Munich Meanderings

Should've flown the dragon! After a v delayed start we were up n away for a long weekend break in Munich. Some time back we saw a TV prog about the castles of King Ludwig II and decided to go see for ourselves.

Stayed at the Atlas City Hotel. A small but perfectly formed budget hotel in the heart of Munich, yet surprisingly quiet at night. Munich has one of the best integrated/affordable public transport systems and the hotel is ideal for tram/bus/U & S bahn.

Also, much like Tokyo, the city has some large urban green spaces that can transport you from the bustle of city life to tranquil green spaces. The Englischer Garten is an amazing space with long walks, lakes and a large picnic area around the pagoda.

The architecture in the city varies greatly between the gothic and the almost brutal, some picturesque some large square concrete blocs.

Meanwhile back at King Ludwig II. Born 1864 and became Crown Prince of Bavaria at age 18. He passionately believed in the divine right of kings and besotted by Richard Wagner - the latter being the inspiration for the castles at Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. The lavish expenditure on these projects led Ludwig to bankruptcy and his untimely death in Lake Starnberger (did he fall or was he pushed, the mystery has never been solved).

Linderhoff was conceived after Ludwigs visit to Versailles in 1687. Ludwig became enchanted by the concept of the Sun King. This was the only building project Ludwig saw to completion and became his favorite residence.

The tour took us through some picturesque countryside in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps










Perhaps the most scenic, and probably the most devout, was Oberammergau. Famous for its ten yearly Passion Play (lasts around 7 hours) since 1634 - designed to keep the plague away from the village. Many houses and shops are air painted mainly with religious scenes.

Neuschwanstein (Swan Rock) was built between 1869 and 1886 above Alpsee Lake. This five story castle built in Romanesque style contains many lifesize scenes from Wagner operas - including an internal grotto. These projects bankrupted Ludwig, the State decided to remove him and he was later found drowned in mysterious circumstances. The irony is that now Neuschwanstein now draws in enough tourist revenue to support all of Bavaria's castles. The steep climb up is well worth the effort, or alternative horse n cart for the less adventurous.

The views from the castle balconies are equally as stunning -


















The castle in the background, Hohenschwangau, was his fathers.








On the way back we drove through the most amazing 'tropical' storm. Within two minutes the temp dropped from 23 to 13C, hail/thunder/lightning and water cascading off the bus. Within 20 mins all back to normal.

Meanwhile, back in the City, rest and some sustenance -

a tour of the main market + some familiar places -

many towns/villages have these maypoles
the icons show whats available
bakers/inns/butchers et al

Then onto a palace within the City. The baroque palace of Nyphenburg was the summer residence of the Bavarian monarchs. Five generations of Wittelsbach rulers were involved in the construction which houses several outstanding collections. With its lavishly decorated interior and the famous "Gallery of Beauties" commissioned by Ludwig I, it contains the former bedroom of King Ludwig II and the impressive banquet hall with fine ceiling frescoes by Johann Baptist Zimmermann.

the very bed

There are extensive garden walks down to the 'cascade'.

and so to the final evening.

Charingworth Court

Welcome to Winchcombe, a Saxon town. 


At Charingworth Court the house and barn date from around 1650.  There are many mature trees around the garden but most of the planting and landscaping has been done by the present owners since 1996.







They regularly host a garden sculpture weekend often as part of the National Garden Scheme openings. Two of our favorites were

these ceramic bluebells were spectacular

this dog, in its setting, looked so real you
expect it to pick the ball up and bring it to you

There were also sculptures in glass/ceramic

weathered metal

and tin

and, as well as flora, there were pets

and, of course, workers

Rhodies in Lydney

Lydney Spring Garden is part of the Lydney Park Estate. The Estate is situated to the rear of Taurus in Lydney which is between Gloucester and Chepstow in the Forest of Dean.

Some of the original formal gardens at Lydney Park were cleared to grow potatoes during the Second World War.  As a result in the 1950's, a paved terrace, two fountain pools, hedges and lawns were created into the garden together with a major replanting programme containing cherries, magnolias, scented spring flowering shrubs and drifts of spring bulbs provide a stunning entrance to Lydney Park Gardens.

The Spring Garden was ablaze with azaleas and rhododendron.

High above the garden lie the remains of a Roman bath and temple. Excavation on the Lydney Park Estate in 1805 also exposed evidence of settlements dating back to 100BC, a Norman castle and extensive ruins of a Roman Camp including a Roman Temple.

Weekend Meanderings

Can’t believe its been a year since we first discovered Randwick Wap and here we are again. It doesn’t get any more quintessentially rural England than this. Parade and dunking of the ‘mayor’ and ‘wap queen’, rolling of the cheeses, country fair and, of course, Morris Dancing.

Laskett Gardens

Created by Sir Roy Strong and his wife, designer Julia Trvelyan Oman in the 70’s, its major influences are Italian renaissance and formal Tudor/Stuart tradition.

During the war the house was used as the Canadian High Commission

The garden, containing many inter connecting garden rooms, has a number monuments and decorative features

Plantings

and, of course, tea n cakes

And topiary

Whitfield House and Gardens

Whitfield lies at the centre of the former hunting forest of Treville, part of the Royal Forest of Haywood. Records of the area date back to the C12.

Amongst its impressive features – Camellia glass house

lemons for the G&T

Pinetum with some impressive sequoias

The now disused canal has been transformed into a number of small fishing lakes. The lower lake had a folly castle ruin built on its small island.

nesting swans

and wonderful woodland walks