Neuschwanstein Castle & a little of Munich

On the way to Munich we had a bonus stop at Neuschwanstein castle. This is the castle that inspired Walt Disney when he designed the Disney castle. It was commissioned by King Ludwig II and was supposed to be his personal holiday house once finished but he died (or was murdered depending on the story you hear) so the castle was opened to the public in 1886 and since then over 60 million people have toured the castle.

This was the castle Ludwig grew up in, it is on the opposite hill to the Neuschwanstein castle. I suppose he wanted something grander than his parents!

We trekked up the hill and were rewarded with views over the castle, we then got to go on a guided tour inside the castle.
There were about 50 people (at least) in our tour group and the guide didn't seem all too interested in what he was saying, you could tell he takes 20 tours a day and was sick of his own voice. the tour only lasted about 20 minutes and then we were directed to a gift shop. the castle was really good to see, i would definitely recommend paying the extra to go inside, the furniture alone is worth a look, especially the kings bed. you were not allowed to take photos inside the castle so you will have to go for yourself if you want to see it :-)
We arrived into Munich at about 7pm and after checking into our hostel we walked to a beer hall that our Busabout guide recommended.
I was picturing a large room with high ceilings and lots of long wooden tables with bench seats underneath them. I was a bit disappointed when this beer hall looked more like a pub back in Australia. But then the food came out and it was delicious! One of the best meals we have had on our trip.

This was Ewen's meal, it was pork cutlet (schnitzel) with seeded mustard

Ewen had his first stein of beer (1 liter).

Me having a taste of Ewen's beer

After dinner we walked around a little but were both tired after our long bus trip (and long walk up to the castle) so decided to start the real sight seeing the next day.