Adventures in Freistadt Bayern (aka Bavaria, hence the shade of blue chosen as background color)

1. Adventures in Freistadt Bayern (aka Bavaria, hence the shade of blue chosen as background color) and neighboring regions 4-18 Oktober 2011

2. 30 minutes after climbing into our rental, Janis and I were in Freising at the Weihenstephaner brewery…a monastery with “the oldest brewery in the world.” [n.b. oldest, biggest, mostest are guide book themes that resonate throughout the trip.]

3. One of two big garden areas we visited in the Weihenstephaner grounds.

4. There’s a university adjacent to the monastery now, and this peacock sculpture stands outside the glass wall of the university’s library.

5. I took this picture of the “tallest brick towered cathedral “n the world,” located in Landshut, from Burg Trausnitz, home of one of Germany’s royal families. Landshut was our first stop on our trip; we stayed three nights and explored here as well as out to the medieval city of Regensburg from here.

6. The Martinskirche’s brick tower from the street. We heard an organist playing Bach’s Fantasia & Fugue here on Saturday morning, the day we left for Passau.

7. This is the Altstadt street in Landshut and the books say it is one of the “most beautiful” in Germany. It’s a a pedestrian zone with lots of bikes and people on foot during the weekdays we were there—not really touristy at all.

8. And this photo is taken from Neustadt street, parallel to the Altstadt street looking up at Burg Trausnitz. The city’s archives, over 500 years’ worth of records are in Trausnitz.

9. Day two in Germany we drove to Regensburg (first settled in 500 BC) on a cold rainy day and parked in a lot by the Danube, near the old part of town. Walking towards the ancient stone bridge with the “biggest” spans in Germany, we spotted a John Deere compact utility tractor. {insert a little homesickness here}

10. And here’s the old stone bridge in Regensburg. When it was built in 1146, it was the only crossing of the Danube for miles around.

11. The guide book mentioned an attraction near Regensburg called Walhalla. Yes, that’s right, we’ve been to “valhalla” and safely returned…I have a ticket stub to prove it! It’s an odd monument, started around the time of the Napoleanic victories in the region, and meant to pay tribute to Germany’s proud history. It’s got a great view!

12. Walhalla is modeled on the Parthenon. Really noticeable from the river road but seems so out of place on a mountain overlooking the Danube!

13. Passau is a city at the confluence of the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers. Its claim to fame is the hold it had on the salt trade for centuries. Behind me the upper and lower structures are the modern-day versions of a complex begun in prehistoric times. The upper one has an extensive museum of the area’s history. Over my right should is the confluence of the Ilz and the Danube.

14. I had to enlarge this view of Passau to make the city stand out so it’s a little grainy. I took it from a riverboat tour that traveled a bit south of the confluence.

15. Looking down from the upper fortress, Veste Oberhaus, in the previous picture, you can see the point behind the large boat at the right is the confluence of the three rivers. You can see the textures of the different waters in this picture but there was also a color difference. The Inn, at the top right is greener than the others.

16. Passau sits on the peninsula between the Danube (foreground) and Inn (top). This is another view from Veste Oberhaus, and looks across Passau to Mariahilfe, a convent on the hill above the Inn.

17. In Passau, Janis points to the oldest continuously operating apothecary in Germany, established in 1384. Nearby is a place called “Hotel Wilderman” that’s been turned into a “Glasmuseum,” and it is quite possibly the worst museum I’ve ever been in!

18. Janis and I at Plansee, a lake I visited frequently when I lived in Germany. It’s located in the Tirolian region of Austria.

19. The impossible green of Plansee.

20. The start of a trail our hotelier in Ehenbichl, Austria recommended for a “20 minute hike” to a local ruin. See the red dot spray painted on the tree? Those dots were our reference points.

21. The grade we faced on the climb to the “lower” part of the ruins of Ehrenburg.

22. Janis blessing the end of our 35-40 minute climb as we finally reach the ruin’s outer wall. At least I think those fingers are raised in blessing 

23. Looking back at the same doorway, you can see a red dot and the spectacular view beyond.

24. More of the lower Ehrenburg’s panorama.

25. The main entry to the inner part of lower Ehrenburg.

26. Janis getting ready to start the “improved” path down -- it was still under construction and the footing wasn’t much better!

27. A longer view of lower Ehrenburg.

28. Neuschwanstein, Ludwig II’s fantasy of a medieval castle and Disney’s model for his dream land.

29. A fountain in the courtyard of Ludwig II’s ancestral home.

30. A view of Hohenschwangau, Ludwig II’s ancestral home, taken from Neuschwanstein.

31. It was a perfect morning to witness the gradual revelation of Neuschwanstein from Marienbrucke through the rain and fog of its mountains.

32. From the same bridge…digitally lightened to reveal a bit more 

33. A view of the valley from Neushwanstein’s entrance.

34. Looking back at Mareinbrucke from Neuschwanstein.

35. Heidelberg’s southern wall and view of the Neckar River valley.

36. A famous house in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The statues above are replicas of ones dating to the 16th century. The originals are in the city’s museum in an old monastery. That museum had extensive, overwhelming, excellent displays: armor and books and items of daily life for over a thousand years of the city’s history!

37. This detail of the Baumeisterhaus door shows the date it was built as 1596. Our hotel was right next to it and was about 600 years old.

38. Rothenburg’s old castle gate. This is considered the best-preserved medieval walled town in Germany.

39. The old castle gardens of Rothenburg.

40. We drove through this tunnel which goes under a famous 15th Century relic in the 14th century St. Jakobskirche. Long story, but it was the only direction the road could go!

41. The back of our 600 year old gasthof. The grey van on the left was our rental. A bit longer than the space was meant for but we found it, in the dark, after a long day’s driving!

42. One of the many fountains in Rotherburg. It was a city-imposed rule in the middle ages that certain places had to build fountains, both for practical reasons in case of siege and for fire fighting.

43. The St. George and the Dragon fountain, right off the main square. The tower on the left is the original city hall tower, dating from the 13th C, and the facade on the right is from the new part of city hall, added in 1570. Our gasthof behind me from this perspective, just off the main square.

44. On the wall walk around the city.

45. A rest stop in Munich’s famous Chinese Tower Beer Garden (seats 6,000) inside the Englischergarten. The park was founded by an Englishman who was on the losing side of the American Revolution and settled here!

46. Yes a litre of beer is big, but look at the size of that brezen!

47. A famous surfing spot at one of the Englischergarten entry points. I gather they created this spot on purpose. There were about 5 surfers taking turns the day we were there.

48. A calmer stream going by the Japanese Tea house inside the Englischergarten.

49. The Viktualienmarkt Maypole. Every town seemed to have one in Bavaria. There’s a ceremony to putting them up and taking them down that still happens today, but they were also meant as advertisements for the businesses visitors would find in a place.

50. A metzgerei stand in the Munich Viktualienmarkt, a pedestrian zone that’s famous for its Maypole and farmers’ market-type stalls. See the next slide for the point of this pic.