Day 248: Happy Thanksgiving from Ludwigsburg!

Happy Thanksgiving! It really is a weird Thanksgiving. We are going to Ludwigsburg to visit the palace there. Unfortunately it was closed but we were able to look around the gardens and were able to take Ro around to see the ducks in the pond and the carousels there.

We really lucked out because although it was a bit chilly, it was a beautiful day!  The sun was out and the skies were incredibly blue!  And this is late November!!!

Since it is winter time, we didn't have to pay to get in.  It appears that it could be incredibly beautiful in the summer time.  This will definitely be a "day trip" for us next summer!

LUDWIGSBURG

 This is only one side of the palace, I couldn't even get the entire palace in  one shot!

 These are the gardens in front of the palace.  They too are extensive and it would be impossible to get a shot of the entire grounds.  One has to see how large this area is to appreciate it.  The shrubs are designed in an intricate pattern.  I can't wait to see this in the summer time!

 

  There were very few flowers but I managed to capture these few pansies that were still blooming in late November.  Again, the flowers have to be gorgeous in the summer time!












                                                                                                     As you can see that because it's winter, there's not much to see except to imagine what the grounds look like in the summer.  Again, there's intricate designs that look like are filled with flowers in the summer time.

 

 Ro's daddy put him in the fountain where he promptly fell on his butt and muddied up those wonderful white knit pants.  We're going to have a time getting the mud out!  He also found puddles when we were walking through the gardens.




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 This part of the castle is behind the part of the castle that's pictured above.  There's a HUGE courtyard in  front of this part of the castle with archways to get into the courtyard.

This is a view of the palace courtyard from the archway.  This painted horse was a big hit not only with Ro but with all of us.  The detail work on this horse is exquisite!

Another view of the horse!

This is a close up of the coat of arms from this castle.

The long walk to the fantasy gardens.  The kids posed for a picture.

 This is a view of the castle from another part of the gardens.  To say the castle and it's surrounding gardens is extensive, is an understatement!

This gazebo housed a carousel with very old wooden horses.  Ro desperately wanted to go on them but of course, it was closed.

This pond is near the different gazebos and the children (including Ro) totally enjoyed throwing crackers and cookies to them! 

This duck almost looked wooden but it wasn't!  It was unbelievably unique and beautiful.  We have never seen a duck quite like this one!

The egret in the middle of the pond was real.  At first I thought it was a statue out on that tiny island in the middle of the pond.  But when he moved, I realized he was real!

This building is on the other side of the pond and houses a cafe in the summer time.  It was obviously closed now.  I can't wait to go back in the summer time. 

 This is a tower in another part of the gardens.

This gazebo houses some sort of swing for children.  Everything was closed for the winter.  I wish that Ro was with us in the summer time to experience this!

 This is the Japanese gardens that is near the tower.

 This is another Romanesque type garden structure.

This is the garden below the tower.  What you can't see on the other side to the left of this garden is a huge gully with craggy rocks and a pond.   I couldn't get a photo of that.  You'll just have to use your imagination.

 This is a plant (bush?) that was in the garden near the Roman structure.  I loved how it was whispy and blew in the wind.














After returning from our trip to Ludwigsburg, we went to Mamma Maria's again for dinner. Funny! Italian on Thanksgiving?  Unfortunately, they don't do Turkey here (at least not like Americans make Turkey) and we just didn't want to waste one day of sight seeing to stop and make a traditional turkey dinner.


Day 248 - Thursday 11/26/09