Fussen

Fussen is one of the main cities in the Allgau, although it is still miniscule in size. There is basically one main street that goes through, with small shops lining it. Despite the city's small size however, it still sports a sizable castle and one of the nicest churches I've ever seen, decorated with the works: painted ceiling frescoes, carved statues in every alcove, sculpted plaster mouldings everywhere, and multicolored marble walls and pillars. Even though this is a tourist destination, it is certainly not overcrowded and even the tourist population is almost entirely German (with the exception of at Castle Neuschwanstein where the Asian tours strike hard).

Castle Neuschwanstein is the epitome of a fairy tale castle. King Ludwig II, suspected crazy guy (just like Ludwig I who built the Ludwigsburg palace I saw back at the start of the trip), went a little Michael Jackson and decided to build this escape from reality. It's constructed with romantic flair, rooms are decorated with motifs describing Wagnerian opera tales like Tristan and Isolde. It even has a realistic cave grotto with stalactites and a waterfall, which apparently was a romantic thing back in the 19th century. The castle remains unfinished, however, as building stopped when the king was found dead in a lake in Munich. Regecide was never proven. Anyways, Neuschwanstein is very well known today as it is the model on which Walt Disney based the Disney castle on.

By a lakefront, on Monday evenings a group plays the big alpine horn, the really long curved instrument that has to rest on a stand. Unfortunately the one Monday I was here, there was a thunderstorm. It really came down. Up until now I've been really lucky with the weather, but this time it has shown me who is boss. So despite seeing all the tracht clothing and leiderhosen I'll ever need, I suppose I haven't completed my Bavaria experience.