For the last few days we have been at the timeshare accommodation near Mitterfels on the edge of the Bavarian forest. The apartment is small, with the tiniest of kitchens, but quite adequate for our needs. It has a little balcony with geraniums where we sit out in the evenings. Our balcony immediately adjoins another: the occupants are French from St Tropez. The resort has many facilities including a bar/restaurant, indoor and outdoor tennis, and right next door is an olympic-sized pool. We have CNN on the TV and John has WiFi access. The weather has been variable from light rain to hot sun.
Egg and Metten
On Sunday, in full sunshine and bright blue skies, we drove to the nearby town of Egg ( a curious name, origin unknown) where there is a magnificent 12C castle in very pretty surroundings and, just for this weekend, the site for a Medieval Fair.
We arrived about 10.30am and were among the first to arrive, so found it very quiet, moving amongst all the participants in the festival who were dressed in Medieval costume. It seemed that for many of them it was a habitual way of life, especially during these warmer months. They had well-established camps, with central fires and beds of animal skins. All sorts of ancient handicrafts were being demonstrated and sold and there were minstrels, falconry, archery etc. We ate local donuts and sugared almonds and bought scented body butter.
We had lunch at nearby Metten where we visited the Benedictine abbey with its amazing baroque church and even more astonishing library. Our guide to the library was a monk who talked non-stop in German for about an hour, seemingly oblivious to those of us in the group who did not understand a word. Fortunately we had some written information given to us in English.
Our attempts to drive further north into what is known as the Glass Route ( because of all the glass manufacturers there) were thwarted due to blocked roads because of the huge crowds that were now at Egg for the fair. We were lucky to have gone so early this morning.
Passau
On Monday we drove to Passau, on the Austrian border. It is known as the town of the three rivers for the city is positioned at the junction of the Danube (Donau), the Inn and the Ilz. All rivers are different in colour -- Ilz, the smallest, is the darkest, and the Danube is a dark greenish brown. The Inn was a milky pale green. In St Stephen's Cathedral (also 17C baroque) we listened to a half-hour organ recital on the largest cathedral organ in the world. (Apparently 17,800 pipes - but we did not count them!) The sound was very splendid in such an environment spent looking at all the cherubs and paintings adorning the ceiling.
Jan and Barry decided to take a two hour boat cruise along a section of the Danube, but as the weather was beginning to threaten showers we chose instead to go to the Glass Museum.
What an astounding collection! There are more than 30,000 exhibits of superb glass objects from the Bohemian and Silesian areas of Germany over a period of 250 years (up until 1930s). It is almost too much to deal with in one visit. The exhibit covers four floors and multiple levels within floors. We saw some other tourists looking a bit glassy-eyed after only a couple of rooms. But we loved it. I also learned a lot, especially not to so quickly judge something as being French -- the Germans were doing very similar work to Galle and Daum.
Old (castle) and one of the visiting river cruise ships in Passau.
Jan and Barry caught up with us indulging in strawberries and icecream, and apple strudel and custard with our coffees. They had enjoyed their trip on a particularly spectacular boat filled with Swarovski crystal chandeliers and fountains. They were particularly impressed with the lighting in the toilets.
Together we visited the local town hall where the richly decorated meeting room has some splendid paintings, but another similar room, was not open for viewing today due to a council meeting.
Also found the first antique shop actually open.
Passau was the first German town we have visited that looked a little untidy -- the first grafitti we have seen and some litter on the ground.
As usual we set the GPS for our "home" address at Mitterfels but this time the lady in the GPS tried a shortcut through a farm and a track in the forest. It was interesting for a while but the vehicle's capabilities and our patience ran out so we used real road signs to get back on track.
Eventually came home to a light meal on our balcony of ham, cheese, tomatoes, onion bread, strawberry shortcake and local white wine (A$5 for 1litre!) while listening to a nearby cuckoo and watching a distant hot-air balloon float by.
Oooh, gorgeous, just gorgeous! :)
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