picture perfect

Neuschwanstein, 2013

I've mentioned this before, but social media doesn't always tell the full tale. As much as I try to talk honestly about our travel when I post on Instagram, I don't always fill in all the details.

For example, a couple of times over the years I have shared the photo above on Instagram as a throwback to our trip to Germany at the end of 2013. I usually post the photo without any commentary and leave it at that. But there's a story and here it is:

When we went to Germany in 2013, we didn't have SIM cards in our phones and relied on wifi in our accommodations. (A lesson that we finally learned the hard way on a later trip.)

Neuschwanstein was high on our list of things we wanted to see, so we booked our first-ever Airbnb near the town of Schwangau. In the early 2010s a lot of hotels and rental homes still didn't provide free wifi and the tiny flat we rented fell in that category. (We now always make sure we have a rental with wifi.)

The reason this is relevant is that we did not reserve our tickets to the castle in advance and figured we'd just get them there on-site.

Be ye not so stupid.

We were visiting a major tourist attraction the week after Christmas when a lot of people were off from work and had time to fill. When we got there, the place was hopping. The line to buy tickets was long and I mean looooooooong. We briefly debated changing our plans, but we only had that day to see Neuschwanstein because the next day we were driving on to Venice.

We were in that line for more than two hours. Two hours standing outside in southern Germany near the Alps in late December. Surrounded by smokers. And watching out constantly for people trying to cut the line.

And by the time we reached the ticket window, the only remaining tickets for a tour of the castle were late in the afternoon. So we had a few more hours to kill. Mostly outside. In December. Have I mentioned that it was cold?

So we killed time. We got lunch and sat inside enjoying the warmth of the cafe. Then we wandered around and explored the grounds a bit. And eventually, we meandered up the mountain to the castle itself, where we again stood in line to go inside.

And after all that, the castle didn't wow us. Neuschwanstein was built in the 1800s and never fully inhabited before Ludwig II died, so it's not finished, nor fully furnished, and lacks the character found in so many other castles.

All the same, I am glad we visited, in spite of it all.

And by golly the castle sure is photogenic.