Reutte, Austria to Munich, Germany

The food here can be delicious, or it can be fatty and heavy.  We’ve had both; sometimes trying to order from the German menu can be complicated!! Basically, it’s pork, carbs and beer. We've got schnitzel figured out, that's for sure.

Our hotels have provided our breakfasts and they’ve all been quite tasty. In Reutte there is a basket of raw eggs on the buffet, so fresh a couple still have feathers attached, (really). Nearby is a cluster of egg timers and a contraption filled with boiling water. An egg is placed in a stainless steel cup with a long bent handle attached. The cup is lowered into the hot water and the handle balances on the edge. Take an egg timer to your table and when the sand has finished dropping you can retrieve your egg, perfectly cooked. Many eggs can cook at once because each cup has a different colored handle. Just remember which color is yours. Pair that egg with a thick slice of homemade brown bread…delicious!

Hotel in Reutte

We drive two kinds of road today. First the scenic route: a winding sliver along Plansee Lake, the largest in Tyrol. The Alpine foothills that are dipping their toes into its water surround it. Sailboats are tethered in a cove and a solitary fisherman is out early with the ducks.

Plansee Lake

The natural beauty of this area is impressive. Someone who really appreciated it all was King Ludwig. He’s built another castle and isolated it in the mountains. This one is named Linderhof. It’s the only one he lived to see completed and where he was living when he died at the age of 40. It’s small compared to Neuschwanstein, but it’s a “Wow”. The surrounding gardens and outdoor structures are as elaborate as the castle.

Linderhof Castle

The Gardens

He dedicated the place to France. King Louis XIV is on horseback in the foyer. The French court and French nobility are featured in the paintings throughout the palace and the design has elements of Versailles. The sun symbol is repeated over and over again in the room decorations.

Ludwig was supposedly fascinated by the French king because Ludwig was only a figurehead and Louie was an absolute monarch, (power envy). Ludwig, who was eventually declared insane, was beginning to show some signs of instability. His servants were instructed to address him as “The Sun King”.

He was a recluse. He ate alone at a table that was set for four and he imagined his guests. He liked to dine with the imaginary King Louie, Marie Antoinette and Madame Pompadour. The table was prepared in the kitchen (a floor below his dining room). When the meal was ready the servants turned a wheel and the table was winched up through the kitchen ceiling through the dining room floor. Ludwig didn’t want to see his servants.

He slept in a bed that is truly king-sized. It’s appointed in royal blue and the bedstead is thick, heavy gold filigree. Directly opposite the head of the bed is a window looking out into the garden to a four-story manmade waterfall that drops over a 40-step “staircase”.

The Waterfall

He slept during the day and stayed awake at night. He spent nights in his mirror room where the mirrors were placed to reflect each other endlessly. He lit the room with dozens of candles and as their light was replicated in the glass he pretended to turn night into day.

Every surface of the castle is covered with paintings or carved gold ornamentation. The seal above his throne has 100 stitches per square inch and took 5 years to complete. One of the ceiling paintings has a couple of three dimensional legs protruding from their painted torsos; characteristic of rococo style. He thought of himself as assisting the people of Bavaria because he employed them in the construction of his palaces and also as his servants.

Down the road apiece is Oberammergau. It’s known for its presentation of The Passion Play. In 1634 the town residents promised to produce a passion play every ten years if God would protect them from the bubonic plague. They’ve kept their promise. The next performance is in 2020. We decided not to stick around. We did enjoy a stroll through the town center where many wood carvers display and sell their work.

Ettal Abbey is a formidable monastery operated and occupied by the Benedictine monks. There are 50+ in residence here. They have diverse responsibilities, some make and sell liqueur, and others administer a private high school.

Ettal Abbey

Ceiling Dome

Now, the autobahn into Munich. I haven't looked, or asked until today. How fast are we really going? Top speed 105 mph. 

When we reach Munich we go out for a look around. The city center is filled with sidewalk cafes and they are packed with people. The place is literally buzzing with conversation and clinking silverware. We join the pleasant throng of pedestrians. Our destination is the Hofbrauhaus, the world famous beer hall. It happens to be so busy that finding a table is impossible. We’ll have that beer tomorrow. Tonight we find a warm and inviting trattoria. Ciao!

Reutte, Austria

Castle Day!

King Maximillian of Bavaria built a lovely summer home called Hohenschwahgau Castle on a mountain ridge near the town of Fussen. Construction began in 1833. He spent his summers in the castle with his wife Mary and sons Ludwig and Otto. Maximillian occupied the third floor; Mary lived on the second floor and the boys in the annex.

The whole place is painted with scenes inspired by Wagner’s operas. The billiard balls are made of ivory. A 200-pound chandelier made up of silver swans hangs in a drawing room. A spiral staircase behind a hidden door in Max’s bedroom leads to Mary’s bedroom. Mary had an ornate reading room and a writing room, equally ornate, but she preferred to be outdoors hiking in the mountains. She gathered plants from all over the Alps for her alpine garden. Maximillian had a special bridge built for her, which spans a deep ravine so she would have a shorter route into the mountains. Their castle is still owned by their descendants and is visited by 300,000 people a year, (they gave up on the guest book years ago).

Hohenschwahgau Castle

Their older son, Ludwig, was a dreamer and he dreamed up his own castle upon becoming king in 1864 at the age of 18.  Neuschwanstein Castle is perfectly perched in the foothills of the Alps with commanding views of Alpsee and Schwansee Lakes, his father’s castle, and the verdant countryside. He used swans throughout the castle as a tribute to Wagner’s works and because the swan was his heraldic animal. There are swan faucets, swan doorknobs, swans carved into the woodwork and embroidered into the draperies. So many swans he is sometimes referred to as the Swan King. In his throne room hangs a 2000-pound chandelier in the shape of a royal crown. There is no throne, however, because when he died under mysterious circumstances construction stopped and many rooms were never completed. The floor in the throne room consists of over a million ¼ inch tiles pieced together in a mosaic depicting the animals and birds of the region. He built a theater room, which was also never used. It is the size of a ballroom. Ludwig was a recluse and planned to stage operas in his castle so he wouldn’t have to attend public performances. The room has 92 acoustic panels, which create a perfect environment for solo recitals.

 

Neuschwanstein Castle

Ludwig died in 1886 after having been declared insane. He was found in the shallow water of Lake Starnberg, dead but not drowned. There are lots of theories as to how he died, but we’ll just never know.

Ludwig was pretty much broke when he died. His castle is now owned by the state of Bavaria and because of the more than 1.3 million paying visitors per year, (sometimes 6000 a day); it helps make Bavaria the richest state in Germany.

We reserved timed tickets to both castles on-line before we left Spokane. We got to skip the long lines at the ticket booth and walked right up to the reservation desk. The entrance system is very efficient. A digital clock at the castle entrance shows the time of day, a second display shows ticket numbers. At your appointed time your ticket number is displayed and you have 10 minutes to enter. Your ticket is inserted into a slot in a turnstile much like getting on the Metro. Once inside you are grouped with the language specific guide you requested. Off you go. Slick.

After the castle tours we rented a paddleboat and floated around Alpsee Lake for a while. We looked up at both castles in their alpine settings and watched primary colored hang gliders lift and drop against the cobalt sky. A day fit for a king and queen.

Alpsee Lake

Paddling

In 1738 a statue of the scourged Christ was seen weeping, real tears. The event brought pilgrims from far and wide. The statue was originally housed in a farmer’s barn because the church at the time felt the carving too evocative. It was moved to a small chapel after the weeping miracle; but the massive numbers of pilgrims who continued to come resulted in a more permanent home. The Wieskirche is a rococo masterpiece. Think gold and curlicues. Many, many golden curlicues.  In glass cases on either side of the altar are the handkerchiefs of the people who came, prayed and were cured. They no longer needed their hankies so they left them in the church. Now there are many pleas and gratitudes placed in the aisles beside the altar.

My camera battery died. Pictures are available at the church website:
http://www.wieskirche.de/eframset.htm

Apple strudel again tonight!

Staufen to Reutte, Austria

Zoom, zoom, zoom. It’s a day of driving on the autobahn and you’d better watch what’s coming up behind you. Every car is a race car, no kidding, even the mini-vans are flooring it.

Some observations from the passenger seat: (driver keeps his eyes on the autobahn).

• ·      Lots of bike paths and lots of senior-citizens riding. Some old fashioned bikes without gears some have baskets on the handlebars. Some riders use helmets, many don’t.
• ·      Substantial churches, with Rapunzel towers, could be fortresses or castles.
• ·      Lake Constance goes for miles along the German/Austrian border. Sail boats, a ferry, vineyards on the lakeshore.
• ·      Some overpasses are planted with over grown trees, shrubs and who knows what other wild vegetation. Are these for animal crossings?
• ·      Pure scenery and green everywhere, not an arid patch to be seen and not a single billboard or advertisement.
• ·      Single engine prop plane parallels the freeway, buzzes over us and lands on a grassy green runway.
• ·      Some serious mountains appear as we near Austria. From our perspective they are a mere backdrop, like a gray cardboard cutout in a Broadway set. 
• Not an observation but a comment. In Austria we are required to have reflector vests in the car with us at all times. In case of a break down the vest goes on before you step out onto the roadway. Interesting.

We stop in Fussen, (still in Germany), to see the sights and find some lunch. We find a Franciscan monastery and an adjoining cemetery. The monks’ graves are marked with simple wooden crosses, but the rest of the plots are once again, small gardens.

The Monks' Wooden Crosses

River Walker

We walk a path along the Lech River to the Fussen Heritage Museum. The most famous painting inside is “The Dance of Death” memorializing the plague of 1590. Its inscription reads: “You can say yes or you can say no, but you must ultimately dance with death.” Cheery.

The monks who once lived here ate (and drank) around 6900 calories a day. They were fat and often drunk. Lots of mulled wine and greasy meat. 

Several ornate rooms, one with a frescoed cupola, an elaborate library, a festival hall and a beautiful chapel are aaah inspiring. Extensive displays of lutes (yes) and a complete lute-making workshop. Lutes are big here.

The Library

We walk up a long lane to the High Castle. It was once the residence of the Bishop of Augsburg. Quite a large accommodation for a bishop, (assuming he was living alone). It’s an art gallery now. We climb the castle tower for the view and check out the perspective painting on the courtyard walls.

Perspective Painting

View From the Tower

Tower View

Tower View

Reutte, Austria is our final stop. The foothills of the Alps are no longer a backdrop, they surround this tiny town on three sides. From our balcony we hear the mooing of a nearby cow AND a rooster crowing. We aren’t impressed with Reutte…no pedestrian malls, not even a fountain and then, just as we are finishing our apple strudel a 40 piece band comes marching down the street dressed in white shirts, red vests, lederhosen and black tasseled hats. They assemble in a small platz and treat us to a full concert of Tyrolean folk music. Our hearts are won over.