And so the new pope has been elected… in my room, hidden from the cool evening drizzle outside, I could clearly hear the church bells chiming away in the distant background …Wonder what it is like in Singapore now… Perhaps the CHIJMES church bell is ringing too? I wonder…

Anyway over the last weekend I decided to make a trip down to Bayreuth to look around the place as well as pay kailuo a visit… Never knew that Bayreuth had such a rich history, with so many castles and churches for such a small town. The only thing was that the journey took me 4 hours from Munich!! Other than that, the people there were especially friendly and will not hesitate to say hi or chat…

Reminds me of a small self sustaining ideal village far away from the troubles of the world, going about doing their own things and stuff… Okay perhaps not a village but more of a town yah… they had quite a lot of high rise buildings and there is even a Macdonalds there!

Some background info on Bayreuth (taken from Britannica Encyclopedia):
…In 1603 the city became the residence of the margraves, who actively patronized the arts and were responsible for many fine Baroque buildings. The reign of the margrave Frederick and his wife, Wilhelmina, the sister of Frederick the Great, was a particularly rich period (1735–63). The New Palace, the old opera house, and parts of the Hermitage (Eremitage) date from that era. Bayreuth was ceded to Prussia in 1791 and passed to Bavaria in 1810.

The city is best known for its association with the composer Richard Wagner. He settled there in 1872, and the foundationstone of the Festival Theatre (Festspielhaus) was laid that same year…