Late nights, early mornings

A day full of sunshine in a lovely place.  An evening of beautiful music played in stunning surroundings.  The company of friends around a table until late in the evening before driving home to the other side of the lake left no time for blogging yesterday!

Maybe you noticed that?

Blue skies, green fields

Though the sky was pink as the sun rose over the brewery this morning.

Time to leave Kempten and head southwest towards Bodensee.  Not much traffic around, we expected a fairly easy run as far as the border, but from then we’d need to pay attention, because our German hire car has neither a Swiss nor an Austrian Motorway Pass.

We really enjoyed the scenery of the Deutsches Alpenstrasse and the miles passed quickly.  In no time at all it seemed, we were nearing the turn for Lindau.

We’d turned off the Navi in favour of a map on my knee – I don’t keep updating our time of arrival every minute or so, and mispronounce placenames so badly that they are unrecognisable.  So, arriving suddenly at the junction near the airfield sign on the map and seeing a motorway sign up there, we made a quick (but mistaken) decision to carry on the same road. 

Ooops.  Not only had we gone wrong, but there wasn’t another turn until we reached Kressbronn, which you can see is a good deal further on.  And guess where the only traffic jam of the trip was to be found? 

You’re right.

But hey, we’re patient.  We can manage.  Except our hire car engine stops as soon as my hero takes his foot off the pedal…and then starts again.  And stops.  and starts. And we hope we have a good battery.  Because this starting and stopping gets on our nerves in a traffic jam!

At last, we were on our way again, back along the lake shore, or at least, a little above it.  There are cloud banks over the water and the whole scene is rather lovely and very peaceful.

We drive through mile upon mile of apple orchards before reaching Lindau and the suburbs of Bregenz.  Suddenly, we found ourselves driving over the border into Vorarlberg, Austria.

These days, crossing Schengen borders is a bit of a non-event, because there’s no need to show passports or anything.  It was interesting to see how this small piece of Austria has transformed itself into a bit of a shoppers paradise, with cheaper petrol and other goods than the neighbouring villages in Germany and Switzerland.

We had no need of fuel and didn’t feel like shopping so carried on along the road.  But my hero is very good spotting things which might interest me and guess what suddenly appeared on the right hand side?

Only a true hero can recognise a Wolford sign at a couple of hundred metres and it takes one with a particular skill to notice that there’s a factory shop there as well.  Guess where we went next?

Well, he did insist!  Usually, Wolford tights are a luxury and when I find them reduced in a sale or in somewhere like Bicester Village, then I’m very happy.  Here, the “ordinary” designs were on sale for 18 Euros, compared with the normal price of around £25 at home.  I wasn’t really tempted by those with chains attached, or perhaps with Swarovski crystals embedded in the “seam” – even though that particular design looked stunning on one of the assistants.   But thinking that such things might be a little much in a Cotswold village, I thought better of it!

Driving away, we passed by a Hanro store too and I realised that this area is renowned for fine textiles.  The not-so-far-away areas around the Swiss cities of St Gallen and Winterthur have a long tradition of embroidered fabrics and lace and I suppose it’s no coincidence that Bernina sewing machines are made just along the lake in Steckborn.

 

Well, a hero’s patience is not without its limits, and so we drove on, to the Swiss border, where there was a jam. 

We thought we’d better get out passports out, just in case.

No need – we drove straight through without any fuss or question.  Apart from the sign which welcomed us to Switzerland with a friendly “Gruezi!”, the only change of note was a sign on our Navi:

That’s all right then.

Within minutes, we were there, behind a tractor, a car and a bicycle, pootling alongside the railway lines with a distant view of the Alps.  Were we happy?

We climbed higher into the countryside, heading for Appenzell, where we planned to buy some cheese and apples and have a picnic lunch.

But we failed in our timing, arriving shortly after the whole town had shut up shop and gone for lunch. 

Oh well, an enforced snooze in the car was called for, the quarter hours counted by the church bell.  The minute we heard “one thirty”, we closed the windows again, gathered our things and returned to the well stocked cheese shop to make a hard decision.  Buying cheese in Appenzell isn’t quite like ordering a pound of Cheddar!

Not only did we succeed in choosing the most delicious Säntis Bergkäse, a conversation with the shopkeeper resulted in her removing the rind and cutting the slices into perfect picnic sizes for us.  Since we can no longer travel with our Swiss Army Knives in our bags, such impromptu picnics can prove challenging.  So, there we are, two brötli, a couple of apples and eine viertel of cheese, cut in half.  Eaten in the fresh air, with the river just beneath us, it tasted divine.

And not a Weissbier in sight!  (well, someone has to drive….)

Having eaten, snoozed a little and enjoyed a little walk around one of our favourite Swiss towns, we were ready to be gone.  Just a shortish drive over the pass then, and down towards Lake Zürich and the small town of Rapperswil, where we’re staying.

It’s lovely to be back here again, by the lake.  The weather is perfect and we’ve already bought our tickets for tomorrow, when we’ll leave the car behind and travel by train into Zürich, have a potter around and maybe a spot of lunch, before coming back here by steamer in the afternoon.

Bliss!

A lesson in Bavarian history

When we were planning this trip, we realised that it was going to be the perfect chance to tick a place off our “to go” list.   Staying in Kempten meant we wouldn’t have too far to drive and so last night, I crossed my fingers that we’d wake up to another fine morning.

As soon as I opened the curtains, I was thankful I’d rubbed that lion by the Residenz the other day!  The forecast was good and those clouds were going to burn off once the sun rose.

Fortified by a decent breakfast, we set off to the South East.  Can you guess where we’re headed yet?

The roads were thankfully quiet and we marvelled at the colours of this wonderful landscape as we left the motorway.

Those of you who know us well won’t be surprised to learn that we were the second people to arrive this morning.  To hear that ours was one of the two cars in the car park and we were there well before anything opened!

Having parked the car, we looked up and gasped.  There it was…Neuschwanstein, all wrapped in plastic. 

Before we could do anything else, we had to go and buy our tickets, once again braving the various road building equipment to get there.

Getting here early was a Good Thing, because the tickets are timed and we were able to plan our day perfectly.  The chap in the office recommended we visit the “other castle”, the one few have heard of, first.  From there, we’d take the shuttle bus to Neuschwanstein and pick up the 1155 tour there.  OK.  Seemed like a plan.

We took a steady walk up to Hohenschwangau, then, enjoying the sunshine and feeling pleased we had our day sorted.

We had plenty of time before our timed entry, so sat and chatted on the ‘phone to Karin for a while.  Her advice about not sitting in the front seats of the horse drawn carriage wasn’t needed because, sadly, the horses weren’t working today.

Unfortunately, it’s not allowed to take photographs inside the castles, so to get an impression of the breathtaking wall paintings and other treasures inside, you’ll need to follow this link.  We were a group of around twenty of so with an English speaking guide and enjoyed the explanations of the decor. In one room, we recognised the legend of Lohengrin on the walls, spotting a swan here and there before learning that the swan was the motif adopted by Maximilian and his son Ludwig, who built these castles.

Having recognised that, of course, we saw swans everywhere (and of course, recognised “schwan” in all the placenames, too)

We caught another view of Hohenschwangau later, on our way up to Neuschwanstein.  Isn’t this just the most beautiful countryside?  We hadn’t walked all the way up here, but had caught the bus half way.  How thankful we were later, that we had done that, for there were many more steps to climb!

Of course, this was the “main event”, we thought.  We made our way to the entrance and remarked how much more solid it looks once one is up there at the gate.

This “fragile” failrytale castle appears to be nothing of the sort when close up, but a strongly built structure in several different materials.

Sitting in the yard waiting for our tour time, we watched hundreds of people arriving – a tour was leaving every five minutes and we couldn’t imagine how this place would feel in high season.

No photographs inside once again – because this would slow the tours down, we were told.  Hmm.  Ours lasted not much more than half an hour and though we saw all there is to see inside the castle, we felt we had been rushed through.  This castle is mostly unfinished, so there are just a handful of rooms to see.  These are lavishly decorated and again, the wall paintings are beautiful.  The swan continues to be the principal motif here too, on door handles and carved into wooden furniture, though in a large group of about 60 people, there wasn’t really time to linger. 

We learned that Ludwig II had built this castle in homage to his hero, Richard Wagner.  The wall paintings referenced many of Wagner’s works and there was just one likeness of Ludwig himself in the place – though there were several representations of the composer.

Having seen what there was to see, we made our way out (through the gift shop, of course) and walked down the path back to the village.

This being Germany, half way down was a very nice restaurant offering lunch and snacks.  We resisted the temptation to stop here and carried on to the bottom, fearing that once we stopped, we might find it hard to get started again! On the way down we congratulated ourselves on our decision to catch the bus up as we passed so many people puffing and blowing on the long, long upward walk.

But having reached the bottom of the hill and walked to the lake, this table seemed like the perfect place to take a breather.  With such a view of the lake and the mountains, what more could we ask for?

The village was getting pretty busy now but we weren’t quite done.  We’d seen advertisements for the Museum der bayerischen Könige and having seen the two castles and learned a little about the people concerned, we wanted to know more. This seemed the perfect place to do exactly that.

Newly opened just about a year ago, this was a model of its kind.  We ran the gauntlet of a couple of groups of ladies with talkative guides and made our way through the very clearly laid out exhibits.  We learned lots – about Maximilian and his two sons, Otto and Ludwig, then plenty about Ludwig’s life and mysterious death.  We loved reading about Luitpold, whose work to restore Bavaria following Ludwig’s extravagance was so admirable and of Rupprecht, his grandson, who valiantly continued his his work in the face of adversity.  We thought fondly of another Rupprecht we knew; a member of Karin and Jürgen’s family, who proudly explained to us the origin of his name.  Having learned a little about the Crown Prince after whom he was named, we could quite understand that pride.

Having read such touching family history, so clearly told, I very much appreciated the note on the wall which said “Nehmen Sie ein Platz” (take a seat) and spend five minutes listening to Wagner’s Lohengrin.  The blue robes in the picture were laid out in front of me and I marvelled at the exquisite goldwork border, the ermine edge and the faded blue velvet. 

You might have guessed that, as we drove away, we were talking about our favourite parts of the day.  The museum was undoubtedly up there.  The two castles were amazing and did not disappoint, though having negotiated the buying of tickets, travelling between the two, walking up steep hills and countless stairs here and there (more than 160 up and then 160 down in Neuschwanstein alone), we realise that the time actually spent in each castle was very short indeed!

However, since the Marienbrücke was closed today, the facade of the castle was wrapped in plastic and there were no horse drawn carriage tours, perhaps we’ll have to come back?

Gladly.

On our way

Sadly, it was time to leave München behind and drive south into the lovely Bavarian countryside.

It wasn’t really so hard – after all, look what a beautiful morning we had.

Our route took us to the edge of the page, as always, firstly to Starnberg and then on to Andechs where our guidebook recommended a visit to the Kloster.

The pair of us make for willing pilgrims when given the nod, so off we went, up the hill towards the abbey.  We had quite a bit of company too, surprising for a Tuesday morning.

Opening the heavy wooden door, we stepped inside to be greeted by a breathtaking interior.  We wandered around quietly taking it all in, trying to catch a glimpse of everything our guidebook had noted as being remarkable here.

The very old votive candles, some dated from the 17th and 18th centuries, for example.

I found these framed paintings rather interesting too.

And the sun was shining on Carl Orff’s resting place this morning.

In a small chapel upstairs, a large group was enjoying a long and rather detailed talk about the treasures within.  We waited outside for a while, enjoying the chance to take a closer look at one or two of those paintings

not to mention the lock on the door to the chapel.

We stood for a while, working it out…

Well, with priceless holy relics to protect, I suppose such a lock – or four – is necessary.

We gave up waiting for that group to move on, so left them listening intently to their guide and went out into the warm sunshine once again, stopping by this charming wood carving of a little Bavarian band to take a photo on the way back to the car.

Driving along the Andechtsee, we tried to sneak a look between the trees to get a good view of the lake, eventually screeching to a halt in a small layby.  This was the view from there – lovely, isn’t it?

As we neared Kempten, the high mountains rose up on the horizon, a taste of things to come.  We were told that fresh snow had fallen in Austria yesterday, and sure enough, on the highest peaks, we could see the unmistakeable evidence.

We arrived to find our hotel in the centre of a building site and an afternoon walk to explore the city revealed yet more men at work.  A quiet half hour in the sunshine of a lovely square was disturbed by an endless stream of tractors, little construction vehicles, a man with a jackhammer… The waitress rolled her eyes.  “Telekom”, she said.

Kempten is a pretty town with a long and interesting history.  Having acclimatised ourselves to the building noises, we stepped carefully around the barriers and avoided the holes in the street to enjoy an interesting walk around the centre.  We identified suitable places to eat this evening and gathered in one or two essentials (toothpaste and chocolate!)

Thankfully, this evening, the work is finished for the day in this neck of the woods.  We are settled on the tenth floor of the hotel and have grand plans for tomorrow, when we hope the sun will shine and the sky will be clear.  Fingers crossed!

Ready to go again?

Ok, let’s fetz… 

We’ll continue our mooch around the city centre, stopping by the statue of one of the Maximilians outside the Bayerische Hof hotel (are you keeping up with all of these Maximilians?  I’m not!) 

A little further along, there’s a shrine to Michael Jackson at the foot of another statue, because he once stayed at the Bayerische Hof.  What an eyesore…what a mess.  And poor old Orlando De Lassus, whose statue is defaced. What do you think?

But just around the corner, we spot another memorial.  This it marks the spot where Kurt Eisener was killed.  I’m sure you know all about him without my explanation.

We are heading for Gmund, where we passed by yesterday, spotting an interesting paper construction in the window.  Being Sunday, and being in Catholic Bavaria, the shop was closed, so let’s take another look.

Beautiful paper, lovely attentive staff, very expensive goods!

But a small purchase is ok, isn’t it!? (in a big bag!)

This is the grand part of the city, where large and very impressive buildings have brass nameplates bearing the names of Swiss banks and multi national corporations.  Where the drivers of BMWs reverse down one way streets and are not particular about who they inconvenience.

Me.

But the shop windows have small, elegant displays and we can ogle them free of charge.

Oh, another Maximilian!  Turning the corner from that delightful little tableware shop, we’re suddenly in the grandest of avenues.

Looking one way, there is the Theatiner Kirche and the Feldherrn halle.

 

The other way, there’s a wide road leading to the Siegestor

and right in front of us is the entrance to the Hofgarten

and the Residenz.

You know what I also spotted?  A Starbucks.  With free WiFi.  I think it’s time for a little something, don’t you?  Maybe I can google that knitting pattern as well!

It was so lovely to have emails from friends, to reply to them and have a little conversation.  Maybe you were one of them?  Did you groan when I replied “we’re in Munich, actually…”?  I hope you forgave me if you did.

Leaving Starbucks behind, let’s stroll down the street and take a little look in the Hofgarten, shall we?  But first, look at that poster for an art exhibition.  Doesn’t it remind you of a work by Caspar David Friedrich?  Well, reading a little more of the artist’s background, perhaps that’s not surprising.  Were we staying a little longer here in the city, perhaps we’d visit the exhibition, but sadly, time is getting a little short.

Here’s a little different art to keep us interested.  These pieces are inside the gallery which runs alongside the Hofgarten and depict scenes from Bavarian history.  Of course, you’re familiar with all of that, aren’t you?

Walking back along the front side of the Residenz, our attention is captured by these lions.  Did you spot that chap over there?  Notice what he did?

Without breaking step, he gave that little spot a bit of a rub.  Rubbing the nose of just one of the four lions will bring you good luck.  Rub more than one and the luck will be cancelled out, I understand.  I hope you didn’t rub all four?

So, my hero and I rubbed just the one nose each and off we went.

Oh my, in this part of the city we come across one grand building after another, don’t we?  Unsurprisingly, this is Maximilian Square, and that’s the theatre over there.

The side of the Residenz is screened off whilst renovations are taking place, but did you spot the couple peeking out of the window?

Who can they be?

After the shortest of stops to admire the beautiful clothes in this shop, let’s go on further down the street.  I think this is where we were yesterday.

I thought so.  Here we are at Dallmayr, the German equivalent to Fortnum and Mason.  Come on, we’ve got to go inside, haven’t we?

The coffee smells divine, as do the smoked foods down in the fresh food hall.  Oh my, I’m not sure about weisswurst in a tin, though, are you?  Surely, they can’t taste the same as the fresh ones.

But it seems like a good place to buy a gift for our Swiss host whom we’ll see later in the week, wouldn’t you say?  But perhaps we’ll stick with coffee and chocolates and leave the tinned weisswurst here on the shelf.

Oh, what’s that opposite? I had forgotten about the felt shop!    A queue stretches almost out of the door and I think that it’s just enough to look in the window.  I hope that’s ok with you too.  If I was after some thick felt, this would be the perfect place, but you know what?  I have no idea what I’d do with it right now!

Let’s keep walking, because look, we’re back in Marienplatz.  The Viktualienmarkt is just a short step away and en route we could call in and get that yarn in the wool shop, now we know what we’re looking for.

But my feet are beginning to ache, my hero tells me his back is aching too and perhaps you’ve had enough?

We’ll walk back to the hotel, past the “Maibaum” and in no time, we can put our feet up for a while.  You know, that sounds like a really good idea right now!

That golden sign from the Hofbräuhaus means we’re very nearly home.  We’ve packed a lot into the day and for now, it’s enough.  It was so good to have your company though – hope you enjoyed your day in München as much as we did!