On day 6 of our trip, we were scheduled to take a 10 1/2 hour tour out to Linderhof which was King Ludwig II's of Bavaria pleasure home and then over to Neuschwanstein Castle, his famous home that was the inspiration for the Disney and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Castle. On this tour, we also made a short stop in a quaint little Bavarian village called Oberammergan.
While waiting for the tour to depart, we started chatting with a couple who we ended up visiting with quite a lot throughout the day. She was originally from Germany, but they live in Long Island, NY - a lovely couple who we enjoyed talking to - they have several grandchildren and have traveled extensively. They had lots of interesting stories to share! One thing for sure, we have enjoyed meeting people every place we visit! I think our kids reminded them of their grandchildren and they enjoyed visiting with us as much as we enjoyed visiting with them! I am sure Brendan's broken arm didn't hurt as a conversation starter anyway!
We departed from Munich about 8:30 AM under heavy fog. Unfortunately, the fog stayed with us for most all of the day. It lifted a bit while we were at our first stop, Linderhof, but returned in full force for the rest of the trip. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the insides of both of Ludwig's famous homes, but were sad to not be able to see the amazing mountain views and such that make the castles, especially Neuschwanstein, so famous. Photos inside the castles are not allowed, but let me just say, each room was more elaborate and spectacular than the one before - hand painting, gold leaf, HUGE chandeliers, hand carved furniture - stuff that took dozens of artisans many, many years to build - truly amazing and beautiful to see!
At Linderhof, the tour took us through several rooms including Ludwig's master bedroom. The chandelier in that room weighs 1000 pounds and all the candles had to be lit by the staff using ladders as the chandelier could not be lowered. Ludwig was also a very tall man (well over 6 feet tall) and had an oversized bed made to accommodate his large frame. The rooms were all elaborately painted with scenes, many being related to famous French leaders and events as Ludwig dedicated Linderhof to the French.
From here, we stopped off in a Bavarian town called Oberammergan. This town was an excellent example of the traditional Baroque painting on the buildings which represent what the family's occupation was - for example, a farmer's home would have beautiful paintings of harvest scenes, crops, etc. on it. We had a short time to walk around and we treated the kids to an ice cream and checked out a few little shops around the town. The kids were entranced by the wall of coo-coo clocks in one store and the clerk was kind enough to come over and make them "coo-coo" so they could see all the little pieces that move and how the scenes come to life. The stores were also full of beautiful Christmas items - I wish I had the money and means to buy up half the store! I saw so many things that would remind my of a friend or family member that I would say, "oh, {so and so} would love this..." Just know I was thinking about all of you!
From here, we got back on the bus and headed over to the village of Schwangau where we stopped for lunch in a lovely hotel restaurant before starting our trek up to the Neuschwanstein. We enjoyed a wonderful Bavarian lunch and then were trying to decide which method to take to get up the path to the castle. Our tour was scheduled for a certain time and we were debating...there was a horse and carriage ride up and we wanted to do that for Kyla since we didn't in Salzburg, but the line was just too long and we did not have time to wait, so we decided to walk the 30 minutes up. It was such a bummer that the fog was so heavy - I know there were beautiful mountains and scenery buried behind all that and I desperately wanted to see it!
We made it up to the castle with a little time to check out the areas that were open to tourist. After a bit, we were lined up for our tour of the inside. Neuschwanstein Castle was dedicated to the musician and composer Richard Wagner, a close friend of Ludwig's. One of the rooms we saw was actually had a stage for performances which was completed only days before Ludwig's untimely death. He never saw a presentation there and Wagner never performed in the castle. The tour also took us through the master bedroom, the private dining room, servants' quarters, and various other rooms - again all elaborately designed and decorated. The master bedroom was amazing - very tedious and detailed carving throughout that took over a dozen master carvers numerous years to complete. Oh how I wish we could have taken a few pictures! This castle also had a huge chandelier, but this one was on a wench and could be lowered - weighing in at 2000 pounds!
I am attaching pictures - one being a picture of a picture of the castle...ha!
After we arrived back in Munich, we headed over to Marienplatz to a restaurant that is considered one of the best in town and came highly recommended by our tour guide - Ratskeller Munchen. It was a bit busy and we managed to get a couple 2-person tables right next to each other. We were certainly not disappointed! The food was delicious! The restaurant is actually in the bottom floor of what I thought was undoubtedly the most incredible looking building I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I did not get the amazing picture of the building I was hoping for, but am attaching one. It has beautiful pink flowers on the outside of the upper stories. This reminds me...most all the homes and businesses in both Germany and Austria have all these amazing colored flowers planted in planters outside their windows - loved that look!
By the time dinner was over, we were all worn out from our long day and headed to the hotel -
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