The morning drive took us through more Bavarian countryside. It is just beautiful in this section of Germany. Claus says this is the most beautiful part of Germany…but then he is from Bavaria.
Our main sightseeing today – a palace built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Mad Ludwig). This one is on an island in the Cheimsee Lake.
We caught a boat out to the island and then headed out to the palace to catch our tour. Diane and Susan took the horse drawn carriage and Claus headed up the stairs (which actually took him to the monastery instead of the palace). We walked with Tara.
The other three showed up just as the tour was headed into
the palace. No photos were allowed in the castle. But someone (who shall remain nameless…but
not one of us) got a couple of shots.
One on of the truly magnificent Hall of Mirrors (modeled after the one
in Versailles)
The rooms we toured had beautiful furniture, gorgeous
marquetry floors, murals, spectacular chandeliers and massive amounts of very thin gold
leaf. The tour guide said that despite
all gold we saw the amount of gold used in the entire completed rooms was only
6 kilograms (a bit over 11 pounds).
Only 20 rooms were finished before Ludwig’s death (under
mysterious circumstances) at age 40.
What was especially stark was the contrast between the opulent,
completed rooms and the bare brick walls of the uncompleted sections.
We had only a small amount of time at the fountain area of
the grounds…
and did not get to spend time in the gardens. We all took the horse carriage...
to the pathway to the Augustinian Monastery where we stopped for lunch.
After a boat ride back (saw the small chapel by the water's edge)
and a not too long bus ride we ended up in the pretty town of Bad Tolz where we are staying overnight.
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More Bad Tolz
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