Linderhof Castle

Claus told us that there was a great flea market once a month a couple of blocks away where we could find all kinds of collectible stuff at reasonable prices.  Having had my one antique/flea market/bargain shopping excursion stopped in its tracks by 70 missing euros a couple of days ago, I was excited to go to this.

Kirk got up early and walked down to the bakery and brought home some strudel and cheese pretzels for breakfast.  Y-U-M!  Then we headed out.

What can I say about this flea market?  I'm thinking I would find more along the lines of the one in Shelbyville or Shepherdsville or even, fingers crossed, the one at the fairgrounds.  Sadly, no.  It was about 50 vendors in a gravel parking lot selling a lot of junk.  Most flea markets are junk, I know, but most flea markets have a few people, dealers of antiques and collectibles type of vendors, who have good stuff.  Not so much here.  We looked and looked.  The girls were determined to buy something, anything, this morning and settled on a couple of rings.  I found a box of three tiny porcelain angels to put on Grandpa Milt's cabin at Christmas.  Other than that, it was a huge bust.

We took off for Linderhof Castle, one of the castles of Mad King Ludwig, which is nearby Oberammergau.  Since we had heard about it at Neuschwanstein, we thought it would be a nice connection from the earlier part of our trip.

It is beautiful.  It's more of a chateau or a villa than a castle.  In my mind, a castle sits on a hill and has turrets and a big gate around it.  Linderhof is not that at all.  It's made of white granite (I think), set in a valley surrounded by the Alps with beautiful pools and fountains out front.

It is absolutely gorgeous inside.  We learned that Ludwig was crazy about Wagner and his operas.  He loved the French monarchy and had this palace done to reflect Versailles.  There were beautiful, opulent rooms upon rooms, and we could barely keep our mouths closed from all the gaping we were doing at all the gilt and porcelain and carvings and mirrors...I wish I could have photographed inside, but alas, all photography is forbidden (the better to encourage you to buy a souvenir book!)  The coolest thing inside the palace is the dining room.  The table is on a lift so that it could be lowered into the basement/kitchen, set, and then raised up to the dining room fully laden with food.  After dinner, it was lowered back down and cleaned.

We headed to the Blue Grotto, which Ludwig built as a tribute to Wagner's opera Tannenhauser.  It is a totally artificial "cave" with an electric waterfall.  This was actually one of the first places to have electricity in Germany, and the lights can change color from red to blue to purple.  In the center of the "lake" in the cave is a swan boat, and Ludwig used to sit in it and have his servants row him around the "lake."

Then we walked around the grounds and made our way to the Moorish Palace.  Ludwig purchased this from one of the world expos and had it moved to this location.  He went here to smoke his hookah pipe and had his servants dress in Moorish costumes.  Like I said, he was crazy!


The sad part about Ludwig is that he had such really neat and innovative things in his life and yet he was such a recluse that he had nobody to share them with.  Kind of like an olden times Michael Jackson.

Inside the Moorish Palace

The outside of the Moorish Palace

Outside the Moorish Palace

Outside the Moorish Palace

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the grounds of Linderhof.  It is so, so peaceful.  There was a hunting lodge we visited, but it was destroyed during WW2, so this was a reproduction.  It was closing time, and I didn't get any pictures, but it was also designed to represent a Wagner opera.

As we walked the path through the woods, I saw the branches of this tree and thought how your imagination could get the better of you and think these branches hands grabbing at your arms and legs...Fairy tales come to life.

When we finally hit the end of the trail and ended up back at Linderhof Castle, we were beat.  Did you know that when you walk downhill away from somewhere, you usually have to walk uphill to get back?  That fact flew out of our brains as we wandered around today, and we were ready for another ice cream by the time we finished our tour!  The view from the top, though, was gorgeous.  I didn't know whether I liked the flowers better or the castle.

Tomorrow we head for Spain.  Our journey is half over.  I am anxious to meet George and see what the rest of the trip holds!