Seedcamp Kautzen (Lower Austria)

Back in the middle of August I made a spontaneous one-day escapade to the seedcamp in Kautzen, which is at the back of beyond in the uppermost corner of Northern Waldviertel. The Kautzen "seedcamp" is a distant (commercial) relative of rainbow gatherings, i.e. usually with a slightly more structured organisation and less cryptic rituals :-) Although, as I've learned right upon entering the camp, it yet involves a lot of standing around in circles and playing meditative tunes with mouth organs. Unlike rainbows, the seedcamp posses some basic infrastructure, money is allowed (and even very welcome!), there's a nice choice of pre-cooked foods, jam-sessions are amplified and VJs project psychodelic stuff onto the centerpiece of the Kautzen-camp - the Mill. Anyways, the visit to the festival turned out to be entertaining and informative: I learned how to blow soap bubbles (big time), met some new and old friends, discussed conspiracy theories with a stranger and got a free aura reading ;-)

Schloss Neuschwanstein (Hohenschwangau, Bavaria, Germany)

After paying a surprise visit to the Hungarian capital, the next stop was an enigmatic Bavarian Neuschwanstein castle, which has been tickling my imagination ever since I saw its picture for the first time. The fact that the castle has been built as a homage to the composer Richard Wagner and his music in addition to the mysterious story of the castle owner's (Ludwig II of Bavaria) death automatically make this place mesmerising for anybody who has a detective mind. 

Despite the romantic ideas of the castle I've never understood, why the castle has such a weird name: until recently I've been a firm believer the castle was called NEUN-SCHWEIN-stein instead of Neuschwanstein (i know, i know: this joke has now been told many times, but I still find it hilarious! :-) *

* Footnote for non-German-speakers: Schwann = swan; Schwein = pig; neun = nine; neu = new; stein = stone.
Once parked (no private cars are allowed on the roads leading up to the castle) one can go uphill with a bus or a horse carriage. Although both operate without any schedule, one can be pretty confident that something's going up every 20 minutes. The typical tourist view opens up from Marienbrücke, but for more adventurous travellers there're paths varying in length (from 5 minutes of steep ascent to 3 hours of smooth walking) and opening alternative perspectives on the castle and the nearby Schwansee, i.e. Swan Lake. 
Enjoy!