Munich (München ) is the capital of the German State of Bavaria
We did a tour of the romantic castles of Bavaria, but just two - Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, in Schwangau. The third, Nymphenburg Palace is in Munich. Neuschwanstein is 120-km south west of Munich. All three castles are linked to King Ludvig II of Bavaria (1845 - 1886).
Neuschwanstein Castle is especially significant because it was to become an icon all of us are familiar with -- Disneyland "Sleeping Beauty" castle. Apparently it became Walt Disney's inspiration for his castle. The castle enjoys 1.3 million visitors a year.
Both of these "romantic castles' were build by King Ludvig II of Bavaria. Sadly he only lived in his beloved Neuschwanstein 11 days before he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
King Ludvig II was from the House of Wittelsbach. The family ruled Bavaria from 1180-1918, and had also provided two Holy Roman Emperors - Louis IV (1314-347) and Charles VII (1742-1745).
 |
| Hohenschwangau Castle, is the seat of the House of Wittelsbach. |
 |
| Neuschwanstein Castle |
We took a shuttle bus from the car park up to the castle, rather than walk one mile uphill. Seems like a no-brainer but at that time, we seriously considered walking. Then it began to drizzle with increasing intensity...! When we saw how steep some parts of the road was, we were glad to be in the bus.
 |
| The inner courtyard of Neuschwanstein castle, where we had to wait to enter the gate that leads to the internal chambers. |
After the tour of the castle interior, we could not wait for the bus down as we had barely 35 min to catch our Grayline tour bus back to Munich. It was drizzling quite heavily as we tried to walk down the tarmac road. There were many other visitors walking downhill like us, even horses and their carriages. Because of the rains, we walked down as fast as we could and in the process overtook at least one horse-drawn carriage! (Unknown to me at the time, the fast walk downhill caused much grief to my 'good' knee aftewards!) Despite our umbrellas, we were quite drenched by the time we found our way to the car park.
 |
| View of Neuschwanstein Castle from the ground where carparks and restaurants are |
 |
| The walking trail up to the castle |
Neuschwanstein Castle was build by King Ludwig II in late 18th century. He wanted the castle to be a homage to Robert Wagner. Although the castle has a very fairy tale, romantic style when viewed from outside, and especially from down the hill, the interior is quite different. It may be due to King Ludwig trying to incorporate designs and features to reflect his inspirations from Wagner's works, as well as from popular tales of virtuous kings, knights and their romantic exploits.
The interior of the castle has Gothic bedrooms, ornate and brooding (and painted) designs on its walls and ceilings and furniture, all contributing to a fairly dark and mysterious demeanor.
There were also many dark corners at every twist and turn. Interestingly, King Ludvig had also built an indoor "cave" or garden with a see-though glass wall. It was a novel design idea in his day.
It is also interesting to note that from the rooms and spaces covered by the tour, and the narration of the handheld guide, the castle appeared to be built just for the king himself and his retainers. Except for the minstrels' hall on the upper level, there appears to be very limited large living spaces for family, guests and others.
 |
| Castle's courtyard |
King Ludwig II was familiar with the area as he had lived as a child, in his family's Hohenschwangau Castle (pictured earlier). It was built on the opposite hill and they are about 500m apart.
 |
| King Ludwig II as a young man (became King at age 18). |
The other palace we visited was Schloss Linderhof.
 |
| Buildings in reception center of Linderhof |
The Linderhof palace was build on the site of an old family hunting lodge owned by King Ludvig II's father. Unlike Neuschwanstein which was uncompleted at time of his death, Linderhof had been completed. Linderhof was build in the neo-French baroque style with elaborate gardens. It was imspired by Versailles. King Ludvig had great respect and admiration for the French King Louis XIV.
 |
| Linderhof palace |
 |
| The water pond in front of the palace. |
 |
| Middle of the fountain where the water shoots up is "Flora and putto" "Flora" is goddess of flowers. Putto is depicted as a chubby male child, or a cherub. |
 |
| Trumpeting angels at the west side of the palace |
 |
| Puttos frolicking on the colorful mantle vase. |
 |
| Back of palace facing a cascading steps and Neptune's fountain |
 |
| Neptune's fountain, at rear of palace (north side) |
 |
| A cascade of 30 marble steps behind the palace |
 |
| King Ludvig II's coat of arms emblazoned on stone vase |
 |
| Wooded path from the reception buildings to Linderhof palace. |
 |
| Swans basking in the sun. There is a lake near Hohenschwangau Castle called "Swan Lake". |
Oberammerggau
Along the way to Linderhoff and Neuschwanstein, the bus took us through the historic town of Oberammergau for a short bio break. Oberammergau is famous for its staging of the Passion Play (or Easter Pageant) depicting the trial and death of Jesus, in the tradition of the Catholic Chuch, which is dominant here. The town is also famous of its many woodcraft products, and we bought ourselves a pretty nutcracker here. You can't be more authentic than this (there was no Made in China sticker).
 |
| Our nutcracker from Oberammerggau |
Nymphenburg Palace and Park
Nymphenburg Palace is in Munich. We took the train to visit the grand Nympenburg Palace which was the home to the rulers of Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach. It's also call the "Castle of the Nymphs". King Ludvig II and his younger brother Otto were born in the palace.
 |
| Geese walking around the palace park |
 |
| As "nymph" suggests, the gardens are richly decorated with statues of beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to play, dance and sing. |
 |
| Playful statue of a putto on top of a fish. |
 |
| The Nymphenburg Palace |
 |
| The well ordered lawn in front of the Palace |
 |
| A gold painted balcony lamp |
 |
| Beautiful ceiling decorations |
 |
| After walking the palace and park, we were thirsty and took refuge in this cafe |
 |
| Brunch near Nymphenburg Palace |
 |
| We had ice tea and strawberry tarts |
 |
| Apple pie which was very creamy and nice |
We took a bus and train to visit BMW Welt and museum soon after.
A walk in the park
 |
| Water pumping out into the stream running through the gardens. |
 |
| The stream flows quite strongly |
 |
| The ducks take breather in the sandy bank |
We took at walk around Englischer Garden a large park in the center of Munich. Sadly because we did not have much time, we didn't go far, and only walked along the stream, which was actually flowing very fast. There were also some swimmers who skinny dip in the stream especially near areas with thick foliage.
Hofbrauhaus (Beers)
This is the famous and very touristy Bavarian beer, pork knuckles and sausage establishment. We had to go if we come to Munich, and the rest is in pictures....
 |
| The front of the Hafbrauhaus |
 |
| The beautiful ceiling inside |
 |
| Pork knuckles |
 |
| Variety of sausages with sauerfraut. |
 |
| White asparagas |
 |
| Salad with grilled pork chops. |
 |
| Grilled lamb with sauteed potatoes |
 |
| Roast duck. |
 |
| Clapping in appreciation of musicians |
 |
| Krispy skin of the pork knuckles |
 |
| The Hofbrauhaus musicians |
Haxnbauer (Pork-knuckles)
 |
| Selection of our piece of pork knuckles |
 |
| Our waiter |
 |
| House beer |
 |
| Savory piece of crust ! |
 |
| A complete meal |
 |
| Our pork knuckles |
 |
| Sauerkraut |
 |
| Price tag of our piece of pork knuckles |
 |
| Take-a-way counter |
Giesel's Vinothek, at the Hotel Excelsior Munchen
We had wanted to dine at Giesel's Vinothek on our second night in Munich but it was fully booked. We tried again on our third and last night, and it was again fully booked, so we "booked" our dinner at the bar - same food just different ambience.
 |
| The insides of Gisele's which we did not eat in, as we were accomodated at the bar |
 |
| Rock melon with ham |
 |
| Bruschetta |
 |
| Carpaccio of tuna with mango, avocado and peas |
 |
| Penne arrabiata |
 |
| Risotto |
 |
| The highlight of the dinner was the Chateau Latour 1980 we had. |
 |
| Potatoes pork and asparagus. |
 |
| Ice cream |
 |
| Creme brulee |
 |
| Almond cake with strawberry sherbet, rhubard, curd cheeseand woodruff |
 |
| ice cream with butter scotch |
Nam Giao Vietnamese Restaurant
This was a recommended Vietnamese dining place. The servings come with rice for each dish, and were a little much for us. We had a celebration there.
 |
| Nam Giao |
 |
| Fried prawns |
 |
| Assortment of beef, pork, egg, etc. |
 |
| Stir fried beef |
 |
| The condiments for the beef noodles soup |
 |
| Beef noodles in soup (pho bo) |
 |
| Fried rice |
 |
| Stir fried vegetables |
 |
| Dry beef noodles |
In Munich we stayed at the Sheraton at West Park, a relatively quiet part of town outside the main city hub. It's about 4 stops via the U1/U2 to the city center. It's a nice clean hotel. But interestingly, there are no concierge or service staff.....
 |
| ...and this chap did not get tipped!? |
0 Yorumlar