The Romantic Road part 3
Monday 14th April After a pleasant drive on the Romantic Road we pulled into the town of Landsberg Am Lech. There was a large parking area which even had a place for motorhomes, which could also be used as on overnight stopover costing 7.50 for the night. Our destination for the day was Fussen so our stay in the town was only for a few hours. It was only a short walk to the old part of town over a small bridge which crossed the river Lech. We walked through the main street and then up the hill to a church overlooking the town. Of course we had to look [ABC tour of Europe] and it was Rococo in the extreme. A day has not passed when we have not been inside a church, they are all interesting and different. After walking down a narrow path back to the main road we visited yet another church before heading to a local café for some coffee and cake. It was time to keep moving and we set off again heading to the town of Fussen.
The drive through the Bavarian countryside was dotted with scenes of traditional houses and barns. The scenery became more mountainous with snow on the caps. As we came close to Fussen we saw a Church in a meadow with the Neuschwanstein Castle in the background. A place that has been on Jenny’s bucket list for years. We soon found the motorhome parking place surrounded by convenient shops and facilities and settled in for quiet afternoon.
Tuesday 15th April. We woke up to find a dusting of snow on our motorhome and the trees and mountains close by. We found this quite exciting and it made the scenery a magical sight for us. Excitedly we got ready to drive the short distance to Schwangau where we would be able to park and visit the 2 castle that the region is famous for. Snow dusted hills and trees made this a scene from a storybook and we were eager to buy our ticket for the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, so we made parked up and made our way to the ticket office. We had an hour to kill so we walked up the pathway and stopped to make a snow man and take photos. It was pretty cold and as the entry to the first place was restricted to ticket numbers we had to bide out time looking at the scenery, taking photos and perusing the souvenir shop. While doing this we heard our first Australian accent for 2 weeks and it ended up being a family from Cairns. We enjoyed being shown through Hohenschwangau, the tour guide being informative though it was run to a strict time table with the next tour nipping at our heels. We can’t imagine what it could be like in peak season and because it was a large group we had trouble all fitting in the one room together to hear the tour guide’s information. (Sorry guys no photo’s inside the castles.)
We had an hour break between tours and after a walk back to the town we thought it a good idea to buy our tickets for the bus that is the cheap option to get to Neuschwanstein. It was a bit of a wait and finally the bus arrived, packed on to the bus like sardines we rode the windy way up the hill to the drop off point. Hoping to get a coffee at the top we walked to the entrance to find it teeming with people and no place to buy something to drink. Oh well, more photos to take and sights to enjoy. When our number finally came up we entered with a large group for the English tour. Again it was run to a strict schedule and we tended to hang at the back to enjoy a bit more of the atmosphere without being cramped by the others. The castle was quite impressive, dark, theatrical and excessive in its grandeur making it hard to believe someone would want to live in it. Tour done, we found the café and enjoyed a much needed coffee and of course cake before walking back to the bridge for a photo opportunity and then to the bus stop where we again had to endure a cramped bus ride down to the base of the hill. Back to the motorhome and returned to the parking place for the night.
