Schloss Nymphenburg

A nice, sunny day so we thought we would make the most of the mild weather and take the trams to Schloss Nymphenburg as we had heard it was a great place for a stroll from Michaela! Well she was so right…such a vast area devoted to the palace and grounds. The Bavarian electors and royalty seem to have been greatly influenced by the French Kings…they must have been in awe of the French chic taste and style as their Bavarian palaces are always modelled on Versailles.

Again a kaffee and pastry at a conveniently located cafe at the start of the canal that leads to the Schloss. It was just a great morning for a walk and the crowds were not too much so we decided to also tour the palace, the grounds and the regal 18th century coach museum.

Walking into the state rooms was like stepping back in time to a

privileged, ordered and ostentatious world, full of intrigue and odd characters and those who ruled and spent vast amounts of money on extravagant lifestyles and palaces and all that filled them. The chandeliers were incredible and the rooms were very light and bright with magnificent silk wallpapers and certainly lots of gilded and inlaid furniture from all over Europe. The hall of beauties was fascinating…my how times have changed!

The royal stables were just so incredible that we had trouble believing our eyes. We had thought the Royal Mews in London was pretty amazing, but the stables of the Bavarian Kings was just so vast and the carriages, sleighs and horse tack so ornate that it was difficult to believe. There were so many gilded carriages and then others of fine wood work. The poor horses must have had such a heavy load to pull. Horse tack seems a very poor term to describe the ornate outfits worn by the horses in the royal processions. We loved the 406 bells

on the horse coats for King Ludwig’s sleigh ride. Why have cupids and tall feathers on your sleigh or carriage…oh yes to show off!!

We looked at the porcelain collection and then went on a nice wander along the canal on the opposite side of the palace, the swans were very graceful, the trees bare for winter and we tried to image how different it would all look in spring. The canal was so long we decided it would be a great place to take an eight rowing…possibly a bit shallow though, however you could really get up to speed on the lengthy canal. We walked up to the Pagodenburg which looked in a forlorn state and then headed back to the palace for a bus ride back to Marienplatz.

We side-tracked to see the old steamer MS Utting on the bridge at Lagerhausstrasse. Sean had suggested it so a gluhwein was chosen as the drink of choice for sitting out on the deck watching the traffic

stream below us as it got dark…so early here! A pleasant stopover, then back on the bus for Marienplatz.

Lots of the Christmas market stalls had been taken down, however there were heaps of people walking around either drinking or shopping. A very relaxed atmosphere for an early evening stroll and then back on the good old tram 19 to Fred’s flat to have a bite to eat and relax. We have walked far today…yah!