Once apon a time...

... in a land far, far, away lived a man in search of an abode suitable for his beautiful, sleeping, princess. Why, she could not wake up in any old castle! Nor could her memory be attached to a structure anything less striking than she, herself, was. So the man looked high and low, he traveled vast continents, battled mighty dragons, and swam the mighty oceans to find his inspiration. It wasn't until his journey reached Bavaria that the search was over. There it stood, atop the mountains, as magical as any castle ever before seen. It was all the inspiration Disney needed to create a castle for his Sleeping Beauty.

And if Walt Disney found it beautiful enough to replicate, for what is known as the symbol of Disneyland, then it has to be special. The Neuschwanstein castle is one I've wanted to go to for years, all thanks to pictures I've seen and my visits to the most "Magical Place on Earth". Now that I've been to my fair share of European castles, I can honestly say that Mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein castle is by far my favorite. King Ludwig spent most of his life's savings (and that of his family's) on the construction of the magnificent building. His entire vision was based on Wagner's operas. The only tragic part is that Wagner and King Ludwig died before it's completion. Fully completed or not, the castle stands supreme. It's situated on a mountain that overlooks the entire valley and is accessible by bus, horse drawn carriage, or by foot. Although it appears, from a distance, that a hike to the castle would take nearly an hour, it took us no longer than 25 minutes to arrive at it's gates. All but one of the 16 completed rooms were lined with murals on the walls depicting one of Wagner's pieces. The murals weren't only confined to the rooms alone, but the corridors as well. And the one room that does not have murals adorning the walls was turned into a cave... an all out cave, with stalagmites and stalactites and one opening that lead to an indoor garden/reading area. It houses two chapels -one public, one private-, a state of the art kitchen (at least it was at the time), a concert hall where Wagner's music was to be played (and actually is once a year), indoor plumbing, and central heating. It truly is a castle well before it's time, and absolutely amazing.

It's just a shame that in the middle of construction King Ludwig was killed, or committed suicide - no one is quite sure because after his body was found in the river it was immediately buried, thus hindering any possibility of discovering what truly happened. But crazy or not, I hardly doubt his death was an act of his own accord, especially with the prospects of living happily ever after in such a magestic castle.