal Castle of Neuschwanstein” from its shop.





On the way out of the castle, we passed the kitchen in a large, vaulted room, with a large, free-standing central stove.
 Our rendezvous was “2.45 back to [the] coach”, as I wrote; but, after we boarded the coach, I wrote that we “set out, 14:40”, going “back by [a] different route”. For we went through “Füssen, 14:49”. Although we’d seen a sign pointing to “Füssen” earlier, we’d turned off that road to get to the parking place at Hohenschwangau. We “entered Austria, 14:51”.
 I scribbled “Ehrenberg” as we approached it. There was a glimpse of “the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge… between the Ehrenberg Castle ruins and Fort Claudia, spanning the strategically important pass that these two structures were in part meant to guard” (I’m quoting Wikipedia here, not Bernie), but although I managed to get a photo of the ruins I was unable to snap the bridge in time.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:07:06
Views on the return journey: Ehrenberg Castle ruins

I noted a sign with “Innsbruck” and “Fernpaß” on it; but we’d been on the B179 Fernpassstraße since turning left into it after crossing the Austrian border west of Füssen.
 I noted that we went through “Lermoos, 15:22”, that we saw the “Zugspitze”,—


Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:25:40
Views on the return journey: the Zugspitze, seen from near Ehrwald


Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:25:50
Views on the return journey: perhaps the Griesspitze, seen from near Ehrwald


Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:27:06
Views on the return journey: the Zugspitze, seen from near Ehrwald

—and were “back in Germany, 15:35”. Bernie told us what tomorrow’s arrangements would be:

Meet tomorrow, 09:25 [changed to] 09:15
Breakfast from 08:00

I noted when we were in “Garmisch”,—


Wednesday 5 July 2023 15:56:46
Views on the return journey: glimpse of the Große Olympiaschanze ski jumping hill and ramp, Garmisch-Partenkirchen

—and that the “sun came out, 16:15. [The] sun [was] in [one’s] eyes [both] outward and [on] return.” We were “back in Austria again, 16:16”. In Seefeld, we “dropped off the Chinese [people] again”. So the friend of Ray, Rosanna and Cindy must have had a repeat appointment with the doctor. We “arr[ived] back [at the hotel], 16:28”.


I’m not sure when Bernie gave us this translation of “Please, no garlic!”, for Janet when she was eating out.

…
 According to Janet’s journal: “The rain had stopped, thank goodness. Back in our room [John] had a sleep whilst I washed my hair and ‘sorted my bits’. We set off to post [the] postcard to Chris, get €400, and eat! I’d had nothing since my fruit at breakfast, and [John] had only eaten a ‘hunter’s sausage’. It had started raining again. We posted the card, withdrew cash, then headed back to the restaurant we’d chosen en route.” This accords with the photographic evidence, below. In the first photo, at the lower left outside Bank 99, can be seen the post-box in which we posted the card. But we didn’t get the cash there. To the right of Bank 99 can just be seen the Ferienhotel Kaltschmid, Klosterstraße 276.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:07:02
Bank99, Klosterstraße 367, Seefeld in Tirol

In the second photo, taken after we passed the Ferienhotel Kaltschmid and turned left into Münchner Straße, ahead can be seen the bank at which we withdrew the cash at an ATM.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:10:42
Ahead: Raiffeisenbank, Münchner Straße 38, Seefeld

The third photo shows us back at the Ferienhotel Kaltschmid and about to enter.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:16:10
Ferienhotel Kaltschmid, Klosterstraße 276, Seefeld in Tirol

“We… headed back to the restaurant we’d chosen en route. It was a typical chalet building with balconies and plants and was called ‘Ferienhotel Kaltschmid’. Big place. Wooden tables, but covered in good tablecloths. Huge, real serviettes and quality cutlery. Smart. Very clean — [the] loos too. We had a candle lit for us. We ordered and it wasn’t long before we were served. [John] had a beer, a Schwarzbier and a typical meal of two big slices of two kinds of pork, a sausage, sauerkraut, and a big dumpling — and gravy. Big meal.” On the menu it was called “Bauernschmaus” (“Farmers’ Feast” or “Rustic Feast”). “He only left a bit of dumpling. I had two Coke Zero then a fantastic salad with grilled chicken breast. There were ‘leaves’, black olives, green olives, black grapes, green grapes, cucumber, grated carrot, sweet-corn, apple and pear! Amazing! Oh, and strawberries. Reckon it’s the best salad I’ve ever had. Delicious. Lots, but I managed it. I’d ordered bread, but only had a bit. Scrumptious. [John] had a grappa and we both had a coffee.”
 I wrote in my notebook “verlängerter”. I think I’d used the word before, for a coffee longer than an espresso, but had difficulty getting my mouth around it, so thought seeing written it would help. So there: I knew how to say “coffee longer than espresso” in three languages: americano (Italian), allongé (French), and verlängerter (German).


“Huge, real serviettes”: I can’t remember therefore how I came to be in possession of this paper napkin.


Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:42:06
Ferienhotel Kaltschmid, Klosterstraße 276, Seefeld in Tirol


Wednesday 5 July 2023 18:56:28
Ferienhotel Kaltschmid, Klosterstraße 276, Seefeld in Tirol

In the photo (above) can be seen some people at the next table. I wrote, “Family proved to be Dutch: man, woman, two daughters, with her mother. They’d been to Garda, Brenner, Seefeld, joined by her parents by train”.
 Janet wrote: “There was a family at the table next to ours: a young couple with two young girls and the woman’s parents. They’d been in Italy (Lake Garda) for a week and were staying in Seefeld a week — although the grandparents were returning home (a ten-hour train journey) tomorrow. The young man had been to Grimsby! We had a pleasant chat with them — told them our story of how we met.”
 So there’s a disagreement in the accounts. I thought they’d been to Italy and been joined latterly by her parents by train, but Janet’s account suggests that they’d been with them but the latter were departing by train tomorrow.
 The reason I wrote that they “proved to be Dutch” was that one of the girls wanted to drink her mum’s beer; of course, mum wouldn’t let her, but was taunting her by putting words in her mouth: “I want beer! I want beer!” I heard this as “Ich will Bier! Ich will Bier!” I asked the other girl, “Do you speak English? Ich spreche kein Deutsch.” At this her dad pointed out that they were from the Netherlands. So mum must, in fact, have been saying, “Ik wil bier! Ik wil bier!”
 “A good meal (we both enjoyed) in a smart restaurant (it was only €70 with a tip: very reasonable) and we enjoyed meeting the family. A very pleasant evening,” Janet concluded.


Bill, printed “19:47”

Back at the hotel, I transferred 54 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (20:33–20:34), then copied the image files from there to the Samsung computer’s “Pictures” (20:36). Janet ended the day’s journal entry: “We were back at our hotel by 8pm. It was raining! I had a shower, ‘sorted my bits’, and we were both in bed by ca.9.40pm. Another good day. We were knackered, though. It had been an early start.”

[Thursday 6 July 2023]