GERMANY Munich, the Rhine Valley, Berli, Dresden, Leipzig

I have only visited one part of Germany but I think it is the most beautiful and interesting. The first time in Munich in 1973, a year after the Olympics hosted by the beautiful Bavarian city, I came alone by train from Trieste in September to take part in the Oktober fest which was a very strong experience. I remember the enormous Festwiesen warehouses, each dedicated to a brewery with long wooden tables and benches inside where customers sat intent on drinking beers brought by the Kellnerinnen in large glass mugs. At the end there was a stage with the band playing happy songs and every now and then singing the prosit and everyone stood up with their mugs and sang "ein Prosit, ein Prosit". I think I drank two glasses and got so drunk that once I left the shed I couldn't find the exit of the park but I arrived near the enormous amusement park with roller coasters and all sorts of other infernal machines to the delight of amusement lovers. 'adrenaline. I went to visit the interesting Museum of Science and Technology, the Olympic village and in the center the beautiful Marienplatz where the town hall is located with the palace with the statues that come out of the relative turning to the sound of the chiming of the hours. I also made an evening trip to Schwabin, the district of bars and restaurants where hectoliters of beer are drunk. and I returned six years later with my girlfriend at the time during a long car tour from Trieste, Salzburg, Munich, the Rhine valley, the Netherlands, Paris, Brussels. On that occasion we also visited the beautiful castles of Bavaria built by Ludwig of Bavaria, Sissi's cousin who squandered the state budget to build them but which still remain today and are much visited, especially the NeuSchwanstein, that is the stone of the white swan, that beautiful that it looks like a fairy castle and that also inspired the castle that you see in Disneyland. Then there is the other one not far from Hohenschwangau which is actually a 13th century castle where Ludwig grew up. His favorite castle was the Linderhof (linden courtyard due to the presence of a lime tree in the park) his personal retreat and therefore small but luxuriously furnished with a beautiful garden with statues, fountain, two Moorish pavilions purchased from the Paris Expo and one gr a shell-shaped boat where he loved to rock himself with the waters while drinking tea. Then there is the Herrenchiemsee built on an island in the lake and with which Ludwing wanted to challenge the beauty of Versailles of sun king Louis XIV and which remained unfinished at his death but which contains extraordinary things such as the room of mirrors and the sumptuous bedroom Bed. We then began the long journey along the Rhine valley, a river that passes through five states, especially in Germany, before flowing into the North Sea after 800 km of travel, passing Mainz, the city at the confluence of the Meuse river and the Rhine, famous for its carnival and the museum dedicated to the printer Gutenberg, you come across many villages, castles on the overlooking hills while long barges carrying large loads of goods pass along the river but also tourist boats that travel along the river, you pass Bingen, Coblenz where you meet the Moselle river with the Rhine, the Roman Confluentia, at a certain point the river narrows to about 100 meters and there is a dangerous and narrow bend which has caused several shipwrecks and above on the facing hill which is about 130 meters high there is a spur and the statue of the mermaid Loreley which seems to warn of the dangers of the waters below. Further on, Bonn, the former German capital, and Cologne, the Rhineland city with its large cathedral and famous for its carnival, its imposing cathedral, the chocolate museum, the Ludwig museum of contemporary art, the Hohenzollern bridge, further on Duisburg and Duesselforf before entering Holland and flowing into the North Sea. In 2010 I visited the capital Berlin and refer to the post "Berlin Berlin" dedicated to the capital where my daughter has lived with her partner for over ten years. Instead, a few years later, during a long trip to Central Europe that started in Prague, I went to visit Dresden and Leipzig. Dresden is the capital of Saxony, a rich city of art on the Elbe River. Unfortunately it was completely destroyed and set on fire by Allied bombing in the Second World War but the Germans managed to rebuild it often using the same recovered stones. In the center there is a beautiful and large square, the Theatersplatz which houses the Furstezug, a mural over one hundred meters long which depicts 35 German rulers in blue ceramics. There are various very important and interesting buildings which give a unique environment - There is the Semperopera i.e. the opera palace for classical concerts, the castle which is a Renaissance building and hosts the Grunes Gewolbe which has two permanent exhibitions of 3,000 treasures of gold, silver, ivory, mother of pearl and precious stones which are truly beautiful because they are also large and spectacular compositions, then an armory full of weapons and saddles. Apri in Google Traduttore • FThen the Zwinger complex is a low baroque palace with galleries with three museums with various artefacts and 750 paintings by various authors including Raphael's Madonna Christina and in the courtyard there is a pavilion which houses a carillon with 30 Meissen ceramic bells. On the same square is the vast Bruhlsche Terrasse with medieval buildings overlooking the Elbe River below. Finally, further on, another enormous square with the very high Frauenkirche, the Lutheran cathedral which inside looks like a very high theater rather than a church. I believe that no city in the world has such a concentration of buildings and art in such a small space. About 3.5 km away there is a large green park. Not yet satisfied with so much art, I rented a bicycle to reach the fantastic Moritsburg castle which has four ocher and white corner towers, surrounded by a balustrade which houses various statues and is preceded by a very long avenue and a pond. The castle was built in the mid-sixteenth century but about two centuries later the Elector Prince Augustus the Strong had it renovated to host parties. The rooms are upholstered in richly gilded leather. There are many hunting trophies but the main attractions are the prince's bedroom whose blanket is made of two million colored feathers, then a room of ceramics. In the rich park there is a pheasant castle and a miniature marina with a lighthouse. On the way back I got a flat tire and by a stroke of luck I managed to find a workshop that repaired my tubular tire. From Dresden I reached Leipzig by train, another important city in Saxony and a historic city for various reasons. In the main square Augustusplatz there is the majestic opera house, the City Hochhaus the tallest skyscraper with a panoramic terrace. Nearby is the university building, the second oldest in Germany from 1409 after that of Heidelberg from 1386. This institute was decisive for the fall of communism in 1990 because the students began to protest against the communist regime until its fall. Then the Church of San Nicola in the city center. Then the Museum of Bildender Kunste which is the modern shape of a crystal cube and houses a rich permanent collection. Then a small square, the Naschmarkt which houses the monument to Goethe and the ancient Stock Exchange building dating back to 1500, But the most important square is the market square which houses the sixteenth-century town hall building with an imposing facade and nearby the church of San Tommaso where an important choir was based which was directed for almost thirty years by the famous composer Bach who is buried here and Marthin Luther also preached inside this church in 1500. What to say? Germany is very beautiful, cultured, artistic, it's a shame that I don't like Germans but maybe I was just unlucky and I met a few negative people who gave me a bad impression, maybe I'll change my mind by having better encounters in the future. FOR BERLIN I REFER YOU TO ANOTHER POST HERE IS THE LINK https://vinkor.blogspot.com/2024/01/berlin-berlin.html