The most impressive way to enter the palace grounds and walk towards the palace is from the main south entrance. This was all carefully planned along a central axis which used to lead from the northern end of the palace gardens all the way to a smaller palace in Stuttgart. That straight line is just a bit over 13 km long.
We met these friendly people at the top of the path. They belong to a club who make and preserve traditional costumes from the time the palace was built (early 1700s) to later, as you can tell from this picture (these costumes are more mid-1800s). Whenever there is something going on in Ludwigsburg, based on historical events, they dress up and participate. One good example is the Pferdemarkt-Umzug (horse market procession) that takes place every year in May. I have posted about this here; if you follow the link and there click on the small picture collage in the middle, it will take you to many more photos of club members in beautiful costume.
In front of the palace, every spring broderies are laid out. This year, there seems to be an abundance of yellow, making me very happy!
Aren't pansies the dearest little flowers?
A cat and a dog at the feet of a pair of fat naked little boys, and Miss Leda showing her best side:
I don't know the name of the yellow flowers in the above picture, but they look very exotic somehow.
Are you still with me? There's more!
I'm afraid the picture above right can not convey how pretty these forget-me-nots (my favourite flowers, I think) were, and how abundant - this part of the park looked a lot more blue than green, but somehow I was not able to capture it properly on camera.
Amaryllis are so beautiful on their own, they didn't really need all those twigs in this display, did they!
Nearly there, just a few more park/garden pictures:
It was such a lovely sunny day that my sister suggested we have our first proper ice creeam of this year, and so we did!
Guess who had the caramel cup and who went for the after eight one, with dinner mints and peppermint & chocolate liqueur...
These are especially beautiful photos ... really enjoyed seeing you in your yellow top among the daffodils.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jill! Wearing something brightly coloured like the yellow jacket makes me instantly feel more "spring-like" myself.
DeleteWhat a wonderful day you had with your sister! I remember that view back from the palace in Ludwigsburg to Schloss Solitude. But those photos of all the people in the parade for the Pferdemarkt! How amazing and beautiful and intriguing.Not to fail to appreciate the wonderful costumes, but I especially liked all the "bicycles" and the coaches. I guess (but am afraid I am wrong!) that it was you with your daffodil jacket who had the after eight ice cream. Let us know. I feel as if I should be remembering something about your attitude toward chocolate, but am just not sure.
ReplyDeleteThe Pferdemarkt is soon here again - next month - and I think I'll be there with my camera for the occasion. It's a home-grown tradition of my town, and I love it.
DeleteYou are right about the after eight ice cream, that one was my choice. I would have loved the coconut cup they had until last year but seem to have taken off the menue.
The yellow flowers are called "Kaiserkronen", that means
ReplyDeletecrown imperial lily [Fritillaria imperialis, syn.: Lilium persicum]. They also grow in a beautiful red colour. And- your grandmother had them as well in her garden, long, long ago.
Danke, Mama! Now that you mention it, I remember having heard the name "Kaiserkrone" before. I think the red variety is more common than the yellow. My neighbour has it, too.
DeleteI've seen those in the town park here and I was pretty sure they must be some kind of lily, but when I tried to look them up yesterday I got stuck (there are too many lilies!) So I was interested to learn the answer too, now. (Thanks, Meikes Mum!) The name in Swedish is Kejsarkrona, so the same as in German.
DeleteOur languages often have nearly the same word for the same thing, don't they!
DeleteWhat a lovely place for a spring walk. And you fit perfectly "in the picture" in your yellow jacket - even without crinoline and bonnet :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, it really is a lovely place, no matter what time of the year, but particularly so in spring.
DeleteCrinoline and bonnet... I'd love to wear something like that for a few hours but wouldn't look authentic with my shortish hair and specs.
Another lovely and interesting post. I didn't recognise the Kaiserkronen but have managed to identify them in my Gardeners' Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers thanks to your Mum. It's beautiful and sunny here but you wouldn't be wearing such light clothes because we have a cold East wind.
ReplyDeleteIt's not exactly warm here, either; as long as you stay out of the wind and the sun can get directly at you, it is nice, but the wind makes me still glad of my lightly padded jacket. It's that time of the year when people get reckless and start walking around in summer outfits, and the next day you hear them coughing and sneezing along the office floor.
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