Saturday morning we left Switzerland and headed for Bavaria - the area/culture that probably comes to mind when you think of "Germany"... Heidi, beer halls, yodeling, castles, polka music. Our first stop after a scenic drive from Switzerland back to Germany (dipping into Austria and Liechtenstein along the way) was Hohenschwangau Castle ("high swan land") - the first of the King's Castles. I've learned more about the Wittelsbach family (which ruled Bavaria 700+ years), "Mad" King Ludwig, the Habsburgs, and Sissi the empress of Austria than I'd ever imagined I would. A very interesting and often tragic history...
Hohenschwangau was used as the Wittelsbach summer hunting lodge until 1912- built in the 12th century, ruined by Napoleon, and rebuilt in 1830 by Ludwig's father King Maximilian II. As the boyhood home of Ludwig, it was here that he dreamed up and watched the construction of his fairy-tale castle across the way.
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