I Hear Those Cow Bells Jingling, Ring Ting Tingling too

We left the hotel early to get our rental car and began the long, winding road to Linderhof Palace, the vacation home of Ludwig II. It was largely a tribute to Versailles. The palace is in the Baroque style and therefore symmetrical. We began in a red room decorated with gold and lined with paintings. The highlight of the room was a large peacock statue. We moved from here into a series of waiting rooms, each one themed with a different color. On the ceiling of the first one were golden depictions of the zodiac signs. Everywhere were portraits of French aristocracy and rulers- for example, the “purple room” contained the likenesses of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour.

Ludwig collected vases, many of which could be found perched on shelves on the gilded walls. While he had basically no power, he was incredibly wealthy, and as a result, his entire private palace is magnificent. Among the amazing furnishings and decorations were: a table that retracted into the floor, a set of lapis lazuli fireplaces, and a “room of mirrors” all in gold.

After marveling at the palace, we went back down the mountain to the Pilgrimage Church of Wies, a church made to house the crowds coming to worship at the statue of Jesus owned by a local farmer that one day began to cry.

The entire ceiling was painted, and everything from the pulpit to the organ pipes was heavily adorned in gold. It was truly spectacular. Along the sides of the church were walls of letters of thanks from people whose prayers had been answered. Outside the church were several cows, their bells jingling as they grazed.

Our next stop was the small town of Oberamergau, a charming village that specializes in woodcarving, painted buildings, and the passion play they put on every 10 years. Many of the buildings were beautifully decorated with fairy tales or religious scenes, and almost every establishment featured cuckoo clocks or other masterfully carved wooden objects. We stopped at a little ice cream shop, where I got a delightful chocolate milkshake. After this, we drove to Ettal, where our hotel was. It took longer than it should have, due to the sudden crossing of a large herd of cows that blocked the road for a good 5-10 minutes. We discovered that our hotel was almost unbelievably adorable, and went out for our last stop of the day- Klosterettal, a Benedictine cloister. This one had a completely decked out and gilded basilica, with beautiful paintings everywhere.

After admiring the church, we wandered around the village for a bit before returning to our hotel, arriving just before the rain started. We decided to stay in for the night and eventually fell asleep to the chiming of the bells on the nearby flock of sheep.