Bavaria, heaven on earth! Mad Ludwig of Bavaria was eccentric and a little free with his money. He built several extravagant castles, each paying tribute to the great Richard Wagner.
The Bavarian landscape. Heaven, pure heaven.
Linderhof castle, a mini Versailles
Ludwig had a grotto built into the side of the mountain specifically for the
performances of Wagner's operas.
My best buddy!
Linderhof was great, but the Neuschwanstein Castle took my breath away. This castle was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland.
The hike up to the castle. You had to really want to see it! It is much steeper than it looks. :)
These pictures are taken at the bridge overlooking the castle.
Front entrance
They didn't allow pictures inside, but about half of the rooms inside were patterned after one of Wagner's operas or music dramas.
Like a fairy tale. . .
After a glorious day in Bavaria, we spent an entire day traveling to . . . . Paris!
Front gate to Versailles, home of Louis XIV "The Sun King"
Versailles gardens
The Queen's Hamlet: Marie Antoinette's fantasy village where
she could "play peasant" with her lovers.
she could "play peasant" with her lovers.
Enjoying crepes on our way to Notre Dame
River cruise
Inside the Louvre: Obligatory picture of The Mona Lisa
My two favorite pieces from the museum.
and some more random ones. . .
Napoleon's tomb
on top of the Eiffel Tower
Oh yeah, and Mitt Romney just happened to be speaking in sacrament meeting that day. :)
Almar, our awesome tour guide!
More of Napoleon
The tour directors, tired and ready to go home.
For the last few days of the trip Tyler and I said goodbye to the rest of the group and headed out on our own! We took a train to the heart of the Swiss Alps.
No big deal. Just the view from our hotel room. :)
Lauterbrunnen. I have no words. Love.
Hike up to the back of a waterfall
Wild strawberries
The prettiest public water fountain of the whole trip
Yeah, we got really good at the eating part. . .
Grindelwald
The last day of the trip was quite memorable. We took a half day train ride to Bayreuth, a small town close to Munich, to visit Wagner's famous opera theater.
Enjoying the ride
Showing us the way. They really love Wagner here.
They know how to grow Dahlias here!
Getting close!
When we got to the hall we found out that it was closed that day to celebrate the beginning of a huge restoration project. They weren't giving any tours that day, which was the whole purpose in coming there. I was so upset, so Tyler worked his magic. To make a long story short, he was very persistent and we were basically begging until one kind soul let us in for what he said was only going to be one minute, with no pictures or anything. We gratefully accepted, and while I was walking around the hall in awe Tyler got on this man's good side by talking about the acoustics of the hall. This man was obviously very proud of the hall, because before long he invited us down to the pit! This is the most significant orchestra pit in all of music history. He told us a lot of really interesting stories about the pit, and right before we left he let me sit on the conductor's chair. Wagner's original chair.
We were so grateful to this man for softening his heart and making our day. It was the perfect ending to the trip.
Congratulations! I'm so impressed you made it all the way through our month-long trip to Europe. As a reward, here's a picture of my Halloween costume this year. I went as Professor Trelawney.
3 comments:
I wish I could've seen Versailles! I heard some awesome stories about in my art history classes. Also, I like that you guys documented your eating habits. It made me laugh!
I loved every minute of your travel-log. The only way I'll ever get to see any of that stuff. I really think you were so blessed when that man went from "NO ENTRY" to "Here, sit in Wagner's chair and take pictures".
That is so awesome! I hope you get to go back someday. Thanks for posting all of these. It was a fun trip!
Love this post as well! I have to brag for just a minute. I have been to a few of these places! The hike up to the castle- I did that as an 8 year old girl. Seeing the Mona Lisa and the rest of that amazing museum, visiting Versailles and the Eifle tower! And your pictures of the Alps are familiar to me as well. I've been to Munich and Berchesgarten (spellings are probably wrong). It was the crowning point of my childhood to spend three years living there but I really wish I could have gone with you back because of course I didn't appreciate it like I would now.
Wow your story of Wagner's opera house is so cool! Way to go Tyler, you just made Lisa's Year I'm pretty sure! I'm glad you guys had such a great trip!
Post a Comment