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Neuschwanstein

he first time I visited Neu- dozen tour buses lined the parking lot.
schwanstein castle we drove up Sitting on an imposing crag above the
in a decrepit VW van. It was me village of Hohenschwangau and Lake
Tand Bob, my college roommate. Alpsee, a tidy, Bavarian farmscape laid
Bearded, hair to our shoulders. The out below, the castle is the epitome
van could barely make 60 mph on the of Medieval romance. Towers, gables,
Autobahn; a month later its tailpipe pinnacles, massive stone ramparts. You
would fall off. can imagine armored knights jousting
It was 1969. in the walled courtyard or, as Walt
The second time was this past Disney had in mind when he designed
September. We drove up in a 55-seat the Disneyland castle, Sleeping Beauty
tour bus. My wife and I and 33 other snoozing in the top floor.
sightseers. The bus had luxurious seats, Romantic notions took me to
a chatty tour guide, and a cooler with Neuschwanstein in the first place. Bob
soft drinks and beer. My beard and hair and I had adorned our shared apartment
were white. with three out-sized travel posters: one
Neuschwanstein seems little changed showing the Cologne cathedral at night,
in the past 50 years. Except for the one of the Acropolis in Athens, and one
crowds and the hang gliders floating of Neuschwanstein.
around its turrets. The castle is now Fired up by Tolkein and a need to
Germany’s second most popular tourist forget – at least for one summer -- the
attraction. Some 1.5 million visit it each draft and the Vietnam War, we flew to
year. In summer that can mean 6,000 Europe after graduation determined to
visitors a day. When we arrived, two visit each poster scene.

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