Salzburg, Austria

Go Ahead placed us in a sweet little hotel right at Mirabell Gardens in the "new" section of Salzburg. It was just a few blocks walk to one of the bridges that cross over the Salzach river and into Old Town Salzburg. We crossed over right next to the Hotel Sacher. Yes, that Sacher...as in torte...as in chocolate heaven. At this point in the tour we had a guide so I just made mental notes of all the places I wanted to return to and the shops I wanted to go in. There are so many right as you cross the river that will beckon you inside! (as always, just click on the photo to see the larger version)

This funny little guy reminded me so sharply of Harry Potter that I couldn't resist taking a photo of him. I was to quickly learn that he was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the metal signs in Old Town Salzburg!

 He, also, wasn't the only "critter" I was to find on our walk. This gargoyle had many of us guessing exactly what type of critter it  is actually supposed to be. Demon? Dragon? Dog? What is your guess?

 The signs were many and they were extremely ornate here. What I loved most was the use of color in the signs. Many of them had not only the black iron but also the gold leaf and orange, yellow, blue and red painted iron! Beautiful.

I don't think you could say this is a "critter" but we stopped and admired the artwork. I, originally, took the photo as a way to dress up a skeleton for Halloween but, once I got it home and started really looking at it, I realized that he is amazing to look at because of the details. He was in the same cemetery they used to film The Sound of Music. This will hardly be my only reference to that movie while writing about Salzburg. So many of it's details and scenery were used in the filming of this movie to not notice them as we walked through the city.

 The funniest sign was this one for a tailor. The little short pants hanging from the amazingly ornate sign post had us all giggling like 12 year old girls.  

 Speaking of clothing. These do look like they are out of The Sound of Music but this shop caters to the local people. We were told that the older generation, over 40, still wears this type of clothing daily and we did see several people wearing them. My theory is that only the older generation can afford them! The ladies ensemble would cost around a thousand US dollars!

 Hands down this was my favorite sign. "Busy" doesn't begin to describe it! I can't think of anything that was left out. There is the golden eagle, the crown, the lions, the flowers, the filigree, a holy cross and even a crest all fit into one sign! We were fairly amazed by it and I became completely enamored.

I'll be heading further into Old Town Salzburg and we'll visit the most breathtaking church I have ever seen!

Cat

Nymphenburg Palace Munich, Germany

One of the highlights of the Go Ahead Tour of Munich was going to see Nymphenburg Palace. I was very interested in seeing this Palace due to the connection between it and Neuschwanstein Castle. The connection is King Ludwig I, the grandfather of the King who built Neuschwanstein. More on that later. But, apparently this Palace was more for the Queen than the King and it has a varied history for it's construction and design. It began that construction 200 years before Ludwig II as a summer residence for elector Max Emmanuel. 

The bus trips on these tours are always filled with wonderful sites as you travel from point A to point B. We made our way through downtown Munich to get to the Palace and I was happily surprised to find that the government buildings had such elaborate details on every rooftop.

Of course I was thrilled to find "my" lion as well. I have no clue what that is behind the lion that, for all the world resembles a snail, but I'd love it if someone out there knows!

Our first view of the Palace is from the small bridge that crosses the small man made waterway in front of it. I was fairly surprised that it was so plain in it's outside appearance.

Up close it resembles little more than an office complex from the front. I was soon to find that it was the inside and back that hid the beautiful details. These lamps are just a hint of what we would find inside.

This swan had us all laughing. He wasn't walking around the fountain so much as he was posing for photos. Seriously, he would walk around, stare at us, preen for a second and then stop really still for a few seconds before starting his walk again.

More "fat babies" and the Royal Crest. As you can see, the buildings behind hardly look like a Palace.

And then we entered the first hallway and each of us caught our breath in unison. It was audible. Unfortunately the hall was being restored so I couldn't get a grand photo of the whole room and had to be happy with the little bits I could capture and still miss all the plastic, such as the plastic wrapping this chandelier, or the scaffolding. But what we could see was magnificent. 

Each wall was of a similar design. We were told that the French designer they brought in was responsible for this room. It was sheer opulence.

The gold embellishments are real gold, there is pink marble framed panels and then, of course, the wonderful frescos. Lots of fat baby cherubs in these paintings!

But it was this little room off of the grand one pictured above that just fascinated me. With it's blue ceiling, black and white frescos and grey and white embellishments it just "felt" more beautiful to me. It is really hard to put the feeling into words. 

But what I remember the most about Nymphenburg is the chandeliers. Each and every room we entered had a different chandelier design and each was elaborate and ornate and stunning.

While we were there we had the pleasure of seeing a fine art restorer at work. It was rather amusing how quietly a group of 40 people can tiptoe past someone when they put their minds to it!

This is one of the really ornate bedrooms in the Palace. Each one had an amazing fresco hanging over the bed, hand carved  inlaid wood furniture and fine fabrics on the walls.

The chandelier styles just took my breath away.

This was my favorite. Someday I will pattern a wedding cake after this chandelier. I love not just the drop crystals but the little crystal "shades" on the upper parts as well as the gold filigree panels in the lower section. So beautiful.

Fitted for electric light I can still imagine how amazingly beautiful this chandelier must have been by candlelight.

King Ludwig I was known for his bevy of beauties. He was quite the ladies man, much to the chagrin of the Queen. As with most arranged Royal marriages, it wasn't really expected that the King be a faithful husband. King Ludwig didn't even try to hide his affections for other women. So much so that he had 35 of them painted for Nymphenburg, the primary residence for his Queen. 

It was after we were moving on in our tour that we were told about "Lola". As in "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets" fame? Lola Montez was a young beauty who captured Ludwig's heart, started a revolution that ended with Ludwig abdicating his throne in favor of being with his love. This led to his son, Maximillian II, becoming King for 16 years before his son, King Ludwig II  was to begin his reign. Her painting is the last one on the right of this photo.

 The back of the Palace is also embellished with gold. Unlike the front of the Palace, you get the feel of Royalty in the grand statues holding the family crest as well as the large golden lanterns on each landing.

The back gardens are made for strolling. With marble statues every few feet, the gardens invite you to stroll a bit, take in the artwork and then stroll a bit more. 

As you can see, the grounds were extensive. I really wish we could have stayed all afternoon to enjoy the promenade as well as all the outer buildings and pathways.

Wednesday we will head to Salzburg, one of my most favorite places from this tour.

Cat

On The Island ~ Munich, Germany

After a morning of enjoying the Marienplatz with our Go Ahead Tour Group we headed back to our hotel. It was tucked in a little corner across the river from downtown. Having a whole afternoon to ourselves we decided to head out from the hotel and see what we could see. What we found was this cute little park which was on a little island section of the riverwalk. (click on the small photos to see the larger version)

 I love this photo because, to me, it conveys the "feel" of the place. Shady, cool, green, beautiful. A good deal of the park was just like this. And, since it was getting to be a very warm afternoon, all of this greenery and shade was more than welcome.

 The views along the river were beautiful. Church spires and shady lanes really did invite you to keep walking, keep exploring. Originally we were only going to walk to the park and walk back and then we saw this view and wanted to find our way to those spires.

 This little fish fountain made me smile. We took a few moments to hang out here, enjoy the cool mist splashing off of the fountain and enjoy the whimsical design of it. 

The spires ended up being St. Luke's Cathedral. To get there we had to cross the river over to the other side and walk back down another shady lane to the front of the church. From that view it was impossible to see more than the front doors so the good view is actually from the other side of the river!

 The inside is nothing like the outside. Inside it looked like, well, Hogwarts...for those who have seen the Harry Potter movies. It was not like I expected it to be at all based on the outside of the building. I think that's one of the reasons I really liked it. It surprised me.

We had to recross the river to the other side and took the Mariannenbrucke back towards our hotel. The building at the left is the Mullersches Volksbad which translates to Mueller's Public Baths. It is an indoor swimming pool built because the man who gave the buildings to the city made it a condition of the donation.

We passed this display on the way back to our hotel room and just couldn't resist. It turned out to be sort of like a pizza. The crispy dough is filled with tomato sauce, chopped herbs and then topped with more tomatoes and cheese. It cost about $5 and was simply huge...and wonderfully delicious!

Saturday we'll head out to Nymphenburg Palace. Hope you can join us!

Cat

Munich & The Glockenspiel

When we booked this "Bavarian Castle Tour" trip with Go Ahead Tours, I was less than thrilled to be going to Munich. I wasn't thrilled to be visiting a city when I wanted to be in the countryside seeing castles. Because of the war, because of all of the bombings that destroyed so many buildings, I wasn't so happy to be spending time in a place where, I thought, I wasn't really going to see anything "special". Boy, oh, Boy, was I proved wrong! (click on the photos to see the larger version)

My husband was very happy I was going to Munich because he had seen the Glockenspiel. He just knew it was going to be a highlight of this trip. He had no real idea! All of the medieval features of a castle are right here in downtown Munich! Even though it was constructed in 1908, this show features stories from the 16th Century. It plays three times a day and the square is always crowded.

And when the Glockenspiel kicks into motion the world around it stops to watch. It seems like such a simple thing. More or less a cuckoo clock the size of a building with life-sized figures that go 'round and 'round. But, seriously, it's mesmerizing! There were a couple hundred people in the square looking straight up at the "performance" for every single second of it. We craned our necks to watch the Lords and Ladies dance around, the Knights joust and, finally, the golden bird in the top section chirps three times to let us know the show is over. 

While I was charmed by the performance, it was the building that had me totally captivated. You see, I'm a "details" kind of girl. I relish the little bows on gifts, the flower boxes filled with red geraniums on window sills, the wrought iron flourishes on railings...and gargoyles. I adore gargoyles. They are ghastly, horrifying creatures that, surely, should give me nightmares instead of bringing a huge grin to my face. But they do. This from a person who will not watch a horror film. Go figure. 

 And with this building I was not disappointed. There were goblins and ghosts, demons and animals, including a dragon climbing up the building, all over the New Town Hall. We sat in an open air restaurant across the square from all of these details and I could hardly pry my eyes away. I kept trying, unsuccessfully, to absorb each twist, figure, arch, face, curlicue and design. It wasn't possible but I sure did try!

 Even the hallways of the Rathaus were beautifully reminiscent of a castle. 

And you just know that I somehow found one of "my" lions! This one was surrounded by gold embellished wrought iron. 

And, of course, you know we found some more fat baby cherubs as well! This balcony railing was just too cute not to take a photo of it!

Monday we head to the greener part of the city for a walk in the park. Hope to see you then!

Cat

Old Town Innsbruck

Even though we only had an afternoon to explore Innsbruck with our Go Ahead Tour Group we were charmed by the Old Town. (click on the small photos for the full sized versions)

 These row houses reminded me so much of the ones in San Francisco. The colors and details made them beautiful to gaze at for awhile.

 The elaborate wire signs were everywhere here too. This was my favorite one. I love all the flourishes and flowers in heavy gold and then the delicate black ironwork around them.

 The old and new clash at times but they at least tried to fit the garish McDonalds sign in with the beautiful painted walls of the Wein Haus. The effect helps to mask the modern signs using the traditional details.

The Golden Roof. Placed at one end of the Old Town area this is a very symbolic roof. The Golden Roof actually is the three-story balcony on the central plaza at the heart of the Old Town. It was constructed for Emperor Maximilian I to serve as a royal box where he could sit in state and enjoy tournaments in the square below. It was built in honor of Maximilian's second marriage to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan.

 If you could see the sky through the tall buildings in Old Town then you could see the Alps. The effect makes you feel like you are totally surrounded by them. Their beauty is breathtaking. I particularly loved this spire because, well, it's Pink! The gargoyles are great too! We did learn that the reason there are gold balls on the top of churches there is because the church plans are encased in the metal ball. The theory is that if the church was to burn down the ball would survive and they could rebuild using the plans inside!

 Shopping these narrow streets was very nice. However the shops were all very small and very crowded with merchandise. We tried to stay away from the "tourist" shops and shop in the little boutiques instead. The people were wonderful to us.

 It was a quiet morning which led to serene scenes like this one. Just a charming courtyard leading to the shops.

 Let us not pass over the bakery! Each village we walked had amazing fresh baked goodies in the windows of at least one of the shops. As we expected, the pretzels were simply divine!

 And here is my favorite building in Old Town Innsbruck. I believe the design is referred to as "wedding cake" because there is just SO much of it layered on. Swirls and curves and subtle color make up this amazing building.

Finally it was time to leave. We had visited the Swarovski Crystal store and bought gifts for those at home...Swarovski comes from Innsbruck so we knew we had to visit there. We had eaten fresh baked goods, bought ourselves treats to take home and share with our family and left wishing we'd had another day, at least, to keep exploring all the little courtyards and shops in Old Town.

This weekend we will begin our visit to Munich! Hope you can join us!

Cat