Bannerghatta Safari Park

Last week I have taken you on a tour in the Bannerghatta Zoological Garden. This week I will show why they just next to it you can find such interesting buses.



Let's get on one of them (obviously with a ticket!) to start a ride through a very large area. It is protected by a fence but this fence is large abough to allow animals to live in conditions close to those in the wild. The first animals we will meet are the termites.

But just a few hundred meters further we meet a nice sleeping kitty. Hello Kitty!

 His white friend is also resting, but not fully asleep.

Everywhere around you can see banyan trees.

And their shadow helps the entire royal family to fall asleep. Simba and Mufasa meets the Sleeping Beauty.

Another group of sleeping animals, the teddy (Himalaya) bears is blocking our road!

Please look at their feet, aren't they like human's ?

And here you will fully understand why the elephant is the best human's friend in India. The first animal not sleeping in the whole Safari park we meet.

Since we are in a fairy tales place, after all this Shir Khans, Lion's King, Jumbo, Winnie The Pooh, Sleeping Beauty it is the time to find Bambi.

Let them eat in silence and move to our next destination.

Augustusburg Hunting Lodge

My human family told me that they plan to visit the Augustusburg castle. I said "Great, it is one of the most beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany". Too late did I discover that they actually meant the Augustusburg Hunting Lodge in Saxony while I meant the Augustusburg Castle in North Rhine-Westphalia. But small disappointments can sometimes turn into nice surprises. Let me then take you to the first Augustusburg castle on our trail. I do trust that we will see the other one some day as well.

The castle is located on a hill that is 516 meters high, on top of the town called (yes, you surely guessed) Augustusburg. It is surrounded by a park, in which you can find the "Fairytale Fountain" (Märchenbrunnen).

Let's take this path and go up the hill. Be careful, the fallen leaves are slippery.

The castle is surrounded by a long wall. It is white, with details in a colour that my human secretary calls "coral" and I will simply call orange.

As we approach from the North, first we need to pass the house of the guards.

Then comes the main entrance to the castle.

The inner courtyard is surprisingly vast.

Since Saxony is no longer ruled by a Prince-Elector, the castle is nowadays a museum. Let's go inside.

The Augustusburg castle was designed mainly to be a summer retreat and a hunting lodge. Once you enter inside, you cannot be mistaken about its original role. There are traces of both hunting ...

... and summertime leisure.

I can only hope that after having one of these mugs that could hold probably two litres of beer nobody tried to actually use the hunting equipment.

Through the window you can see the backyard. We will go there as well in a moment.

On the right you can see the Zschopau valley that lies beneath the Schellenberg hill.

Let's go out again and check on the backyard. We need to take the South gate.

In the old castle’s farm buildings we will find the Stage Coach Museum. Some of the carriages exhibited there are simply amazing. This one has the coat of arm's of Saxony.

This one is called a berlin and was probably at some point in time covered with golden ornaments.

The museum has also some less exclusive exhibits.

There is even a cabrio!

But I liked best this winter edition. Horse-drawn sledges must have been real fun. Though not for the horses of course.

I hope that you agree with me that travelling always brings some fun, even if it is another type of fun that one would expect. The Saxon Augustusburg Castle proved to be a nice piece of architecture.

Look, it is getting late! The sundials are maybe not as accurate as modern clocks but without any doubt they indicate that it is time to move on to new adventures.

Neuschwanstein Castle

A visit to Bavaria would not be complete without a visit to the most magical place in this part of the world - the Neuschwanstein Castle. It was built by the Bavarian king Ludwig II, called by his people the "fairy tale king", it was also the ultimate inspiration of Walt Disney.

fot. Bildagentur Huber

This is also one of the most crowded tourist attractions in Germany since every year over 1.300.000 people crosses its gate. To avoid huge queuing, all guides recommend to be in the ticket office before it gets open. I have decided then that we need to arrive to the town of Schwangau the evening before. The moment I looked up, I realised it was a great idea. At night, you can almost touch the magic of the place. 

In the morning the castle still looks great. As you can see, it is located on the top of a hill, between steep alpine slopes.

Let's pass quickly through the ticket office. Luckily, I have made a reservation.



As we pass the ticket office, you can notice a yellow building behind it. It is the Hohenschwangau castle. You ask me why someone would build a castle just next to an existing one? Well, there must be reasons why the people of Bavaria believed that the conceiver of the Neuschwanstein Castle was insane.

The road to the Neuschwanstein castle is closed for mechanical vehicles. It can only be accessed on foot or by a horse carriage. Yes, I know which option you chose.

The road is winding but not too steep.

The hill is cut by numerous small brooks, creating lovely waterfalls.

Finally, we arrive on the top of the hill. The castle is quite large ...

... and quite high. Do you think Rapunzel could have lived there?

Let's go towards the main entrance.

On top of the porch you will notice the coat of arm's of the king.

The inner courtyard is spacious. Still, I felt a bit overwhelmed by all these decorations, balconies, etc.

It is forbidden to take pictures inside the castle. But without seeing its interior you will not be able to fully realise its splendor. I will show you then a few postcards that I bought in the castle's shop. First let's look at the throne hall.

fot. Bildagentur Huber

And this is where the throne itself was supposed to stand. If you have a feeling that you are in a church then your intuition is correct - the inspiration for this place was the byzantine Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul.

fot. Bildagentur Huber

A few steps from the throne hall, you will enter into the bedroom of the king. It looks a lot like a chapel as well. Honestly, I would not like to sleep in a place like this. I would feel like preparing for my own funeral.

fot. Bildagentur Huber

The largest room of the palace is the Hall of the Singers which was designed to be a mixture of a ball room and a concert hall.

fot. Bildagentur Huber

I propose that we go now to the balcony. On the left we can see from there the Mary's bridge (Marienbrücke), over the Pollät gorge.

 And just in front of us the wonderful panorama.

Down in the valley comes the Hohenschwangau castle.

And when you look up, you will see the snowy tops of the Alps.

I must say that I was really impressed by the Neuschwanstein castle. The history has proven that the alleged madness of Ludwig II has given to the world a real jewel.