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2. Sky (II)
3. 2000 kilometres away

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This New Year's Eve, we substituted our 12 grapes with 12 strawberry tree fruits (that made a long trip all the way from Spain) or madroños, as they are called in Spanish - the fruit smells just like anise, however it bears no resemblance to this aroma once you bite into it - but it's tasty anyway! Happy New Year to everyone!

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1. Happy St. Nicholas Day
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3. Christmas Eve

The good side of mild weather: we don’t have to buy salad because we can still pick it from the garden! Right now the garden beds are full of lamb’s lettuce and radicchio, two of the very durable winter-type salads that survive even very cold winters. Usually they begin sprouting with the first warmer days as early as February.

Lamb's lettuce

One of the outer leaves of radicchio

Winter salads are thicker and bitter – and that’s my favorite type of salad. Some people don’t like them, but… how can you possibly resist such a colorful vitamin bowl??

I ate this bowl of radicchio for dinner tonight

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2. Garden: update
3. Autumn mood

After the outstanding lunch and tour in an incredible wine museum, Juanpi’s parents suggested a visit to a nearby village in la Rioja Alavesa, bordering region between La Rioja and Basque country. As soon as we arrived there, I understood why they wanted us to see it – it is so very beautiful!

Autumnal colors of Laguardia's surroundings

Laguardia, as this village is called, was found in early 10th century to “stand guard” (as its name suggests) over the Kingdom of Navarra’s southwestern flank (today, Navarra is an autonomous community in Northern Spain, bordering with Basque country, La Rioja and Aragón). The village’s center is enclosed by walls and was built in 13th century. It must be a special feeling to live there, I said to myself when walking along the narrow streets, capturing my impressions with the photo camera. It was as if the time inside the walls went different way. One could almost feel the history of the place. A curious feeling, indeed! I better let the photos speak for me.

"Peace to those who arrive, health to those who dwell, happiness to those who leave" - the "motto" that awaits you at the entrance of the old village. Better than "Slovenija - VINJETA", at least

The entrance to the village's old center

There's something charming about these old streets

You're reminded at every step that this is a wine region

Love the door detail

An old clock at one of the small squares

The Basque flag (ikurriña) with the shield and the T-shirt of Athletic club de Bilbao (football club of Bilbao, city in Basque country) - and an Irish tavern (?!?)

Around la Rioja you will see red peppers drying outside almost everywhere

Narrow streets

An interesting outdoor exhibition of peculiar sculptures and no, you can't take them with you!

Hotel in Laguardia, Castillo de Collado

I hope you enjoyed this “mini tour” of the little village of Laguardia! Here is where our Spanish trip comes to an end – it was not easy to say good-bye to Spain again, however we’re already looking forward to next time. There’s still so much left to see… and savor! Thanks for reading.

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1. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
2. Medieval town of Burgos
3. Back

Now that I’ve shown you the old part of Burgos, and a bit of the town’s architecture, I want to share with you some of the images taken from the view platform above the cathedral, a must-stop for a visitor of Burgos.

Burgos castle (photo source: Expo Castilla)

Just above the cathedral of Burgos, there are ruins of a castle, built all the way back in 9th century as a defense against the Moors. The castle was destructed in 1813 by the army of Napoleon and what you can see there today, is merely a remaining wall of what once used to be a great fortress. Unfortunately we couldn’t enter the castle, since the visits in the cold part of year must be previously arranged. Protected by coniferous woods, the castle spot provides an awesome view of the town of Burgos, as you can see in the following photos:

At the view platform

The view platform offers a half-circle display of the major sightseeing points of Burgos. Here you can see the cathedral on a display - and the real one in the background

Spain is the world's third biggest producer of wind power - if you look carefully, you will see a wind farm in the background of the photo

A compass at the view platform

*  *  *  *  *

La Rioja is the east-neighbor region of Burgos. I’ve been there once before and totally fell in love with the landscape. Probably because it resembles a bit the environment I grew up in, with lots of green everywhere (Castilla y León is green too but not as much as La Rioja. I still long to visit Asturias and Galicia, the greenest parts of Spain.)

The view of Riojan landscape from the car - vineyards everywhere

So, one day of our short stay in Burgos, we made a trip to the north-west of La Rioja, to a village called Briones – home to Dinastía Vivanco, a renowned Riojan dynasty of wine makers who have built the Museum of the culture of wine, an incredible collection of everything wine-related – this museum is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions (located next to the bodega and covering 9000sqm of space), where one can learn about origins of wine, from the beginning of wine-making more than 10 000 years ago, the tools used throughout history, the different techniques applied in the process, learning to define wine’s character, and about instruments and materials used in the maturing  of wine and bottling process… Not to mention the huge collection of corkscrews (3000 pieces!) from all around the world. The Museum is simply stunning, I’ve never seen something similar in my life. There’s also a restaurant and a shop inside the Museum. Absolutely worth the visit if you ever find yourself in La Rioja. Unfortunately, photo cameras were not permitted inside the building, so I only have these photos for you that were taken outside:

The visit at the Museum made us hungry, so we drove off to a nearby village Haro to try some regional specialties in a restaurant with long tradition, known specially for their cordero asado (roasted leg of lamb).

When you enter this restaurant, you find yourself in front of the big oven, where all the lamb legs are being roasted right in front of you. The kind cook allowed me to take some photos of the place:

Most of the dishes at “Terete” are served in rustic clay pots which gives an even more delicious look to already very tasty food. The place was completely packed with people even if it was a workday. No wonder, with all the plates they serve! Check it for yourself:

Pochas - butter bean stew with chorizo. Juanpi can not forget it, so good it was

Menestra de verduras - vegetable "minestra" (=a soup) which was nothing alike the Italian one as I know it: this one had almost no liquid, the vegetables were fried (mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, beans...). Very tasty but quite filling for a starter

Cordero asado - roasted leg of lamb, the star dish of the house

Pimientos rellenos de setas - mushroom and bechamel stuffed roasted red peppers in red pepper sauce

Pimientos rellenos de ternera - roasted red peppers, stuffed with minced veal: both plates of stuffed peppers were excellent. La Rioja is well known for its roasted peppers with a stronger, smoky flavor

The food was, of course, flushed down with a bottle of local drink. This was one of the best restaurant lunches I’ve had in a long time (says a person with rather demanding palate) and I hope to return there one day.

Our day in La Rioja did not end with lunch – off we went to visit another lovely village on the border between La Rioja and Basque country…

(continues)

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1. Medieval town of Burgos
2. Laguardia
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Arlanzón river runs all the way along the core of the town of Burgos

I couldn't resist taking photos of these lovely ducks

Beautiful park by the river, perfect for a Sunday stroll

Arco de Santa María is one of the most symbolic monuments of Burgos. In the main six niches there are the statues of Nuño Rasura and Laín Calvo (the judges of Castile),  the counts Diego Rodriguez Porcelos (the founder of Burgos) and Fernán González (the first independent count of Castile), El Cid (Spanish hero) and Carlos I (Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Duke of Burgundy and Lord of Netherlands among others).  Above these niches there is a statue of St. Mary, city’s patron saint. For a close-up photo of this portal, check the Wikipedia page.

Arco de Santa María, the old town's portal: built in 14th and remodeled in 16th century

On the other side of the portal you are greeted by the enormous early Gothic-style cathedral, declared a World Heritage site. Richly ornamented, this cathedral was being built from 13th to 15th century, and is located in a corner, surrounded by two natural walls. Due to the multilevel terrain, which made the construction difficult, the cathedral’s exterior lies in several levels as well. In 1919 it became the burial place of El Cid and his wife Doña Jimena.

Cathedral Our lady of Burgos

On of the entrances to Cathedral

This little train can comfortably take you to the main sightseeing points in town

Burgos forms a part of Camino de Santiago, a major Christian pilgrimage route leading to Santiago de Compostela. On the photo below you can see a monument to the pilgrims. The scallop shell is a traditional symbol of Santiago (St. James) and is therefore very popular among pilgrims. These shells can be seen all over the old part of Burgos (carved into the facades of buildings as well as sold as a souvenirs in shops).

A statue of a pilgrim

Souvenir shop selling pilgrim's staves with shells of St. James

Souvenirs you are most likely to buy in Burgos include all sorts of things medieval

As the walk leads us past the cathedral into one of a many lovely pedestrian street, you will find shop by shop loaded with delicious local products: different types of legumes, vegetables, wines, liquors and cheeses. Let’s take a peep at some of them:

Local products of Burgos in a shop window display

Red beans

Wines, liquors and cheeses

A perfect present for medieval fans (I'm having hard times imagining the air transport of this particular piece though!)

Nope, this one is not a souvenir. Not sure of his purpose in the middle of medieval town, either

Bota bags, Spanish wine (or any other liquids) containers, traditionally made of leather (modern ones tend to have a latex liner though)

A restaurant in the old part of town, offering specialties of the region: lentils, lamb and suckling pig

After filling our bags with souvenirs and local products, we approach Plaza Mayor – the main square of Burgos (located east of the cathedral). This is the place of many social and political gatherings as well as meet up and starting points. I like to come to this square because of one book shop – I just adore books! These are a few images of the square:

Plaza mayor and its vivid colors - with a statue of Carlos III

Plaza mayor - town hall (the white building)

Buildings of Plaza mayor, from close

Buildings of plaza mayor - apartments

And as our walk is approaching the end, let me show you some fascinating images of the apartment buildings in pedestrian streets in the very center – I loved their vivid colors, they really made my day!

I hope you enjoyed this little walk through old part of Burgos, come visit later on for more images from our trip to Burgos and its surroundings.

Related posts:

1. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
2. 2000 kilometres away
3. Back

Yes, you guessed right… to Spain. We just came back, and I feel I will need some time to adapt to life here again…
Anyway, we’ve had some great time and despite the changeable weather we managed to make some short trips in the neighbor regions, and most of all – we indulged in a lot of good, hearty food.

The trip started for us in Venice, Italy, from where we took a direct plane to Madrid. Traveling by plane is becoming more and more unpleasant (says a former plane fanatic, mind you). I have a piece of advice for all of you gals, who intend to board a plane wearing boots: just don’t. Put on other shoes. My poor boots underwent 3(!) in-depth analysis – meanwhile I had to be there standing barefoot waiting for the confirmation that my boots did not contain any explosive or weapon for massive destruction. All for the sake of our safety, without doubt.

On the road from Madrid towards Burgos

Upon our arrival to Madrid, the weather was simply gorgeous (which I can unfortunately not say for the rest of our vacation), clear skies and warm sun. Nevertheless, in the next days of our staying I was feeling very happy to walk around with boots. The cold weather of Castilla y León or better said, of the northern part of Spain, is an unpredictable thing. I come from an Alpine country and yet it seems I had no idea what cold is – until spending some time in Spain. Now, every time I go to Burgos, I bring my warmest clothes. Lesson learned!

Terra rossa, red Mediterranean soil

I’ve written about Burgos before, it’s the hometown of my dear Juanpi. It’s located in the north-east of Castilla y León, in the Meseta Central (“Inner Plateau”) and the proximity of the sea (cca 150km) paired with high altitude (cca 900m) produce extreme temperature ranges, low in winter (-21ºC was the lowest recorded temperature) and high in summer (with 42ºC as the highest recorded temperature). The city of Burgos (it is the capital of the province of the same name) is one of the perfect size, not too small, not too big: you can reach many places on foot or use a 100% clean public transport. I have some photos of the city for you, I will tell you more about it in the next article.

The landscape on the way to Burgos, in the background you can see a typical "flat mountain"

As always, we used the opportunity to make another small trip to my beloved region of La Rioja, the home of some of the finest wines of the world. I’ve visited an incredible wine museum and savored genuine local food in a typical restaurant of that region. I’ll tell you more about that soon, too.

There’s been a whole lot of home cooking as well, from stews to fish and of course, chorizo, famous spicy sausage adored and praised in Spain and beyond its borders. If the Spaniards are proud of something, they are proud of their food. The incredible variety of products grown in Spain contributes to a very rich selection of dishes and I believe it’s really a pity that most of foreigners that come to visit Spain only eat paella and already think they know everything about Spanish cuisine. Not that I’m saying paella isn’t a great dish. It surely is, I personally love it and prepare it almost every Sunday. But there’s so much more than that. The Spanish inland is home to some of the best stews I’ve ever tasted, not to mention the delicious roasted leg of lamb (or kid), stuffed roasted peppers, and jamon ibérico – the pearl of Spanish cuisine. I’ve taken some photos of what we cooked and ate, for you to get an idea what I’m talking about here.

I've noticed more coniferous than deciduous trees throughout the landscape

All the photos were taken through the car window while driving… so don’t blame me about the quality!

So, that’s it for today. Come visit later on this week when I will tell you a bit more about Burgos!

Related posts:

1. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
2. Step by step: home made churros
3. Medieval town of Burgos

The images are from the place where I used to spend many a summer (and winter) holiday as a child. It’s where I learned to appreciate nature and admire its endless beauty.

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1. Sky (II)
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3. Winter scenery

I’ve brought a variety of fresh produce from my last visit to my hometown: green salad, green and yellow beans, the last of green peas, the first cucumber, pepper and carrots, a head of young cabbage, a bunch of parsley, thyme, chives and dill. I enjoy working in the garden, it relaxes me and most of the time I get to chat with neighbors who also come to their gardens, we exchange the news and talk about our plants, sometimes also trading one’s produce for the other one’s. This way I learn about new plants, herbs too, and from time to time I get some new recipe to try – like I said once, the things one learns by gardening!

Due to high humidity levels and heavy storms on a daily basis, our garden doesn’t look as splendid as it used to in the past years – humidity attracts all sorts of pests and hundreds of greedy red snails, which, along with devastating storms, make a lot of damage to the garden produce. Plants in desperate need for sunny, dry weather -like tomato, for example- are doing specially badly, as you can see on the photo below.

The long-awaited, first mature tomato - rotten. Note what the constant rainy conditions do to this plant

The green and yellow bean plants are showing a sign of premature rotting as well - at least 3 weeks too early

The cucumber plants are opening flower after flower... but there's hardly a sign of any cucumber on the way

Well, the cabbages are doing quite fine (ignoring some occasional bites from unknown culprit). I pulled out the biggest of the heads to take with me and can't wait to make it into salad

After pulling the cabbage out, we keep it in a cool place (not fridge) for 2 days with its root and big hard leaves attached. Afterwards, the cabbage is ready to be chopped and eaten. This is the way my great-grandma used to treat it and apparently it’s essential for the cabbage to mellow properly prior to consuming.

Parsley, too, looks more than great. It is a real pleasure for the eyes!

This herb has been growing wildly in our garden for years. It's called savory, or "bean spice"

I hope these grapes continue to do fine - unlike last year, when we witnessed an uncommon event: the falling of immature berries, leaving us with only a few untouched clusters (climate change thing??)

This is dill, a herb "married to cucumbers" - that is to say, if you plant it in the vicinity of cucumbers, you ensure them a healthy growth

Pumpkin

And here we have a pumpkin plant of origins unknown – the wind must have spread some seeds onto the garden and they’ve just started sprouting and growing and now they are enormous! I’ve never seen this sort of pumpkin, however I believe they are of the ornamental kind. Am I right/wrong?

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1. April garden
2. Veggie abundance, and a tasty rice frittata recipe
3. Summer day

The weather apart, I wanted to talk to you about thyme. Do you have some time for thyme? For sure you all know this little, but strongly aromatic perennial herb, used in many a cuisine, particularly in the Mediterranean one. Thyme is also one of the herbs in bouquet garni and the main ingredient of  za’atar mix.

We add fresh sprigs of thyme mostly to heavy dishes consisting of meat, or to dishes that require long cooking time, like stews. When dried, it takes on an even stronger  flavor, therefore it is recommended to use it in lesser quantities than if using it fresh. Due to its slow release of flavor, it is essential to add it to dishes rather early in the cooking process.

Not everyone knows that besides its culinary function, thyme also possesses immense health benefits and that it’s been used for centuries long as a remedy for different type of infections, including eye, respiratory and digestion problems. Here are some further reads about thyme as a healing agent, that I truly recommend.

Common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) has been growing in my garden for the 2nd year now and it started developing  beautiful flowers this past spring. I cut off a bunch of sprigs every time I visit my hometown and keep them in the fridge, in a glass of water. Like this it keeps for more than a week. A few weeks ago I picked a larger quantity of thyme with flowers in order to dry it for medicinal purposes. Being so very fond of herbal infusions, I just had to try a thyme infusion! In fact, there are many culinary herbs/spices in my cupboard that sooner or later find their way into the “teas” I make. Dried basil, for example, or sage, parsley, fennel seeds, aniseeds, pepper grains… These are all remedy herbs, each with its own medicinal properties.

And here I’ve taken some photos for you to see, how I process thyme.

Freshly picked from the garden. Before drying, it must be washed and patted dry

After washing, I let it dry on a kitchen cloth for 2 days before tightening the bunches with a (sewing) thread (not too tight)

I hang the bunches onto the lamp in the hall, the darkest part of our apartment

After 2 weeks or so, thyme is ready to be chopped up coarsely...

... and stored in a jar

The thyme infusion is prepared by steeping a pinch of the dried herb in 200ml freshly boiled water for a minute or two, then filtering and enjoying it warm with a spoon of honey (if preferred). This pleasant, soothing infusion with slightly pepper-y aftertaste can be also added to the bath (in this case we prepare a stronger infusion) – it makes your tension go away and helps you recover faster after a disease.

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2. Herbal infusion for good-night
3. Chives

Yesterday I found a moment for a little escape out of Ljubljana. The skies had mercy on me and delayed the storm for a few hours, so I was able to enjoy my walk in the countryside. It was just me, my photo camera, a pair of scissors and a wooden basket.

The silence around me was broken only by birds chirping and the green all around was but a balm for my eyes

Small chapels can be found throughout the countryside

These 'moo friends' showed a great interest in me - or in my camera

I also spotted some wild blackberry plants

Common chicory, a widely spread grassland plant

Chamomile, anthemis nobilis

Poppy, papaver rhoeas

And this white-blossomed plant on the photo below is the one I came for (in case you’ve wondered about “scissors and basket” part) – yarrow, Achillea Millefolium, the most essential medicinal herb, in my opinion. And same as last year, I came to pick a couple of bunches of yarrow, to dry it and store it for the winter season. This is the herb that helps me maintain my health. My day does not pass by anymore without a cup of yarrow infusion.

What a beautiful day it was! In my family’s garden, I hand-picked these gorgeous raspberries (and got stung badly by a nettle; not a pleasant feeling, I can assure) and ate half of them on the same day! With the other half I prepared some delicious jam. I also brought with me a bag of yellow beans, a bunch of parsley, thyme and a lot of green pea pods, all from the home garden.

And as if that wasn’t enough already, my gradnma presented me with a couple of kilos of blueberries, freshly picked just a day ago by her friend who even brought some whole plants with berries attached – you can imagine how happy I was! I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen, processing all the produce, feeling immensely grateful – thank you, Summer!

Related posts:

1. Garden: update
2. April garden
3. Thyme

And how to get to BMW Welt?
We took the U-bahn (U4 or U5) from the Hauptbahnhof direction Odeonsplatz, where we changed to U3 for Olympiazeuntrum (which is the last station). BMW Welt is just a few steps away (you can’t miss it).

Approaching the massive, modern building, it becomes clear that this won’t be just any boring hall exhibition – once you’re inside you start comprehending the meaning of the “temple” part. I was in a mood for a photo reporter so I got plenty of shiny car photos for you. The car model I admired the most, for my own reasons: BMW Concept X6 ActiveHybrid.

Click on the photo below for some impressions of BMW Welt:

After what you’ve seen at the exhibition, the most normal thing is to pay a visit to the BMW Museum as well. You will find it just across the street, a stone’s throw away from the -so christened by Juanpi- “toilet-paper pack building” (=BMW Headquarters).

In the museum you can learn everything about the history of BMW cars and bikes. You have to pay an entrance fee  (unlike the BMW Welt, where the entrance is for free). The place was simply awesome. I will say no more and better let the photos speak for themselves. (Click on the photo)

We’d have visited the Olympia Tower if only we could have more time.  The Olympic Park of Munich was constructed for the 1972 summer Olympics and it still holds many a social event. The tower reaches 291.28m  in height and is famous for its  revolving restaurant (at a height of 182m) from where you can admire the city while enjoying your lunch.

After one whole morning of vehicles, the idea of visiting one of the many green oasis of Munich sounded excellent. A walk in the English garden was not to be missed, however we first ended up at the Nymphenburg Park.

Nymphenburg is a baroque palace and former summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria (Ludwig II., whose castle we’d visited a day earlier, was born in this palace in 1845). It is surrounded by an enchanting park and considered one of the most famous sights of Munich. Limited by time we couldn’t enter the park and see its lovely pavilions and temples built back in 18th century, but even the front view of the palace where we’d taken some incredible photos, was more than wonderful. The swans even prepared a little “flying-and-landing show”, and you can only imagine how much I enjoyed it.

But, it was time for lunch, and time for the last Biergarten experience – and where to experience it better than in the Englischer Garten, the biggest park of Munich and one of the world’s largest urban parks (larger even than New York’s Central Park). The beer garden at the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower), is with its 7000 sits (!) the 2nd largest in Munich and yet it was completely full. It took us quite a while to get the food (self-service restaurant) and fill our batteries with typical plates containing sausages, (pork) ribs, accompanied with a spicy curry sauce and roasted potatoes – and with Brezel, hard type of bread pastry, a popular snack present everywhere in Bavaria (and in many other parts of the world). Bavarian Brezel is thick (the one served in Biergarten was 2 – 3cms thick) and usually coated with coarse salt. I’ve noticed that some people in the Biergarten were ordering solely a jar of beer and a big pretzel.

Biergarten at the "Chinese Tower", the 2nd largest in Munich: the tower is 25m high and was first constructed end of 18th century. However, during WWII it burnt down after heavy bombarding. They rebuilt it after the original one and it was completed in 1952.

Biergarten pretzel...

... and pretzel served at breakfast in the hotel

And after such heavy lunch, our legs felt heavy too. We really wanted to see more of the park, but our legs wouldn’t hold us for much longer anymore.

You can reach this Biergarten by horse carriage, too

Although I'd say most of the "Münchner" prefer the bikes to move around - Munich seems to be the cyclists' paradise and I've read the best way to see Munich is by renting a bike

A short stroll through the park was enough to get the idea of it – this is where the citizens of Munich spend end of week walking, cycling, sunbathing or playing sports. I couldn’t help but to feel a lot bit of envy.

This park of an area of 3.7 sqkm must be one of the greatest places to relax in Munich. This green oasis of an area of 3.7 sq km must be one of the greatest places to relax in Munich. And if you ever visit this town, make sure you don’t miss it out of your list of things-to-see.

Sammlung Ägyptischer Kunst - a museum displaying ancient Egyptian artifacts, we've only seen it from outside

Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church), built end of 17th century in Italian high-baroque style

With the Theatinerkirche our wonderful trip had come to an end. From here (Odeonsplatz) we took the U-bahn back to our hotel and parted ways – our friends returned to Spain and us two to Slovenia. We all agreed on having to return to this place because a) it was so amazing -in all ways- and b) because there were just too many things left for us to see – München, ich hoffe wir sehen uns mal wieder!

Este artículo es para vosotros, R. , J.M. , J. & L. -si por acaso lo estáis leyendo- gracias por vuestra compañía y ¡hasta pronto! 

Related posts:

1. Weekend in Munich – Part (I)
2. Weekend in Munich – part (II)
3. Arboretum

On our 2nd day in Munich we had to get up early – we were heading 130kms south-west of Munich, to see the 19th-century palace of Ludwig II of Bavaria, Neuschwanstein (lit. New Swan Stone Palace), which attracts 1.3 million tourists per year. The castle, originally called Neu Hohenschwangau, was opened to public in 1886, after Ludwig’s death, and is today owned by the state of Bavaria. It’s been proclaimed the most photographed building in Germany, and we couldn’t but help contribute to this.

Departing from Munich train station

And this is how we reached the destination: we took the train from München Hauptbahnhof to Füssen (cca 2hrs), and from there the bus took us to Hohenschwangau – from there you can reach the castle either a) by bus (like most of people), b) on foot (for those with very good physical condition) or c) by horse carriage (for those with thick wallet the romantic ones). We ended up taking the bus that took us to a point from where we’d have some 10 minutes walk to the castle.

The view of the Neuschwanstein castle that awaits you upon your arrival in Hohenschwangau

In Hohenschwangau you have to buy the entrance ticket for the castle (9eur/person)

One of the many souvenir shops in Hohenschwangau, offering traditional Bavarian hats

Hohenschwangau castle, where Ludwig II. of Bavaria spent his childhood - it was built by his father, Maximillian II. of Bavaria. It lies on a hill in the village Hohenschwangau

And this is the first impression of the Neuschwanstein castle:

What a bad luck we had. The castle is currently being renovated. Too bad for those of us who were hoping to take some really great photos. Well… that’s what we got. Here are some more photos of the castle from close:

Taking photos inside the castle is not permitted, so I’m afraid I can not show you the interior. But I can tell you one thing: I’d happily exchange my apartment for this place! While it’s much smaller in the interior than it looks, the castle is incredible, luxurious, the interior details are amazing and the rooms look more than cozy – not to mention the kitchen (I felt like a Lilliputian there inside, that’s all I’ll say).  What a pity that king Ludwig II couldn’t enjoy all this – his life ended mysteriously in 1886, with the Neuschwanstein being just near completion.

At the end of our visit of the castle we were able to photograph from an open window – the view can probably tell you why everyone was crowding around that window with their photo cameras (me included):

The view of Hohenschwangau village with the Hohenschwangau castle (on the right). In the middle of the photo: Alpsee lake

In the search for a photo of the whole castle, we walked to Marienbrücke, a nearby bridge that was -you guessed it right- crowdy. Despite the renovation thing.

If you’d like to see how does the castle look when it’s not being renovated, Wikipedia has a nice photo of it. And to learn more about it and about Ludwig II of Bavaria, I warmly recommend reading this page.

By the time of taking the final photo of the castle, we’ve been already exhausted. After purchasing the most expensive bottle of water in my life at the castle’s bar (don’t ask), we mounted on a horse carriage returning to the valley because a) it was half-price, b) our legs wouldn’t hold us anymore and c) we’d never been on a horse carriage before. The horses looked very strong, I couldn’t help myself feeling bad for them though, I imagined carrying 13 people was a bit exaggerate even for the two of them.

Back to Hohenschwangau, we treated ourselves to a great lunch. I ordered a very local dish, Käsespätzle, a kind of noodle and dumpling cross in shape of little worms, swimming in a variety of cheeses topped with butter-fried onion. Do I need to add it must have been on of the heaviest things I’d ever eaten? But man, it was super tasty! And for the conclusion of this great day, a slice of melting-in-your-mouth Apfelstrudel… Could one wish for more?

Upon our return to Munich we were already thinking of the following day. There was still so much left to see, however our time in Bavarian capital was slowly approaching the end. But we could definitely not leave without visiting  one of the main centers of pilgrimage for motor lovers…

… continues!

Related posts:

1. Weekend in Munich – part (III)
2. Weekend in Munich – Part (I)
3. Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja

We were promised a great weather and the gods up there actually kept their promise -unlike during our last trip- so we’ve been enjoying those 3 days without a drop of rain. While our friends had arrived by plane, we’d reached our destination by train. It took us more or less 6 hours for those rough 400kms of trip, making stops in countless villages, passing through mountainous, snowy parts of Austria, via the town of Mozart, Salzburg, and finally arriving at the Hauptbahnhof  München.

We met in the very center of Munich, at Marienplatz, the most famous checkpoint in town: the whole place was overcrowded so you could hardly walk through. A short walk from Marienplatz takes you to the Viktualienmarkt, a daily food market and a square covering 22.000m², with some 140 stalls and all kind of products you can imagine. A place for gourmets with the greatest variety of delicacies in Munich. We only made a short stroll through the stalls (which I regret very much because we didn’t make it to see it later again), admiring the abundance of locally grown asparagus which are on its peak season at the moment.

On the walk back to Marienplatz we stopped at the Alter Peter, the tower of Munich’s oldest church, dating back in 13th century. This tower offers a great view of the town, BUT first you need to climb the 306 narrow(!) stairs. Once we’ve reached the top (56m high, the tower itself is 91m high), half-dead, we were almost blown away by the strong wind… and the magnificent view. However, if you fear the height, you might wish to skip the visit to the “Old Peter”.

On the way to our dinner place I’ve discovered one of those shops of my dreams: Schuhbecks Gewürzladen or Schuhbeck’s spice shop, self-service kind, with over 100 spices from all over the world. You can imagine how this story went on: I ended up in the shop, smelling the intoxicating aromas and buying 4 types of pepper, ground sweet paprika and savory, my favorite spice for legume dishes.

If you come to Munich for Bavarian food and wine experience, you should not miss Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, a beer garden with great reputation.

As we entered the place, it was literally bursting at the seams – there must have been a thousand of people inside, or even more. Luckily for our stomachs, we eventually found a table outside in the “patio”. The food was overall tasty and I could certainly not complain about the beer . We drank some of these heavy, liter jars – not a small deal.

Our first day ended with the view of the Neues Rathaus at Marienplatz. The plan for the next day was to visit a place 130kms far from Munich…

… continues!

Related posts:

1. Weekend in Munich – part (III)
2. Weekend in Munich – part (II)
3. Arboretum