It's okay to dream, right? We really enjoyed the palace at Linderhof, but it was so ornate and so gold, I really can't picture living there myself...maybe in the summer when the waterfalls are running?! But after seeing Neuschwanstein Castle (the one that supposedly inspired Walt Disney in the creation of Cinderella's castle), I told The Linguist I'd like a castle. It doesn't help that I've been reading Four Queens. It's the true story of four sisters, from a relatively obscure family, who all became queens during the 1200s. Margeruite married Louis IX, King of France. Eleanor married Henry III and became Queen of England. Sanchia married Richard (Henry's younger brother) who was later declared the King of Germany, making her Queen. And Beatrice married Louis' younger brother, and he was later declared King of Sicily.
I told The Linguist I don't want to be a queen...I just want the castle. I've read too much about the hardships and political power plays to want to rule a country, I just want a big house where we can have lots of company come and stay for months at a time and have rooms big enough to be concert halls. Of course, living in a castle would mean that somebody would have to clean the castle. And this makes me think of one of my favorite lines from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back right at the beginning where they're talking about the fact that the mother has decided the snow has to be shoveled. "Somebody, somebody had to you see...Then she picked out two somebodies -- Sally and me." (That's the best line of the whole book.) I have the feeling I'd fall into that somebody category when it actually came time to clean the castle.
Anyway, back to Neuschwanstein...Gothic castle, 6000 square meters (a mere 65,000 square feet!). A lot of it was never finished because Ludwig was declared insane (spending too much money on castles) and mysteriously died the very next day. (I repeat -- too much intrigue for me to be a queen!) There's a grotto (artificial cave) inside and a concert hall that he intended for private concerts since he was a recluse by this time. The kitchen was enormous, and since Ludwig was a night owl, the kitchen staff was on duty all night long. The head cook actually had an office near the kitchen with a daybed in it so he/she could catch some ZZZs whenever it was convenient. There were hundreds of winding stairs on several different staircases and the whole thing perches on top of a mountain. We rode in a horse-drawn carriage most of the way up the mountain and then had to walk the last 5 minutes or so. Our first views of the castle were magical. I hear that it's lovely in the spring and summer, but in the winter, with snow and ice hanging from the trees, it was no less than enchanting.
The rest of the town is quaint and charming, as well. There's another castle there where Ludwig's mother lived that we saved for a different day. We also enjoyed the most expensive hot chocolate ever at the only indoor eatery we could find. The wait staff spoke very little English and so we used hand signals and Pianogurl. She does surprisingly well, considering how little German she's studied and claims to know. We tried out the German sausages, several different strudels, something that was kind of like flan with a delicious apricot sauce, and some sort of schnitzel with fries. (Fries seem to be everywhere in Europe!)
Deep Thinker was offended by the whole affair. He doesn't like German hot chocolate -- it's richer and less sweet than what we're used to, and he was horrified at the idea of everyone eating off of the same plate --too many germs. He finally ate some fries and we ordered him some water. The Net managed to accidentally spill his full hot chocolate all over the table and down the wall. We were able to show the waiter the spill on the table, which he cleaned up immediately, but since the spill was at the far end of a long table, and the waiter didn't come back for a while after he cleaned the table, we couldn't show him the stuff dripping down the wall or the puddle under the table without making everyone stand up and disturbing the people behind us. I'm sure he found it after we left...all things considered, it seems a minor thing now...although it was traumatic enough at that time. It's all part of the adventure of traveling with kids!
I told The Linguist I don't want to be a queen...I just want the castle. I've read too much about the hardships and political power plays to want to rule a country, I just want a big house where we can have lots of company come and stay for months at a time and have rooms big enough to be concert halls. Of course, living in a castle would mean that somebody would have to clean the castle. And this makes me think of one of my favorite lines from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back right at the beginning where they're talking about the fact that the mother has decided the snow has to be shoveled. "Somebody, somebody had to you see...Then she picked out two somebodies -- Sally and me." (That's the best line of the whole book.) I have the feeling I'd fall into that somebody category when it actually came time to clean the castle.
Anyway, back to Neuschwanstein...Gothic castle, 6000 square meters (a mere 65,000 square feet!). A lot of it was never finished because Ludwig was declared insane (spending too much money on castles) and mysteriously died the very next day. (I repeat -- too much intrigue for me to be a queen!) There's a grotto (artificial cave) inside and a concert hall that he intended for private concerts since he was a recluse by this time. The kitchen was enormous, and since Ludwig was a night owl, the kitchen staff was on duty all night long. The head cook actually had an office near the kitchen with a daybed in it so he/she could catch some ZZZs whenever it was convenient. There were hundreds of winding stairs on several different staircases and the whole thing perches on top of a mountain. We rode in a horse-drawn carriage most of the way up the mountain and then had to walk the last 5 minutes or so. Our first views of the castle were magical. I hear that it's lovely in the spring and summer, but in the winter, with snow and ice hanging from the trees, it was no less than enchanting.
The rest of the town is quaint and charming, as well. There's another castle there where Ludwig's mother lived that we saved for a different day. We also enjoyed the most expensive hot chocolate ever at the only indoor eatery we could find. The wait staff spoke very little English and so we used hand signals and Pianogurl. She does surprisingly well, considering how little German she's studied and claims to know. We tried out the German sausages, several different strudels, something that was kind of like flan with a delicious apricot sauce, and some sort of schnitzel with fries. (Fries seem to be everywhere in Europe!)
Deep Thinker was offended by the whole affair. He doesn't like German hot chocolate -- it's richer and less sweet than what we're used to, and he was horrified at the idea of everyone eating off of the same plate --too many germs. He finally ate some fries and we ordered him some water. The Net managed to accidentally spill his full hot chocolate all over the table and down the wall. We were able to show the waiter the spill on the table, which he cleaned up immediately, but since the spill was at the far end of a long table, and the waiter didn't come back for a while after he cleaned the table, we couldn't show him the stuff dripping down the wall or the puddle under the table without making everyone stand up and disturbing the people behind us. I'm sure he found it after we left...all things considered, it seems a minor thing now...although it was traumatic enough at that time. It's all part of the adventure of traveling with kids!
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