Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire

Over the weekend, I visited the Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire near Battle Creek, Michigan.  Having never been to a Renaissance festival before, I was quite excited for a new experience.  We were accompanied by friends of ours who had come to this particular festival for the past several years running, so they were quite familiar with many of the acts and vendors.  We attended during the Highland Gathering weekend, which featured a Celtic band and dance troupe, the Rogues and Quinn's School of Irish Dance, respectively. 

I particularly enjoyed the Knights of Iron jousting team; it was obvious that they, like the rest of the entertainers, put a lot of effort into training for their exhibitions.  It was very pleasing to hear that one of the horses on the team was recently rescued from squalid living conditions and is now very well cared for.

Also worth mentioning was the chocolate covered bacon peddled by Sir Munch-a-Lots (love the name).  Admittedly, this was not my best idea of a tasty snack, but it was new and innovative and there, so I had to try it.  It was surprisingly good; salty yet sweet.  Just watch out for the bacon grease that lurks beneath the chocolate shell.

Based on my experience, a Renaissance festival is an excuse to bring together anything from the distant past, which, for me, included pirates, highlanders, medieval knights, as well as fairies, elves, and practically any other historical or fantasy characters one can imagine.  Seeing people dressed in clothing from their favorite historical eras or fantasy acts was a lot of fun. Attending a Renaissance festival was something to do that was different than the usual movie or dinner and I was able to see a lot of things I don't often see, especially not in the same place.  Like chocolate covered bacon.  Above all, I would say my visit to Silver Leaf left me feeling like I had escaped from reality for a few hours and that was nice.

Thank you for reading.

For more information, please visit http://www.silverleafrenfaire.org/.

Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany

While in Munich a few years ago, I was able to visit this immense Baroque palace and its vast gardens.  Here is an abriged version of its history, as well as some thoughts on my visit.

Panoramic view of Nymphenburg Palace.

Commissioned by Bavarian Electoral couple Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy to celebrate the birth of their long awaited son and heir, Maximillian Emanuel II.  Construction of this summer residential palace first began in 1664 and initally consisted of only the central cube-shaped pavillion, which is depicted in this copper-plate engraving:

When comparing the above panoramic and copper-engraved images of Nymphenburg, one can't help but notice a bit of a discrepancy in the palace's size.  The heir to the Bavarian throne, Maximilian Emanuel II, is responsible for initiating the massive expansion of the palace, beginning in 1701.  In addition to the architectural expansion of the palace, many renovations have also been conducted.  Perhaps one of the most notable renovations is the 1755-57 transformation of the Great Hall into an extraordinary Rococo style interior complete with extravagant frescoes surrounded by stucco work.  The Great Hall has remained unchanged since 1758, which makes it an authentically Rococo room.

A partial view of the Great Hall in all it's Rococo glory.  Here is an example of one of the frescoes as well as the magnificent plaster work. 

I found Nymphenburg Palace and its grounds overwhelming, which is appropriate given the inherent extravagance of Baroque and Rococo styles.  The palace itself was absolutely amazing and the gardens located behind the palace provided a wonderful experience as well.

When the palace was originally constructed, it was accompanied by a small ornamental garden on its west side.  This small garden has since been consumed by the present 490 acre gardens, which we spent quite a long time exploring during our visit.

The present layout and structure of the gardens was designed by German landscape gardener Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell during the latter half of the eighteenth century in response to the increasing popularity of landscape gardens in Germany.  Von Sckell's designs resulted in the transformation of a geometrically influenced designs into one with more natural elements.  Looking back at my visit, I definitely noticed the contrast between the neatly aligned avenues and canals directly at the back of the palace and the more sweeping, indirect arrangements located in more outlying areas.

A view of one of the canals from a bridge.  This part of the park was secluded and peaceful.

As someone who had not heard of Nymphenburg Palace before my visit there, I was wonderfully surprised to experience such a place right within Munich's city limits.  The palace was an exquisite display of the madness of Baroque and Rococo design from which the gardens provided calm respite.

The palace currently serves as the residence of the head of the House of Wittelsbach (currently Franz, Duke of Bavaria), who the Jacobites recognize as the legitimate heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  It is open to the public throughout the year.

View of Nymphenburg and front lawn while approaching the entrance.

Thank you for reading.

More extensive information on Nymphenburg Palace can be found here.

Photo credits:

Nymphenburg panorama: Patrick Huebgen, 2005, public domain, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nymphenburg_vorne_1.jpg

Copper-plate engraving of Nymphenburg: Michael Wening, 1701, public domain, http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/11942.htm
Great Hall: myself, 2005, © all rights reserved.
View of water from bridge: myself, 2005, © all rights reserved.

Nymphenburg, lawn, and flowers: myself, 2005, © all rights reserved.

Maiden Voyage

Welcome to my first ever blog posting for my first ever blog!  I suppose the protocol for inaugural blog posts probably includes a little bit of information about the poster, so I'll start there. 

My name is Kate, I call Michigan my home and I undoubtably love to travel.  You know those feelings of strangeness and unfamiliarity and you get when you arrive at a foreign place?  I crave them.  I certainly don't get to sate those cravings as often as I would like, but I have nonetheless been very fortunate in my travel opportunities thus far. 

In addition to travel, another passion of mine is the study of history.  When I visit a place, I feel compelled to make an effort to understand its historical background.  A better understanding of history allows me to more deeply experience the character of a locale, making the impression left on me all the more poignant and memorable.

So, in summary, if you expect to see my future posts chock-full of interesting and historically relevant commentary about my real and aspirational voyages, you hopefully won't be surprised.  In fact, I hope you are pleasantly entertained and informed.

Thank you for reading.

-Kate