If you are thinking, "Oh, how romantic and exciting!" Don't. It really required no work from us at all. I consider Heidelberg to be my front yard and Schwetzingen to be my back yard as I live right between the two of them. I fight traffic in front of the castle often as it's the fastest way to my son's soccer field. So basically we went somewhere that we see weekly in errands. Let the romance run wild.
If you are wondering how to pronounce Schwetzingen, it's like this - Sh-vets-ing-gun.
These are the Schwetzingen Gardens. They were started in the mid 1700's. This is the front half. They are the formal gardens and are planted in a French garden design.
The spring planting with the Zirkelbau or orangery/reception rooms of the castle in the back ground. An orangery is a place in a fashionable residence where citrus trees in tubs would be wintered. Needless to say, my current apartment lacks an orangery and therefore, cannot be thought of as fashionable.
On the south side of the garden, there is this little bricked off section where flowering trees grow. From the street you can only see the tops of these pink trees. But when you pass through the iron gate, you get rewarded with all the daffodils.
I love how the ground looked like pink confetti had been thrown all over.
This is the pathway to the English section of the garden. English design, not English speaking. The English portion was planted to look more natural and to have more harmony with the landscape than the meticulously maintained flowerbeds in the French section.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but these blossoms are as big as my fist.
Here I am practicing my bridge-vamp pose a'la Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. If you don't know what I am talking about, see it here. I know I'm not even close, but in my defense she was wearing Ked's with no socks (a look I absolutely adore) and I am in a trench coat. I guess it's just my excuse to strike a pose with no one looking.
More of the natural English garden.
Here is a view of the back of the castle. The Schwetzingen Gardens are one of the few examples where you can see the classic look of a formal French garden blend into the newer, natural example of an English garden.
After our meandering around the castle, we went to find a Biergarten that our friend had told us about. The only problem was this is Germany and there are like 37 different Biergartens around the castle. So we picked one that provided a good photo op. Like this one. (There was a little confusion with my kids as to what a Biergarten actually is. They had visions of a garden with fountains spewing beer out of them. Unfortunately for some, this is not the case. A Biergarten is nothing more than a restaurant with an outdoor dining space. No beer spewing fountains here.)
The view from the Biergarten.
The sun was setting and it was time to meander back through the gardens to the car, still holding hands after 17 years.
Tschüß,
Kelly
So, so beautiful, it's magical! I can't even imagine seeing blossoms as big as your fists. I wish I could smell them! You look great in your pose by the way!
ReplyDeleteWell thank you! I realize how silly it is to pose when no one is looking and then post the picture on the internet!
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