Wunder'Bavaria

Just back from a short trip to Munich in Bavaria and I have to say we had a wunderbar few days. There was a bunch of us who went (my sister Florence and her hubby Danny, my brother George and his wife Linda, and of course me and Moira), taking advantage of a cheap return flight on Easyjet..... ......Thanks to Linda for making all the arrangements.
Our first evening there was spent in the Steakhouse (which was part of our city centre hotel) where we enjoyed a typical meat-fest of a German meal. Most had a steak of some sort, but George and I plumped for the mixed grill..............no bacon and sausage here..........just large portions of steak, pork and lamb, accompanied by French fries and oven-roasted vegetables........ DELICIOUS!!
Of course it was all washed down with lashings of German beer..........as you do.


George, me and some beer

Florence, Linda and Moira enjoy a light refreshment

The next morning we headed towards Marienplatz which was only a few minutes walk from the hotel and is the centre for the Munich Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt). This being the first day of the Christmas Market meant that they were only just starting to set up the stalls that morning, but that gave us an opportunity to admire some of the beautiful architecture in and around the Marienplatz area.

Augustiner Strasse



Frauenkirche

Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall)

Rathaus (Old Town Hall)

 There was also some lovely statues around as well.........

Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus

Moira with Wild Boar

Florence with another bore

 By the time we had strolled around a bit the Christmas Market had opened up and starting to get busier. As usual the girls were immediately drawn to the sparkly things on the stalls and clicked right into 'shopping mode'..........

Sparkly Christmas Things

Shopping Mode

This was getting all too much for Danny (a confirmed mulled wine-aholic) and he went in search of the nearest mulled wine outlet. On the way we stopped off at a hot chocolate vender, to supplement our sugar levels and warm up...........

Hot chocolate, Drinking Chocolate

We pressed on in search of a mulled wine vendor, Danny leading the charge with George and I trying to herd the cats away from the sparkly, shiny things (without success I have to say).
Within yards of a potential mulled wine vendor we were hijacked by a stall selling stollen goods (it's a sort of fruit cake covered in icing sugar).........

Bum Stollen (it's a bit like having your bottom pinched)

Finally we made it to the Mulled Wine stall..............and even better they served your mulled wine in Das Boot (sorry it's an old joke)..............Danny was in his element.

Mulled Wine in Das Boot

Linda was quite merry as well............and she had some stolen........

Merry Xmas

We did a bit more shopping/strolling around the market, and enjoyed some of the shop displays, especially the animated display put on by Steiff (the toymaker) at one of the large department stores:

Steiff Display

This ape is 'No Pleased'

 We decided to head back to the hotel and get ready for the evening, when we intended to go out for a meal and also see the Christkindlmarkt in all it's glory in the dark.
Before we left the hotel for our evening meal we celebrated Florence's birthday with some wine Danny had procured (non-mulled) and a slice of stollen.......

Birthday Girl

Then it was off to get something to eat, via the Christmas Market:

Marienplatz by Night



Nightime at Neues Rathaus

Marienplatz Christmas Tree

We found a nice pub/restaurant to have something to eat (and drink) and this time I decided to have the fish as I had plenty of meat last night. It was a whole Sea Bream including the tail, head, fins and eyes............it was very tasty indeed. We noticed a few snowflakes falling as we looked out the pub window but by the time we left there was about an inch of snow on the ground.
As responsible adults George and I decided to have a snowball fight, whilst the girls decided it would be fun to steal Santa's Sleigh:

Scream if you want to go faster!!

Fortunately we did not get arrested, despite George getting rather close to one of the natives:

Caught Red-handed

We made our way back to the hotel for a good night's sleep as we had an early rise ahead of us the next day, as we had planned to take a train ride to the town of Schliersee, at the foot of the Bavarian Alps.
My grandfather left Schliersee with his family back in the 1890's and although George & Linda had visited the town previously the rest of us had never been. So we were all very excited when we boarded the BOB, or Bayerische Oberlandbahn (which I think roughly translates as the Highland Railway) to Schliersee some 30 miles south of Munich.
As we headed southwards towards the Bavarian Alps the snow seemed to get deeper and deeper and by the time we arrived at Schliersee it must have been about six inches deep, with even deeper snow at the side of the roads where the snow-ploughs had been. This made the town even more picturesque as you may see in some of the photos I took:

Schliersee

Moira at Schliersee

The church at Schliersee

A tradition in these Bavarian villages is for the walls of the houses to bear a mural reflecting the occupation/trade of those who live or work there, here are some examples:

Café/Bakery Mural

Hotel/Inn Mural

Glass-Blowers Mural

The last one is particularly significant as my Great-Grandfather (and my Grandfather) were glass-blowers and left Schliersee to find work in Great Britain back in the 1890's.
There were also some interesting takes on the traditional 'weather-vane' in Schliersee, such as the following:

Witch and Jester Weather-vanes

But my favourite scene at Schliersee has to be the lake (called Schliersee obviously) with the Bavarian Alps in the background:

Schliersee

Lakeside at Schliersee

We were staring to feel the cold so popped into a local café for some warming drinks and something to eat:


The Ovomaltinies

 As well as the Ovaltine we also had some warming soup and of course some Apple-strudel, yum yum!! Danny finally managed to get some fancy coffee which was made with Asbach Brandy and cream, something he had been trying to obtain in every place we went (I'm sure he will remind me of the proper name for it!).
Suitably warmed up we braved the elements one more time and headed back to the station to get the BOB back to Munich.
For our last night in Munich we went out and had some lovely pizza (I know it's Italian) washed down with a few Bavarian beers. We had a final spin around the Christkindlmarkt  and did some last minute shopping:

Nativity (with keekin' donkey)

Santa's Little Helpers

So it all added up to a wunderbar trip to Munich and I would certainly go back............... maybe Schliersee in the Springtime??

Take Care,

TeddyEdward.

Hurrah for Autumn

There are those who don't like Autumn, they see it as summer gone and winter on its way, with the days getting shorter and the nights getting darker and colder.
I don't look at Autumn like that at all, I love all the wonderful golden colours of the trees and the bright red berries they bear. With summer being surprisingly good this year, the Autumn berries are even bigger and juicier than normal, as I found out when I had a recent walk up Craigie Hill (a disused quarry near Dalmeny, which nature has reclaimed).

 

Brambles at Craigie Hill

Rose-hips at Craigie Hill

Rowan Berries



Looks like there will be plenty of berries for the winter birds to feast on this year.
Other "fruits of the wild" are also doing well, including the fruits of fungi...............commonly known as mushrooms or toadstools (they are not really fruits but are the reproductive structures of the fungi but that doesn't sound as appealing). Here are some I saw up at Craigie Hill:

Slimy Beech Tuft

Honey Fungus

Some fungi are edible and some are very poisonous, I don't know enough about them to positively identify the safe ones; that is why I always pick my fungi at Tesco's.

Last weekend the weather forecast was terrible for the Saturday but described as 'changeable' for the Sunday so we decided to take a trip out to Loch Earn and photograph the wonderful Autumn colours as and when the sun shone.
The weather forecast was spot-on as it was certainly 'changeable' - that is it changed from heavy rain to pouring down back to heavy rain, with occasional showers. But we are made of sterner stuff and were determined to get some photographs of the Autumn colours.
On our way along the M9 motorway heading to Callander Moira snapped a couple of horses peering over a wall:


Keekin' Kelpies

Crazy Horse

Yes that is a pylon in the background, these horse sculptures near the river Carron are around 30 metres tall (that's almost 100 feet in old money)
Moira also managed to snap a rainbow, which made us think the weather was about to turn..........how wrong we were!


M9 Rainbow

We kept hoping for a break in the weather but it never came. When we stopped in Callander to have our picnic (coffee and a sandwich in the car park) I braved the rain and snapped some autumn colours.

The hills above Callander

A leafy lane in Callander

The one positive thing about the heavy rain is that it turned relatively peaceful rivers into raging torrents of white water..............much more photogenic. This was evident when I nipped out in the rain again to capture the short stretch of river that joins Loch Lubnaig to the River Teith:

Garbh Uisge in full flow

Loch Lubnaig itself looks quite ominous in the rain-laden skies, with mist rising from the trees looking like smoke from camp fires:


Loch Lubnaig

Onwards and northwards to Loch Earn itself, where we took the scenic southern road round the loch, still hopeful that the weather would break and we would be bathed in gloriously golden Autumn sun............some hope! ...........it just kept on raining.
But this is Scotland and the one thing we do well is dramatic scenery no matter what the weather is:


Autumn at the Burn of Ample

The Burn of Ample was well named as there was ample water flowing down this burn, and the Autumn colours just added to the drama.
As we stopped along the side of the loch to watch some Mallards the rain got even heavier, but this did not seem to bother the ducks:


Mallards in the Rain

As soon as I got out the car to take a quick photo, the ducks took flight.........they didn't mind the rain but there was no way they were getting their photo taken with wet feathers!!

Loch Earn, with escaping Mallards

Another bird on the loch that doesn't mind the wet weather, and stayed long enough for me to get a picture, was my favourite bird...........the Dipper:

Dipper on Loch Earn

This little bird spends a great deal of time under the water searching for invertebrates to eat, so a few raindrops aren't going to bother it.
At the East end of Loch Earn is St Fillans, where we turned round and headed back along the loch, this time on the busier North road. The rain started to ease off as we headed along the north side of the loch so I stopped and grabbed a couple of photos:

Ben Clach

Towards Lochearnhead

 When we reach Lochearnhead we stopped in the Clachan Cottage Hotel for a warming plate of soup.

 

It was quite a cosy establishment with a warm fire and good soup, highly recommended.
When we came out of the Clachan Cottage Hotel the sun had actually come out and the rain had stopped (albeit briefly) so I grabbed my camera and took some autumnal snaps before the rain came on again:

Clachan Cottage Hotel, Lochearnhead

Loch Earn, towards St Fillans

Loch Earn, between the showers

As we left Loch Earn the heavy rain started up and continued for most of the drive home, but I have to say that we had a lovely day out despite the weather.
Scotland is a beautiful country and we should get out there and enjoy it come rain or shine; make a special effort to get out this Autumn and see the beautiful scenery in all its glory.

Take Care,

Teddy Edward