The Land of Fairy Tale

"Noy-shwann-shtainynn" Ralf, my Grad school friend tirelessly corrects me. "If you want to say it right, it's NOYSHWANSHTAINYNN not NOYSHWYSHTAINYNN. You are calling it the new "pig" stone instead of the new "swan" stone." That finally catches my attention. Aw so I've been butchering the German language all this time when I tell my coworkers back in US that I am going to see the real Cinderella castle in Bavaria, the new PIG stone. :P

I start screaming and running towards it the moment we park at the foot of the mountain, excited like a six year old. I have always thought a fairy tale castle would look like this, tucked in the mountains with clouds and trees around, hundreds of rooms in the grand palace. My imagination runs wild about how the mad king Ludwig created this and it must be wonderful to be his queen because a man like this must be full with imaginations and their love story must be full of romance and passion. All the fairy tales I read when I was a little girl bubble up in my brain. I am intrigued by this pretty thing in front of me, unable to tell between fantasy and reality.

Ralf, being the sensible German, shrugs and says "Nah, he's crazy and unfit for a king. He totally bankrupted Bavaria for his castles." Well, for those who only care about the end product and better views, I already spring to Marienbruke (Mary's Bridge) for a better view of the castle. There, is the lake Newschwanstein overlooks and the vast Bavarian plain with lovely little white houses under red roofs.