Hearst Castle [7/13 - CA]

After some debating I've decided to give Mr. Hearst and his castle their own blog entry. The last time I came by this way (pretty much exactly 10 years ago - gulp!) we didn't bother to stop as our "young & hip" guidebook told us, that it was overpriced and not worth it -> wrong and what a pity - this is so much fun.
Visiting Hearst Castleis indeed pricy, we ended up paying a full $24 for the 'intro tour' [recommended for 'first time visitors' - they have a total of 5 different tours to choose from, because the place is so big] - however considering that the tour is 2.5 hours and considering which large 'operation' they have in place to make visits possible, it seems entirely justified.

The outside of the castle (which is really not one, but several buildings) is interesting seen with European eyes, it's a bit of an eclectic southern European style mish-mash, there's a bit of Gaudi, combined with some ancient Romans, combined with a bit of Notre Dame...[-- without wanting to criticize Julia Morgan, the castle's architect, who did an extremely fine job given the demands of her customer] The inside is an equally eclectic, but very impressive amassment of antiques and artworks from all other the world. What blew me away was the sheer number of objects that was brought to this remote location and hauled up this hillside at a time before the PCH - Pacific Coast Highway - was in service.

All in all an amazing collection of Art that Hearst had the luck to be able to acquire right after WW1, when most of Europe was broke and willing to sell out to fund rebuilding the continent - how else do you end up with the 600 years old hand carved oak interior of a French church? Or the ceiling of/from a palace on the Iberian peninsula? Oh and all the flags from the Sienna Palio - as seen in the shot of the dining room on the left. BTW. Notice the Ketchup bottles on the table? Apparently Hearst knew that he was one of the 3 richest people in America and hence figured, that since none of his guests had more money than he did, no need to impress anyone...

As you can tell I simply loved this visit, and much credit for that probably goes to our guide Steve (they wont let you walk around on your own - too risky in terms of stealing or breaking stuff) - he must have known pretty much any and all anecdotes or fun stories about Hearst and the castle which made this excursion very memorable. My very favorite 'room', was the one pictured here: it's the indoor swimming pool - which is entirely covered in 1/2'' x 1/2'' Italian class mosaic tile - what can I say besides I want one!