Thursday, January 24, 2008
NEW BLOG
I am no longer updating this blog. Please see my new blog, Free Pants, which chronicles my journeys during my Big Year Off.
However, if you want to read about the older trip that's described in this blog, then go ahead and keep reading.
However, if you want to read about the older trip that's described in this blog, then go ahead and keep reading.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Fri July 01, 2005
So I'll count today as the first day as my vacation. After all, it was my first day off of work! Anyways, I finished packing today and drove to Justin's house where Justin, Will, and I watched the last few episodes of Naruto. I picked up the hard drive and went to the airport. As always, the airport was boring. I walked around and tried to find some Canadian-style candies to buy to share with people I meet in Europe. My flight, on a 747, was an overnight flight and rather uneventful, except that it was one hour late. I ignored the movie and tried my best to sleep... though I don't think I actually slept! It's so hard to sleep on planes! I was sitting next to the window. I remember being really sad when I wanted to go to the lavatory, but the people next to me were sleeping, so I just held it in. Remind me to get an aisle seat next time.
Saturday July 02, 2005
I've drawn these neat maps so I can hopefully help outline my travels a bit more clearly. Each map (except for the last) shows exactly one days of travel. They should be approximately to scale.
So I landed in Amsterdam at about 7:30 AM. I picked up my baggage and went to the train station, which was just a short escalator ride away! I hopped on a train to Brussels. On the way, I got to see the Dutch countryside. Look! A windmill!
Getting to the Belgian border was pretty fast... it only took about an hour and a half. Getting the rest of the way to Brussels was extremely painful. The train started stopping at every .... single ... station. And the train didn't even get to Brussels! It stopped at the city before Brussels (Mecklenburg) and everyone had to get off. Then I had to switch trains to one that was so crowded that there was no room for people to sit down. Augh. From the border, it took like three more hours to get to Brussels. I may have taken the wrong train. It should only take three hours and one train to get to Brussels from Amsterdam, not five hours and two trains.
Once I got to Brussels, though, it was better... I found the train to Luxembourg, which was leaving in five minutes! I didn't even have time to get some tasty pommes frites! So I ran for it and got on the train. Once I got there, I was finally able to relax. The train travelled through the picturesque Ardennes region:
In the middle of the afternoon, I finally reached Luxembourg!
I found a hotel within easy walking distance of the train station, took a shower, watched some of Live 8 on TV, and then walked into town. I can see how Luxembourg managed to stay independent for so long... in the olden days, the place was a huge fortress. Most of the fortifications are gone, but its easy to see, from these huge valleys surrounding the centre of town, that the place must have been very defensible:
I found the concert area fairly easily. It was not just a concert... it was the LUX-GSM OPEN AIR FESTIVAL. They really wanted me to buy a cell phone! It was in a square in the middle of town. There was a big open air stage set up, with a huge screen beside it.
I had arrived just before the first act started. It was The Gentles. I think they were from Luxembourg. I did not like them. They were a pack of guys wandering around the stage shouting rap music with one girl to help out. *yawn*
I took the time to get some pizza for dinner and waited patiently for Lunik to start playing. When The Gentles left the stage, I pushed way up to the front (there weren't that many people yet), and waited for Lunik. There was this whole pack of REALLY ANNOYING 14 year old kids drinking and smoking right beside me. But I endured them... I wanted to see Lunik. Eventually, they hit the stage!
Here's some close-ups of the singer, Jael... I think I'm in love! You may or may not recognize her... Jael sang the song "After All" for Delerium a couple of years ago (that's where I first learned of her and the band Lunik).
Lunik is a band from Switzerland. Their music is basically impossible to find in Canada, and is very scarce on the Internet, too. Seeing them play was something else. They sing their songs in English, but speak German in between songs.
I tried to get a set list, but the roadies and crew said it was "impossible". It was not impossible, I saw them tape set lists to the stage while they were setting up. I told them that I had come all the way from Canada to see Lunik play (not a complete lie)! No dice. Jerks.
So... Lunik left, two more bands came on... they're not worth mentioning. However, the last band, Juli, was really impressive. They had played two songs at Live 8 earlier that day in Berlin. By the time they came on, the square had really filled up and it was hard to move. So I just stood far at the back and watched them play. They were good enough that I put Juli on my list of CDs to buy! They sing their songs in German.
After Juli finished up, I went back to the hotel and CRASHED! I had been awake for basically 30 or so hours (I'm not counting closing-my-eyes-for-an-hour-or-so-on-the-plane). It was a well deserved rest.
So I landed in Amsterdam at about 7:30 AM. I picked up my baggage and went to the train station, which was just a short escalator ride away! I hopped on a train to Brussels. On the way, I got to see the Dutch countryside. Look! A windmill!
Getting to the Belgian border was pretty fast... it only took about an hour and a half. Getting the rest of the way to Brussels was extremely painful. The train started stopping at every .... single ... station. And the train didn't even get to Brussels! It stopped at the city before Brussels (Mecklenburg) and everyone had to get off. Then I had to switch trains to one that was so crowded that there was no room for people to sit down. Augh. From the border, it took like three more hours to get to Brussels. I may have taken the wrong train. It should only take three hours and one train to get to Brussels from Amsterdam, not five hours and two trains.
Once I got to Brussels, though, it was better... I found the train to Luxembourg, which was leaving in five minutes! I didn't even have time to get some tasty pommes frites! So I ran for it and got on the train. Once I got there, I was finally able to relax. The train travelled through the picturesque Ardennes region:
In the middle of the afternoon, I finally reached Luxembourg!
I found a hotel within easy walking distance of the train station, took a shower, watched some of Live 8 on TV, and then walked into town. I can see how Luxembourg managed to stay independent for so long... in the olden days, the place was a huge fortress. Most of the fortifications are gone, but its easy to see, from these huge valleys surrounding the centre of town, that the place must have been very defensible:
I found the concert area fairly easily. It was not just a concert... it was the LUX-GSM OPEN AIR FESTIVAL. They really wanted me to buy a cell phone! It was in a square in the middle of town. There was a big open air stage set up, with a huge screen beside it.
I had arrived just before the first act started. It was The Gentles. I think they were from Luxembourg. I did not like them. They were a pack of guys wandering around the stage shouting rap music with one girl to help out. *yawn*
I took the time to get some pizza for dinner and waited patiently for Lunik to start playing. When The Gentles left the stage, I pushed way up to the front (there weren't that many people yet), and waited for Lunik. There was this whole pack of REALLY ANNOYING 14 year old kids drinking and smoking right beside me. But I endured them... I wanted to see Lunik. Eventually, they hit the stage!
Here's some close-ups of the singer, Jael... I think I'm in love! You may or may not recognize her... Jael sang the song "After All" for Delerium a couple of years ago (that's where I first learned of her and the band Lunik).
Lunik is a band from Switzerland. Their music is basically impossible to find in Canada, and is very scarce on the Internet, too. Seeing them play was something else. They sing their songs in English, but speak German in between songs.
I tried to get a set list, but the roadies and crew said it was "impossible". It was not impossible, I saw them tape set lists to the stage while they were setting up. I told them that I had come all the way from Canada to see Lunik play (not a complete lie)! No dice. Jerks.
So... Lunik left, two more bands came on... they're not worth mentioning. However, the last band, Juli, was really impressive. They had played two songs at Live 8 earlier that day in Berlin. By the time they came on, the square had really filled up and it was hard to move. So I just stood far at the back and watched them play. They were good enough that I put Juli on my list of CDs to buy! They sing their songs in German.
After Juli finished up, I went back to the hotel and CRASHED! I had been awake for basically 30 or so hours (I'm not counting closing-my-eyes-for-an-hour-or-so-on-the-plane). It was a well deserved rest.
Sunday July 03, 2005
So, I let myself sleep in the morning. I had breakfast in the hotel. The hotel staff spoke French. I was reminded of how bad my French had gotten since I had last studied it in grade nine. I was even having a hard time trying to remember how to say "thank you" (it's "merci" stupid!).
I got to the train station around noon. I had bought a beer on the way to the station so I would have something to drink on the train! That's thinking ahead!
At the train station, I boarded a train for Trier, Germany. It was only twenty minutes from Luxembourg, but... still in a different country! Luxembourg is very small...
At Trier, I talked with a information-desk-lady to help me route my trip through the German train system. I needed to get to Munich! She did a query in her computer and printed out a schedule which told me where to change trains, which platforms to board them, which train numbers to look for, and what times to do all of the above. I couldn't quite understand everything that was printed out on the schedule (it was written in German), so I asked this German girl on the train platform to help me decipher it. It turns out that she was pretty friendly and we got to talk until I had to change trains. Her name is Justine... she let me take her picture:
The train travelled through the beautiful Moselle river valley. It was a winding, deep, river valley... surrounded by hills, villages, and vineyards:
After a while, I reached Koblenz, the city where the Moselle river empties into the Rhine river. I said my goodbyes to Justine and boarded my train to Mainz. The trains between Koblenz and Mainz travel through the famous Rhine river valley. This valley was similar to the Moselle river valley, except there were fewer bendies in the river, and TONS of castles perched on the tops of the hills:
Eventually I reached Mainz and boarded another train to Mannheim. My schedule told me that, at Mannheim, I had a total of four minutes to get on the InterCity Express (ICE) train to Munich, and I had to get to another platform, lugging my suitcase the whole way. This did not seem to give me a large margin of error--especially since my own train was running a couple of minutes late--so I knew that I should run for it so I wouldn't miss the train! So as the train pulled into the station, I looked out the window across the station to where I thought my next train would be. I saw it! So, I scurried out of the train, ran down the ramp off the platform, down the tunnel, then up the next ramp, jumped on the train, and sat down. Less than a minute later, the train pulled out of the station. I did it!
So as I settled into my first class seat as the train roared across a German plain at 250 km/h, I thought all was good in my world. Some of the train's staff emerged and they were changing these little signs in the car that indicated the train's destination. Apparantly my train was not going to Munich. It was going to Stuttgart... and that was the end of the line! Crap! I asked the staff on the train what was happening... how come I was on the right platform at the right time and still managed to board the wrong train? Apparantly the train I really wanted was running a whole half-hour late, and this one was trying to run ahead in order to compensate. The train I really wanted was also going to Stuttgart next, and I could board it there so I could make it to Munich. That sounded good enough for me. Crisis averted!
So, at Stuttgart, I finally got on the ICE train I wanted to be on, and I let it take me the rest of the way to Munich. At this point, it was about 7 PM, and, since I didn't have lunch or dinner, I decided to eat my dinner in the restaurant car aboard the train. I figured I wouldn't have another chance to eat in a restaurant car on a train on this trip! I got some yummy lemonade beer (40% lemonade) with sausages and potato salad!
Finally I made it to Munich at around 8 PM. It only took me about a total of eight hours to get there from Luxembourg. I found a pretty nice hotel fairly close to the train station (about two blocks away) and within easy walking distance of the Aldstadt ("old town"). I decided to do a walk around to see what was around my hotel. During my walk around I found some people from Nova Scotia on their way to the Hofbräuhaus (Royal Beer House), the famous beer hall in Munich. They let me join them and we went to have some beer. This place was very touristy, but seemed like a quintessential Bavarian experience. There was even an oompah band! Beer came in one litre glasses (I had two) and was very delicious. Pretzels and strudels were eaten. The place closed at midnight. When I left, I got a really cool picture of hundreds of one litre beer glasses all lined up:
I got to the train station around noon. I had bought a beer on the way to the station so I would have something to drink on the train! That's thinking ahead!
At the train station, I boarded a train for Trier, Germany. It was only twenty minutes from Luxembourg, but... still in a different country! Luxembourg is very small...
At Trier, I talked with a information-desk-lady to help me route my trip through the German train system. I needed to get to Munich! She did a query in her computer and printed out a schedule which told me where to change trains, which platforms to board them, which train numbers to look for, and what times to do all of the above. I couldn't quite understand everything that was printed out on the schedule (it was written in German), so I asked this German girl on the train platform to help me decipher it. It turns out that she was pretty friendly and we got to talk until I had to change trains. Her name is Justine... she let me take her picture:
The train travelled through the beautiful Moselle river valley. It was a winding, deep, river valley... surrounded by hills, villages, and vineyards:
After a while, I reached Koblenz, the city where the Moselle river empties into the Rhine river. I said my goodbyes to Justine and boarded my train to Mainz. The trains between Koblenz and Mainz travel through the famous Rhine river valley. This valley was similar to the Moselle river valley, except there were fewer bendies in the river, and TONS of castles perched on the tops of the hills:
Eventually I reached Mainz and boarded another train to Mannheim. My schedule told me that, at Mannheim, I had a total of four minutes to get on the InterCity Express (ICE) train to Munich, and I had to get to another platform, lugging my suitcase the whole way. This did not seem to give me a large margin of error--especially since my own train was running a couple of minutes late--so I knew that I should run for it so I wouldn't miss the train! So as the train pulled into the station, I looked out the window across the station to where I thought my next train would be. I saw it! So, I scurried out of the train, ran down the ramp off the platform, down the tunnel, then up the next ramp, jumped on the train, and sat down. Less than a minute later, the train pulled out of the station. I did it!
So as I settled into my first class seat as the train roared across a German plain at 250 km/h, I thought all was good in my world. Some of the train's staff emerged and they were changing these little signs in the car that indicated the train's destination. Apparantly my train was not going to Munich. It was going to Stuttgart... and that was the end of the line! Crap! I asked the staff on the train what was happening... how come I was on the right platform at the right time and still managed to board the wrong train? Apparantly the train I really wanted was running a whole half-hour late, and this one was trying to run ahead in order to compensate. The train I really wanted was also going to Stuttgart next, and I could board it there so I could make it to Munich. That sounded good enough for me. Crisis averted!
So, at Stuttgart, I finally got on the ICE train I wanted to be on, and I let it take me the rest of the way to Munich. At this point, it was about 7 PM, and, since I didn't have lunch or dinner, I decided to eat my dinner in the restaurant car aboard the train. I figured I wouldn't have another chance to eat in a restaurant car on a train on this trip! I got some yummy lemonade beer (40% lemonade) with sausages and potato salad!
Finally I made it to Munich at around 8 PM. It only took me about a total of eight hours to get there from Luxembourg. I found a pretty nice hotel fairly close to the train station (about two blocks away) and within easy walking distance of the Aldstadt ("old town"). I decided to do a walk around to see what was around my hotel. During my walk around I found some people from Nova Scotia on their way to the Hofbräuhaus (Royal Beer House), the famous beer hall in Munich. They let me join them and we went to have some beer. This place was very touristy, but seemed like a quintessential Bavarian experience. There was even an oompah band! Beer came in one litre glasses (I had two) and was very delicious. Pretzels and strudels were eaten. The place closed at midnight. When I left, I got a really cool picture of hundreds of one litre beer glasses all lined up:
Monday July 04, 2005
So today was going to be my main sightseeing day in Munich. I walked into the main square in the Altstadt, Marienplatz, and joined a three-hour walking tour. Among the sites I saw were:
Marienplatz:
The Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall... it's only 100 years old) and the Glockenspiel:
The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady... built in a mere 20 years... some 600 years ago):
The Isar River in the Englischer Garten:
They have a cool permanent wave set up in the river where surfers get to try and strut their stuff:
And some Bavarian government buildings (Munich is the capital city of the state of Bavaria):
Here's a picture of the Hofbräuhaus, which I was drinking at the night before. The window on the second floor of the beer hall is somewhat infamous... it's where Hitler delivered his first public speech in 1919):
And the Maypole in the Vikutalienmarkt:
After the tour I had lunch and a beer in the beer garden there with some people from the tour. I then wandered around for a while by myself. I wandered into a toy store and found a full display of excellent German board games (the Germans produce the best board games on the planet) and, some Märklin trains. If you ever took the Real Time Programming Course at Waterloo, you might have some lingering nightmares featuring these trains:
I went back to the hotel for a rest and recharge before venturing out again for a Beer and Brewery walking tour. On my way to the tour I got caught in a surprise wind and rain storm that came out of the Alps and into the city with a fury! The storm didn't last very long, but the rain kept on drizzling for about four days. Boo..
The brewery tour lasted about three hours and was pretty cool. We toured a microbrewery and several beer gardens. I had dinner at the microbrewery. They had a buffet with klusen... mmmmmm klusen...... At the microbrewery we got to sample several styles of beer... a normal lager, a light wheat beer, and a dark wheat beer:
The beer tour ended up back at the famous Hofbräuhaus. Second time in two nights!
Most of the people from the tour left after the first beer, but a couple of people stayed on... they were Doug and Lynette from Charlotte, North Carolina. These people were awesome!
On my way home, while I was walking through the rainy streets of Munich, I saw an interesting statue... it was interesting because I had seen it before. This statue was EXACTLY the same as the boar statue in front of the Modern Languages building at the University of Waterloo. What's up with that?
Marienplatz:
The Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall... it's only 100 years old) and the Glockenspiel:
The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady... built in a mere 20 years... some 600 years ago):
The Isar River in the Englischer Garten:
They have a cool permanent wave set up in the river where surfers get to try and strut their stuff:
And some Bavarian government buildings (Munich is the capital city of the state of Bavaria):
Here's a picture of the Hofbräuhaus, which I was drinking at the night before. The window on the second floor of the beer hall is somewhat infamous... it's where Hitler delivered his first public speech in 1919):
And the Maypole in the Vikutalienmarkt:
After the tour I had lunch and a beer in the beer garden there with some people from the tour. I then wandered around for a while by myself. I wandered into a toy store and found a full display of excellent German board games (the Germans produce the best board games on the planet) and, some Märklin trains. If you ever took the Real Time Programming Course at Waterloo, you might have some lingering nightmares featuring these trains:
I went back to the hotel for a rest and recharge before venturing out again for a Beer and Brewery walking tour. On my way to the tour I got caught in a surprise wind and rain storm that came out of the Alps and into the city with a fury! The storm didn't last very long, but the rain kept on drizzling for about four days. Boo..
The brewery tour lasted about three hours and was pretty cool. We toured a microbrewery and several beer gardens. I had dinner at the microbrewery. They had a buffet with klusen... mmmmmm klusen...... At the microbrewery we got to sample several styles of beer... a normal lager, a light wheat beer, and a dark wheat beer:
The beer tour ended up back at the famous Hofbräuhaus. Second time in two nights!
Most of the people from the tour left after the first beer, but a couple of people stayed on... they were Doug and Lynette from Charlotte, North Carolina. These people were awesome!
On my way home, while I was walking through the rainy streets of Munich, I saw an interesting statue... it was interesting because I had seen it before. This statue was EXACTLY the same as the boar statue in front of the Modern Languages building at the University of Waterloo. What's up with that?
Tuesday July 05, 2005
So getting caught in the rain the night before made me sort of sniffly when I woke up. I was worried that I might get sick! Not cool! But I wouldn't let my sneeziness and runny nose stop me from continuing to explore Munich. I stopped at the apothoeke (pharmacy) at the train station, bought some cough drops, and kept going. Today was still rather rainy, so would try to stay indoors. It sounded like a museum day to me. The Deutsches Museum sounded particularly interesting to me. It was a large technical museum filled with large numbers of machines of various types... trains, cars, rockets, windmills, computers... everything. When I got there, I discovered it was filled with thousands of screaming German school children. I knew that today was going to be a frustrating day.
The airplanes, of course were cool... especially the World War II planes. Here's the Messerschmidt 163 Komet and 262 Schwalbe, the first rocket and jet fighter planes in the world:
Also, the V1 rocket:
The computer section was pretty cool, too... here's some Enigma machines:
I spent some four hours in the museum looking at the piles and piles of stuff. On my way out, I dropped my camera. It fell off the side of some stairs... straight down about three stories. I thought the camera would be smashed. Amazingly enough, even though badly damaged, the camera still worked and I was able to continue to use it to take and look at pictures for the rest of the trip. What a tough little camera!!
So, I went back to the hotel to try and salvage my pictures from my camera, recharge, and prepare to go back to the Hofbräuhaus again. I was going to meet Doug and Lynette from the night before. Unfortunately, I was late (the clock in my room was running fast), and the place was so packed, that I could not find them. Sadly I went home. On my way back, I saw a curious sight... the first conveyor belt sushi restaurant that I've ever seen outside of Japan! I did not eat there, but I took a picture!
The airplanes, of course were cool... especially the World War II planes. Here's the Messerschmidt 163 Komet and 262 Schwalbe, the first rocket and jet fighter planes in the world:
Also, the V1 rocket:
The computer section was pretty cool, too... here's some Enigma machines:
I spent some four hours in the museum looking at the piles and piles of stuff. On my way out, I dropped my camera. It fell off the side of some stairs... straight down about three stories. I thought the camera would be smashed. Amazingly enough, even though badly damaged, the camera still worked and I was able to continue to use it to take and look at pictures for the rest of the trip. What a tough little camera!!
So, I went back to the hotel to try and salvage my pictures from my camera, recharge, and prepare to go back to the Hofbräuhaus again. I was going to meet Doug and Lynette from the night before. Unfortunately, I was late (the clock in my room was running fast), and the place was so packed, that I could not find them. Sadly I went home. On my way back, I saw a curious sight... the first conveyor belt sushi restaurant that I've ever seen outside of Japan! I did not eat there, but I took a picture!
Wednesday July 06, 2005
The weather was turning out to be nicer than it was the day before, and most of my snifflies were gone. Thankfully, it looked like I would not be getting sick. Today was going to be my last full day in Munich, and I wouldn't even be spending it in the city! I checked out of my hotel, and headed on over to the main train station for my next tour. I was taking a combination train/bus tour into the Bavarian Alps to see some amazing sights.
The first site on the tour was the Weiskirche, a church built at a pilgrimage location in the 18th century. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside the church, but the view outside was pretty nice. Here's a picture of me, and my buddy, Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany (I think):
The bus continued on towards the town of Füssen and the famous fairy tale castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein. This castle was built in the late 19th century by Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, but was never finished. He lived in it for about 100 days before he died mysteriously in a lake near Munich. This castle inspired the castle built by Walt Disney in Disneyland.
We spent some three hours in the area around the castle. The tour of the castle itself was very short, only 30 minutes. But, the castle is very small, so this understandable. Not all the rooms inside the castle were completed, either. The rooms that were in the castle were very beautiful.
I also took some pictures of the landscape around the castle:
After Schloss Neuschwanstein, the tour continued on... the bus took a surprise shortcut through Austria! We were only in Austria for about 30 minutes, but I'm going to count that as country number FIVE for this vacation!
After our jaunt through Austria, we travelled to another of King Ludwig II's creations, his palace at Linderhof. Ludwig was a great fan of Absolutism, and King Louis 14 of France (the "Sun King"). Ludwig, in the spirit of the Sun King, tried to create a smaller version of Versailles in Bavaria at Linderhof. This palace was even smaller than Neuschwanstein, but it was just as beautiful.
King Ludwig would place the peacock looking out the window when he was at home to let the people outside know when he was home:
The Hall of Mirrors at Linderhof was one metre longer than the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles! Take that, Louis!
King Ludwig had the first electrical plant in Bavaria plant to power the coloured lights at his own private opera grotto in the hills directly behind Linderhof:
After Linderhof, the bus quickly stopped at the fortress/church/monastery/school at Ettal. At this church, we were allowed to take pictures:
The bus then continued on and took us to the train that would take us back to Munich. I only had a few hours before I was supposed to catch my night train out of Munich. I had my dinner and walked around the Altstadt a bit more to pick up some last souveneirs. My night train left Munich at 11 PM bound for Berlin...
The first site on the tour was the Weiskirche, a church built at a pilgrimage location in the 18th century. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside the church, but the view outside was pretty nice. Here's a picture of me, and my buddy, Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany (I think):
The bus continued on towards the town of Füssen and the famous fairy tale castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein. This castle was built in the late 19th century by Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, but was never finished. He lived in it for about 100 days before he died mysteriously in a lake near Munich. This castle inspired the castle built by Walt Disney in Disneyland.
We spent some three hours in the area around the castle. The tour of the castle itself was very short, only 30 minutes. But, the castle is very small, so this understandable. Not all the rooms inside the castle were completed, either. The rooms that were in the castle were very beautiful.
I also took some pictures of the landscape around the castle:
After Schloss Neuschwanstein, the tour continued on... the bus took a surprise shortcut through Austria! We were only in Austria for about 30 minutes, but I'm going to count that as country number FIVE for this vacation!
After our jaunt through Austria, we travelled to another of King Ludwig II's creations, his palace at Linderhof. Ludwig was a great fan of Absolutism, and King Louis 14 of France (the "Sun King"). Ludwig, in the spirit of the Sun King, tried to create a smaller version of Versailles in Bavaria at Linderhof. This palace was even smaller than Neuschwanstein, but it was just as beautiful.
King Ludwig would place the peacock looking out the window when he was at home to let the people outside know when he was home:
The Hall of Mirrors at Linderhof was one metre longer than the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles! Take that, Louis!
King Ludwig had the first electrical plant in Bavaria plant to power the coloured lights at his own private opera grotto in the hills directly behind Linderhof:
After Linderhof, the bus quickly stopped at the fortress/church/monastery/school at Ettal. At this church, we were allowed to take pictures:
The bus then continued on and took us to the train that would take us back to Munich. I only had a few hours before I was supposed to catch my night train out of Munich. I had my dinner and walked around the Altstadt a bit more to pick up some last souveneirs. My night train left Munich at 11 PM bound for Berlin...
