Linderhof Palace and Sledding!

After finishing school today we headed to Linderhof Palace for a tour. King Ludwig II began building 3 different castles before his untimely death at the age of 40, but Linderhof was the only one he completed. He lived there for 8 years. The grounds of the palace are extensive, although everything except the palace was closed because of the snow. We’d love to return in warmer weather and view the fountains, waterfalls and other buildings on the grounds.

Rosa posing in front of Linderhof Palace

As it was, the snow really was beautiful. We tromped along several different paths and the kids enjoyed throwing snow into the creek. We also enjoyed watching the swans swimming in the lake. Apparently the swan was King Ludwig’s favorite animal. There were several small swan statues in the hall of mirrors room in the palace.

Enjoying the snow in the Bavarian Alps!

 We were all a little surprised at how small the palace was. Don’t get me wrong – it’s beautiful and incredibly ornate (baroque and rococo architecture they told us), but excluding the servants quarters, there were only 9 rooms, I believe. Most were even fairly moderate in size! Not nearly the huge, rambling spaces I usually associate with royalty.

Linderhof Palace from the front

The view from the front of the palace. In the summer, it's full of flowers and a huge fountain -- breathtaking, I'm sure.

I thought it was pretty cool to see a real throne, but our favorite feature of the palace was the dining room table. It’s all encased in glass now, but the guide told us that back in the day, it was lowered down to the kitchen that’s below, filled with food, and then raised back up for dining! I think that would be almost magical! We also really loved the silver room. It had all of the ornate woodworking that characterizes the rest of the castle, but instead of being covered with gold, it was all silver.

We followed up our visit with hot chocolate at one of the little shops there and purchased a jigsaw puzzle of the castle to start on when we finish our current project. It seems a little surreal to say that we drank hot chocolate in the Bavarian Alps today!

After our palace tour we met up with The Linguist and headed to a hill just above town for some sledding! The kids have declared it their new favorite sport. Rosa was a wild woman – spinning down the hill on her saucer again and again. Deep Thinker favors a blue sled that doesn’t go so fast and buried him in the snow on the side of the road more than once. The Linguist was determined to learn to steer the standard wooden sled that seems to be missing the traditional steering handle my sleds had growing up. He, too, ended up in the snow on the bank more than once! Pianogurl and I turfed it a couple of times, and I decided I only liked the saucer if my legs were out to slow my descent. Unfortunately, though, this resulted in pant legs full of snow. It's been awhile since I've enjoyed that sensation.