March 21, 2013

Sleeping Beauty

Of all 14 days in Germany, this is the creme de la creme of my winter holiday. It also marks a special day in my life’s history when i first witnessed snow falling down from the sky, softly landing all over my body creating icy polka dots so cute i could just scream and die. You should see the look at Leo’s face instead of mine; he had promised that he will show me snow, as i looked askance at his optimism saying “but you’re not God!”. Until today i still can’t decide who was happier to see me happy – him or myself?

Like all huge and strong Germans do, we started our day with a hearty breakfast to warm our stomachs. i picked a cosy table setting nestled at a quiet corner of the hotel diner located right next to a big window wallpapering this:

Snow powdered the frozen mountains like icing sugar does on cakes. i squeezed my tiny toes, nicely wrapped inside my warm brown boots and let them dance a little to release some over flowing excitement the magnificent scene just oozed. Leo looked at me amusingly with his orange rimmed, big green eyes as i wondered if my enthusiasm was contagious. In the midst of all that unspoken gaiety, i was busy making pockets in fresh warm buns by creating slits at their sides, tucking in thick butter blocks just to watch them melt and soak my bread with rich fatty goodness. Then arrived our scrambled eggs, which filled up the remaining space of our small table perfectly. i especially loved the bits of hams that simply added some texture to an otherwise boring a.m. dish. Once done sipping my tea like an old lady who has all the time in her life, we finally lifted our asses to queue for tickets.

This was the part that i dreaded the most but lucky us it didn’t take long. Within 8 minutes we were both holding our tickets in gloved hands, figuring out where is best to keep them safe so they don’t go missing when our turn comes to visit the elegant castles, namely Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neuschwanstein.

{Schloss Hohenschwangau, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria}

As we had time to kill, Leo decided we take a walk around the fairytale-like Schwangau town and into the forest where we shot this. i even climbed up a hunting point the way real hunters do! Embarrassingly, i have to admit that my mind was going all Twilight, Edward Cullen, and Taylor Lautner up there. Who could blame such tragic brain invasion when the set looked exactly the same like in the movies? We got some findings from the woods but didn’t take them home. Instead, we captured pictures to be preserved as one of the best memories we collected together that winter. Be it the ducks that swam bravely in the cold clear lake reflecting silver pebbles, or lazy mosses that coated the sleeping tree trunks, my favorite shot is still the one with wild red cherries ornamenting naked branches right in the middle of the freezing forest. Here i am sharing these beautiful shots with you:

{where’s my toy gun?}

The last 30 minutes before our tour started, we ran (literally ran) through the museum as if we needed to prove our kiasu-ness as tourists from Asia. The entrance fee was free for those who stayed overnight at our hotel, hence i had an undeniable feeling that it’d be wasted if we didn’t go. Thus even though museums are not really my thing, we did it ambitiously anyway:

The tour inside the first castle (below) was a short and sweet one. We couldn’t take pictures inside, so here are loads taken outside:

{shower tub for knights. think jacuzzi those days!}

{all furred up. all that’s left to do is purr~}

{the castle’s kitchen – my favourite section of every palace}

While waiting for the horses to pick us up (like how King Ludwig II probably did in the olden days), we managed to defrost a little by sipping double layered paper cups of hot chocolate. i gasped in terror when i saw the steam from my beloved beverage rose up and disappeared in matters of seconds into thin air, as if the evil winter was kidnapping my only available source of heat. Thankfully the horses arrived soon enough so i had ‘no choice’ but to down every last drop of cocoa love faster than the wind, before we galloped our way up the second castle.

{winter tyres – have you seen ’em before? 🙂 }

{biting lips in the cold, thinking of something witty to post on my Instagram}

Alas! Again, taking pictures inside the castle is prohibited. But to let you know how amazing it was, Neuschwanstein is actually the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle. Imagine chambers with stars on their ceilings, love stories between God and Goddesses painted across palace walls, naked angels smiling in their sleep as they guard royal dreams at night . . . A true romanticist would tell you that there is no other place more romantic than this – the global symbol of the era of Romanticism. Sadly, the corrupted gay king (also known as the Swan King / Fairytale King in German) committed suicide in 1886 while his younger brother, Otto, was proven insane; leaving the castle’s construction incomplete.

{some stolen views from outside / looking outside the palace}

{delicates from the souvenir shop to turn your home into a make-believe palace}

{parts remain unfinished}

{golden swan tap spotted at the castle’s kitchen}

By the end of the tour i was already falling in love with the magical place, feeling terribly reluctant to leave. Leo convinced me to walk a distance up the hill with a warranty that i will not regret it (well he did show me snow, so okay) where we could catch a better glimpse of the castle. After much huffing and panting, we finally reached a skeletal, fragile looking hanging bridge; bearing the grand castle view on its left and a sacred-looking waterfall where King Ludwig II used to play as a child on its right; depending where you stand of course. There and then i quickly absorb as much beauty as i could from the lookout point before somebody incidentally kicked me off the bridge and send me to death. Leo suggested we walk down the hill instead of smelling another round of the farting horses’ asses and i couldn’t agree more so we did. Along the way down we shot this with me as Little Red Riding Hood.

Just before the last pink streak of sunset dispersed from the wide horizon, we found ourselves at a random foot of the mountain with a loud ‘NO EXIT’ sign where Leo carried me down in front of everyone anyway. Proud with our mischief, we strutted past giggles and stares to our Volkswagen, driving to our next destination: Heaven.

Initially, we wanted to ski down this monstrous giant:

But we were 10 minutes too late. If Michael Learns to Rock, we should probably learn to ski. Nonetheless, the view from where we stood was worthy and breathtaking. i felt like a princess of Mother Nature (and was being treated like one too). That day could not be any better. It was a day of dreams and imaginations made concrete and so lived. And that’s how our version of Sleeping Beauty story ends – a happily ever after. 😳