Neuschwannstein: A comparatively young castle perched atop one of the sloping mountains of the lower Alps, it is about as old as our own Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. The castle was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria for which he bankrupted the Bavarian state, never even living to see its construction completed. It's one of the most visited destinations in Europe with 1.3 million visitors each year. So many, that while our group explored the grounds we made a game out of trying to guess the nationalities of the passersby. First we hiked up from the lower Hohenschwanngau where King Ludwig grew up. The trail snaked up through the woods and then continued over the path of a waterfall along a metal grate suspended over the water. After that steps, steps and more steps before we finally came out at the top where we had an amazing view of the castle from the Marienbridge over the falls. We had to squeeze in among the many tourists but it was definitely worth it, with a perfect view of the castle. Then we continued on to the castle itself where we went on a guided tour of the inside. With only 14 out of over 100 rooms finished, the tour seems short for such a large castle, but the extravagent decorations within are definitely worth seeing.
Hiking in the Alps is definitely more enjoyable if your hiking down the mountains. Minus two, our group took the cable car up among the clouds to the start of our hike. The mist was thick at first but then as we started down the trail and the sun started to come out the sky cleared quite a bit. The resulting view was breathtaking. Massive peaks of bare rock towering above us from all sides and outlining the little town of Garmisch far down in the valley below. Panoramas impossible to capture with any of the cameras we had with us, and tiny, bright mountain flowers at our feet along the trail. As many from the group will no doubt describe, the narrow trail down was definitely difficult in some places where the loose rocks and the steep drop proved a challenging combination. At the end of the trek we calculated; six hours of hiking. Enough for one day? Most definitely not. Many went on to down-town Garmisch where we found last-minute gifts and souvenirs to bring back to the United States while a few went for a swim at the wave pool nearby.
Garmisch was a perfect end to an awesome trip. A last hike to the ruins overlooking our hostel concluded our final night with a tradition I started a few years ago in 2007. I don't know that we'll ever find an official route to the ruins of Werdenfels but its always an adventure to visit. The stone walls are all thats left of the castle that was built around 1294 and remains one of my favorite places to visit in Germany. Afterall, how often do you get to discover some forgotten ruins and watch the sunset through an over 700 year old window?
From what I've heard everyone has gotten home safely without any major complications. I will be in Germany for a little longer until my flight on Tuesday when I'll be heading back home to Morganton. The trip went by so fast this year and I think we got to experience more than ever before. Every year it is perfected more and more by Herr Körner so that after 20 years only the most eventful and exciting destinations are included in the few weeks students have to experience Germany. Each trip can only be better than the last. I look forward to meeting the group for next summer and accompanying my dad on many GAPP trips in the future.
Until then auf wiedersehen!
Erika Körner
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