An evening in Buxtehude - Germany's country side

It was an invitation from my client AEROTEC, to go for a short tour of Germany's country side and we decided to visit Buxtehude, 50kms from Hamburg in the state of Lower Saxony. Horst, GM in Airbus (husband of Susanne, AEROTEC) joined us in the trip. We set off from our office to Altes Land, the biggest contiguous fruit orchard in Central Europe – extends over 143 sq km (55 sq mi). 76.8% of the trees are apples, 12.7% are cherries. We visited the Luhe - Schulau Fahre, the ferry point and had a nice view of Luhe river merging with the River Elbe. We stopped at a Cherry plantation and had fresh cherries from the trees, raw, it has its own taste!!
Altes Land is so fertile, thanks to Elbe. The fertile land led to the development of a culture dominated by farming. The villages are known as Marschhufendörfer, a special kind of village where the farmyards are set along a street with the land directly behind them. A characteristic feature is the richly-decorated half-timbered farmhouses with their elaborate gateways. Horst said, the gateway is called "Wedding Gate", the gate opens only for a married couple!!

Horst shared so many information about Airbus, Hamburg, Buxtehude and the best partner for a trip. I had great time discussing with him. He suggested us to go for a walk in the village and picked us from another point, which is around a km away, the walk was gorgeous, so beautiful that I didnt want to go in car.

We crossed the small town called York and it was too cute. York is the town where Horst stays for the past 25 years, he said the charm of the town, never allowed him to think to move to a new city, he showed the beautiful old houses built on the dyke, it was indeed a treat to eyes. We reached buxtehude and the weather was not that great, it rained sometime and hence we cancelled the plans for a walk in Buxtehude.

Horst and Susanne are the best german couples -I have met in this four months of short stay; they are made for each other, my impression of german couples changed considerably after meeting them! they are together (like our parents) for the past 30 years and they have a son "who lives with them" eventhough he is 24. Strange facts for a German family, but it is TRUE :)

Susanne booked an indian restaurant for dinner. Both the Germans enjoyed the indian food and its taste. Horst was much interested to know about our culture and rich heritage. I proposed him to tour our India, both of them nodded - a German nod, means sure!!! I will be happy to host them in India and will show them, what our country is...

Neuschwanstein Castle Conquered!!!

Was King Ludwig II a madman or a genius? Think about it for a second. On one hand, the King spent all his fortune and then some to build fairy-tale castles for his personal pleasure. On the other hand, Bavaria is now the top tourist destination in Germany, thanks, in large part to...well, you know, the same guy.
Now, more than 140 years after the foundation of Neuschwanstein had been laid, it has become one of the most photographed, most famous, and most talked about castles in the world. Many people are familiar with Neuschwanstein without even knowing it. What do you think the sleeping beauty castle in Disneyland was modeled after?

I visited Neuschwanstein on 30May09 with Naresh, Sushanth, Pritesh and Shekar from Stuttgart. It was a 3Hrs Ford car drive by Naresh (including our breaks in a beautiful lake shore and a cute unused railway track for more than an hour) and we reached Shwangau, a tiny village at the bottom of the hill from where I could see the castle in the distance. All I could say was, "Wow. How the hell did they build this in the 19th century?" The view was magnificent. And it was about to get only better. We got the tickets for 8Euros p.p, it was a 15:10 English tour of the castle (you cannot tour the castle on your own), so we decided to take the bus instead of 25 or 40-minute walk up the hill to the castle or the other option of horse carriage. The bus drive was 5mins and they dropped us in a common point from where we can go to the Castle as well as to the Marienbrücke (or Queen Mary's Bridge - named after the kings Mother). We decided to visit the bridge and then the Castle.

The Marienbrücke (brücke is bridge in German) was an engineering wonder in it's day, built in 1866, it was an wooden bridge later steel reinforced. It spans the Pöllat Gorge at a height of over 100 metres (300 feet), and below is the spectacular Pöllat Falls, an alpine stream that plunges 50 metres (149 feet) into the valley. The view from this bridge is the most spectacular photo the average tourist can get. If you have Acrophobia, pls be cautious!!! The best place to enjoy the height, with the info in mind that its a 140yrs old one with wooden blanks! The views were awesome, the sad part was we admired the view, took lots of snaps and returned to Castle. After my trip, my collegue told me this fact (may be it is helpful for my friends who read this and visit there):

One can take even better photo shot if he walks to the other side of the bridge and climbs up the mountain. It seems, the trail gets pretty rocky and steep, about 10 minutes into the climb, notice a cross. From the cross, one can notice a loose trail going up. A thin wire blocks this trail, just step over it, and continued to climb. The higher one climb, the better the views of the castle, it seems. I missed it, may be I can state this as another chance to travel Neuschwanstein :)

The castle tour lasted only 35 minutes, and it wasn't anything special. Some interesting facts of the Castle:

• Ludwig II was a big fan of Richard Wagner and he surrounded himself with paintings of characters and events from Wagner's operas.
• One room I found really impressive; between the living room and the study room, the King built an artificial cave! What a wild imagination!
• Be warned that during the tour of Neuschwanstein, you ascend a total of 165 steps and descend a total of 181 steps.
• On the floor of the Throne hall ther is a mosaic of concentrically ordered animals and plants, it was awesome.
• While going up the spiral staircase, pause for a moment and look up when you reach the top - you will see a huge carved Palm Tree supporting the roof of the staircase. This is a little 'hidden' item that the guide doesn't point out!
• The guide also doesn't point out that Ludwig was arrested halfway up the main spiral staircase. (I got this info from the Official guide book I bought from the castle store!)
• Historical info: King Ludwig II was certified insane and his uncle took over the regency in 10Jun1886, on 12Jun1886 he was arrested in this Castle steps, and on 13Jun1886 his body floated in Lake Starnberg together with the psychiatrist who certified him insane, by the way, still his death is a mystery!

On return, we wished to go to the falls and started climbing down, by 20mins we reached the bottom and the view of the bridge from there was magnificient. We relaxed sometime and trekked down hill parallel to the transparent water stream. It was too good, reached our car and got back to Stuttgart thinking that the trip got over...

Nopes, just a 15mins drive, we spotted a lake (Weissensee) and decided to visit it. It was so beautiful, the best place to be in sunset, with calm big lake infront of the gigantic Alps... no words to explain the view, better enjoy the below snap! The trip's best conclusion :)
King Ludwig II intended Neuschwanstein to be "one of the most beautiful [places] ever to be found." With all the modern publicity and fame, I had high expectations. And you know what, Neuschwanstein lived up to the hype but the important point is :

It is incomparable to our great Indian palaces and forts, may be, poor King Ludwig II never heard about our country and expertise!!!

As many asked what 'Neuschwanstein' means, I thought I will add few facts about that:

The name Neuschwanstein means "new swan rock" and swans are another reoccurring theme throughout the castle. The swan was the King's favorite animal. They are found in everything from woodwork to fixtures in all shapes and sizes.