Fun Friday adventure

Sean and Michaela picked us up in a comfortable car for a drive to Schloss Linderhof - Ludwig 11’s hunting lodge about an hour and a half from Munich. It is an easy drive on the autobahn up into the picturesque farmland to Ettal where an incredibly extravagant small hunting lodge was built around Ludwigs father’s forester’s house which was rebuilt in 1869 as a Royal Lodge. There were many additions and alterations over 20 years or so and the interiors were designed on palaces and greatly influenced by Ludwig’s idol Louis XlV of France. The interiors were incredibly ornate and he mainly lived there by himself. It was the only palace that Ludwig saw nearly completed. It is the smallest of the 3 palaces and he lived there most of the time. The magnificent gardens and fountains are covered in winter and there was a lot of snow about. It was pretty cold! The park is modelled on Renaissance and Baroque formal gardens and it would be lovely to wander there in summer. We saw the cascade of

30 marble steps but no water at this cold time of year.

After our tour we met Sean and Michaela at the cafe and bought a few cute Christmas decorations - wooden German style. Mike bought a snazzy felt black hat - very stylish!

We drove to a charming restaurant called Ottaler Muhle and enjoyed another hearty meal. The owner was very friendly and it was nice to be out of the cold chatting. Sean reminded us that it was only 3pm although it felt much later and we decided to drive to see the other famous palace Neuschwanstein Palace near Fussen. It was a picturesque drive with high snowy mountains and forests all around us. The visit to the castle was not possible so late in the day so we will save that for another trip. The castle does look magical but we noticed that the photos are usually taken from another direction so looked slightly different to what we expected.

We then drove to Bad Tolz to visit a really delightful German town that has cobblestone streets, beautifully kept old buildings and a Christmas market right down the main street. It was really magical. Mike also managed to buy some new trousers which ha proved hard to find over the last few weeks. So he was happy about that.

We returned in the rain along the busy autobahn…Sean did so well driving but it is not my comfort zone…on the other hand Mike and Michaela slept some of the way!!!

We had the best day and felt spoilt with all the thoughtful plans our kinder had put together. It was nice to be out in the countryside. Saw lots of snow!