Around Bavaria - Castles and Palaces

We had two tours scheduled for our time in Munich.  The first was on our first full day in Munich, however we spent it about 120 KM south of Munich in the direction of the Alps.  This was a day to see a famous castle, a palace and a small Alpine village.   We left Munich early in the morning and rode in a comfortable bus, out of the city and into the Bavarian countryside.

As you go through the rural countryside of Bavaria, you will often see "onion dome " churches in many villages and often in the middle of nowhere like the one below.  In Russia, Onion domes usually indicate Russian Orthodox churches.  In Germany you will only see Onion domes in Bavaria, and they are always on Catholic churches.

Our first stop was at Schloss (castle) Linderhof.   It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.  We took a tour inside, and it was incredibly ornate, however no photos were allowed inside.

Surrounding Linderhof Palace were beautiful gardens and grounds, with fountains and statues everywhere you looked.

After leaving Linderhof Palace we went to the small village of  Oberammergau in the foothills of the Alps: famous for its Passion Play, performed by the villagers every ten years (except during the World Wars) since 1634, in thanksgiving for the end of the Black Death.  Their next play will be next year in 2020.  Above is the playhouse they use.  During the years when there is no Passion Play it is used for many other kinds of performances.

In a small park in Oberammergau we found the beautiful fountain and statue, that Martin at first thought was Don Quixote, but was set straight by Marlene who informed him it was Jesus.....

On our way out of  Oberammergau  on our way to Schloss Neuschwanstein we passed through another small village where the houses were painted with fairy tale scenes like the one above.

We finally arrived in mountainous area where King Ludwig II of Bavaria spent his childhood, and later built the spectacular Schloss Neuschwanstein which is directly across  a small valley from his boyhood castle, above Schloss Hohenschwangau.  Schloss Neuschwanstein (below in the fog) is easily visible from Schloss Hohenschwangau (above) which was actually the Castle of Ludwig I, Ludwig II's father.  An obvious case of the son showing up the father.

Schloss Neuschwanstein is truly spectacular even in the fog.  It is supposedly the castle that Walt Disney modeled his Disneyland Castle after.

Ludwig II died  (under mysterious circumstances) before Neuschwanstein was completed and never even spent a night in it.  We also took and amazing tour inside, and once again were disappointed that no photos were allowed inside.  Tried to make up for it by getting plenty of pictures on the outside.

Marlene outside Neuschwanstein.  To get up to the castle you have to stop in a little village at the foot of the mountain that the castle is on and then walk up a very steep road for about 45 minutes to get to the castle.  They have some horse carts that can bring people up but the wait for them is longer than just walking.

Main door and inner courtyard below.

One more selfie before we leave Schloss Neuschwanstein and head back to Munich.