Before There was Cinderella Castle - There was Neuschwanstein Schloss in Fussen - Germany

Today is Wednesday - July 11th - and I was supposed to be touring the
Nazi Rocket Works in Nordhausen - what went wrong?

As our train was passing through Munich - Lulu lured me to the
Haufsbrau House - and in a weaker moment - she had me boarding a
train to Fasson. Fasson is small Alpine German village in the middle
of nowhere. As a matter of fact - the train track came to an end
right in the downtown square. We got off the train about 10PM with no
hotel reservation - and our roller bags were creating a racket
rolling down the cobblestone streets. There were about 10 hotels -
and we just started shopping for prices. We stopped at a nice little
place that was 85 Euros and included a great breakfast.

Fassen is cold even in July - in the 40s. We had the heat blasting in
the room. It looks like the normal customers are skiers - the room's
floors were hardwood - and the decorations Bavarian. I was able to go
out in the town square and find some free internet - so I sent out
some mail and pictures.

The next morning we were up early to go to tour "Cinderella's
Castle." First we took a bus - then we took a horse cart - then we
walked the last 1000 yards up a steep hill.

The Neuschwanstein Castle is very pretty in a spectacular setting on
a plateau overlooking the mountains - valleys - lakes - and falls.
Ludwig II build it - in 1859 - but only got to live there for 180
days. He died mysteriously. Since the castle is so new by castle
standards - the condition was excellent inside and out. You would
think that they could come up with a better name than Neuschwanstein
for it. My spell checker cannot get used to it.

Lulu says that Disney used it to model the Cinderella Castle. To me -
a few details were used - but it looks like a completely different
castle. At any rate - we toured the castle for about 1 hour - then
took 2 buses back to the train station - and we were on the rails
again. There are lockers at the train stations where for 3 Euros - we
were able to put all our stuff.

As I type this - we are on one of those real fast trains - ICE -
Inter City Express. It is very smooth - fast - and the inside is
pretty and clean.

Back on track - we are on the way to Nordhausen. We will tour
Nordhausen tomorrow - Thursday - then take the overnight train to
Brussels in time to catch our 11AM flight back to New York City on
the 13th. We just pulled into Nuremburg.

Lucky Lulu - will spend here birthday - July 12th - at the Nordhausen
Mittelworks.

We have been traveling around Europe on first class Eurail passes.
The passes cost $570 each for 3 weeks. You could just hop on any
train - no ticket necessary - change your mind at the last minute -
and just go. There seems to be a train to go wherever you want to go
- when you want to go. We added it up - and we used about $1500 worth
for each of us - if we paid as we went. It is a shame we are using
the pass for only 10 days out of 21. The nice part is - no one checks
your bags for bombs - no taking your shoes off - no one goes thru
your shaving cream and shampoo - no charges for changing your time or
not buying early enough - all they do is look at your VIP pass.

Pictures of the castle will follow shortly.

For more information - write directly to harry@everhart.com