September 21, 2015
Schwetzingen Palace Gardens
Always worth a visit, but even more so on a sunny day in early Fall when the Palace Gardens are full of beautiful colors and even more beautiful than usual. It has been some time now that I
have been here for a photo tour, the last time I took the camera with me was on New
Year's Eve in 2013.
The entrance area of the castle.
This beautiful wing houses not only the Rokoko Theater, but also a Café with extremely delicious cakes, so make sure you stop there during your visit.
When you look up to the roofs of the buildings you will find a multitude of architectural details.
Following one of the main walkways you come to the Orangery after you passed the shady colonnades.
A special characteristic of the gardens are the many hedge-lined ways - including several hedge mazes. In some of the nooks and along the hedges are benches that offer great places to sit down and enjoy the peaceful silence.
Due to the design of the gardens they eyes get drawn automatically to beautiful sights like this one when coming to the end of a path.
The Apollo temple is overlooking a great part of the gardens so climbing up there is definitely worth it.
The many water courses in the gardens are lined with many colorful plants during this time of the year.
The colors of Fall are also present in the fallen leafs.
Views across the big lake.
Around the lake a multitude of waterfowl can be found.
A group of Canada geese were swimming around the lake.
This cranky goose deserves a special mention.
She did not stop pestering the other goose until she had chased it off. After that she landed again at the shore of the lake and seemed pretty satisfied with herself.
Passing the Mercure temple there is a terrific view of one of the long tree-lined alleys. The path to the right leads towards the Mosque.
The view from the little bridge that could be seen in the picture before - and the view towards the Mosque.
With the Mosque in your back you can see the Mercure temple across the pond.
Sights around the Mosque.
You should take the time to wander to the back of the Orangery, because there you will be rewarded with these views.
Throughout the gardens there are many fountains - including the famous Arion fountain with its white stags.
Everywhere in the gardens are old statues - some out in the open, some nearly hidden in niches of the hedge maze.
As always I turned some of the pictures into black and white to show how the absence of color can change them sometimes completely.
