D'ya think we like the barns??

It’s In The bag - Friday July 2, 2010

It’s In The bag - Friday July 2, 2010

Last night after supper, we headed west from the Heiss farm on the bikes. The ragweg we wanted to take proved too steep for this grey-haired duo so we came back to the farm and headed north . It was a very relaxing ride except that we had to climb a hill - steps up and switch back - carried the bikes up there but some great views from the top. All along we saw little log barns mostly with tile roofs. At a cross roads we sat and soaked in the countryside views - farmers cutting hay - some raking hay - some cutting wood - some seemingly just driving the back road trails. Ended up in Wallgau, 2 km north at a new grocery store - the little town of Krun has 2 new grocery stores - they must be figuring on expansion in the housing market. Maybe that’s why we can not find the trail with the little log barns where we walked in ’02 - seems it has become a row of new homes we figure.

Then today we decided to drive to Oberammergau but this time to ride our bikes out into the countryside. Our destination was Unterammergau about 4 km away. First we had to stop at Information for a map of the town. Throughout the town, crowds were beginning to gather even at 9:30 a.m. as we rode along the cobbled streets. At the north end of town the road forks into 4 directions. The first one we took looked like the road most traveled - one lane but paved. Soon it turned onto a gravel road and again we had to decide which of 2 farm trails to take. One led slightly uphill but ended at a building construction site - looked like a new home foundation. The other trail - 2 tracks with grass between led slightly downhill and ended up at a small horse barn. Just before the barn we had nodded to a gentleman who was walking toward us with a fork over his shoulder - a common sight. At the barn we turned around but first noticed a little girl still with a soother in mouth come out of the barn. Seeing no trail beyond we began to retrace out steps when we saw dad was coming back toward the barn with a fork full of loose hay. We stopped and talked a bit - his English was better than our German. He explained that in order to get to Unterammergau we would have to go back into the town of Oberammergau and cross the bridge over the Ammer River and take the other side path. But before we said good-bye I asked him about the little log barns all over the countryside. He explained that 50 years ago farmers would store the hay from the fields locally in the little barns where the hay was made then in the winter they would take it into the town house/barn combinations by horse and I presume sleigh. Many town barns have small horse sleighs hanging under their wide overhangs as they do other antiques. So that explained the little log barns that tourists flock to the area to see.
When we finally did find the town of Unterammergau, we found a very pleasant peaceful village - many zimmers, barns and homes existing side by side - manure pile beside zimmer and tractors coming and going with various equipment disappearing up into them there hills. We stopped at the town square and ate lunch beside the water trough.
On our way home we stopped in at Ettal a buzzing town mostly attracting busloads of tourists to the Kloisterkirche (Kloister church) famous for its wine and spirits production. No sign of the monks or the nuns who make it but it was a walled medieval type building with lots of people coming and going from the central courtyard. We chose instead to go next door to the Schaukaserei Ettal where the Kloister still produces the famous Ettal Alpen cheese. On the way in the driveway we commented about the clever placement of a large herd of Brown Swiss cows congregated at the fence gate just across the road. So we went in and since they were finished making cheese for the day, they showed us a video of the process and of coarse we had to sample their cheese cake and a coffee. On the way out we were treated to a parade of 30 some Brown Swiss cows - udders loaded - eagerly heading up the driveway past the cheese factory on their way to the barn for milking.

More pics for Thursday, July1, 2010

Around The Lake - Thursday July 1, 2010

Around The Lake - Thursday July 1, 2010


It looked like a perfect day today for the “Tour de Walchensee”. No Phyllis it was not another major sporting event. In fact it was just the opposite - very peaceful and quiet. The lake is located about 7 km north of us. We parked the Twingo, unloaded the bikes and headed in a clockwise direction from the village of Einsiedl. In places the path was paved and wound along the lake with benches to rest at many turns usually at a great vista point. Sometimes the path narrowed down to a 2 foot wide gravel path, sometimes through little willages and large. Many camera spots with the coral blue/green water and snow capped peaks in the background. At one point the path narrowed , became very rough and rocky but we peddled on, only to find from 3 ladies walking that we were on a walking only path. 'Twould be nice to be able to read more signs - so many and so different. Always though we were along the lakeshore within sight of the lake. At times we had to “look the other way” - lots of sunbathers and a few picnic-ers. By noon time there were getting to be many bikers, walkers and a few cars on the paths closer to the towns. At another spot the pavement became gravel and up ahead we noticed a swinging gate across the path. Had we not seen other bikers open the gate and continue after closing the gate behind them, we might have been tempted to turn around and go back. Just up ahead then we saw 2 cows - bells clanging, contented with the peaceful pastures - coarse we had to stop for a few photo-ops. Then a little further another fence and we were back on paved road again. So we saw it all - a very pleasant morning. We had taken our coffee mugs (full of coffee of coarse) in the mug racks we had purchased so we stopped at several shaded spots to take a break and take in the scenery. A family we met just before the cow scene, were from northern Germany on their vacation. They noticed our coffee mugs right away and that was the first comment as we met at a signpost to check on directions. Not much need for directions though since we simply followed the lake. It was 28 km around and we finished in about 4 hours with many stops along the way.

Little Log Barns of Krun - Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Little Log Barns of Krun - Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Little Log Barns of Krun - Wednesday, June 30, 2010


Today we said good-bye to cousins M & P after 2 weeks of good times with them in Switzerland and Germany. Lots of laughs as we tooted around in our little Twingo and their VW Golf alternating drivers every other day. Up the narrow roads - in the cities - to the grocery store - waking mountain trails - searching for internet - we enjoyed every minute with them and will miss the fun times we had together.

We got ourselves oriented to Krun and Wallgau and Mittenwald this afternoon. These 3 towns are within 5 - 7 km and are right up there with Gimmelwald and Murren in our most favorite places to see in Europe - so far at least. We biked to Wallgau through the fields this afternoon for a few groceries - checked in at the Tourist Information building then headed home for a rest. Our legs tell us we will need to bike more to keep in shape but fortunately the terrain is relatively flat here so that will help.
Then it was off in the car during the hotter part of the day ( 85 degrees) to get more local information in Krun and Mittenwald for our side trips the remainder of this week here. We found a peaceful quiet little lake a few kms north and earmarked it as a place to bike around on a good weather day.
The flat plains between the mountains here are dotted with an extra ordinarily large number of little log barns randomly placed around the fields. Not sure what they are used for as they are all empty - will find the answer to that question from our host family before we leave. I suppose it is the farmer in me and the farmer’s daughter in Jean that attracts us to this area. Narrow paved car-free pathways criss-cross the fields and along mountain streams in no structured fashion making it a pleasant bike ride past these little log barns.
After supper it was back to the bikes again to discover more trails - all well marked at each intersection with yellow arrow signs telling the time to the next town - eg. 0.25 std. (meaning ¼ of an hour)

Passionsspiele - Oberammergau, Germany - June 29, 2010

Passionsspiele - Oberammergau, Germany - June 29, 2010

The entire day was spent in the town of Oberammergau, Upper Bavaria, Germany. Over 5000 people converge on the town each weekday from all over the world. They come by the bus load - tours that have been organized to make this town usually a 2 day stop on their itinerary. The town is literally crawling with people by 10 a.m. each day - almost like a pilgrimage. The object of their trip is to view the play staged every 10 years by the towns people. Known as the "Passionsspiele" this play has been presented faithfully since 1633 as a pledge to God for protection against the "Black Death" plague that originated during the 30-Year-War.
Up to 800 actors may be on stage at certain times. The 6 hour play was divided in 2 halves with a 3 hour break from 5 - 8 p.m. The actors and live orchestra practice for 10 years to perfect the story of Christ's birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection. It was a powerful presentation - one we will not soon forget.