Fairy Tale Bavaria

Enjoying the Winter Wonderland

Today was time for one of our excursions outside of Munich. We boarded a small Mercedes bus and headed further south into the Alps through the continuing snowfall.


When we came close to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the bus turned off the main road and headed down winding, two lane roads to the town of Fussen, and on to the fairytale castle built by King Ludwig II known as Neuschwanstein. This was the pattern from which the Disney castles were taken, and the parts of it which were finished, look every bit as dream-like as the modern day copies.

View from Neuschwanstein

Schloss Neuschwanstein is built atop a mountain, nestled amongst still higher peaks, and the first quandary is how to reach the top. Fortunately, there are horse drawn carriages whose drivers are happy to cart visitors to the top for a fee. Even at the end of the carriage ride, there is more climbing to be done before the schloss is reached. Inside, there are hundreds of steps to be clambered up to visit the few finished rooms before then walking down all those steps to exit on the ground floor. A great experience, but one which wore us out completely. We even got the carriage to take us back down to the bus so we could catch our breath.

Passion Play Theater

Our next stop was the small village of Oberammergau, where the world’s premier Passion Play is presented every 10 years in thanks for being saved from the Black Plague. This was the year the play was given, and the inhabitants were obviously relaxing in the knowledge they didn’t have another performance until 2020.

St Nicholas, KristKindl & Christmas Angel

Snow kept coming down more heavily, and we had a couple hours to visit the local Christkindl Markt. After the hectic market scene in Munich, this small town atmosphere was a greatly appreciated change. Wood burning in fire-kettles, gluhwein, schokolade and lots of locals warmly greeting their neighbors made us feel a part of the celebration. St Nicholas wandered the alleys of the market in company with the Christmas Angel and ChristKindl, stopping to talk with all die kinder who were in never-ending motion. Local dogs were underfoot constantly as they chased their masters and each other through the crowd. These earthy touches made this country boy feel very much at home.

Too soon, it was back on the bus and on the road to Munich. Snow plows were working to keep the roads clear, but it was a much slower trip in the early darkness.