Lions and Struwwelpeter

I don't remember  seeing more lions than I had in Germany.  Of course it has to be so because lion is a national symbol, at least in Bavaria. They even have lion beers called Löwenbräu.  Most lions were made to be an emblem of power, some even bear historical memories .


Like this one, at Feldherrnhalle (or Feldherrenhalle). He was looking down at Hitler who organized an illegal march in front of it. Hitler was arrested in that event.







          But, this golden lion looks quite light-hearted. Like a puppy begging for love or treats.

A lion greeted us on our way to the Grimm's Brothers' Museum.

They also have lions to bring your lucks. Europeans just like to touch something to bring them luck. Breasts, pig(sometimes bear) snouts, lion faces...etc. We Taiwanese like to do different things. we carry amulet-like tiny cloth bags to bring lucks.

A funky lion hidden in an arcade of Marian Platz .

I like this funky one the most. It shakes off  history burdens, only fun.











                And, I think they like lions so much, they even like the characters who look like lions.  Like this famous Struwwelpeter. For me, I found it was hard to love this character, a gloomy face with nasty long hair and nails.  For a person who studies children's literature, I should know about him or like him. But, before I came to Germany, I hadn't had even heard about him. I was surprised that they even have a museum for him in Frankfurt.  So I was there, with all these Struwwelpeter experts and felt like an idiot of children's literature. 

So many variations of Struwwelpeter. It feels like him in a fashion show, a nightmarish one. 

 I found this one more likable. a female Struwwelpeter of modern time. A cool one, too.

Cologne: Cathedral and Red Riding Hood

Before I went to Germany, I happened to watch a film from Discovery channel about Cologne Cathedral. Apart from the bumpy process of the construction and reconstruction, which took over 600 years to complete it, I was drawn particularly to the architect, Master Gerard, who designed the cathedral and knew that it would not be finished in his life time.

 I think the architects at that time all seemed to have the same understanding that their designs were so time consuming yet timeless that they didn't seem to care if they wouldn't be able to see them completed. Their idea of time was selfless. Unlike most of us, we like to see our dreams fulfilled by ourselves in the time frame of our life rather than leave them to some unknown hands of unknown times.  For them, the ideas created seemed to be more important than the buildings actually built.


 I was quite surprised to see the cathedral right after we stepped out of the train station, even though I was told so. The church was lit up beautifully, and our tiredness of the long trip disappeared right away. We were just standing there and in awe.

Next morning, we had a good look of the cathedral. The 12 apostles were standing at the facade, and I found Noah immediately. I liked the idea of him holding the ark and the dove on top of it.

It took me a long time to take this picture, and as you know I almost had to lie down to take the whole view.

 The interior was awesome, but I was stupid enough to miss the elevator to the top.

It's nice to bike around the cathedral; too see the river, the trains crossing the bridge.

What's  souvenir  to buy? most shops are the same everywhere. But I found the bookstore of  Museum Ludwig, and found this nice picture book. It's another "don't look" story. The elves helped people in Cologne, but don't look at them. A wife did, and they stopped coming. Now people in Cologne have to work hard without any help from the elves.

And I stumbled on this coffee cup when I passed by a store. It was hidden at the back of the shelf, but somehow I just noticed the unique shape and fell in love with it. I bought 2 of them.
You just know it's yours when when you see it, like finding a lover.

The station in Cologne is small and not that busy like Munich. We took a train to the picture book museum in  Troisdorf. The German name is Burg Wissem Bilderbuch Muserm Der Stadt Troisdorf, which is about 30 minutes from Cologne.

The parking area seemed to be the play ground of the gorilla-like creatures. 

 The entrance of the museum. It took us a while to find the place. The locals didn't seem to know that they had a picture book museum here. And we, the international fellows came all the way to visit it.

 They have exhibitions of original illustrations, puppet theaters, library, and reference room. This definitely is a must-visit place for people who study picture books.

But their most famous collection is the Red Riding Hood books.
This shelf has riding hood stories from around the world.

 And, we were surprised to find this porno version of the riding hood story. We didn't get to read it, but just by the cover, we already had a lot of imagination.

 I like their library, where you can find small couches, tables, and stools for little people who love the read.

What a nice place to hide and travel with all the books to the worlds beyond our world. I hope I can find a picture book museum like this in Taiwan soon.

Fussen: the mix of old and new

When I visit old or historical sites, I don't want to be merely in awe by what have happened in the past. I am always on the look of how people nowadays interact with the old buildings, the old surroundings, and the old memories. Because for me, it's a proof that we don't set those sites into a graveyard-like mode: you go there only for worships, for nostalgic sensation.

I had been quite happy to find some interesting interactions

The courtyard of Hohes Schloss, Fussen.

 I didn't expect to visit this town after visiting Nueshwanstein castle. Thanks to my Japanese friend, she said this town was a must-visit site in her tour book. When I first saw the castle from the outside, I thought, well, just another castle! But, when I saw the courtyard, I was completely charmed. Modern sculptures were scattered on the yard. It felt like Miro meeting Shakespeare.  The tired and silent castle suddenly came into life.

Don't be fooled by these oriel windows. They were painted. I don't know who did these 3-D oriel windows.  If they were from the medieval time, they must be the pioneers 3D street painters before Edgar Muller and Kurt Wenner.

The giant fingers were holding a metal ball. 

Do you mind if I join you?

 The sculptures were so much fun to interact with.

What was I thinking? Kiss him and turn him into real one? silly!

a meeting for melon-faced people?

A piece of modern art on the old wall.

The journey ended with gelato. But, when I looked around, I saw this  inviting sign. Yes, need some huge German pretzels to satisfy my growling stomach. 

Swan King: expensive insanity or profit-making foresight

If you stay in Bavaria, there is no excuses not to visit the 3 famous castles built but unfinished by the "mad" Swan King, Ludwig II.

Lake Chiemsee

The first one I went to see is Castle Herrenchiemsee.

Harbor to Castle Herrenchiemsee 

The facade of the castle

The king was a hopeless loner. He built the castle on the island, Herreninsel, so nobody could bother him.







We took a ferry to the island to see the castle. It was sad to know that the king took more than a decade to build the castle but only stayed there for 9 days or so.








 It was even sadder to know that the castle was a copy of the Palace of Versailles.  Lugwig's admiration to Louis 14 was beyond imagination. It's quite strange to build a castle exactly the one that Louis 14 had already had to show his admiration. Maybe, being a copycat,  a way to totally surrender yourself, is the highest respect we pay to someone we admire.






No camera was allowed inside the castle. But taking a picture outside was equally hard for the palace was packed with tourists. It was almost impossible to get a clear spot for your photos.

The second one I went was the most famous Neuschwanstein. This one is not easy to visit as well. You have to hike up for about 20 mins to get to the castle. Guess the king really didn't like people. He tried his best to hide.




To get the best angle of the castle, we had to get in a long line to a marked spot. Again, It was impossible to get a shot without people got in the way. Most of tourists were from Asia. My Japanese friend nearly gave up. She said, "I don't mind to have strangers in the picture with me, but if they are all Asians, my friends will not believe I'm in Europe." So we waited and waited...and finally did it.

Like the name of the castle, Neuschwanstein is indeed very "swan."  You see swans everywhere, in the garden, the fountain, inside the palace.To show you how "swan" the castle is, I couldn't help but do a little "swan dance " in front of the castle. I didn't mind if people were watching.

See all these numbers? This is an efficient way to accommodate  a huge flood of tourists. We booked our visit on-line, otherwise, we could have had waited a whole day.

 The third castle I visited was Nymphenburg. This castle is not hidden in an island or in the moutons. It was actually only 10 minutes bike from my rented place.  But unfortunately I had hit my saturation point of castle visitng and it was late for visit (around 5pm), so I toured around, instead of going in.

a swan family: the babies are protected by mom and dad.

 I think the water-pumping system is quite unique for this castle. Its man-made canal and small ponds, where many geese gathered, give a relaxing touch that the other castles do not have.

what's the best about this castle is that when you walk down the canal and reach the main road, you'll find a very popular Italian ice-cream shop there.

After getting your ice-cream, you can sit on a bench by the canal, enjoying the breeze and the refreshing taste of your eis, particularly with your lover. Quite romantic.I think this is the most people-friendly castle of the three.











Oh, here is news for people like me who don't know much about swans.
Do you know that they flash they butts quite often? Look at it here, this pic totally shatters the elegant image we have about swans.

Well, who can blame them! when you are hungry and looking for food, you can't care less about what your look.

This is the crazy king. He might have spent too much money on his castles, but they attract people from around the world. His expensive insanity has, in a sense, turned into a profit-making foresight. He might not have thought it that way, but for people who have been in the long line waiting to visit, it is true in some way.

The ugly and strange others

 

I've been offended from time to time by some picture books, museum displays, or paintings that feature Asian (or non-Caucasin) figures as what I call, "the ugly and strange others." I don't mind if they are portrayed as "exotic," at least that word sounds sexy. But most of times you can only describe them as ugly and strange. I have evidences here.

 This is really not a good-looking woman, probably because in the story, she is a strong mother who battles with the sea to get her son back. But do strong women have to look like this? I wonder.

Ah, the slanted eyes...what do we have to do to let people know that we Asians have different sizes of eyes. Slanted eyes are just one of them.  But, if Jeremy Lin still got teased about his eyes nowadays, I know this stereotype may still stick around for a long long time.

I can only say the illustrator may want to break the stereotype of prince-princess-like beautiful couples.

It looks like the illustrator wants to make a sight with many slanted eyes.

I also found some strange figures who were called Chinese, such as:

These figurines are called "4 Chinese."

 I don't really know which parts of them are Chinese? Their clothes? No. Their hats? I don't think so. Their faces? Come on, they are White!

I recognize the bun on the head and the hair band. But, only ancient women wore those. It didn't look like a woman to me.

I quite like this one, though. It looks really familiar, but still couldn't figure out what he is wearing on his head.

So, to wrap up this post, I did a Chinese thing:

Do I look Chinese enough to you? Sorry, I'm not Chinese. I'm a Taiwanese. Confused? Yes, me, too.