Hotel de Baviere –
Munich
Wednesday March 10
March 10 /69
My dear Father,
I have not found any letter here. I have had beautiful weather all along my journey. – I stopped at Padua, where there is a good deal interesting in the way of architecture, Verona, Trent and Innsbruck. – I do not think the Brenner alarming. The only thing alarming would be if you happened to run away in going down hill, as the hill is pretty steep. – There are some places where you go around small valleys to get to a different level, and you see in one place, a long way below you, the line by which you came. –
The mountains were very clar clear the whole way. – There were many signs of the damage done in the autumn by the inundations and in many places people are ever being busily at the repairing of it. – It is surprising what a lot of debris has been washed down through very narrow crevices in the mountains. –
The weather was very cold at Padua not so cold at Verona, and in the evening in the streets of Trent the air was soft and warm, but the mountain air at the outside of the town was cold. – The cathedral of Trent <1> seems to be interesting. – The hotel – All Europa <2> is very fair – I left Trent in a snow storm which was only local, and I had a clear view all the way to Innsbruck – Where we had passed the summits it became very cold – with a great deal of sun, and it was intensely cold and the snow was very thick at Innsbruck. I arrived here yesterday – There is plenty of snow but it is not so cold as Innsbruck. I mean to go to Nurnberg tomorrow and I hope to find it warmer warmer there. – It would not have been weather for Solenhofen – If you come this way to Italy soon, be prepared with warm things as you are likely to find it very cold in these parts. – I went to see the old pinacottech <3> today where there are some good Murillo’s, <4> the ones I like best of any I have seen, and which pleased me most in the gallery. – There are no old houses in Munich and the only old churches are worth nothing. – There is a very fine church at Padua Saint Anthony, and in it a good renaissance chapel of the same saint – The Palazzo del Ragione <5> is a striking building, and there are many fragments of good brick architecture of the middle ages. – At Verona I found a good at brick church which I had not observed before, very good externally. I think it is San Fermo Maggiore <6> – I stopped at the Terre di Londra which is much better than the Duc Torri, but if you stop at these places dont let them make you dine in a room without a fire if the weather be cold as they did me. – At Innsbruck the hotel is the <oesterreichischer?> or however they spell it Hotel d’Autriche – The mountains there are splendid. – I did not much care for the tomb of Maxi Maximilian. <7> – Altogether I could not have had fairer weather for seeing the view. –
I was sorry to hear that the pony and had fallen foul of her carriage, and damaged John Wilkins, <8> and am very glad to hear she is sold. – It is very odd for the animal is certainly good tempered enough, but I dont think John Wilkins knows much about managing a horse, and probably she would go quietly if properly managed. I should like to know who bought her, and will write and ask Mr Awdry <9> when I get to England
Your affect son
Charles
Notes:
1. Cathedral of St Vigilio, Trent.
2. All’Europa.
3. ‘Pinacotèca’, art gallery.
4. Bartolome Murillo (1617–1682), Spanish painter of religious and secular subjects.
5. Palazzo della Ragione, the commercial and civil centre of Padua, the Palace of Justice, built in the early 13th century.
6. Basilica San Fermo Maggiore; the original 10th century church was rebuilt in the 13th century in the Gothic style.
7. Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519). Innsbruck was then the seat of the Holy Roman Empire.
8. John Wilkins, son of George Wilkins, employed at Lacock ca.1867–1869.
9. West Awdry (1807–1892), solicitor, Chippenham.