Munich to Lake Chiemse Day Trip

Today we created our own adventure…A train and bike trip! We took our “weekend rental” bikes with us on a regional train and in an hour we arrived at Prien, the main town in Lake Chiemsee!

Lake Chiemsee was formed around 15-20,000 years ago and is the largest lake in Bavaria. It is often referred to as the Bavarian Sea.

There are three small islands on the lake and we visited two of them, Herreninsel and Frauneninsel. These two, along with the third island, Krautinsel, form the municipality of Chiemsee.

We rode our bikes from the train station to the ferry pier, stopping along the way at a tourist information hut for directions and a map. (The above picture is from our map and is courtesy of Margaret Baumgartner|www.vk-mb.com.)

At the ferry pier were were told that bikes were not allowed aboard, so we locked up our bikes :-( Once on the ferry we realized that the Alps surrounded us. Although it was sunny, there was a haze and the outlines of the mountains could be seen - it was different and very pretty none the less.

Our ferry leaving us on Herreninsel.

On the ferry with the Alps as our background.

The island of Herreninsel, (also referred to as Herrenchiemsee) is famous for the Castle Herrenchiemsee built by King Ludwit II and it is not surprising to learn that this castle was modeled in the style of Versailles. The interior contains reconstructions from old etchings and paintings that had long since been destroyed in Versailles.

This is Frauneninsel (island of the woman).
This beautiful island is home to fishermen, nuns and craftsmen.

It is full of flowers, which is why I think it's named "Island of the woman."
It is also home to the Benedictine Abbey Convent and St. Michael's Chapel.

While exploring the island, we wandered into a residential area. We noticed a homeowner up in a tree sawing off some branches. As we began to walked past him, he said something to us. Then, he came down the ladder and walked over to me holding a large branch he had just sawed off. He handed it to me and it was FULL of ripe cherries! YUM! I'd never had Cherrie's that tasted so good!























Here are some more pictures taken around the island:

Later we rode through hills, that only got steeper and higher and before we knew it, we were climbing on a grassy field behind a house way up in these hills looking down over this amazing valley! (Thank goodness for Spinning!) I took in the view carefully, as I figured we'd be dead shortly because; 1) we were trespassing and could be shot or; 2) we were going to fall off this mountain getting down. Thanks to Michael, who found a dirt and gravel trail which we rolled & slid down very fast and wound up right at the train station! Who'd a thunk we were so close?

Munich, The City

Ok - I'm in shock. What happened to this cute image I had of Germany? Gone are those adorable half timbered homes, little bridges and the rivers of Paris and Strasbourg. In place are huge monumental structures, cathedrals, museums and lots of cars and people.














We arrived yesterday from Strasbourg via
Stuttgart... French train from Strasbourg to Stuttgart, Germany is pretty snazzy...

...and comfy in our own compartment.

German trains....not so snazzy.

Munich is buzzing with activity and there are more people on bikes here than in Paris! Bicyclists, again in business suits & high heels, travel in packs and you better get out of the way-- I learned that the hard way waiting to cross the street. I heard dozens of bicycle bells ringing and when I turned my head there were 20 or more bikes coming at me. I stood still and they whizzed by me, and somewhere in there I heard a few German words that were probably not friendly and welcoming. After the cycle swarm past me, a nice German lady pointed to the ground told me I was standing on the bike path. That's when I realized there was a slight change in pavement between the sidewalk and the street which was a dedicated bike path. Thankfully, I lived and learned.

This week we walked around the city and visited Marienplatz / Rathaus-Glockenspiel, and Munich Residenz, the former royal palace.

At Marienplatz with the Glockenspiel behind me.
I must say this is the most overrated tourist attraction ever.
It's Cute, but glad I was lucky to arrive just as it was starting to chime.

There was a 5K race! Wish I would have known...

Everything is closed on Sundays, except for beer houses, beer gardens and restaurants.
This is a rare view of a sparse Marienplatz shopping corner...

Cheers!

Our first beer in Munich.

Later in the afternoon, we met up with a few of Michael's school-mates for a "Greet & Meet" at the famous Hofbrauhaus. The Hofbrauhaus in Munich is one of the most famous beer halls with quite a lot of history.

While walking back to our apartment, I came across a fitness center!

But...then I re-read the sign and got a little closer...

Aye..oh boy....

...ahem. Maybe not.

So....

Next day...

I return to Marienplatz and now it's really buzzing.
I decided to have lunch facing the Glockenspiel and watch the tourists watch the Glockenspiel...

I sit down, and I'm handed the menu - in German...yikes.

Mikey's not here to help me so ask for an English/German menu.
But...what do I order?

Bavarian Meatloaf! Yummy...it even comes with a bretzel!?
I asked the waitress and she drew out a twisted line which was,
you guessed it, the shape of a pretzel.

This is what I got,without potatoes and red cabbage:

I call it Spam and Egg

~~~*~~~

On Thursday, we took a city bike tour which had been organized by Michael's school. That's when I got the "Bug"....we HAD to rent bikes for this weekend.


















So, on Friday evening we returned to Mike's Bikes Tours and rented a couple of bikes for the weekend.

Meanwhile we take a much needed break from German food and found a good Thai restaurant!
Ahh....familiar stuff! Followed by eis (ice cream). For days we had seen people make a long line, at an ice cream store. Today, we noticed that finally, the line is not going around the corner. So we decided to find out what all the fuss is about and made the line for ice cream. Cheap and good!