Fussen - Germany in the forests

Fussen is a tiny town in Germany virtually on the boarder of Switzerland. That is to say, Switzerland is just on the other side of the Alps… Fussen is close to where “mad” Kind Ludwig built his castle. It is in the middle of forest lands, perched on a mountainside with views to everywhere. Absolutely a picture out of a story book. Some say this is what Disney based Sleeping Beauty's castle on. This has been on my must-see list in Germany for ages. The castle where Ludwig grew up is just across the valley and within sight of the castle that he built when he was King of Bavaria.

There is a mystery about King Ludwig – they say that he went mad. He was arrested one night and taken away from the castle and accused of being mad. Later he died of mysterious causes prior to his trial. So no-one really knows what happened to him. However, as a case for his madness, when you visit his castle, you can appreciate a number of secret doors and a room on the third story of the castle that was built to look exactly like a cave. It’s a little disorientating to go between the King’s bed-chambers and his dining hall (both full of gold opulence and paintings) through a passage that looks like a cave, complete with stalactites! Weird – but who knows, maybe it had a special significance. King Ludwig also had a fascination with swans. So everything from his coat of arms to his castle is covered with swans in every nook and cranny.

One of the most spectacular views is from the bridge that you have to hike to through the forest. It takes in the castle and the valley below.

My absolute highlight here was walking through the forests from visiting the castles back to Fussen  (on well marked trails) for about an hour before I met anybody. The views were hidden behind trees, but when you happened upon a clearing, they were truly amazing and stretched to the horizon. It was also great to get away from the tourist crowds and appreciate the beauty of the forest.

The low of this particular stop is that I lost my camera and all the photos of Fussen on it. Really sad, so it’s only memory that I have now. So, I have no pictures to share with you of this amazing place. You’ll just have to use Google to satisfy your curiosity.

Needless to say, Fussen, otherwise, was a real highlight.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - the medieval town



My hostel



I always imagined Europe to be small. You know, the kind of countries that can fit into South Africa 10 times over and there would still be room for a bit of desert. I always imagined that any train trip in Europe (besides maybe Barcelona to Zurich) would take about 3 hours. But I have to say the trip from Prague to the tiny town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany has convinced me otherwise.

Getting to Rothenburg took about 6 hours by train and 5 different trains. The changes between trains were a bit of a trial. 4 minutes to change platforms and everything! That says a lot about the German trains working to the minute (and they really did). So finally I was on my last train – a quick 30 min hop to Rothenburg and glancing around at all the other passengers on the train with me.

A view of the town

There was a small American girl sitting somewhere behind me with an accent that couldn’t be ignored who kept asking “Father, when will we arrive?” And then going on about how beautiful and fairy tale the holiday was going to be. She was so in awe of the holiday that it really made me smile.

Also, there were a couple of men in their 50’s who were jovially chatting in German and I ended up somehow (I can never quite remember how I end up joining random conversations), butting in and joining them in the conversation. They were also heading to Rothenburg. When I asked whether it was a business trip or holiday, one of the men reached into his luggage and dragged out a velvet red floppy medieval hat. He promptly plopped it on his head and struck a pose. I have to admit I giggled a bit at this and through a bit of broken English I managed to find out that Rothenburg was having a festival the weekend I was in town. The timing was perfect as the festival had started the evening before I arrived and was ending the day I left town.

The town square with the town hall

I think to understand the festival you have to understand three things – Rothenburg, while it used to be important, is a tiny town; second, it was spared the destruction of war and so is a perfectly preserved medieval wonder; third, the story goes that the town was saved due to a man who could drink an excessive amount of alcohol. Everybody celebrates this occasion (generally by trying to follow his example). The shops I came across were none of the normal brands. The signs for the shops were not the neon flashing things you find in a city, but were intricately made metal hangings set out over the shop front as in the olden days. It was the type of town you could imagine rounding a corner and meeting a knight on a big horse with lots of armour or maybe just a simple farmer pulling a wagon of potatoes and carrots.



View of the town square from the top of the town hall



The festival was a historical festival and everyone from babies and toddlers to old men with beer bellies were dressed in full medieval costume, from hair and hats to shoes.  There were parades and people dancing, various groups playing music for beer or for fun. There were little boys running after each other with wooden swords, half chickens being slow cooked over open fire pits, wagons, horses, parties popping up around every corner, a lot of beer drinking and of course – a lot of mostly German tourists.  

The Shepherd's dance

So I explored a town all dressed up as if it really was still in the Medieval days. I watched a play all in German about the saving of Rothenburg, including a re-enactment of the drinking of about 3.5 litres of alcohol at one go. They had however changed the beverage from wine in the old days to beer now. I watched the parades, climbed towers, walked along city walls and visited the beer garden for good steak rolls cooked over an open fire. Yum…  



Fancy dress



There was also the shepherd’s dance which was about 30 minutes or so of dancing performed in costume. It was the type of place I would have loved to share with people. But just as I was starting to feel lonely, I met a German woman and went geocaching with her.

And after that, I met a Taiwanese lady at the hostel who spoke English and we ended up touring my last day in Rothenburg together. We wondered the streets and city wall and visited the Medieval law museum (if you can call it law – it was rather harsh) and took a walking tour of the town together in order to get the whole story in English.

The re-enactment of the saving of Rothenburg

Rothenburg began as a castle in 1142 and developed into a town that by the 15^th centruary was one of the most important towns in the area. The full story of the saving of Rothenburg happened during the 30 year war in Europe 1618 to 1648. Rothenburg was a Protestant town and was surrounded and taken by the Catholic armies.  All the protestant important people were put in jail. But a clever housekeeper came and offered the Catholic leader wine in a special glass – enough to hold about 3.5. litres. The story goes that the Catholics were so impressed with this gift that they indicated that should one of the protestant leaders be able to down the whole glass of wine, Rothenburg would go free. The mayor took up the challenge and thus saved Rothenburg.

Pinchian and I ended the day after the closing ceremony of the festival at the beer garden. They mixed us a light larger (half alcoholic and half not). Have to say I think that was the best beer I’ve had ever.

Rothenburg was amazing at that moment in time – I was sitting next to a Taiwanese woman who was learning how to teach Mandarin while in Germany and we were toasting German beer in English amoung people who were in medieval dress! I love the way travel works! I was in Germany experiencing its culture and learning about Taiwan at the same time.

the knights around the corner



A view of Rothenburg



From the town wall



The ending parade - no one wanted to leave!



Ending parade

Cheers!



Yummy biscuit balls typical of this area




Town square at night




My favourite photo of Rothenburg



Prague - city of spires and ghost stories

Prague is a city of spires and stories. It is a city with, debatably more ghost stories than even Dublin (Although I’m sure the Irish would have something to say about that).

Wenceslas Square

I arrived at the train station a little over-awed with everything I’ve seen so far and needing some down time, but determined that I would enjoy my time in Prague. I found that my determination was completely unnecessary…

I walked from the metro station to my hostel, which is about 2 blocks and I fell in love with the city. The buildings are fairly well maintained, painted different soft colours lining the street, a bit like a length of colourful lace. In between you get the old buildings that have stood as solid giants in a changing city, blackened by the smoke of years. You obviously also get the obligatory McDonalds and building repairs. The trams through the streets give the city a Western European feel but you know that you are in a post-Communist country on the East side. But more than anything, you get down town and you notice the hundreds of spires of Prague. Beautiful and haunting, old and blackened. Metal woven crosses garnish the sky where the main religion in Prague is atheism.



Wow - first view of square



My hostel was stunning here. 5 soft white beds in a room (no bunk beds!) and a bathroom for the 5 of us. Clean and light. Once I arrived, I started chatting to other travellers and met Elizabeth. We decided that an evening trip into the old town would be a grand idea.

So, we trundled our way down to Old Town Square and I experienced one of those “Oh Wow” moments that you get once in a blue moon. The road we were following opened up through archways to a huge square. There was a huge astronomical clock outlined with gold and with hundreds of tourists milling around under it waiting for the performance it puts on every hour. There were statues and churches and stalls selling slowly roasting pork, a rolled pastry cooked on a rotisserie then rolled in sugar and spices and of course beer. Many of the tours in the city start in this square and we came across a man dressed up as the Grim Reaper leading a ghost tour through the square. The costume was 7 foot tall with a great billowing black cape floating behind. He really looked the part striding through this ancient square.

Views of the Square

Views of the Square

Views of the Square

As normal though – this was tourist central. It is unfortunate really, but tourist central is generally known as that for a reason – it is really beautiful and something worth seeing. We took lots of photos and then wended out way on through to the famous bridge in Prague – St. Charles bridge.



View from the bridge



This bridge looks really medieval in my opinion. It has statues at various intervals, which are a mingle of people and crosses and other symbolism. The grey black statues, partial lighting, a gathering storm and silent flashing lightning gave the bridge an eerie feel. Visiting this place, you could imagine why people thought ghosts were real and the legends and stories grew. After some photo taking, we started moving back toward the hostel at pace – trying to out run the in-coming storm. We rounded the corner suddenly and jumped. The Grim Reaper was towering over us! As he led his tour group around us, we gathered our breath again and giggled at our fright.

The Zombie Bar

The storm came up fast and we didn’t quite make it to the hostel. At 11:30pm we were stranded in an alleyway 10 min walk from the hostel. The only thing to do was to wait out the storm and we looked around, trying to find a place to have a drink. The only thing open was the Zombie Bar which was tucked further down the alley. It looked as dodgy as the name and even had a skeleton draped around the whiskey bottles. But we weren’t the only ones stuck and we ended up having a really fun hour with an American couple before the rain let up and we made it back safely.

The Cathedral by the Castle

Over the next few days, I went on the free walking tour of Prague, the castle tour and took myself off to the Ghosts and Legends museum which has hundreds of stories recorded of the various legends and “ghosts” that occupy the streets of Prague. I really enjoy a good story and a bit of mythology, so this museum gave a lot of food for thought – although you start to see that Prague has a really dark side to it.

The free walking tours in Europe I find rather good and Prague was particularly impressive. Basically the system works that you are not charged an amount for the tour, rather at the end of the tour you tip the guide what you think the tour was worth within your budget. I think these tours are often better than the paying tours as the guides have to entertain you in order to get a tip! This means that you don’t get bored quite as much and I found that I tend to remember more.

A view from the castle area

Some strange gargoyles in the castle area

Our guide told a number of interesting stories. It was fascinating to listen to the story of the Golem (a clay man who comes alive to protect the Jewish people), the Jewish quarter and how Hitler didn’t damage the synagogues in Prague as he wanted to build a museum to the “dead race” and a little about Franz Kafka (the famous writer).

Ghost and legends museum

The Synagogue

There was also the story of the thief that lost his arm trying to steal a necklace from a statue of St Mary. His arm can still be seen hanging in the church today – (supposedly – well there is something hanging there at least!)

The story of the astronomical clock was also very interesting. As near as I can remember it, it goes as follows. There was a fine clock maker, the best in the known world. The King commissioned a clock to be built for the town square and the clock maker delivered a master piece! The king was thrilled and very proud of his clock. A few weeks later, the King heard that the clock maker was staying up late at night working on something. The king feared that he was designing another clock for another patron that would be better than his master piece. So he sent people to do his dirty work and ended up gauging out the clock maker’s eyes. The clock maker was actually working on improvements to the King’s clock … As revenge the clock maker asked his servant to take him to the clock and he reached in and pulled out some essential cog and the clock stopped working. For over 400 years, the king’s masterpiece clock did not work and no-one could be found that understood how to fix it. Serves him right in my opinion.

The astromonical clock

The clock works now, but it seems that no-one I met knows how to read it. On the hour the clock gives a performance, the tiny statues move and two doors open and you can see the “parade of the apostles”. Then the rooster on the clock gives a grand crow (well, it twitches a bit). In order to make this show a bit grander, a real live trumpeter plays from the top of the tower every hour up to 9pm (with the appropriate number of tourists watching). The clock also has 365 names written on it which supposedly are the acceptable Czech names that you can name your child. Should you wish to deviate, I was told you needed to submit your application to a nurse who may approve your chosen name!



Names on the clock





Anne and Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Anne (another person at the hostel) invited me sightseeing outside Prague to see the bone chapel. As far as I got the story, a monk went mad and started to create ornaments for the church from the bones of long dead people. Really disturbing in my opinion and not something that I wanted to see! So I skipped the gory tour and ended up wondering the streets of Prague instead.

I rather enjoyed taking a bit of a break and simply wondering around the city with no more on my mind than needing to buy my Aunt a pressie. One interesting thing I stumbled across was some graffiti that seemed to encapsulate the history of Prague. As consolation for not going with Elizabeth and Anne that day I met up with them later on for dinner.

Graffiti

The restaurants in tourist areas are generally expensive and not all that great – so I find the best thing to do is to walk away from the tourist areas to the back streets and try to find the locals. However, often just as good is asking the hostel where they recommend you should go. This way I found a reasonably priced place that actually served good Czech food. They also brewed their own beer. So, when I went out with Elizabeth and Anne, Anne got a taster of a number of different types. This included banana beer, nettle beer, coffee beer and the normal light wheat beer that I enjoy. Very interesting - the nettle beer was a luminous green colour and I thought Anne and Elizabeth rather brave to try it.

Communist dark soda
(They couldn't get Coke)
Tastes of Cola but with herbs

Anyways, I could go on about all the stories of Prague, but I think it best to stop there. Safe to say, Prague is a stunning city… one built on dark secrets and plenty of ghost stories.



Typical Czech meal - beef, sauce, berry sweet sauce and dumpling



Statue of Franz Kafka's dream.
He's riding on a giant and pointing out parts of the city.



The national theatre



Metronome - where Stalin's statue once stood. Lest we forget.



Some spires




View down to Wenceslas Square



St George and the Dragon is everywhere in Europe - from Turkey to Czech



Inside the Cathedral



A Gargoyle



Around Prague





Common tourist sight in shops




The crowd watching the clock chime




View from the top of the clock tower



The trumpeter



Close up of sky-line




Me at the top




And again...




About 9:30pm - view of Castle area





Close up




The square




And again...