Europe has a long, convoluted, and often violent history fraught with war and mischief. Today, however, it is quite stable, and has a lot of interesting historical sites to see, more specifically in southern Bavaria, Germany. The site I am referring to is Castle Neuschwanstein. It was an initiative started and commissioned by King Ludwig II, with the intention of the castle being a retreat for the king and in honor of the composer Richard Wagner. The building is inspired by the architectural style of castle romanticism, as Ludwig II was fond of the stories and tales of old German knights in their castles. So, as a result he set out to build a structure themed around his interest of music and romantic notion of a knight .Unfortunately, the good king was only able to live in his vacation home for slightly less than half a year before his death.

Today, Castle Neuschwanstein is a tourist hotspot. I first visited the structure in January 2000, with the fortunate outcome of seeing it with a snow-draped background along with the scenery to the south. Leaves had fallen from deciduous trees, so the landscape looking south into the nearby town of Hohenschwangau near the Germany/Austria border was clear and incredibly beautiful. And then there was the castle itself, certainly more enthralling with its gothic architecture with the added theme of castle-romanticism inspired by Ludwig. However, not being allowed to take pictures (security reasons) inside the building was a bummer, knowing that the throne hall and study were the 2 most stunning rooms in the building. Another fascinating addition to the tour group was a piece of bread. Yes, a 100+ year old piece of bread was kept in a sealed glass box, partially evacuated of air, so that people could see the kind of bread used to eat back when it was made in the early 20th century. Overall, I strongly recommend seeing the castle and the nearby local towns. It was a humbling experience knowing more about the way people used to live, even though the residents of Castle Neuschwanstein only represented a minute section of the population.