Sadly, it was time to leave München behind and drive south into the lovely Bavarian countryside.
It wasn’t really so hard – after all, look what a beautiful morning we had.
Our route took us to the edge of the page, as always, firstly to Starnberg and then on to Andechs where our guidebook recommended a visit to the Kloster.
The pair of us make for willing pilgrims when given the nod, so off we went, up the hill towards the abbey. We had quite a bit of company too, surprising for a Tuesday morning.
Opening the heavy wooden door, we stepped inside to be greeted by a breathtaking interior. We wandered around quietly taking it all in, trying to catch a glimpse of everything our guidebook had noted as being remarkable here.
The very old votive candles, some dated from the 17th and 18th centuries, for example.
I found these framed paintings rather interesting too.
And the sun was shining on Carl Orff’s resting place this morning.
In a small chapel upstairs, a large group was enjoying a long and rather detailed talk about the treasures within. We waited outside for a while, enjoying the chance to take a closer look at one or two of those paintings
not to mention the lock on the door to the chapel.
We stood for a while, working it out…
Well, with priceless holy relics to protect, I suppose such a lock – or four – is necessary.
We gave up waiting for that group to move on, so left them listening intently to their guide and went out into the warm sunshine once again, stopping by this charming wood carving of a little Bavarian band to take a photo on the way back to the car.
Driving along the Andechtsee, we tried to sneak a look between the trees to get a good view of the lake, eventually screeching to a halt in a small layby. This was the view from there – lovely, isn’t it?
As we neared Kempten, the high mountains rose up on the horizon, a taste of things to come. We were told that fresh snow had fallen in Austria yesterday, and sure enough, on the highest peaks, we could see the unmistakeable evidence.
We arrived to find our hotel in the centre of a building site and an afternoon walk to explore the city revealed yet more men at work. A quiet half hour in the sunshine of a lovely square was disturbed by an endless stream of tractors, little construction vehicles, a man with a jackhammer… The waitress rolled her eyes. “Telekom”, she said.
Kempten is a pretty town with a long and interesting history. Having acclimatised ourselves to the building noises, we stepped carefully around the barriers and avoided the holes in the street to enjoy an interesting walk around the centre. We identified suitable places to eat this evening and gathered in one or two essentials (toothpaste and chocolate!)
Thankfully, this evening, the work is finished for the day in this neck of the woods. We are settled on the tenth floor of the hotel and have grand plans for tomorrow, when we hope the sun will shine and the sky will be clear. Fingers crossed!
