My Alternative Travel Bucket List (Part 2)

I'm back again with my little list of destinations associated with legends and fairytales. I think the below have a little more meat where the story is concerned. Well, that's my opinion at least.

Douarnenez, France

Another location I am just learning about now, this seaside town in France is associated with two legends. You can imagine my excitement with this 'discovery'.  Douarnenenz is a small fishing town that is now declining in population. However, it has strong associations not only with the legendary city of Ys that is believed to lie beneath Douarnenez Bay but also the story of Tristan and Iseult.
Ys. The Plot:
Well, a King builds a city unwittingly below sea level on the coast of France with a dike to protect it from the waves. His spoiled daughter comes to influence the city. She turns out to be a nightmare, organising orgies and killing her lovers come morning time. There are many versions of the story but in short, the devil visits her, convinces her to steal the key of the city from her father, open the gates and flood the city beneath the sea. The princess is turned into a mermaid and her good father the King survives by taking his magical horse to his new city on a hill. Magical horses are the best.
Tristan & Iseult. The Plot:
Just off the coast of Douarnenez lies the island of Tristan. To be completely honest, I am not entirely sure why. It could be the French claim to the legend for all I know. All the same it has been an important island through local history despite its tiny size (450m x 250m). In the version that I'm familiar with, Tristan was a noble from Cornwall and Iseult an Irish Princess. Tristan, charged with brining Iseult back to marry his Uncle Mark falls madly in love with her, as she does him. In some versions this is because of a love potion and the work of some tricky people. Anyway, as you can imagine, madness ensues. This legend has been cited as the predecessor for the Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere love triangle so it has to be good.

Loftus Hall, Wexford, Ireland
This could be a blog post all of it's own. Let's be clear, I'm not easily scared and have an obsession with the weird and wacky because I know they are stories. But there is something not quite right with this house. What's the plot? Back in the 18th Century a stranger turns up at the house gates. He is welcomed in and over the following days, the young, lonely daughter of the house falls in love with the stranger. They play games one night and after the young lady drops her cards on the floor, she finds that the strangers feet are actually cloven hooves. The stranger transforms into a demon and flies out through the roof. And so the young lady goes mad from grief and shock and is locked in her room from there on. People who have stayed in her room throughout the centuries have reported horrible poltergeist experiences and animals have refused to enter the room. The hole in the roof where the demon escaped is still there (or reportedly still there since there are claims the house was levelled and rebuilt in the early 19th Century). Another version of the story places the girl as falling pregnant out of wedlock and is locked in her room. Subsequently a baby's body was reported to have been found sealed into the wall of her room. Other strange going's on would include three deaths occurring spontaneously and separately on the same back stairs for no apparent reason. I visited the house less than a year ago as it is now open to the public for viewings. I didn't like it. But then again, I grew up with the story. Being stereotypically Irish, safe to say my parents and grandparents were less than happy with me.... holy water at the ready!

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

This is less of a fantasy destination as it isn't directly related to any legends, more a murder mystery. Although, I admit there are reports that it was the inspiration for Disney's iconic castle. Easy to see why. But back to the murder mystery. The castle was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The King had a couple of nicknames, most notably 'The Swan King', 'The Fairytale King', and less complimentary 'The Mad King'. You know you are on to a winner when you find someone called 'The Mad King'.  Ludwig financed Wagner who went on to produce one of his most famous pieces 'Tristan and Isolde' - it's all connected ;). Ludwig's story doesn't end well. He was a known 'eccentric' who had struggles with his sexuality. He was paranoid and began to spend all the Kingdom's money building extravagant castles like Neuschwanstein. His death is shrouded in mystery. He was reported as having drowned in waist deep water but an autopsy stated there was no water in his lungs. His companion had blows to his head and marks round his neck. How and ever, official reports were released stating that Ludwig murdered his companion and then killed himself by drowning. Yeah right.

That's it for now. I think the above three are now my favourite legend inspired destinations but the list is growing fairly fast. More to follow while I count down the days to my 6 month adventure.