Day 43 Munich

We were excited to add Schloss Herren Chiemsee to the itinerary for today as we had hoped to stop by on our way from Salzburg to Regensburg but we ran out of time. We started the morning with a stroll through the pedestrian zone in Munich. We stopped at some of our favorite stores and finished up some souvenir shopping. We also stopped in the Frauenkirche, Munich's most famous church. No building in the city may be higher than its twin spires. The interior of the church itself boasts high vaulted ceilings and marvelous stained-glass windows which are not visible from the entrance to the church as they are blocked by pillars. This creates an effect where light seems to emanate from the walls of the church. The boys enjoyed seeing the Devil's Footprint in the rear of the church. There in one of the marble floor tiles is a large footprint. It is explained only by the traditional tale that the Devil agreed to finance the building of a windowless church. When he realized he had been deceived, he stomped his foot and left the church leaving this curious mark behind. When we reached the end of the pedestrian zone, the boys skated in the largest outdoor ice rink in Munich.

From there, we headed to the train station and embarked on our trip to Prien am Chiemsee, where we literally embarked on a boat for a twenty minute ride to Herreninsel. Upon reaching the island, we had a 15 minute walk to get to the palace. The palace is one of the three existing castles designed by King Ludwig II, aka Mad King Ludwig. This palace, like its more famous cousin, Neuschwanstein, was never completed as construction ground to a halt when the king ran out of money. The projects were altogether abandoned when Ludwig turned up dead under suspicious circumstances. Even in its unfinished state, the palace was remarkable.

Sadly, no photography was allowed during the guided tour. The palace is designed as an homage to Versailles. Ludwig was particularly enamored with the Sun King. Ludwig's plan was to copy the layout and make it even better than the original. Before he ran out of money, he was able to complete the main building and a central garden. Construction on the wings never began. Only about 20 of the 70 rooms in the main building were completed. The rooms we saw were absolutely stunning. The truly amazing thing is that Ludwig's intention in building this castle was to have a private retreat where he could go to lose himself in the fantasy of what Louis XIV felt as he strolled through Versailles. As it turned out, Ludwig only spent one ten-day vacation at this castle before he died.

In the evening we were joined again by Katharina at Altes Hackerbräuhaus  (brewers of Hacker-Pschorr beer) for some traditional Bavarian fare. Dinner was excellent and the conversation even better. After Katharina went home, we headed over to Munich's most famous brewery, the HofBräuhaus, for a nightcap. Despite the late hour, the band was going strong and the beer hall was filled with the sights and sounds of tourists taking in this Bavarian style evening. Though the actual Bavarians, it seems, were back at the Hackerhaus.