Neuschwanstein Castle stands on its crag above the Pöllat Gorge at sunset, pale stone lit against a sky fading from peach to blue. Autumn has turned the forest below to gold and green, and beyond it the Forggensee and the Bavarian lowland run out to the horizon.
From Munich we moved south to Füssen, and the forecast gave the evening only a small chance of a good sunset. We went up to the Marienbrücke anyway, just to see, and stood on the bridge Ludwig II had used to look at his own castle. Right at sunset the haze over the foothills warmed to peach and rose, and the castle took the last of the light on its walls while the forest below slipped into shade. Low odds are still odds. That evening they paid out.
