Ravensburg to South of Munchen (Munich)

It is Friday night already.  Our 3 weeks in Germany is rapidly coming to an end.

Last night while at the Ravensburg Christmas Market, we saw a Rotary tent.  The Rotarians were giving children the opportunity to make Christmas cookies. Dough was prepared so the children could make cookies in whatever shape they desired.  The cookies were baked and within minutes the children were able to decorate them. It was a very popular place and a wonderful Rotary fundraiser. While the children were baking cookies the parents or grandparents were having coffee or shopping. 

Since we want to be near Munchen by Friday evening we knew we needed to be on the way earlier than in the past days.  After getting the car packed we were on our way to Fussen.

Germany in the Snow

To get to Fussen we had to drive through more of the German Alps.  With the snow still clinging to the trees and the sun shining we enjoyed the scenery of the snow covered mountains.  Fussen is near Neuschwanstein, one of the castles of Mad King Ludwig.  We did not go into the castle, as we had been there in the past, but we drove near so we could get some photos.  Fussen is enclosed by a wall and has the old town feel to it.  We found the market in the courtyard of the cathedral/museum.  The problem was that it did not open until 2:00 pm.  Since we did not want to delay that long, we walked around the town before returning to the car and were on the road to Garmisch.

Fussen Market and Basilica

Fussen Castle

Neuschwanstein

Hohenschwangau - Ludwig's Parents Castle

A Panorama with both castles

Austrian alps

Anyone want to try the slopes?

To get to Garmisch we had to go through Austria.  The Alps continue to captivate us with all of the snow.  We drove through ski towns and past ski slopes.  With all of the snow the slopes are open and the villages were busy.  We thoroughly enjoy driving through Austria.  Before we knew it we were back in Germany and into Garmisch.  We had trouble finding the market, but all of a sudden it was in front of us.  The market was smaller than we had anticipated, but it was nice.

Garmisch Market - Mountains in Background

From Garmisch we went to Oberammergau, the town of the painted houses and passion play.  There were not as many painted houses as we remembered from an earlier visit.  The market definitely had a local flavor.  The goods being sold were locally made rather than brought in from the big producers.  We also browsed around in several souvenir shops before we were back on the road.

Oberammergau Painted Building and Market

One of the towns we drove through on our way to Oberammergau also had a market.  The town of Ettal has the St Marys Kloster Basilica.  The market was located around the Basilica.  This was a different environment but very nice.  While walking through the market, we sampled a sweet bread we had seen them make at other markets, but had not yet tasted.

St Marys Basilica

Market around the Basilica

Notice the amount of snow

 

After leaving Ettal we were on our way to the Hotel Seehof in Starnberg, which we had booked on-line last night.  We found the hotel, and relaxed for a while before eating dinner in an Italian restaurant associated with the hotel. The food was excellent.  It was a busy restaurant with locals, as it appeared groups were having Christmas dinners.  Before they seated us we had to agree to be out of the restaurant by 8:00 (2 hours) as they had other reservations.  There was plenty of time for us.

 

 

Starnberg is located at the north end of the Starnberger Sea, which is 30 minutes south of Munich. Several lakes are this is region and many of the small towns around the lakes had Christmas markets last weekend.  From our hotel room we have a lovely view of the sea and the Alps in the background.  Hopefully in the morning we can get some good photos.   

Tomorrow (Saturday) we plan to take the train into Munich for the day.