German Adventures of David, Tammy, AJ and Michael: Castle Day

On Sunday we had to say goodbye to Garmish, we had a wonderful time and were sad to leave. We decided in true Vandeway fashion - well at least me - to hit two castles on the way home. They were both castles built by King Ludwig II. The first one we went to was his summer palace call the Linderhof Palace. It was absolutely amazing!!! We couldn't take pictures of the inside, it was prohibited. But every square inch was covered by a mural, carved wood covered in real gold, or tapestry's, etc. I don't think there was any wall space that wasn't covered. It was so elaborate. One of the chandeliers was made out of ivory, 400 individual pieces that took 4 years to build. Another chandelier hanging in his bedroom was over 1000lbs. He had these two mirrors in there that were made out of a special kind of porcelain that was very rare. One tea cup would cost around $500 and he had two full mirrors with it and also a HUGE chandelier in his dining area. His bedroom is the size of two apartments here in Germany. And this was only his summer palace, which he stayed in for about 2 weeks out of the year. The outside I think would be beautiful in the spring. All the statues were crated for the winter, the fountains weren't on and of course no flowers. We are thinking we want to go back and check out the grounds in the late spring. I bet it is gorgeous!! Here is a little history on it: It was completed in 1878, and only one of his four castles that were completed while he was still alive. This palace with is Baroque façade was influenced by French architecture, and the interior is decorated with Rococo motifs from the time of Louis XV. Ludwig also incorporated many aspects of the south German Rococo style of his own ancestors. The dining room possesses a table that could be lowered into the kitchen that was located below. The servants in the kitchen could then stock the table and have it raised back up into the dining room. This was all done so that Ludwig would not have to see his servants. We were told that he was a very private man and never entertained at the castle and didn't like even talking to his servants. These are some pictures I took from the Internet so you could see the inside of the castle. If you see the peacock here in the first picture, when the king was actually at this castle there were two peacocks that were put outside of the castle to let everybody know. The piano in the left corner of the picture works, I would have loved to get my hands on it!!

Linderhof Castle Foundation

He had a king size bed above - all the walls are carved in a soft wood and painted with real gold over it

This is his dining table that disappears into the floor and back up. That is the chandelier made out of porcelain.

Aren't they too cute!!

They had a lake with two swans in it - they were very beautiful, but I think used to being fed because they were coming after Michael looking for something

The front of the palace

The view from the front of the palace. All the wooden boxes are statues and the frame is a fountain

I couldn't resist this one!! Behind him is part of the grounds

My poser!!

Then after this, we had to Neuschwanstein Castle - some of you might know this as the Disneyland Castle. It is the one that they modeled theirs after. Between the two castles was more beautiful scenery!! A lake that was so smooth I wanted to water ski on it even though it was only 38 degrees outside and probably a glacier fed lake. :-) I can see why King Ludwig II chose the site for this castle, up on the hill you could see for miles and miles and it was gorgeous!!! It was commenced by Ludwig II in 1868 high above his father's Hohenschwangau Castle (we didn't go over to that one, just ran out of time--maybe on our next trip) and was never actually completed. It was his monument to the culture and kingship of the Middle Ages. Designed in a medieval style but equipped with the latest technology of the day, it is one of the most famous buildings in the world and a central symbol of German idealism. He only lived in the castle 172 days and during that time it was still under construction. Neuschwanstein was found at the vote on the new wonder of the world in 2007, where it finished eighth. He went into quite a bit of debt trying to get the castle built. He never let the public in to see the castle. Two weeks after his death, they started letting in the public at a cost to make up some of his debt. We did not go in and do the tour due to time constraints, but we did take the bus up, it is a mile walk almost straight up. The boys were complaining walking out to a bridge to overlook the castle, so I am glad we took the bus. We decided to take the horse and buggy on the way back down. The kids thought it was really cool! It was also kind of funny, with the boys wearing their hats, many people had their picture taken with them or touched their hats. Luckily our boys were good sports about it. It was a good end to a great weekend!!! We didn't make it home until 8 pm that night and so both boys were a little worn out this last week, but today I think they got their gusto back!! Just in time for the weekend too!!