Long after medieval times, Ludwig II of Bavaria had a dream of building the perfect romantic castle. As a huge fan of operas by Richard Wagner, he wanted his new Neuschwanstein (New Stone-Swan) Castle to embrace the style and stories he liked so much.
The construction started in 1869 and was meant to be Ludwig's refuge from society, but since his mysterious death in 1886 the castle was open for paying public as an tourist attraction. This definitely helped Bavaria to get back from the investment in the place, more than 1,3 million people visit the site every year, with over 6,000 people every day in the summer. The place is also notorious from being the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
He sure chose a nice place to build it
How to get there?
The most strategic big city to be for the visitation is Munich, from there you can simply buy a train ticket to the small town of Füssen, it will take you 2 hours to get there.
From the train station in Füssen you have a bus that will take you directly to the castles area, there is always many taxis waiting as well, if you like more space to yourself. The castles are actually in another municipality, called Schwangau. It is a very touristic place, filled with restaurants and organized in a way for you to never get lost.
Did you notice I have been saying castleS? Well, there is another one just "next-door" from Neuschwanstein, called Hohenschwangau. It is not as impressive, but worth a visit. The tickets have a discount if you choose to go to both castles.
Hohenschwangau Castle
After you enjoyed the little town for a bit and went to the "yellow castle", catch a bus uphill. You can't miss the line! It's also possible to go on foot, if you are on a budget or like hikes.
From the bridge you have the amazing view most photos are taken of
When you get off the bus you are free to go straight to the Castle, in there the tour will take a little more than half an hour, and you will know more about Ludwig II and his ideas for the place. After that, no matter how tired you are, be sure to go to the bridge, it is the best view of the building, as in the first photo of this post.
The red brick area is where Ludwig used to live, waiting for the castle to be finished
Here comes a place that should be on every travelers bucket list: the norwegian Atlantic Ocean Road.
The project was first proposed in the early 20th century by the inhabitants of this northern islands, wishing to have a land connection to the continent.
Built above a chain of small islands, it passes by Hustadvika, an unsheltered part of the Norwegian Sea, connecting the island of Averøy with the mainland and Romsdalshalvøya peninsula.
Finished in 1989 its 8.3 km (5.2 mi) are full with bridges and wonderful scenery that mix mountains, lakes and ocean.
The construction cost 122 million NOK, or about 20 million US dollars and took 6 years for being complete. In 1999 the tolls used to recover the investment were removed, so now you can cross this beautiful road as much as you want, by bike or car, stopping in four different panoramic view areas and even fish spots in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2009, the road was Norway's ninth-most-visited natural tourist attraction, with 258,654 visitors from May through August. The route won the title "Norwegian Construction of the Century", awarded by the Norwegian construction industry in 2005. In 2006, The Guardian declared it the world's best road trip and in this video below you can have an idea why.
To visit it you first have to go to Norway (duh). The bridge is located in the Fjord area, with beautiful landscapes of its own and a must see place. The Atlantic Road is a 8-kilometre long stretch of road between the towns of Kristiansund and Molde, that can be the hub of your trip, offering dinning and resting options.
If there is one thing I
like to do is to go out with my friends and grab a drink, it may be
an Homebrew Beer, a Cocktail or even Tea, it's just the way I roll.
With the FIFA World Cup
coming up I decided to list here some nice places for you that will
come to Porto Alegre, the southernmost state capital in Brazil,
during this huge event that we will host in June.
There are hundreds of
bars and pubs in the city, most of them have nothing really
interesting to offer you besides the same old watered down Pilsen
beers and poorly made Caipirinhas, this short list are the places I
like to go and that have better options not only to drink, but to eat
as well.
Dirty Old Man
The Dirty Old Man had
me in the first go. It is a Cocktail bar, but the Beer selection is
outstanding as well. Full of old classics like Bloody Mary,
Caipirinha, Daiquiri, Cosmopolitan... It does not disappoint in
variety with the addition of house made mixes. My favourite drink is a
classic, the Manhattan Dry, but I recommend the house invented
Charles Henry Bukowski, with the right dosage of Jägermeister
to start the night. If you get the munchies, go for the Vegetarian
Sandwich Pulp, the best you will ever have.
Lagom Brewpub
This Viking Themed Pub/Tavern is the place to go if you want to find fresh brewed beer,
the high quality brews are mostly from European recipes, but you can
be sure to find the right Pints for your night. It also has the
European schedule, closing early at 1am. As for the food, you will be
able to enjoy German-based finger food, such as sausages with
mustard, spicy meatballs and even a Wild boar Hamburger.
If you want a Brewpub
closer to the bohemian neighbourhood of Cidade Baixa, you can't
go wrong to the fairly new Pint Brewpub.
Apolinário
You
want something more "brazilian"? This place may be the one
to go. The sheer amount of handmade beers (it is a thing in Brazil
right now) in the menu is amazing. You can choose from a classic
Weiss beer to spicy ones and even options of the beverage mixed with
Amazon Fruits for a totally new beer experience. When the hunger
arrives, do like the locals and share a platter of fried stuff, like
french fries! But I would personally recommend a portion of Aipim
Frito, for even more brasilidade.
Casa Azul Hostel
This place is not known
for the exceptional drinks or beer, they are all quite normal. The
atmosphere and patrons make this Hostel Bar an experience to
recommend. It's full of people and all of them will try to speak
english to you in a funny accent, they will also teach you all the
beauty of curse words in portuguese, if you wish so. A more festive
place to go and meet people, and the food is actually quite good as
well.
Mulligan's
There are a few options
of Irish Pubs in Porto Alegre and they are fairly good and have the
same vibe, the Mulligan's have all the Guinness you could wish,
towers of beer to share with your mates and delicious desserts to
satisfy your sweet tooth.
Kingdom of the Little People - The theme park only China could conceive
Saying the Kingdom of the Little People is an unusual theme park is an understatement. In this (sort of) amazing place all the staff is under 1,30m (or 51 inches), from the cashier, to the performers, to the administration. The park was created in 2009 by a real state investor with lots of money and little perspective of what the west would think of his idea, and since then it is home for about 100 people, all of them with some kind of dwarfism.
This is the kind of park that could only exist in China, where the Human Rights groups don't have strength as in the western world.
The Kingdom hosts performances through the day
The first time I ever heard of this exotic place was through the British TV Show An Idiot Abroad, broadcast by Sky1, in which the funny dummy Karl Pilkington travels the world giving his honest and, mostly, limited with historical perspective, view of the many places he visits.
Usually he would travel the paths given to him by the producers of the show, but in that particular episode he decided to go the Kingdom by himself. In his vision, the Kingdom of the Little People is a cool place to visit and also a great opportunity for the staff to live well in a world made specially for them.
This line of thought is not without controversy, in the USA alone there is multiple dwarfism associations and human rights associations with opinions in this matter, and all of them consistently bash the chinese attraction, comparing it with a human zoo and a way to get rid of the dwarfs in chinese society, making it more hegemonic.
Karl enjoying the activities
The KotLP went back to my mind with the recent Vice documentary, in which a journalist visited the place, trying to close herself of any personal prejudice to properly absorb the daily life and reality of this people in the best way possible. In this journey we get into a handful of characters lives and routines.
I would recommend watching the doc, it is quite interesting:
In short, we enter these people's lives with the host and discover more about their past outside the Kingdom. It was always a hard life, the chinese society is particularly full of prejudice and the world of the tall people was full of hardships and even humiliation. Treated as children for the most of their lives, even with ages ranging from 18 to 50 years old, they were mistreated as useless by their families. Inside the park they have the opportunity to meet their peers, make new friends and even giving a shot to romance. They all understand each other and the hardships of having dwarfism and try to do their best for themselves and their jobs in the park.
Everything there is adapted to people with dwarfism, the steps are narrow, the chairs, tables and door knobs are lower. The infrastructure does not seem well-maintained, but considering the reality of most people in China maybe it's not particularly bad. Looking from the outside, as a western with more life opportunities, it's easy to understand why organizations such as the Little People of America are so against it. In An Idiot Abroad, the hosts calls his friend Warwik Davis, actor famous for doing Star Wars and the Harry Potter series, asking his opinion on the matter. Warwik places himself strongly opposing the concept and the park, believing that the little people are being humiliated and being used as laughing stock.
I don't have a conclusion for this discussion and will leave it open for your interpretation.
Kingdom of the Little People Theme Park
Where is it?
Near the city of Kunming, in the Yunnan province, China.
How do you get there?
It was hard to find this information on the english speaking web, but what I have is this:
- Take the 82 bus to the end of the line at Ma Jie for 2 yuan.
- Get an special white/beige bus that leaves from the outside of the main bus station for 6 yuan. If it doesn't appear you can get a taxi that will cost 150 yuan.
- The entrance is 50 yuan for the park and performance.
- The white/beige bus will take you back to town ate 5pm.
