Today was our last day in Germany - and after breakfast together in the hotel, we set off around 9:00am for Herrenchimsee - another one of Ludwig II palaces that he constructed. This one was inspired by Versailles - but with larger dimensions and a better quality of finishes and materials. Yes. This palace is better than Versailles. That's what we'd been told anyway. We travelled for one of the last times along the autobahn to the town of Prien, the port for the island of Herreninsel (Men's Island) upon which Herrenchimsee stands. Thankfully, we arrived five minutes before the hourly boat arrived to take us to the island - one amazing stroke of luck that really did help us out later in the day.
We arrived at Herreninsel in 15 minutes - which gave us time to buy tickets to the English tour - walk around an abbey for approximately 30 seconds, then head to the palace along a track through the forest.
To be honest - the Abbey housed a museum about Bavarian Kings - we'd already seen one. Seen one museum about Bavarian King's you've seen 'em all as the saying goes. But the Palace. Modelled as a tribute to Versailles - but never finished - Herrenchimsee Palace is of larger dimensions - but the whole thing is a replica - except for the fact that it uses German material - one such room is decorated entirely with Meissen Porcelain - a table with 29 different types of German wood. It was however never finished - as Ludwig died in mysterious circumstances before it could be completed.
Only a third of the rooms in the Palace were ever completed - and these are nothing short of spectacular. A large portion of the rooms are decorated in gold leaf - and the skill of the artisans was such that only 5 kilos of gold are used in the entire building today (and that's a lot when you see the Palace). Unfortunately - photos of the interior are forbidden - so I'll have to link you some shots from Google Images.
This is the Hall of Mirrors at Herrenchimsee - it is larger, wider and longer than the original. The quality of finishes is also considered superior by art historians and architects.
I'd never even heard of Herrenchimsee Palace - so if you're ever in Bavaria - do visit the palaces of Ludwig II - they're all good fun!
Unfortunately - all the "fun" we'd been having had left us a tad behind schedule. With about 1 hour to get to Salzburg for the 3pm showing of "The Sound of Music", Mum was going to have to do some pretty interesting driving. we hurtled down the autobahns at 160kmh - going so fast that my camera couldn't even take a photo of us entering the Republik Ossterich. We raced (no joke) into Salzburg, and after wandering around looking for a park, we found one about 800m from the theatre - and ran through the streets of Salzburg to the Sound of Music. I had a brief fantasy of this being practise for "The Amazing Race" and we arrived with 3 minutes to spare, collecting our tickets - and heading to our booths.
Yes - it was in German. Did it matter - No. We already knew all the words to the songs (oh dear), and thankfully subtitles were provided above the stage. Mum almost cried she was so happy - and it was one of the very memorable experiences we've had over here in Europe.
(Again credit where credit is due - I didn't take these photos - I took them off Google Images). Mum walked out of the theatre smiling from ear to ear - and I'm confident it was the happiest she's been. They did sing the main songs in English as the encore (weirdly singing Edelwiess with a "w" - not even we sing it with a "w"). The Sound Of Music is not a permenant show in Salzburg. It is currently touring - and we just happened to be lucky enough to have the chance to see it!
We then checked into the hotel, before enjoying a simple meal in the Pittterskeller (the hotel cellar) enjoying some hearty Weiner Schnitzel, before heading back to bed for an early days rest.
And congratulations/good luck to all kids starting school back there at home!
No comments:
Post a Comment