Linderhof Palace

We made it to the castle a little later than planned. I wasn't going to go on the inside tour because it didn't start for 3 more hours, but after talking to Stewart, who was still on this bike ride, I paid for the tour. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was just starting to sprinkle. I told the kids we may never get here again, so we were going to go for a hike in the rain. I told them I wasn't going to bring the stroller, so they had to walk. Thomas and Zachary groaned, then I told them they could splash in all the puddles they wanted on the walk. They cheered. We got dressed up for the rain, umbrellas and all. On our way up to the castle, is started pouring. As we were strolling up the trail, everyone else was running down the trail. The people coming down the hill were looking more and more miserable, more and more soaked. But me and my kids were having fun, we were not in a hurry and all in a good mood.


The swans are looking for hand outs. But I didn't feel like sharing our granola bars.

Its a good thing I came prepared. It rained and rained and rained harder. The kids had a great time splashing in puddles and walking in the gutter. While everyone else was running for cover we trotted along, mostly dry. By the time we got back to the car, we learned that Cassidy had a tear in the back of one of her rain boots and a hole in the bottom of the other. Her socks were soaked. Zachary also had also worn out the bottom of one of his rain boots. One of his socks were wet, the other dry. Another good reason to not let your kids scuff their feet along the roads. Aside form it annoying parents, it wears out the bottom of their shoes. Thomas made it back to the car completely dry.

We made it to the castle. This is Schloss Linderhof. It is one of palaces built by King Ludwig II. The grounds are amazing. We walked around for a few hours, exploring all the different trails.

We really were having a ball in the rain.

Thomas and Zachary making their way through the trellises.

We toured the inside of the castle. It is amazing. It is small but very elaborate. Pictures were not allowed to be taken so you have to take my word for it. I liked the fact that the castle had over 2,000 vases in it. Ludwig loved vases. After the castle tour, we raced up the hill to catch the last grotto tour. The Venus Grotto is completely artificial. King Ludwig liked to be rowed around the lake in his golden swan boat.

A goofy pose and it stopped raining!

Zachary is playing finger Fussball. He picked up a pretty rock earlier and carried it around in his pocket. I guess he was waiting for the perfect place to play bench soccer.