KT Chunwei Trip (24-26 March 2006)
Over the last weekend, I had the honour of hosting 2 of my old-time friends from Fairfield here in Munich: Kelvin Teo and Tan Chunwei! I think it's quite a wonderful thing to be able to meet up with friends so far from home. Really says alot about the "global citizen" concept, eh?
Of course, playing host, I had to make sure I did an excellent job.
Day One - First stop: Linderhof Castle
This was the only completed castle by King Ludwig II before he died, and as a result, was his favourite. The king spent more days here than in the other castles that he built. Linderhof is named after a 350-year-old linden tree in the garden, and is situated not far from the town of Oberammergau. The theme of the castle is the peacock, and can be seen by the 2 peacocks placed to signify the King's presence. King Ludwig II believed that flags were an instrument of war, which is why he preferred a more peaceful indication of his presence. The peacock is also commonly known as a symbol of royal power.
Garden directly outside Linderhof, you can see the linden tree in the middle
Of course, the castle itself
Sorry, no photos inside the castle.
Day One - Second stop: Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a village southwest of Munich. It is most famous for the Passion Plays, which has it's origin back to 1634AD. At the time, the bubonic plague was killing many people across Europe. The villagers then made a promise to God that if He spared them from the Plague, they would perform the Passion Play every 10 years, which has been the tradition since. Immediately after that, there were no more lives lost to the Plague. The last performance was in the year 2000. The Oberammergau Passion Play lasts 7 hours per performance and is performed for 5 months in the year, starting in May. The entire cast in the play must be from the village, and of course, the roles of Jesus and Mary are not easily won.
The Passion Play Theatre in Oberammergau
Day One - Third stop: Hohenschwangau
Next, of course is the beautiful area in Schwangau, near the Bavarian Alps. Here, there are 2 castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau was where King Ludwig II spent most of his childhood, and from young, he visualised a tall fairytale-like castle standing on the mountain outside his window. That was to be the site for Neuschwanstein. The second castle commissioned by King Ludwig II after Linderhof and before Herrenchiemsee, Neuschwanstein was and still in the most popular castle amongst them all, with 6 million visitors a year, despite being only 40% completed.
The theme of the castle is the swan, as can be seen by the name "Neuschwanstein", pronouced as "Noi-schvan-stein", which literally translates to New Swan Stone. From a nearby bridge called Marienbrucke, a magnificent view of the castle awaits those who undertake the daring challenge to reach it.
Hohenschwangau
Chunwei (left) and Kelvin with the Alps in the background
View from the path up to Neuschwanstein
View of Neuschwanstein from the refreshment point
At the foot of the castle
On the path up to Marienbrucke (note the steepness of the slope)
A shot from high-up, you can see Hohenschwangau
3 friends visiting the most famous castle in Germany
View from Marienbrucke
The piece de resistance: A close up of the castle
Think you can figure how high we are...
Back to the castle gates just in time for our tour
View from the courtyard
A scaled model inside the castle
Day One - Fourth stop: Hofbrauhaus
How is it possible for people to come to Bavaria and not drink Bavarian beer or eaten Bavarian food? The Hofbrauhaus is a traditional beer hall in Munich, supposedly owned by the state. Rumour is that Adolf Hitler began his political career by speaking in this beer hall. Munich was where the NSDAP started, in fact. But Nazi or not, Hofbrauhaus offers the closest experience to Oktoberfest. Musks of beer, wursts and schweinhauxn. The staff dress up in traditional costumes and there is even a musical performance. People come here to have a good time.
This is the beer hall
Each of us with 1 mass of Dunkel beer (yes, that's 1 litre)
Dinner is served (Schweinhauxn = Pork knuckles)
The musicians in their traditional costumes
Standing in front of one of their beer barrels
Day Two - First stop: KZ-Gedenkstätte
Well, being history fans, I had to bring them to this place. The history can be found in an earlier post, except this day, the pictures are much better.
The barracks
The monument, supposed to be prisoners trapped in barbed wire
One of the religious monuments erected
This is a church (yes, within the camp)
This is also a church
The Russian Orthodox Church
The infamous gas chamber (note: this was supposedly never used)
The crematorium
Closer look at one of the furnaces
Day Two - Second stop: Nymphenburg
It's so near that there's no excuse not to bring them here. More swans out today and at least the water is not frozen anymore.
Chunwei and KT
The Porcelain Museum
KT can't help playing with swans
Day Two - Third stop: Olympiapark
Well, I believe Olympiapark is always packaged with Nymphenburg because they are so near each other. Except this time, we climbed to the tallest point instead of going up the tower.
View of the Olympic Stadium
The Olympic Hall, Swim Hall and Tower
(From right to left) The BMW Tower, Museum (under renovation) and Welt (under construction)
A close-up of the Four-cylinder building
OK, so it still can't compare with the tower...
View of the other side of the hill, you can see the Alps in the background
KT was there...
And so were we!
The Allianz Arena (the white building), site of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The hill that we climbed
Adidas organised a 5-a-side soccer match for boys that day
Chunwei left that night, taking a 7.30pm train back to Stuttgart. KT spent the night at my place and flew back to London the next morning. Been a pleasure hosting you guys!
Photobucket: KT Chunwei Trip
Of course, playing host, I had to make sure I did an excellent job.
Day One - First stop: Linderhof Castle
This was the only completed castle by King Ludwig II before he died, and as a result, was his favourite. The king spent more days here than in the other castles that he built. Linderhof is named after a 350-year-old linden tree in the garden, and is situated not far from the town of Oberammergau. The theme of the castle is the peacock, and can be seen by the 2 peacocks placed to signify the King's presence. King Ludwig II believed that flags were an instrument of war, which is why he preferred a more peaceful indication of his presence. The peacock is also commonly known as a symbol of royal power.
Garden directly outside Linderhof, you can see the linden tree in the middle
Of course, the castle itself
Sorry, no photos inside the castle.
Day One - Second stop: Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a village southwest of Munich. It is most famous for the Passion Plays, which has it's origin back to 1634AD. At the time, the bubonic plague was killing many people across Europe. The villagers then made a promise to God that if He spared them from the Plague, they would perform the Passion Play every 10 years, which has been the tradition since. Immediately after that, there were no more lives lost to the Plague. The last performance was in the year 2000. The Oberammergau Passion Play lasts 7 hours per performance and is performed for 5 months in the year, starting in May. The entire cast in the play must be from the village, and of course, the roles of Jesus and Mary are not easily won.
The Passion Play Theatre in Oberammergau
Day One - Third stop: Hohenschwangau
Next, of course is the beautiful area in Schwangau, near the Bavarian Alps. Here, there are 2 castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau was where King Ludwig II spent most of his childhood, and from young, he visualised a tall fairytale-like castle standing on the mountain outside his window. That was to be the site for Neuschwanstein. The second castle commissioned by King Ludwig II after Linderhof and before Herrenchiemsee, Neuschwanstein was and still in the most popular castle amongst them all, with 6 million visitors a year, despite being only 40% completed.
The theme of the castle is the swan, as can be seen by the name "Neuschwanstein", pronouced as "Noi-schvan-stein", which literally translates to New Swan Stone. From a nearby bridge called Marienbrucke, a magnificent view of the castle awaits those who undertake the daring challenge to reach it.
Hohenschwangau
Chunwei (left) and Kelvin with the Alps in the background
View from the path up to Neuschwanstein
View of Neuschwanstein from the refreshment point
At the foot of the castle
On the path up to Marienbrucke (note the steepness of the slope)
A shot from high-up, you can see Hohenschwangau
3 friends visiting the most famous castle in Germany
View from Marienbrucke
The piece de resistance: A close up of the castle
Think you can figure how high we are...
Back to the castle gates just in time for our tour
View from the courtyard
A scaled model inside the castle
Day One - Fourth stop: Hofbrauhaus
How is it possible for people to come to Bavaria and not drink Bavarian beer or eaten Bavarian food? The Hofbrauhaus is a traditional beer hall in Munich, supposedly owned by the state. Rumour is that Adolf Hitler began his political career by speaking in this beer hall. Munich was where the NSDAP started, in fact. But Nazi or not, Hofbrauhaus offers the closest experience to Oktoberfest. Musks of beer, wursts and schweinhauxn. The staff dress up in traditional costumes and there is even a musical performance. People come here to have a good time.
This is the beer hall
Each of us with 1 mass of Dunkel beer (yes, that's 1 litre)
Dinner is served (Schweinhauxn = Pork knuckles)
The musicians in their traditional costumes
Standing in front of one of their beer barrels
Day Two - First stop: KZ-Gedenkstätte
Well, being history fans, I had to bring them to this place. The history can be found in an earlier post, except this day, the pictures are much better.
The barracks
The monument, supposed to be prisoners trapped in barbed wire
One of the religious monuments erected
This is a church (yes, within the camp)
This is also a church
The Russian Orthodox Church
The infamous gas chamber (note: this was supposedly never used)
The crematorium
Closer look at one of the furnaces
Day Two - Second stop: Nymphenburg
It's so near that there's no excuse not to bring them here. More swans out today and at least the water is not frozen anymore.
Chunwei and KT
The Porcelain Museum
KT can't help playing with swans
Day Two - Third stop: Olympiapark
Well, I believe Olympiapark is always packaged with Nymphenburg because they are so near each other. Except this time, we climbed to the tallest point instead of going up the tower.
View of the Olympic Stadium
The Olympic Hall, Swim Hall and Tower
(From right to left) The BMW Tower, Museum (under renovation) and Welt (under construction)
A close-up of the Four-cylinder building
OK, so it still can't compare with the tower...
View of the other side of the hill, you can see the Alps in the background
KT was there...
And so were we!
The Allianz Arena (the white building), site of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The hill that we climbed
Adidas organised a 5-a-side soccer match for boys that day
Chunwei left that night, taking a 7.30pm train back to Stuttgart. KT spent the night at my place and flew back to London the next morning. Been a pleasure hosting you guys!
Photobucket: KT Chunwei Trip
posted by Chiu Weng | 11:29 PM
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