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Apologies in advance - this was one of our most scenic days in 3+ months and I went a little overboard…
Let me start by apologizing to all those readers (OK, reader) who complained about the autocorrect issues of yesterday. Clearly if you wikipedied Martin Luther King Jr. you did not find anything about Neuschwanstein. I was trying to type MKL, for Mad King Ludwig. I would also like to apologize to Martin Luther King, Jr. for implying that he had anything to do with these architectural follies.
Let me start by apologizing to all those readers (OK, reader) who complained about the autocorrect issues of yesterday. Clearly if you wikipedied Martin Luther King Jr. you did not find anything about Neuschwanstein. I was trying to type MKL, for Mad King Ludwig. I would also like to apologize to Martin Luther King, Jr. for implying that he had anything to do with these architectural follies.
Moments after leaving town, we hit country #4, and soon after that, 4,000kms, or 2,500 miles. Already a big day.
We climb for several hours, up this river into the mountains.
We top out at this crystal clear lake, surrounded by mountains (and tourists, who we have cleverly screened out of this shot). Actually, not as clever as we think - turns out there are no tourists right here because of the swarms of biting flies, and we beat it right after this shot…
And back down the other side in an endless, flower-covered alpine valley.
Everyone’s out joyriding
We finally come out of the valley and into the town of Ommerammergau (that’s probably spelled wrong), where we stop for a bite
Which is famous for its illusionist painted buildings
Many of the murals are religious (the town also has a famous Passion Play that it puts on in thanks for been passed over by the plague – 600 years ago!)
And some secular scenes, like Hansel and Gretel
Little red riding hood
Plus chainsaw art
A quick spin through Ettal reveals the town’s main sights. The Cloister and its baroque church
Some specialty retail
The local brewery (now housed in the cloister)
Right past town and down this street of perfect Bavarian houses, we find our hotel.
So cute!
After checking in and cleaning up, we decide on a whim to take a bus to a lesser-known MKL sight, Schloss Lindenhof. Boy are we glad we do, because this place makes Neuschwanstein look like Levittown
This petit castle was the only one MKL actually finished.
Louis XIV of France, the Sun King and MKL’s hero. He was a total Versaillaphile.
And, as he was obsessed with all things Versailles, MKL had amazing formal gardens
The Fleur de lis
And the fountains - this is about a tenth of them…
Next stop, the Venus Grotto. Worth another wiki look, because our pictures don’t do it justice. This huge fake underground cavern, complete with scenes from operas, electric mood lighting and a heating system, puts the MAD in man-made.
MKL was rowed around in this swan boat as he listened to private performances of excerpts of Wagner’s operas. And, apparently he liked to splash around in the fake lake too.
Mood lighting. And suddenly a backlit waterfall opens up above us and pounds into the pool.
Fake stalag/ctites. The waterfall slows to a trickle and the last chords of Der Valkerie again fills the grotto…
Detail on the boat. The music fades, and we exit stage left.
After the awe of the grotto, we tour the grounds to clear our heads and see the several “stage set" buildings made to look like… yes, opera sets. This is the Moroccan pavilion
The inside is even more bedazzluous.
MKL’s Peacock Throne. Here he read poetry with Medieval themes while being attended by servants dressed in “oriental costume for added authenticity" (as our official brochure explains)
Guess they fanned him with those ostrich-plume fans!
I insist we make the long, uphill slog to see the last stage set building - the Hundsman Hut, where MKL read Nordic and Germanic legends while being attended by servants dressed in traditional attire. (You KNOW how the brochure spins that one…)
Like a Wagner opera, it is a bloody tragedy, when Eric almost kills me because it is closed.
We do peek inside, where there is a full set for another Wagner opera. I wish MKL was still around to throw parties at this place…
After a public transit snafu that resulted in an extra 2km trudge back to Ettal, we are ready for our open air dinner at our hotel (the Alpenhotel!) restaurant — of course two of the local beverages, from that pictured place down the road.
More pork for me. Yay pork.
Steak and kartoffen for Eric (who actually admitted to being “kind of sick of schnitzel”)
A side of bacon – I mean beans.
And this unsavory looking, but quite delicious fried apples slices with strawberry sauce for dessert.
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