Our itinerary in Munich included a full day tour to the Bavarian Alps, including the town of Oberammegau, Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle. With Gerda as our guide, and Josef the driver, we set off early this morning.
Oberammegau is mostly famous for its Passion Play, first performed in 1634 as a vow for the region to escape the bubonic plague. To this day, it is performed at the start of every decade and involved the majority of the residents.
The town is also famous for ithe paintings on the buildings and wood carving. Houses and buildings throughout the town depicted scenes inspired by Grimms fairy tales, making this little Bavarian town extra special.
It was also the home of the biggest Christmas ornament shop we’ve ever seen. The photo only shows about a third of the space, filled with baubles of every size, shape and colour, and thousands of other Christmas-sy bits. Clearly the tourists to this town think of Christmas as a year-round experience!
Linderhof Palace was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the late 1800s. He had a particular fascination with Louis XIV of France, so modelled his home on the Palace of Versailles, including scaled -down versions of the staircase and hall of mirrors. During the Summer the palace is surrounded by fountains and gardens, however in Winter the fountains are protected by wooden boxes – sensible, but looked quite strange!
Linderhof Palace also marked our first sighting of snow. Actually, it was ice from snowfalls a couple of days prior, but as far as the girls were concerned it was white and on the ground, therefore it was snow! They were pretty excitied 🙂
Our final stop on the tour was Ludwig II castle, Neuschwanstein (say that fast!). The castle is nestled in the Alps near the border of Austria, and was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle that appears at the entry to every Disneyland.
Ludwig became King at age 18, and lived an eccentric life until he was deemed insane and was removed from the throne at age 40. Days later he was mysteriously found dead in a lake alongside his Doctor. At the time of his death, Neuschwanstein was incomplete however Ludwig had been living there for nearly 6 months. Like Linderhof, the decor and artwork reflected his fascination with Louis XIV and the composer, Wagner. He was also interested in innovation and Neuschwanstein was one of the first places in Germany to have a telephone and electricity throughout. Overall, a self-indulgent, and bizarre place, but stunning all the same!
We also happened across a little Aussie stowaway while at the Castle – Ottie. Apparently he’d been keen to explore a new home for days according to Alex. If the forecast for Brisbane today is correct (42 degrees!) he could be on to something!
Love M & theBunch xx
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