new swan stone (neuschwanstein)

Still pink from our day in the Salzburg sunshine on Friday, we woke up Sunday morning to a whole new world. A snow covered one. I guess there is truth to the Austria saying, "Spring, Spring, it does what it wants." Unwilling to fall victim to the sudden change in weather, we gobbled up some of Andy's from-scratch cinnamon rolls and headed for Neuschwanstein.

The castle was commissioned in 1869 by Ludwig II of Bavaria and - fun fact - served as the primary inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland. How magical! And although it was never finished, the castle was opened for the paying public after Ludwig's mysterious death in 1886.

Because of the weather, the busses weren't running, which meant we had a long and wet walk up and down from the castle. We persevered - the "Good Sport" award goes to Lenny who was in sneakers and ended up totally soaked - and enjoyed our visit.

It was by a stroke of luck we got tickets on the last tour of the day, which happened to be led by a most unusual tour guide. We listened intently and tried desparately to understand the accent. Ultimately, we decided he must be part Irish, German, and pirate. I should also mentioned he was the spitting image of Tobias from Arrested Development. Taking videos and photos was strictly forbidden whilst on the tour but I managed to sneak this little bit of entertainment. Listen closely.

I wish I could say our view from the top looked like this…

… but it looked more like this.

And we looked like this.