Category: Trip

Today we traveled by train to Dresden, a journey which took three trains and over seven hours. This meant lots of this: 

 
As it has been our entire trip so far, it was extremely warm today. The AC’s in the train didn’t do much and the journey was a tad uncomfortable. Luckily our Dresden hotel is quite fine and the room I’m writing this in is as cold as an ice cave 🙂 

 
Dresden was destroyed during WW2 by heavy bombing but has been rebuilt since into a tourist town full of beautiful buildings and prestige hotels and shopping. 

 
The old town district is heavily populated by astonishingly decorated buildings that seem to be competing fur the most tourist photos taken. 

 
Perhaps most remarkable are the churches, one of which holds (or once held, it’s not clear) a piece of Christ’s cross. It is majestic inside: 

 
But it also has a steeple some 294 steps above the street. We had split up after lunch and it was just KLS and myself. We were very hot and quite tired but chose to tackle the climb anyway! It was difficult, but we made it up to the viewing level: 

 
This was pretty good, but what caught my eye were the unusual ring lights on the landings of the lower stairs. I suspected with some creative angles they could be employed as halos: 

   
Not bad eh? 

 
We didn’t have much time in Dresden, which was chosen as a destination to break up the long trip to Berlin. And yet it was quickly clear we could easily have occupied more time here. 

 
After the sights started to close we went to a nearby enclosed, air-conditioned mall for some dinner and snacks. AC is rare here so this was quite a treat.

Tomorrow we’re heading to Berlin and 100F-plus temperatures.  It’s one thing to have great vacation weather but this is a bit absurd. Here’s hoping cooler days are ahead 🙂

Today we went on a 10.5 hour coach trip to see two palaces built by ‘The Fairy Tale King’ Ludwig II, who ruled Bavaria in the 19th century. Our coach was extremely comfortable and our guide (Franzisca) was excellent (and funny). 

 
The first destination was Linderhoff Palace, built as a retreat by the king in a remote valley in the foothills of The Alps. 

 
Linderhoff was somewhat small for a royal palace but incredibly opulent, with mind-boggling furnishings and decorations in every room. These included 3D gilt floor-to-ceiling tapestries, gargantuan ceramic mirror frames, a massive ivory chandelier and even a dining room table that could be raised and lowered from the kitchen so the reclusive king didn’t have to see his servants. 

 
The grounds were no less spectacular, full of fountains and statues in the Greek style. I was at Versailles a few months ago (a palace that inspired Ludwig) and I found Linderhoff to be even more breathtakingly over-the-top!

Our next stop was the town of Oberammergau, famous for its passion play. 

 
The town has a few unique features including the paintings adorning many homes. Most of these are religious, but there are notable exceptions such as the one above which tells the story of Red Riding Hood. Apparently some of these are over 200 years old. 

 
Oberammergau is also known for woodcarving and the souvenir stores sell all manner of clocks and nutcrackers and nativities and other carved decorations. We also met our first German cat in one of these stores!

The final stop – the highlight of the tour – was the most famous building in Germany and one of the most famous in the world: Neuschwanstein castle. Here’s how it looks when first sighted from the road: 

 
This is Germany’s most popular tourist attraction and an absolute zoo of people! First we had lunch, then took a shuttle up the mountain closer to the castle. There followed a 15-minute walk with spectacular views of the countryside below: 

 
Along this path there was a ‘hurdy-guest man’ playing his strange instrument for tourists. Dad helped him by turning the crank: 

 
He was a very talented and charming busker, and greatly impressed us by playing (and singing!) “And the band played Waltzing Matilda” when he learned dad was Australian! He got a good tip for that 🙂

Eventually we arrived at the castle. Here it is from outside the walls: 

 
And here are some shots inside the courtyard: 

   
Neuschwanstein was to be Ludwig’s medieval castle, but it was unfinished at the time of his ‘mysterious’ death at age 40. Only 7 rooms were completed, but they are as spectacular as you may imagine, much grander and ostentatious even than Linderhoff but at the same time darker and less welcoming. This is more a castle; Linderhoff is more a palace.

I’ve wanted to visit Neuschwanstein my whole life (since seeing it in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and it didn’t disappoint. To live remotely in such a building would be exquisite, and I can only imagine what it would be like to live in a home with views like this: 

 
There’s a good reason why this is such a popular attraction to visit. Ludwig was a dreamer that managed to – in part at least – realize his dreams. We learned a lot about him today and I found his story to be rather tragic. It warms my heart therefore that he lives on through his wonderful palaces. 

Neuschwanstein is a place I’m likely to remember fondly for a very long time.

The English Park, in the north of Hamburg, contains an artificial wave made by partially damming the flow of a canal. People here use it for surfing! 

 
KLS, BS and I walked to the park early to beat the heat and were quite mesmerized by the wave and those using it. What a thing to find so far from the ocean! 

 
The dozen or so surfers were of varying skill levels (and gender and age) and observed a one-at-a-time honor system for using the wave. The flow was very powerful and the surfing is real. I was extremely impressed by such a creative use of what would be an otherwise unremarkable patch of canal. 

 
The park is worth visiting for other reasons – not least because it is massive and beautiful. While we had a very early start, even around 8 am the heat was picking up and by the time we reached the beer garden in the center it was time for a rest and a cool snack. 

 
The name of that treat probably translates to ‘fruit finger’ but it (mis)read as ‘flesh finger’ so we’ll forever remember it so 🙂

By early afternoon the heat had become oppressive. What a good time therefore to spend 2.5 hours on the open top deck of a tour bus! And so we did! 

 
Although we were nearly baked to death, the tour was great and I’m glad we took it. We saw many sights in the city as well as some a bit more distant such as Nymphenburg Palace, the BMW factory and the ’72 Olympic Park. The shot above is the ‘golden mile’ of high-end shops near the imperial residences. Speaking of which… 

 
That’s a shot taken near the residences themselves. Mum: ‘foxy’ says he’s loving Deutschland! 

 
It’s late and I’m very tired after such a long, hot day. But it was a very full day and we got our laundry done! 

 
That’s a shot taken in a market under Munich station. After Ireland and then France I may have doubted any country could love gummi’s more. How little I knew! 🙂