Neuschwanstein at blue hour

Neuschwanstein is a fantasy pretending to be a fortress. Ludwig II built it in the 1880s as a stage set for Wagner’s operas — a medieval castle with no military purpose whatsoever, wired for the newest technology of its day, and left unfinished when he died. It is the most photographed castle in the world, and for most of the day it feels like it.

But stay past the last bus. The light drops, the crowds thin, and for about ten minutes the whole thing goes blue and quiet against the Alps — the towers still catching the last of the sky, the gorge below already dark. Whatever you think of a king who bankrupted himself on a daydream, the daydream holds up.

Cold enough that the camera complained. Worth the wait anyway.