We started out this morning with the intention of going to Nurnberg but on the way Gene decided we would kill two birds with one stone and stopped by to see Wurzburg. It is about half way between home and our destination. We saw the most beautiful landscape that we have seen yet here in Germany. A lot of farms, actual hills and of course beautiful forests.
As soon as we got there we went through a Greek and Egyptian exhibition which was free by the way and they let us take all the pictures we wanted to, and I did. Most of these thing were beautiful vases with the most unusual pictures painted on them. We went through a few churches and ate at a great restaurant. Out in front of the Wurzburg Palace we saw a group of men at attention. Can't figure out what it was all about. It couldn't have been a military recruitment unless their military is a lot more lenient than the US, and it was strange that they were doing all this in front of everyone. Gene says they probably took them there to give them of feeling Country and belonging.
We went to see the Wurzburg Residence and Court Gardens. The opened courtyard has a beautiful mosaic surrounding a Statue. The Palace was built by architects who drew their inspiration from Vienna to Paris and from Genoa and Venice to Amsterdam. It's style is in French Chateau and boy does it look like it. They say there is no palace or castle in Germany or in any of the Latin countries that can surpass this masterful piece of art. Most of the frescos inside the residence were done by the 18th century painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It was the residence of the Schonborn family who initiated the building. We were not able to take pictures of the inside but I can tell you, if you ever get to Germany you have to see the inside of this palace. There is so much gold leafing in each room. High ceilings and each room had its on personality. Original paintings are everywhere. My brother Bill will probably recognize the following, Lieberman 1881, Schaufelein 1503, Pellegrini 1713, Zick 1750, and of course Tiepilo 1700's the artist who did all the frescos on the ceilings. The tapestries were to die for. I can not imagine the amount of hours that went into making those.
There is a beautiful iron gate that leads into a formal Austrian Garden that has paths running along the main garden with a circular pool in the centre. Among the beautifully trimmed hedges can be seen statues sculpted by Johann Peter Wagner. If you look really close you can see a statue under each tree in the garden. The statues are of Savoyard boys, Chinese, Moorish children, vases and cartouches. There is an orangery at the far back of the garden. Most of the trees here are fruit trees and they only produce fruit at the very top. It use to be given to dining visitors as a dessert. As we strolled around the gardens I took note of all the people just sitting and relaxing something Americans don't do enough of. Well maybe they would if they had something like this to look at.
I did get a few pictures of the entrance or Garden Hall with its fresco ceiling. It looks like a Michel Angelo painting. A staircase goes up 4 stories and each room is a different color. I could not imagine living in such as place but I could sure try. Gene was saying that as the rich were living in palaces such as these, the poor were paying for it with their backs. The tour took us at least one hour and each room was grander than the other. Our day was surely packed with events, seeing that we only got there at 4:00 after work. We drove on to Nurnberg and stayed at the Azmit hotel which was by US standards a 3 star but was listed at a 5 star hotel. A few known facts that we didn't know, the Germans do not use wash cloths, they do not use bar soap and they do not use top sheets. Gene was really confused since he requires two out of the three that they didn't have. There pillows were huge but only 2 inches thick. I shouldn't complain however, because, we had a 20.00 dollar breakfast for free. And we should have known better but we ate the snacks that they left in our room only to find we owed 12.00 for 2 bags of fritos, two bags of peanuts, one coke and one orange juice. Oh well we are here for two nights, so enjoy it. See you in the morning for another full day, but in Nurnberg.
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