Alberta
My European Favourites – One Day In The Bavarian Alps
My European Favourites – One Day In The Bavarian Alps
My favourite area of Germany is Bavaria. It’s the largest state, about one fifth the size of the country, and is located in the south-east of Germany. Bordering the Czech Republic and Austria, the state’s capital Munich is an easy place to fly into, and it is a great city to explore and enjoy, especially during Oktoberfest.
Hotel Wittlesbach and two buildings in Oberammergau with painted frescoes
Oberammergau, Germany
The Bavarian Alps are about an hour drive south from Munich, and one of my favourite places to stay is in the town of Oberammergau. You may have heard of the town as it is well known worldwide for its performance of the “Passion Play,” which is performed in the aptly named, Passion Play Theatre. In 1633, while the plague was rampant in Europe, the villagers promised to perform the play every ten years if no further deaths from the plague occurred in Oberammergau. The play details the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. Their prayer was answered, and they kept their promise with the first play staged in 1634. The most recent performance was supposed to be in 2020, but due to the covid-19 pandemic, it has been moved to 2022.
Oberammergau is a compact place easily explored on foot. The Bavarian State Woodcarving School is located there, and there are shops where you can purchase everything from wooden toys to elaborate woodcarvings, including those of religious saints and crucifixes. As you walk through the town, you will see many buildings with painted frescoes (Lüftlmalerei) on their exterior walls with scenes from fairy tales, Bavarian folk themes, religious scenes and decorations that imitate architectural elements.
To be able to accomplish our sightseeing today we need to start with an early breakfast at one of the local hotels. One of my favourites is the Hotel Wittlesbach which is located right in the town centre and has been operated and owned by the Ternes family for many years. The hotel is full of the Bavarian charm you would expect, and the breakfast they offer is very good. We have stayed there many times over the years, and our groups love the hotel and location.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria’s Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle
Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Linderhof Palace is only a 15-minute drive away from Oberammergau and is the smallest of the three places or castles built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1805 until 1918, and the Ludwig’s Wittelsbach family ruled during the kingdom’s entire existence. In 1864, Ludwig became king at the age of 18. He had little interest in politics and soon began to spend his own wealth on personal projects, like three fairy tale palaces or castles. His spending and accumulating debt became such a concern by Bavaria’s political elite that they had a medical commission declare him insane and
incapable of reigning. A day later, he was on a walk with his psychiatrist, and they were both found dead; presumably drowned and floating in Lake Starnberg. Now that you know some of the story of King Ludwig II, we can talk about two of the three places or castles he built, Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle. The third and largest building, the New Herrenchiemsee Palace, which will not be part of our day, was built on an island in Lake Chiemsee and was to be a copy of Versailles in France, but it was never completed.
Linderhof Palace, the Gilt Fountain and the Neptune Fountain
Linderhof Palace
Linderhof is the only palace that King Ludwig II lived to see completed, and it is located near where his father, King Maximilian II, had the royal hunting lodge. Ludwig went there many times as a child and was very familiar with the location in the Graswang Valley near Ettal.
Ludwig idolized the French Sun-King Louis XIV and wanted to emulate his grand palaces in Bavaria. Throughout the Linderhof Palace, you will find sun decorations as an homage to his idol and as a symbol of royal absolute power. Linderhof was initially intended to be Ludwig’s Versailles, but due mainly to an unsuitable sized area, it became a smaller project which was completed in 1886. During his construction of Linderhof, Ludwig purchased the much larger Herrenwörth island on Lake Chiemsee, and it became the new site to build his Versailles as Herrenchiemsee Palace.
The Linderhof Park is fun to explore and has a mixture of different garden designs, cascading waterfalls, fountains, and a large pond with a gilt fountain that jets water 25 meters in the air. As you walk through the park, you will find a swan pond, the Moroccan House, the Terrace gardens, a Temple of Venus, a Neptune fountain, a Royal Lodge, a chapel, a music pavilion, a Moorish kiosk, various parterres (level gardens with symmetrical patterns) and a grotto. The Venus grotto is an artificial grotto and theatre where Ludwig could sit in his small boat as it was gently rocked by a wave machine and watch his favourite operas by Wagner.
A ticket is required to tour the palace with a guide, but there are really only four rooms that served a specific purpose. The first room is the “Hall of Mirrors” which served as the main living room. Then there is Ludwig’s bed chamber, the dining room with a disappearing dumb-waiter, and the small audience chamber which was used by Ludwig as a study and not a room where he would see people. There are two “Tapestry Chambers” which serve no real purpose, and there are no real tapestries on the walls, but instead, there are canvas paintings made to imitate tapestries.
A visit to Linderhof is enjoyable mainly for the gardens and palace exterior, but you might as well see the palace interior if you are there. Near the parking area, there are shops where you can purchase your ticket to tour the palace, buy a souvenir or a snack. The Schloss Linderhof Hotel is there as well, but I would rather stay in Oberammergau.
Fussen Arena, Fussen’s colorful old town, plus the Abbey and Castle
Fussen
After spending the morning at Linderhof, we travel west for about an hour through winding mountain roads to the town of Fussen just north of the Austria border. Our hockey tours often go to Fussen to play at the BLZ Arena or Bundesleistungszentrum, which ever you prefer. The main arena is a fabulous structure with windows installed above the seating area offering natural light into the building and onto the ice surface. The hometown team, EV Fussen, nicknamed the Leopards, play in the U20 Deutsche Nachwuchsliga II. The BLZ complex also has a second arena, and surprisingly, a curling rink.
Fussen is at one end of the Romantic Road which is a 350 km tourist route with interesting towns, villages and sights. Wurzburg, in wine country, is at the other end and the medieval walled town of Rothenburg, just south of Wurzburg, is one the must stops on the road.
We will stop in Fussen for a couple of hours to explore the old town and have time for lunch. Fussen is an underappreciated town with medieval walls, baroque churches, a former Benedictine Abbey (St. Mang’s) and a museum with historical music instruments including violins and lutes. The interesting Fussen Castle has the unfortunate luck of being located on a few kilometers from one of the most famous castles in the world and gets no respect. With just a couple of hours in Fussen I’m walking directly to the old town’s pedestrian friendly cobblestone streets to find a nice place to have lunch. I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but I will try to make time to slip over to the Hotel Schlosskrone’s Konditorei Kurcafe for a nice dessert. The hard part at the pastry shop is deciding which one to have.
Hohenschwangau Castle and the scenic Bavarian Alps
Hohenschwangau Castle
Just a few kilometers from Fussen, you will find one of Germany’s top attractions- the Neuschawanstein Castle. When you arrive to the parking place, you will immediately see a mustard colored castle that is not as famous, named Hohenschwangau. King Maximillian II of Bavaria, Ludwig’s father, rebuilt this 19th century castle on the ruins of a previous castle which had been partially destroyed in various wars. The castle was restored to its original plans and became the summer residence of the royal family and a young Ludwig. The castle, which is now often overlooked by the larger Neuschwanstein Castle, can be toured along with the Museum of the Bavarian Kings. Unfortunately, our schedule does not allow time for it.
Mary’s Bridge, Neuschwanstein Castle entrance, lower courtyard and tower
Neuschwanstein Castle
Our goal today is to see the Neuschwanstein Castle before it closes. It’s a good idea to reserve your time online prior to arriving, especially in the busy season from May to September. After getting your ticket and tour time at the ticket office, you must get up to the castle courtyard on your own in time to join your tour. There are three ways to get up to the castle from the town; a walking path up to the castle that can take 20-30 minutes, horse carriages that take you most of the way up to the castle, and a shuttle bus that takes you up to the Mary’s Bridge (Marien Brucke). We will take the shuttle bus which costs a couple of Euros to the Mary’s Bridge drop off. The Mary’s Bridge offers a fantastic panoramic view of the castle and the valley below. Tourists flock here prior to or after touring the castle to take their most prized photo of the day.
After taking our photo, we still have to walk from the Mary’s Bridge on a paved path to the castle courtyard to join our English tour which takes about 35 minutes and ends, as most tours do, in a souvenir shop.
Despite its medieval look, Neuschwanstein was built in the 19th century and served no defensive purpose. It was built for one man, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, but unfortunately, he only spent eleven nights there. The original castle name was New Hohenschwangau Castle but was changed to Neuschwanstein Castle after Ludwig’s death. Neuschwanstein literally means “New Swan Castle” and was named after a character in one of Wagner’s operas, the Swan Knight.
In addition to being a big admirer of the French King Louis XIV, Ludwig was a big fan of the renowned composer Richard Wagner and was his patron. Many rooms in the castle were inspired by other characters in his operas, but sadly, Wagner never got a chance to see the castle as he died before its completion. The singer’s hall which occupies the entire third floor is adorned with characters from Wagner’s operas. The amazing woodwork in Ludwig’s bedroom took fourteen carpenters four years to complete. You will find that there is no throne room in the castle for Ludwig as the Throne Hall had not been completed by the time of his death. Although the fairy tale castle is one of the most photographed buildings in the world, tourists are not allowed to take photos inside the castle.
After our tour, we can slowly make our way down to the parking area and make our 45-minute drive back to Oberammergau where we can have dinner and enjoy the evening at an outdoor patio. Maybe tonight we will go to the Ammergauer Maxbräu in the Hotel Maximillian where they brew their own beer. That concludes a great day in the Bavarian Alps.
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Business
While “Team Canada” attacks Trump for election points, Premier Danielle Smith advocates for future trade relations
“Today, I addressed the Legislative Assembly and spoke to the actions that the Government of Alberta has taken and will continue to take to advocate for Alberta and Canada’s interests in the U.S. as we continue to face the threat and imposition of tariffs.”
Mr. Speaker,
When U.S. President Donald Trump first announced his threatened tariffs against Canada, and began musing about our country becoming the 51st state, many Canadians – and Albertans – feared for their futures.
Why? Because, regardless of our political stripe, we all knew the imposition of 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods to the U.S. would cost the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians, would depress our economy, devastate our budget and damage the sovereignty of our country.
And in the roughly 4 months until just before last weekend’s federal election call, Premiers, party leaders and Canadians were united (other than perhaps the Alberta NDP) in working as hard as we could to convince the U.S. President and Congress to reconsider these unjustified actions against our country.
In fact, Premiers were all encouraged by each other as well as the former Prime Minister and his ministers, to visit the U.S., get on U.S. media, speak with every U.S. official and influencer we could find to convince the U.S. President to refrain from imposing these tariffs.
It was all about working as ‘Team Canada’ for the greater good.
Enter Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Now, all of a sudden, it is treason to talk to American media personalities that we disagree with. It is disloyal to try and persuade high-profile Republicans holding influence with the President to abandon his tariff policies on Canada. Indeed, it is a high crime to try and convince U.S. officials to refrain from imposing tariffs until after our country has an elected leader with a strong mandate.
Shame on all who dare to speak with the enemy, they say!
These are the Team Carney and Nenshi NDP talking points.
Their endgame is quite obvious. Frighten and divide Canadians. Try and make Canadians forget the utter incompetence of Liberal and NDP policies inflicted upon this country over the last 10 years. Associate conservatives with President Trump. And if they play their cards just right – and sprinkle in just enough anti-Alberta rhetoric – presto – Canada can elect another Liberal majority government.
Well – the Carney Liberals and Nenshi NDP are right about one thing…our country is indeed vulnerable right now.
And the reason why is as clear as a sunny Alberta day.
It is because for the last 10 years, Liberal and NDP leaders across this country – both federal and provincial – have repeatedly sold out Canada and Alberta with policies that have landlocked our immense natural resources, made nation building projects impossible to finance and build, and have made securing access to our ports an exercise in frustration and futility.
These Liberal and NDP leaders – from Trudeau to Singh and now to Prime Minister Mark Carney – have done everything in their power to sow investment uncertainty, add impossibly high costs on the development of our resources, and have disastrously weakened our security and military – and all in the name of their green extremist religion and its cult leaders named Guilbeault, Suzuki, Gore and Thunberg.
And the results are obvious – Canadians are poorer than Americans – overly-dependent on the Americans – and vulnerable to many nations including the Americans.
Canada has indeed been sold out – big time – and it’s been sold out by the utter incompetent, self-righteous and extreme policies of Liberal and NDP leadership across this country – including the Nenshi NDP here in Alberta. From C-69, to oil and gas production caps to tanker bans to a dozen other examples – the Liberals and their allies have attacked the Alberta and Saskatchewan economies mercilessly.
But despite all that – despite the 10 year attack on Alberta by our own federal government – when tariffs were threatened on our fellow Canadians and the federal Liberals realized they had no contacts or allies anywhere in the new U.S. administration…what did the Alberta Government do?
Did we cower in the corner madly texting our tweets about hating Donald Trump on X?
Did we turn into part time TikTok rage farmers to stir up as much fear and loathing of Americans as humanly possible?
Did we give up, throw our hands in the air, express righteous indignation – but do nothing to fight against the threat posed against our province and country?
No – that’s what the Nenshi NDP did of course – but we, Alberta’s UCP government, did not.
Instead, our government did exactly what Albertans expected us to do – we decided to fight tooth and nail for Albertan and Canadian jobs and sovereignty.
My ministers, officials and I have spent hundreds of hours over the last several months talking with, lobbying, educating, and persuading every U.S. lawmaker and media influencer that was willing to listen, about how damaging and wrongheaded imposing tariffs on Canada would be for Americans, and the millions of American jobs that would be lost because of them.
I’ve made this case repeatedly to the American people and their leaders – especially Republican leaders – from the President of the United States personally, to members of his Cabinet to Senators to governors to members of congress to podcasters to media personalities.
I’ve lost track of how many nights I have spent in uncomfortable hotel beds and in airports – doing everything humanly possible to stand up for Canadian and Alberta workers and families.
Convincing U.S. Officials to refrain from putting tariffs on any Canadian goods. Asking that they respect the current free trade agreement and not begin renegotiations until Canadians elect a new Prime Minister with a strong mandate.
Doing all we could in Alberta to secure the U.S. border and urging the Liberals to do the same across the country so we could further delay the implementation of tariffs.
And it hasn’t just been Alberta – several other Premiers – particularly conservative Premiers – from Premier Scott Moe to Premier Tim Houston to Premier Doug Ford – have been doing the same thing.
And the results – it has been almost 4 months since the President first threatened tariffs on Canada, and although steel and aluminum are being wrongfully tariffed at this time – the tariffs on remaining Canadian goods sit at zero today – rather than the threatened 25%.
And what has the Nenshi NDP done to contribute to this effort? Not a single thing other than raging against this government for every effort made to protect Albertans.
Needless to say, there is not a doubt in my mind that had the Nenshi NDP been in charge during this period, we would likely have long ago been hit with across the board 25% tariffs and lost thousands of Alberta jobs already.
Because the NDP have no idea what diplomacy is as they don’t know how to talk constructively and effectively with anyone they disagree with.
Glad we never need to find out.
Our government’s advocacy has made a massive difference for Albertans and Canadians.
That’s a fact.
But now, we have another tariff deadline looming on April 2nd – and I am off to the U.S. yet again to try and speak to Americans this time through the 2nd largest podcaster in the world whose audience is made up of exactly the people we need to persuade to convince their president to change course on tariffs against Canada.
And what does Team Carney want me to do?
They want me to abandon my post, remain in Alberta and do absolutely nothing to defend our province.
They want me to cower in the face of eastern media pundits and politicians who favour political grandstanding to effective diplomacy.
I’m fiercely criticized for going into the lion’s den to change the hearts and minds of the very Americans we need on Canada’s side to avoid a trade war with the most powerful economy on Earth.
They want this lady and Alberta to just sit down and shut up.
Well…here is my response to that.
I will not be silent. Alberta will not be silent.
We will not be pushed around and called traitors for merely having the courage to actually do something about our nation’s and province’s predicament other than merely indulging in self-righteous tantrums.
And I for one will never be silenced by the party in Ottawa that has sold out our beloved province for the last 10 years with the help of their NDP collaborators.
I have and will always put Albertans first.
And until this danger to Alberta and our economy is past, they’re going to have to roll me off in a stretcher before I stop fighting for this province and our people.
So call me and my caucus whatever name in the dictionary you want.
As long as Albertans know we’re fighting for them and their families – we could care less what the members opposite or Liberal politicians in Ottawa have to say about us.
Because Albertans expect their Premier and government to always put Albertans first and to lead them through this storm with fearless determination.
As Winston Churchill once said: “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
We on this side of the house have made the decision to act with courage…So that Alberta may remain forever strong and free.
Thank-you, Mr. Speaker.
Danielle Smith
Danielle Smith was sworn in as Premier of Alberta and Minister of Intergovernmental Relations on October 11, 2022.
From EnergyNow.Ca
By Jim Warren
Energy Issues Carney Must Commit to if He Truly Cares About National Cohesion and be Different From Trudeau
If the stars fail to align in the majority of Western Canada’s favour and voters from Central Canada and the Maritimes re-elect a Liberal government on April 28, it will stand as a tragic rejection of the aspirations of the oil producing provinces and a threat to national cohesion.
As of today Mark Carney has not clearly and unequivocally promised to tear down the Liberal policy wall blocking growth in oil and gas exports. Yes, he recently claimed to favour energy corridors, but just two weeks earlier he backtracked on a similar commitment.
There are some promises Carney hopefully won’t honour. He has pledged to impose punitive emissions taxes on Canadian industry. But that’s supposedly alright because Carney has liberally sprinkled that promise with pixie dust. This will magically ensure any associated increases in the cost of living will disappear. Liberal wizardry will similarly vaporize any harm Carbon Tax 2.0 might do to the competitive capacity of Canadian exporters.
Carney has as also promised to impose border taxes on imports from countries that lack the Liberals’ zeal for saving the planet. These are not supposed to raise Canadians’ cost of living by much, but if they do we can take pride in doing our part to save the planet. We can feel good about ourselves while shopping for groceries we can’t afford to buy.
There is ample bad news in what Carney has promised to do. No less disturbing is what he has not agreed to do. Oil and gas sector leaders have been telling Carney what needs to be done, but that doesn’t mean he’s been listening.
The Build Canada Now action plan announced last week by western energy industry leaders lays out a concise five-point plan for growing the oil and gas sector. If Mark Carney wants to convince his more skeptical detractors that he is truly concerned about Canadian prosperity, he should consider getting a tattoo that celebrates the five points.
Yet, if he got onside with the five points and could be trusted, would it not be a step in the right direction? Sure, but it would also be great if unicorns were real.
The purpose of the Build Canada Now action plan couldn’t be much more clearly and concisely stated. “For the oil and natural gas sector to expand and energy infrastructure to be built, Canada’s federal political leaders can create an environment that will:
1. Simplify regulation. The federal government’s Impact Assessment Act and West Coast tanker ban are impeding development and need to be overhauled and simplified. Regulatory processes need to be streamlined, and decisions need to withstand judicial challenges.
2. Commit to firm deadlines for project approvals. The federal government needs to reduce regulatory timelines so that major projects are approved within 6 months of application.
3. Grow production. The federal government’s unlegislated cap on emissions must be eliminated to allow the sector to reach its full potential.
4. Attract investment. The federal carbon levy on large emitters is not globally cost competitive and should be repealed to allow provincial governments to set more suitable carbon regulations.
5. Incent Indigenous co-investment opportunities. The federal government needs to provide Indigenous loan guarantees at scale so industry may create infrastructure ownership opportunities to increase prosperity for communities and to ensure that Indigenous communities benefit from development.”
As they say the devil is often in the details. But it would be an error to complicate the message with too much detail in the context of an election campaign. We want to avoid sacrificing the good on behalf of the perfect. The plan needs to be readily understandable to voters and the media. We live in the age of the ten second sound bite so the plan has to be something that can be communicated succinctly.
Nevertheless, there is much more to be done. If Carney hopes to feel welcome in large sections of the west he needs to back away from many of promises he’s already made. And there are many Liberal policies besides Bill C-69 and C-48 that need to be rescinded or significantly modified.
Liberal imposed limitations on free speech have to go. In a free society publicizing the improvements oil and gas companies are making on behalf of environmental protection should not be a crime.
There is a morass of emissions reduction regulations, mandates, targets and deadlines that need to be rethought and/or rescinded. These include measures like the emissions cap, the clean electricity standard, EV mandates and carbon taxes. Similarly, plans for imposing restrictions on industries besides oil and gas, such as agriculture, need to be dropped. These include mandatory reductions in the use of nitrogen fertilizer and attacks (thus far only rhetorical) on cattle ranching.
A good starting point for addressing these issues would be meaningful federal-provincial negotiations. But that won’t work if the Liberals allow Quebec to veto energy projects that are in the national interest. If Quebec insists on being obstructive, the producing provinces in the west will insist that its equalization welfare be reduced or cancelled.
Virtually all of the Liberal policy measures noted above are inflationary and reduce the profitability and competitive capacity of our exporters. Adding to Canada’s already high cost of living on behalf of overly zealous, unachievable emissions reduction goals is unnecessary as well as socially unacceptable.
We probably all have our own policy change preferences. One of my personal favourites would require the federal government to cease funding environmental organizations that disrupt energy projects with unlawful protests and file frivolous slap suits to block pipelines.
Admittedly, it is a rare thing to have all of one’s policy preferences satisfied in a democracy. And it is wise to stick to a short wish list during a federal election campaign. Putting some of the foregoing issues on the back burner is okay provided we don’t forget them there.
But what if few or any of the oil and gas producing provinces’ demands are accepted by Carney and he still manages to become prime minister?
We are currently confronted by a dangerous level of geopolitical uncertainty. The prospects of a global trade war and its effects on an export-reliant country like Canada are daunting to say the least.
Dividing the country further by once again stifling the legitimate aspirations of the majority of people in Alberta and Saskatchewan will not be helpful. (I could add voters from the northeast and interior of B.C., and southwestern Manitoba to the club of the seriously disgruntled.)
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