Today we set off to Nymphenburg Palace which is on the outskirts of Munich, we decided we would take the Tram as it is quite a way out. After breakfast we decided we would walk to the Tram station that meant that we didn’t need to change. We arrived at the Palace about 10:00 and started with a walk round Nymphenburg Palace. This was built in 1664 to celebrate the birth of the heir to the throne. We were allowed into the first floor apartment these included the main reception room and ballroom as well as the Queens quarters, her rooms were actually really nicely decorated and her bedroom is where she liked to play with her children and this is reflected in her bedroom where along with normal sized chairs, sofas and tables there are small table and chairs for her children to work at. After walking round the palace we decided to walk round the grounds. There are four pavilions in the palace park and after picking up a bottle of water we set off in search of Magdalenenklause which has a gothic chapel which is made to reflect a grotto, there are also four panelled rooms that contain another chapel and what look like reading rooms. This was used as a retreat for Max Emanuel. From here we walked round the lake to the Pagodenburg which is rather like a summer house that was used as a base when they were playing croquet, this was probably one of my favourite buildings as it was very light downstairs and the three rooms upstairs were all decorated in the Chinese style which again looked quite light. From here we walked to the end of the formal gardens to the cascade which is a 300 year old waterfall built at the end of the canal. This gives you fantastic views of the palace and the canal that leads up to it. We then walked round the other side of the garden to the Badenburg which contains a swimming pool. It has a small apartment with a bedroom and a writing room, but the main feature is the swimming pool which is actually quite large considering this was the mid to late 1800s. After walking round that we went to the final pavilion which is Amlienburg that is actually my favourite building this was actually a hunting lodge and although it is a bit over the top as it has a lot of sliver gilt it was actually quite nicely laid out and has a kitchen that is covered in Dutch blue and while tiles and what looks to be a large spit. From here we walked back to the main house and went to the Royal Chapel which was very plain but also quite small I assume it was only used by the Royals themselves not the people that worked there as well. Our final stop was the carriage museum where they have a collection of Royal carriages ranging from the very spectacular to the quite ordinary, they also have a collection of sledges some of which were used by the children to learn how to drive carriages, they were used inside the palace and pulled by either large dogs, ponies or goats which much have been a sight to see in the long halls of the palace. Some of the sleighs were very spectacular, they were for two people with the gentleman driving and the woman sitting in the front these were sometimes used as part of the carnival celebrations and the woman would carry a lance to try and pick up rings and ‘win’ the competition. We thought about having lunch at the palace but in the end decided to head over to the Olympic Park, this is where the 1972 olympics were held and is a really nice area. They have a tower which has both a revolving restaurant which unfortunately was closed and an observation deck so we went up and had a great view over the area as well as a very distant view of the Alps. We walked round a bit of the park, stopped for a beer (or two) then set off back to the hotel. As the S-Bhan took us back to the Market square we decided to stop for something to eat before we went back to the hotel for a relax after a really good day.
