Beautiful Bavaria

For our second and final day in Bavaria, we opted to check out two of the castles.  We took the autobahn to Linderhof Palace, about 90 minutes from central Munich.  It is a small "hunting lodge" that is beautiful but not stunning on the outside.

The inside of the castle was incredible!  It made Versailles look like an interior design intern’s freshman project compared to this masterpiece.  It was TORTUROUS that visitors are not allowed to take pictures.  There is an incredible gold piano, and huge chandelier carved from elephant tusks, and a dining table dumb waiter.  The servants set the table and served the food downstairs, then used a pulley system to move the dining room table to the upper floor, all so King Ludwig II could eat without his servants seeing him (he was a strange dude). 

The grounds were beautiful and covered in snow.  The German Alps are gorgeous!  On the drive, we saw hundreds of cross-country skiers, which is so completely foreign to me.  That seems to be how you spend a wintery Sunday morning around here.

Then, we took a short trip to Oberammergau, a cute little remote town in the Alps.  It is the home of the famous passion play.  In the middle ages, when nearby towns were obliterated by the plague, the people of Oberammergau promised God that they would put on a spectacular play portraying the passion of Christ every 10 years if their town was spared from the disease.  They have kept their promise, and the next play will be in 2020.

They are also the birthplace of German “Farmer Baroque,” the beautiful tradition of painting scenes and fake marble window frames on homes and buildings. Oberammergau has one other claim to fame.  It is the place where Isaac bought himself a souvenir!!  It has been years since Isaac purchased a souvenir for himself.  He got a beautiful knife with an olive wood handle.

Our last stop was Neuschwanstein Castle.  It certainly lived up to the hype.  When we pulled into the town, my first thought was, "How the heck am I going to get all the way up there?"  It's place on the top of a cliff only adds to its awe-inspiring nature.

We took a horse-drawn carriage most of the distance, but passengers are dropped off to walk the steepest portion of the hike.  It was so worth it!  Seeing the gorgeous fairytale castle overlooking the steep snowy cliffs was worth the whole trip.  

A few pictures from inside the courtyard...

We could not photograph the inside of this castle either…something to do with a copyright law related to Ludwig II.  The inside keeps the fairy tale theme running, except the part where you have to climb several flights of stairs to get to the top of the tower, after having already hiked up the cliff (I earned a Redwood Forest badge on my Fitbit, though.  As I type this, I realize it doesn’t make me feel better).  His salon walls and ceilings are covered in art paying homage to Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  Overall, it is much darker than Linderhof, but still spectacular.  I see why Walt Disney patterned his castle after this one.

One last picture as the sun was setting.

Ludwig II spent his own family’s money building his several castles, and when he died mysteriously at the age of 41, he left his family in substantial debt (and the debt was owned by his enemies, the Prussians).  Because of this, within a few weeks after his death, his family opened the doors to visitors and charged admission (even though his will requested that all castles be destroyed immediately after his death).  With 5,000+ visitors a day, I am sure this castle has paid for itself many times over.

We enjoyed warm German donuts on our way down, and fell asleep during the drive back to Munich.  Today was exhausting and completely satisfying.  Bavaria is beautiful!