Cute little Danish town in the middle of “nowhere”. Reminded me very much of a mixture of Poulsbo and Leavenworth, so it would probably be more exciting for someone who doesn’t frequent those places as often as I do-even still, I was curious to explore there at least once in my life. So-ok then....Check!
Mom & I enjoyed a true Danish custard éclair, got a couple souvenirs of funny things for Holls & Bubba before leaving for Hearst Castle. Funny aren't they? Some trinkets are so fitting...
This place is off the coast of San Simeon, and LITERALLY in the freaking boondocks! I am NOT a castle type person- but mom really wanted to check out an “American” castle (seeing that she has been to numerous European castles in her lifetime). This place came highly recommended as a must see-and was another park owned by the state of California. Once we reached the visitors center, we had to board a tour bus (which for those who know me –is NOT a joy for me-public transportation makes me queasy)…..not to mention the long & winding 5-mile road, which lead up a steep incline to the residence. I almost lost my cookies a few times
The outside of the property was absolutely stunning-just gorgeous! All my favorite qualities…Grecian style Neptune pool (from which the trident & columns below it are from actual remains from the roman empire!), Spanish style architecture & tiling, marble lined stairs, LOTS of trees-including fruit trees, and water features
….there were even antique statues outside-one of David from Italy, and one of 2 lioness’ with manes from KING TUT’S TOMB!!! No joke! Craziness!!!! But-then came the inside….NOT of interest to me AT ALL-well except for the excitement you could sense from the 30’s era (my FAVORITE time period)!
Still-it was soooooo ostentatious, overcrowded with artifacts and antiquities-it just screamed, “overdone with greed” or as we like to call it “Michael Jacksonish”. Mom and I both agreed that it was eerie and uncomfortable, and that we would never want to be a guest in such a place.
The dining hall was gothic in style (P.S.-NOTHING meshed in this home, Mr. Hearst was quite eclectic.)-Apparently the set designers from Harry Potter came to check it out as inspiration for the Hogwarts dining hall! Not hard to see the resemblance.
The walls of one of the living rooms was literally “wallpapered” with choir chair/pews from some cathedral, and the end chairs of the table were solid wood & velvet upholstered seats that the Pope had used at the Vatican too! Are you kidding me????
During part of the tour, the guide took us down to see one of the indoor pools…yes I said ONE of….it was incredible. 10 feet deep, and tiled with 1x1 glass tile murals from floor to ceiling. Many tiles were encrusted with gold flakes! See what I mean??? Still it was quite impressive for a pool, even the bottom of the pool had the same incredible tile work.-did I mention that the ladders in all these pools were made of solid marble and went all the way down to the bottom? Craziness! The best part was you could just feel the history in there, which was neat (no doubt there was a lot of celebrity hanky panky goin’ on in there if ya know what I mean??? Especially from Mr. Hearst who had a 30-year affair with Marion Davies)
This guy supposedly loved animals and had his own zoo on the property-ranging from Polar Bears, Zebras, Tigers & Monkeys-to goats & other species from Africa! Before his death he gave all the animals to the San Fransisco, San Diego & L.A Zoos. However 2 of the Zebras still roam free on the property...
So in a nutshell-we basically spent the day expanding our knowledge of a visionary, greedy, womanizing/adulterous billionaire all afternoon, and were probably the only 2 chicas NOT gawking at all the goods he left behind....pretty awesome huh? lol- It was a LOOOOOONG drive back to Thousand Oaks and we barely made it through our Claim Jumper dinner without falling asleep! Definitely a good day though.
