Friday, January 09, 2009

mittenwald, garmisch, oberammergau

Mittenwald




The first time we went to Bayern I was looking for a place to stay that would serve as a base for visiting the famous castles and the surrounding area. Quite by chance I found the website for the Alpenrose guesthouse, in a small village called Mittenwald, about one hour south of Munich. The prices were good and they had free rooms so that's where we booked.

I don't think I posted or shared photos back then but it was one of the highlights of that trip. We fell in love with this charming village and this beautiful traditional bavarian guesthouse, so much that we went back a year later during our trip to Croatia and northern Italy, and again a third time during this trip.

We didn't know it then, but Mittenwald is particularly known for its Lüftlmalerei (house painting frescoes in the exterior walls) usually depicting religious themes or the profession of its owners










Some photos of the Alpenrose guesthouse ... the rooms can be either small or quite large, but always beautifully decorated. To have dinner here can be quite an experience if you don't understand much German, but it's also part of its charm (this time we brought along a dictionary, just in case)






Garmisch-Partenkirchen


Garmisch-Partenkirchen

On our way we also visited Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a much larger village nearby which we had only visited briefly the first time. There was, of course, another Christmas market going on ...

We had lunch at the Alpenhof on the main shopping street, and I highly recommend it.







Oberammergau



On Sunday morning before we left for the airport, we made a last stop in Oberammergau, halfway between Mittenwald and Munich, since I read on my guide that its Lüftlmalerei were even more magnificent than in Mittenwald.

We weren't disappointed. It's a picture perfect village, maybe a bit touristy, but it was snowing and it was early morning so there were not that many tourists around, and everything just looked so nice.





Of course, I had to stop a last time at a Kathe Wohlfahrt shop. As you probably noticed I can never get enough of Christmas decorations, so this shop (and the Christmas markets) are like a huge treat for me.





My favorite house ? It had to be Little red riding hood, of course :)


4 comments:

Tina said...

what wonderful photos!!!! I love Bavaria so much, it´s charming!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Tina

aries said...

Very nice photos! i can feel some cold too.

Marina Korzhova said...

Ich weiß, es wird einmal ein Wunder geschehen, und dann werden tausend Märchen wahr...Ich glaube Oberammergau ist Wunderschön! Ich will es wiedersehen!

Anonymous said...

The information here is great. I will invite my friends here.

Thanks