Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024, Day 19

Today's Advent features a location that is very near and dear to my heart. I've never visited it. But one year in high school (sophomore year, I think), I spent 31 class periods drawing an intricate landscape of this legendary locale: Neuschwanstein Castle.

Built from 1869-1886, the castle is located in the Alps of Southern Bavaria. This was intended to be the most ornate palace of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He never officially lived at Neuschwanstein dying shortly before it's completion, drowning in a nearby lake. Ruled a suicide, there's debate that he might have been murdered by enemies, due to bruises on the body or if he died suddenly of a heart attack brought about by the frigid conditions of the water.

If Neuschwanstein Castle looks familiar, that's probably because you've seen it in movies. Spaceballs and Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang are among some of the films to have used the location as a set. The castle also served as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland and was recently an inspiration for a palace in a Pokemon animated feature.

When I drew Neuschwanstein, the scene was set during the spring or summer. In the Advent calendar I found, the setting is Christmas. Based on a famous image from a set of Bavarian beer steins of all things, the painting is of a snowy landscape at Christmas time with a sleigh arriving presumably for the beginning of a great feast. It's evening and the hundreds of windows of the royal residence is illuminated by candlelight.

The calendar is made of double thick cardboard. On each corresponding day, you open a tiny door to reveal images of the interior of Neuschwanstein and the surrounding area. There's also a portrait of King Ludwig II to discover. Speaking of discoveries, let's see what I got from my Batman Advent today...

The gift from the Batman Advent has intrigued me for several days. That's because Day 19 comes in the largest of all the envelopes. It did NOT disappoint. It's a post-it pad from the Desk of Bruce Wayne. I can't wait to use these at school. But I lament what will I do once I run out...