Munich and the Bavarian Alps - 2nd May 25

 Hi all,

Today we took the easy way to see the towns and castles of the Bavarian Alps - a Greyline bus tour from Munich. It was a beautiful spring day, a somewhat unseasonal 26 degrees. The drive was from the flats of Munich through some beautiful alpine country side, framed by the Alps as a backdrop.

This one was taken while the bus was zooming along the autobahn.

We first stopped at the Schloss Linderhof, a petite palace formally the home of the “mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The King was a “confirmed bachelor”, a recluse and a lover of Fine art, the music of Wagner, with an obsession with building castles for his own sole use. 

While not particularly large, this castle was the King’s first foray into unbelievable, self indulgent opulence (Normie’s view), with nearly every room heavily furnished in marble and endowed with 24 carat gold leaf on nearly every surface. As the King did not like to be watched while eating, he ate from a table that was winched from the kitchen below - strange fish indeed.

Next stop was the lovely town of Oberammergau, a very Swiss like village at the foot of the Alps, complete with painted houses, all with their own artist flair.

Following that we had lunch at the village of Hohenschwangau, a surprisingly good snitty, bratwurst and cabbage roll affair, sans beer, wine and the ubiquitous Aperol spritz (Holly’s current tipple). We then proceeded up the steep hill to the Schloss Neuschwanstein, passing this beautiful lake on the way.

This castle was a complete but magnificent folly in the latter years of Ludwig’s reign (which lasted from his 18th year until his death at 40 in 1886). The castle was designed by an artist, not an architect, and shows it - a fairytale castle that Brothers Grimm would have been proud of. While Ludwig’s many castle builds sent his family nearly broke, at least he didn’t spend any public money. When he was declared insane, then died in mysterious circumstances, it only took 6 weeks for the family to open the Castles to the public (after pilfering them for much of the valuable porcelain) so that they could repay some of his debts.

However, one has to say, that nearly 150 years later the Mad King has created a magnificent legacy for the people of Bavaria, and the tourist industry- not to mention the current members of the Bavarian royal family who are rumoured to receive around 40m Euro per annum in compensation for the government confiscating their assets.

It was a long day, but very memorable, all our love from the travellers 🧳🇮🇹⛪️🏰