Mad King Ludwig & my favourite Palace ever...

Hi All

Well I had a lovely day yesterday, it was an all day trip, from 8am to 6:30pm, but well worth it.

I sat on the bus with an Egyptian doctor and although she was very nice, she loved to complain!! First it was the Jews, they are her enemies... Then the food in Germany... Then the tour itself. But never mind I enjoyed it anyway..

We left Munich and drove through some of the most picturesque countryside that I have ever seen, it was adorable, all the lovely Bavarian houses and villages.


I loved the countryside, the mountain backdrops were amazing. It was an overcast day, but fortunately it only rained while we were on the bus.. The clouds on the mountains were beautiful.

We then went to a Palace called Linderhof. I loved it, it is My favourite palace ever and I have a soft spot for poor mad Ludwig the second too. He built this lovely little palace just for one person, he really hated company. It is designed after the style of Versailles and it is gorgeous. All the rooms are small, because it was only for one person, but they are exquisite. The dining table can be lowered through the floor so the servants can lay it with all the food and then raise it back up, and Ludwig would not have to see them, and no one could watch him while he ate. What a introvert!! When he had to entertain guests, he did so in Munich (he hated Munich) and he ordered the orchestra to play so loudly that talking was impossible, he also ordered a huge vase of flowers to be placed in front of him, so he didn't have to see anybody... The poor love really had issues.

But he designed the best Palace ever. I was not allowed to take pictures inside, so I brought postcards. I will take some photo's of them for you to see. It was amazing. The gardens were lovely too. I think I like it best because it was very like Versailles, but not so large, easier to get around and not hours of walking. Ludwig was obsessed with King Louis the 14th and was very envious of Louis's power, as Ludwig was only a King in name and had no power over Bavaria. He has pictures all over the palace of Louis and his mistress and scenes from Versailles, the guy was obsessed..


Photo taken from the quide book I brought, I couldn't get an arial view for you, my broom is broken!!


The dining room, for one. The mat covers the cut in the floor where the table descends, but on the day the mat wasn't there and you could see the line in the floor, around the table quite easily.


The mirror hall, if you stand in certain parts of this room, the mirrors give the illusion of long hallways of chandaliers, very like the halls in Versailles. It was very clever, the illusion of grandure and expanse in such a small area, the dude was smart, just weird!!

I have heaps more pictures, but it takes to long to download them, sorry... taht's all for the castle for now

We then headed for a village called Oberammergau, it was lovely, full of amazing houses and wonderful wood carvings. Apparently in the winter, when the snow is everywhere the villages do wood carving, have done for centuries and they are very good at it. I was not in the market for wood carvings, but I did enjoy browsing through them. They are a very talented bunch.


The village was picturesque, and believe me, i took plenty of pics..


The windows of the shops were full of wood carvings, they were very good

We Then went to Nymphenburg Palace, it is the one they based the Disney castle on, it was okay, but nothing on Linderhof. The palace was never finished as Ludwig died mysteriously and his body was found in a Munich Lake... But even the bits that are finished have nothing on Linderhof. I was not very impressed and it takes a 40 minute uphill walk to get there. So no, I won't be going back. It really wasn't all that. Our guide was not as good either, we passed through lots of rooms and he didn't explain what they were. On the other hand the guide at Linderhof explained everything and gave us a great background history on Ludwig himself, without being boring. She was good.


The outside was nice, but I wasn't taken with it enough to buy postcards of the inside. None of the castle was finished being built, and we only got to see parts of the 2nd and 4th floors, so it was a lot of climbing hills and stairs for very little. I wasn't impressed


But the views were breathtaking...

We then returned to Munich and I fell asleep on the bus again.. but I wasn't the only one, so did the Dr and a lot of other people. It was a long day, with heaps of walking involved, but well worth it.

The Octoberfest starts in Munich today. I will see if I can see any of it. I already passed a family dressed in traditional clothing early his morning. The little boy looked so cute, I am interested to see more.

So that's it for now

Cheers Lones