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Great write-up, sounds like you and your dad had a real special time. I'm enjoying the pictures. It really is beautiful around there, and so many nice walking trails.
It is on the side of Garmisch opposite the ski mountains, but there is a trail that winds up along pastures, so you hear the cow bells going. After maybe 25-30 minutes heading uphill, you come to a beautiful WW2 memorial for the local soldiers who had fallen. It grabs your attention as the individuals plaques have pictures of the soldier, often looking like an official picture in dress uniform. My wife and I are former soldiers, and this was a touching memorial in a beautiful setting. We were up by Wurzburg, living in a 400 person farming village for 4 years. Many great small towns, volksmarches with great food afterwards, beautiful roads for my motorcycle. Just talking to 2 buddies at work, both who were also stationed for multiple tours back in the 80's. All of us loved our time overseas in Germany. Thanks for the memories. |
I am loving your trip report. My husband is googling your guest house. He likes that Irish pub nearby. So sweet you got to take your Dad back.
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Your photos are fabulous Adelaiden! Your dad must be quite a trooper, lots of walking!
A bit of a long slog. Indeed, can't say I miss those miserable flights! (the Australian outback monastery was founded by Spanish monks, and is in a terribly harsh environment). Would that be New Norcia by chance? Looking forward to more! |
Thanks for your comments, it was a lovely start to a special holiday.
Yes, Mel, New Norcia it is, am sure you’ve been there. Interesting place. bdokeefe, will note that memorial, am definitely going back. Next stop...... Day 6: Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Nuremberg Bought a Bavaria ticket for 2 (€31) and the train was late, so missed our connection in Munich. Never mind, we jumped on a train to Ingolstadt, preferring to spend an hour in a smaller station. Arrived Nuremberg to a very emotional reunion with Dad’s sister. So special. We took U Bahn to Plärrer station (bit seedy around there, stinks a bit, bins overflowing, the usual types that hang around stations) and walked to our flat in Petzoltstrasse. A strong Turkish presence here, apparently termed ‘Gostenbul’ (Gostenhof is the suburb). Shisha bars, Turkish restaurants and stores. Bought myself a replacement bowl for my broken one from Istanbul years ago. We noticed the busy brunch crowd during our stay, my cousin says the area becoming more trendy. Nice bio-markt nearby. There is Salvation Army housing down the road, otherwise mostly apartment blocks and shops/ cafes. Lots of childhood reminiscing, life during the war and post war East Germany, their dislike of the chore of minding the goats, making the quark and butter, their mother packing a spare sandwich for the boy at school that had no lunch, their breakfast of flour soup/ sugar syrup on bread/ goats milk, the sugar syrup cooked at home once families picked through the beet field after harvest for remnants, potato peel soup!, being taught Russian by a survivor of a Russian camp who was allocated the job of teaching at the local school, being an unwanted refugee (from Schlesien) in Saxony (“why do you come here, we are hungry too”), then again as an escapee from communist East Germany to West Germany, so many interesting life stories. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9b8305939.jpeg Our neighbourhhod https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5ef305294.jpeg Several shisha bars nearby https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c3b46c5c0.jpeg |
Day 7:
My cousin drove us to Lauf (an der Pegnitz) -a short drive or train ride from Nuremberg- to visit friends for lunch. Dined by the Marktplatz at the Zwinger Melber, a beautifully restored historic building from 1799. It was another sunny day, and we sat in the courtyard. Enjoyed a Franconian region meal, I had Sauerbraten (beef dish marinated in vinegar or wine) with red cabbage and bread dumplings and our friends ordered us Zwetschgenknödel with plums (potato dumplings but served as a sweet dessert). Lauf has a lovely aldstadt, and we enjoyed a stroll and some people watching (bustling outdoor dining, gelateria, cyclists, families). Nice fresh plum streusel cake for afternoon tea. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3be5cb46a.jpeg Lunch in courtyard https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1e1caa55a.jpeg Wonderful restoration of restaurant https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...945a0a203.jpeg Regional specialties https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3a1d970cf.jpeg Restaurant |
Lauf has a nice aldstadt
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...59a1f53c5.jpeg Lots of people about https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e3fd4e7aa.jpeg |
Day 8: Nuremberg to Schwäbisch Hall (in Baden-Württemberg)
Nuremberg to Schwäbisch Hall (original plan was to take train, but cousin chose to join us, so got a ride). Easier to be on train, I think, the autobahn was jam packed with trucks, and there’s no easy parking here (ended up at train station parking lot). Noticed how dry it was here, after a long, hot summer. Glad we hadn’t booked for July or August. The hills and valleys near Schwäbisch Hall nice and green, though. Where we stayed: 3 nights Gasthof Blauer Bock Home Single rooms €79 per night (in the attic). Beautiful historic building, on site restaurant, 5 mins to train station and old town. Charming owner/ manager, very helpful, adjusted our booking last minute. What a wonderfully preserved old town. Has a university and a Goethe Institute for German language students, which undoubtedly adds that younger vibe. Arts, culture, education, historic architecture, river, wooded hills, delightful place. A bit of a stroll, dinner at an okay Italian place, early night. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d185fc3a.jpeg Love wandering these cute alleys https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a741454bf.jpeg Half timbered houses https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6c329bc60.jpeg Along the river https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bfb7fddbf.jpeg River walk |
More photos, beautiful town to stroll.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...231bd0b62.jpeg Our hotel, lovely. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...735cf6f01.jpeg Half timbered houses https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cdcad8777.jpeg Rooftops https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...22f0099e0.jpeg River walk |
Day 9:
Up early for a solo walk. Love the morning light and quiet streets. Great breakfast at our hotel. Today we were ready for some museum time. We first visited Johanniterkirche for the old Masters collection, housed in a renovated 1200’s church. Incredible setting and features the Virgin of Mercy (or Madonna of Jakob Meyer zum Hasen) by Hans Holbein. Wandered to the lovely Marktplatz, stunning buildings, and towering St Michael’s church. Then headed to Cafe Suite 21 for fantastic apfelstrudel with lovely ice cream, not commercial grade stuff, this was gorgeous. Luckily went to the bathroom, wow, got to see the incredible renovation of one of these narrow historic buildings with a curved tiny staircase with little nooks created for seating. Fortified, we headed to the Kunsthalle Würth for the modern art collection, some really amazing pieces. The ‘Blue Man’ was fascinating, painted entirely with dots, creating shadows and silhouettes, close up just lines of dots but from a distance clearly a man. Delightful meal at our hotel in their beer garden, a piece of grilled salmon for Dad, rib eye steak for me, great salad and some fries. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1e409a79f.jpeg Renovated church https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e5ef566a6.jpeg Old Master’s gallery https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...64337f1d0.jpeg Art museum is a stunningly renovated church https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fe4858dba.jpeg Kunst https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4117c1ff5.jpeg Modern art gallery https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...12c8b62c1.jpeg Modern art gallery https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e5d73b144.jpeg Fabulous display https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a1eeb2a2c.jpeg Sculpture made of resin and lead https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e424072dc.jpeg ‘Blue Man’ dots detail https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1cf61e264.jpeg “Blue Man” |
Have got to add, the senior citizens very accommodating and tolerant, art museums would not have been their choice! And especially difficult given both have poor eyesight.
But, strolling and chatting in beautiful surroundings, stopping for coffee and cake, and beer garden visits, they took it in their stride. So happy to be together :) |
Adelaidean- Google is wonderful: the memorial chapel is named Kriegergedächtniskapelle.
Trail info, with a couple of pics of the chapel: https://www.outdooractive.com/en/hik...chen-/1362300/ My wife and I returned a few years ago, teenage daughters in tow, and they were suitable impressed with Garmish. I have video of us appreciating the view of the valley, cow bells tolling behind us as they grazed. Partnach Gorge is beyond words....Gulasch souppe afterwards and life is good. There is a very nice garden to check out when you're in Wurzburg. If you're looking up to Festung Marienberg, it's to the right. I think it's pretty flat if you park at the Fortress. It has different sections, Japanese, Ireland, etc. A nice walk. Along the river on that same side is a nice beer garden, or if you want wine, stop when you cross the Saint's Bridge at the little place on the bridge. Again, great write up. |
Loving your report and the photos, Adelaidean. You remind me of how much we liked this part of Germany and how much I should like to return, perhaps by doing a Goethe Institute course. A thought for next year possibly.
And how nice of the "elderly" to accommodate your gallery visits but doubtless they appreciate the thought and love you have put into this trip, which shines through in everything you write. |
Adelaidean, I'm really enjoying this trip report. Your reports always give me more ideas of places to see. Personal question. You mentioned your father was a refugee/expellee from Silesia then ending up in Saxony before fleeing to the West Germany. Has he expressed an interest or actually visited those areas again? When I was a kid I stayed with a German family in the Nurnberg area whose mother was a Sudetendeutsch expellee, so the histories of the expellees is personally significant.
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Really enjoying your trip report and your pictures are gorgeous. I love slow travel. Reports like yours encourages me to find a way to restructure my job at home to have more time off to travel.
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Hey again,
Wow, Lauf looks really beautiful! With the tower & gate, it resembles a bit Gengenbach, but it looks like the Altstadt is pedestrians only, is that right? In Gengenbach, there was no pedestrian zone, and I liked it less because of that. Schwäbisch Hall looks lovely. I once considered it for a Goethe course but in the end opted to stay in Bavaria. But what a lovely town, and I'm a sucker for nice river walks. And that church is amazing; I adore Medieval structures. So much loving your report and the photos! s |
For bdokeefe,
I'm glad you found some more info on the Memorial Chapel for the War Dead -- yes, it's a very sweet setting. If you were there in the spring or fall, that's when you're likely to see the cows grazing there -- between their summers on the Alpine meadows and the winters in barns. If you go up on the trail above the chapel for about 40 minutes, you'll come to the St Martinshütte, with nice views over the town. If you are on the trail before lunch, it becomes a veritible hiking highway, as many folks run up there for lunch. If you go left from the chapel on the Krammerplateauweg, you can eventually come to Grainau; if you go right, you come to the Werdenfels ruins (12th C castle) and the Pflegersee. Martinshütte https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7a6e3f3764.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d689e2dbe3.jpg |
Day 10:
Church bells thoughtfully woke me at 6:30am, so was up and at the fresh food market at the Marktplatz by 7am. Small market with regional produce, very tempted by the plums and breads. Enjoyed observing students heading off to uni, workers to their office, walkers with their dogs. Also how enterprising people are with creating little pockets of gardens on their doorstep, their windowsills, or the tiniest of terraces. Visited Gross Comburg mid morning (in time for 11am tour), this is a fortified monastery, few minutes away by bus, although we went by car. Founded as a Benedictine Monastery in 1078, grounds are free to visit, but for St Nicholas church, guided tours are available at €5 (copied from online as I didn’t understand tour guide...“the richly decorated, gold-plated antependium that adorns the altar table, and the Romanesque wheel chandelier: two outstanding pieces produced by European goldsmiths”) It was built in Romanesque style, but with Baroque additions later. “In 1802 the monastery fell into the hands of Württemberg, the canon monastery was abolished. From 1807-10 it served as an appanage castle for Prince Paul from Württemberg, from 1817 until 1909 as the seat of the royal-württembergian disabled person-corps for invalid poor soldiers and from 1926 as the seat for the first folk high school in Württemberg. As from 1934 a Nazi training institution was located there and from 1939 prisoners of war were kept there. Since 1947 the Comburg serves as a facility for teacher training.” There is a great view of the monastery from the terrace of the Kunsthalle museum, by the way. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...354d3e634.jpeg Grosscomburg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4227fcdd4.jpeg Grosscomburg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bc54ec7b9.jpeg Grosscomburg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f5c86ff5f.jpeg Chandelier, wheeled, detail https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b4f3bbe90.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...31162aa95.jpeg Chandelier, wheeled Then on to the Hohenlohe Freilandmuseum, in Wackershofen (by the train station) 10 mins train from Schwäbisch Hall, with 70 restored historic buildings (mill, schoolhouse, homes, chapel, farm, craftsman’s houses, prison..) and clothes, tools, furniture, there are demonstrations, gardens, farm animals, recreating life in local rural villages of times gone by in an open air museum: Hohenloher Freilandmuseum Wackershofen | Freilicht Museen €8 entry. It is really well done. There is an imbiss serving really basic sausage and bread, we didn’t realise there was a beer garden as well, which looked really nice and hopefully offered more choice. Didn’t get through the entire site, the warmth and long day of walking was getting a bit much for my 84 year old aunt. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f88a98b13.jpeg Cute piglets https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c35a6e753.jpeg Kitchen https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...edc15e5b6.jpeg Animals housed on bottom floor of house https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ed438e697.jpeg Rural village https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1368aae87.jpeg Poor worker’s house https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7336f3b07.jpeg Poor worker’s house Returned to Cafe 21 for early dinner. I had another apfelstrudel... |
Thanks for your comments.
Yes, my Dad has been back home to Schlesien, and also to the little village where they fled to in Saxony. |
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f1a6ddc40.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...693ba37a8.jpeg Marktplatz https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2da7d23c0.jpeg Street of our hotel https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...74300cc98.jpeg Marktplatz https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9d12d447a.jpeg St Michaels church https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cdd1dde66.jpeg Marktplatz https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fa2847c21.jpeg Half timbered houses |
Day 11:
A quick stop in a store for some manchester, then a coffee and apfelstrudel at Cafe 21, the waitress remembering my aunt likes both ice cream and cream with hers... Returned to Nuremberg, still very warm, enjoyed strolling through the local supermarket and bio-markt for supplies. Dinner at home, with some salads, bread, cheeses. Then out to a concert in the Tafelhalle. My cousin’s son was playing in a band, the hip hop a bit bewildering to our senior citizens, but they were good sports and clapped enthusiastically. Day 12: “Ruhetag” for us, a quiet day. A bit of a wander into the aldstadt, a beer, topped up our cheese and bread supplies. Poppy seed cake, and cheesecake for afternoon tea. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fff40348c.jpeg Nuremberg town stroll https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eb0111150.jpeg Aldstadt https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7cdbfeba7.jpeg Nuremberg old town https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a8e661772.jpeg Old town https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...16720d094.jpeg Autumnal colours https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a3ee433ec.jpeg Colourful houses |
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