We just love the Alps - although we don't love the Alps quite as much when we can't actually SEE the Alps!
First, we said goodbye to Nuremberg (the view from our hotel window, HA!) and drove about 3 hours south to the border town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
München, this way!
These kiddos crashed HARD on the way to Garmisch. And as you can see, I cannot see out of the back of this dinky little BMW!
Things look a little different here than they do in the cities! This is the view from our hotel window (the cute little Hotel Drei Moran which was in Partenkirchen.)
This hotel was literally the cutest thing ever. Grant declared it felt like someone's grandmother's house - I can't remember exactly what he said but it had something to do with the hotel feeling very old. I love that - it's so much more personal than a chain hotel!
Natalie even got her own little bedroom!
We decided to go on a little walk in between the raindrops around the Partenkirchen side of town, where we were staying. We hadn't explored this part of town when we lived here, but it's REALLY cute! We eventually walked toward Garmisch so we could make a reservation for dinner.
Every building looks like this, too. This particular building was built in 1811, but most of the mural was done in 1999 by Gerhard Ester.
The Sebastianskirche was apparently built in the 17th century on the site of the graves of those who died of the plague during the Thirty Years War. People were so afraid of the plague and how contagious it was, that they didn't bury those who died of it near the Parish church. Instead, they buried them here (far away from the actual Parish church!) In 1925, it was converted to a WWI memorial.
You could walk for literally an hour and find nothing but these pretty buildings. More on these lüftlmalerei murals in a bit, but if you squint real hard, you can see a butcher (and a cow) symbolizing that this is a butcher shop.
We strolled up toward the Kankerbach on our way to Garmisch. This is interesting floodplain management. I wonder if this floods?
Oh heeeyyyy there Verkaufsautomat, anyone want a snack?
The Partnach absolutely floods, as it comes down from the Gorge.
We needed to stop at Zum Wildschütz so that we could get reservations for later that night. Restaurants in Germany almost always require a reservation (particularly in smaller towns), and if you want that Schweinshaxe, you DEFINITELY need a reservation because they need several hours to make it! This has always been our favorite restaurant in Garmisch!
After we made reservations, we moved on, but by now it was raining and annoying. At least the flowers were pretty in the Marienplatz!
We strolled around Garmisch stopping at Müller to buy umbrellas, which was really funny because Natalie had one with peaches on it that spelled it "peachs." CLASSIC! We finally got Grant a good Garmisch Partenkirchen hoodie, we stopped for ice cream and coffee, and we picked up a few souvenirs and cosmetics along the way. But it was rainy and miserable and the kids wanted to go back to the hotel. So we did, passing the Partnach River again along the way.
Grant made friends with this guy in the lobby of our hotel.
We went upstairs to sit for a bit before Todd and I wanted to head out again and check out the Partenkirchen side of the town. I took this picture from this cool window in our room!
This town is a storybook, I tell ya. Ludwigstraße is the most famous street in town, and rightfully so with it's beautifully decorated buildings and colorful façades.
It was pretty chilly but we still wanted to stroll along the Ludwigstraße, which of course, is named for my favorite dude - Ludwig II.
Since 1935, the Augustiner Brau Munich Brewery has owned this and operated this restaurant and inn (but not a brewery!) known as the Werdenfelser Hof. A bit ironically, it was an inn and a brewery way back in the 1500s.
The "Lüftlmalerei" are special Bavarian mural paintings that adorn the façade of the structures. They may have Biblical representations, or they may tell you a bit about what the owners do or what the building is used for. This building was an old bakery called zum Langer-Beck back in 1466 (although the decorative façade was completed between 1925 and 1935.) If you look closely at the pictures in between the windows, the (babies?) all appear to be doing the work that needs to be done in order to make bread.
In 1811 and 1865, fires destroyed this part of town, so most of the façade on these buildings are relatively new. You can see that some of these buildings have a façade that is in the Trompe-l'œil artistic perspective.
Back in the day, most people could not read, so visual signs such as this one hung so that the people of the community would know where to get their goods and services. If you're interested, I highly recommend checking out this website to learn more about the Lüftlmalerei and the history of Ludwigstraße: Ludwigstrasse - Lüftlmalerei
This is the Rassen Gasthof, which was named after Saint Rasso of Andechs (whom you can see in the center of the building painted by Gerhard Ester in 1988.) These lüftlmalerei are beautiful, and all very new! There were no lüftlmalerei here in 1927, with some popping up in the 1930s and 1950s before Ester renovated it in the late 1980s.
We swung into the Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt Partenkirchen, also known as the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Partenkirchen. This structure was one of the victims of the 1865 fire, but was rebuilt started in 1868.
What a pretty little church!
Can I get an Amen for the wallpaper?
As we made our way to the exit, we discovered this. SO unlike America. Lit, totally unsupervised candles in a church that has already burned down at least once! Seems like a good idea!
Back out on Ludwigstraße, I learned from this building that the Old Bavarian word for girl is "dirndl!" That is, of course, now the word for the traditional Bavarian dress of women (that you might see everyone wearing at Oktoberfest!) What the man and woman depicted here are leaning on is the coat of arms for the town of Freising - which we have been to many times. It's near the Munich airport and the home to the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan, which is the oldest brewery in the world!
The best part about this building, known as Haus Baudrexl is that I did not get a picture of the side of the building which has the phrase, "Mit jedem Tag den ich älter werde, mächst die Zahl derer, die mich am Arsch lecken können!" And of course, that translates to, "Every day older I pass, increases the number who can kiss my ass!” This phrase is painted on the side of the building on the left, facing the brown building (where apparently at one point the owner got into a fight with the owner of that building - or maybe the building on another on that side of him, and the phrase was stenciled on there on purpose!)
They painted an advertisement for Paulaner bier Festgespann, or "festival teams" on the side of this Gasthof.
Well, I mean... I HAD to take a picture of this place because I spy with my little eye LUDWIG II! The most eccentric King of Bavaria EVER! This lüftlmalerei of Ludwig was only painted in 1987 (but it was modeled after one of the most famous portraits that was painted of him in 1879).
The beauty of these buildings never ends!
Believe it or not, there IS an "oldest house" - and it's this one, located at Ludwigstraße 8. The sign above the door reads, "The Old House, called the Kistner-Hof, partly renovated from the Barbarossa period AD 1772. Rebuilt in its current form by the BECKER brothers from Munich and Nuremberg, 1922."
The date 1772 is carved into the building on this side, although many believe the former farmhouse is actually older than this. It survived the great market fire of 1865 unscathed. It has been a place of business since 1920 when the great grandfather of the current owner acquired the building.
I like that they have a radar gun right there in front of Das Alte Haus!
The rain picked up again when I was outside of Gasthof Frauendorfer - but don't worry. Ludwig has his eye on me!
This amazing building, which is one that was destroyed (completely) in the market fire of 1865, depicts a wedding scene!
There has been a structure at the Gasthof Frauerdorfer location since at least the 1400s. It's currently connected to another pretty building known for it's cheese - and it's depiction of Jesus, Mary and Joseph heading for Egypt after King Herrod's orders to murder all of the baby boys. You can see that at the very top of the building on the right.
I love the Zodiac sign on this building! And what is that in the upper left? Is that supposed to be an illuminati??? The owner of this house was very into Greek Mythology so a lot of that was incorporated into the murals along with various Bible scenes. The center piece is modeled after Rafael's "The Vision of Ezekiel" which he painted in 1518.
We walked back down Ludwigstraße and passed the Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt before we stopped for some yummy pralinen at Chocolaterie Amelie (which we most certainly did NOT share with the kids who didn't want to come exploring with us!)
The rain picked up again and I realized I left my wet umbrella at the Chocolaterie, so I had to run back to get it.
We grabbed the kids and went out for dinner where we had made reservations much earlier in the day at Zum Wildschütz. Look at this beautiful schweinebraten in the dark beer sauce with the Knödel!
And of course, Todd got his favorite Schweinshaxe!
Grant gobbled up both a potato dumpling AND a bread dumpling. He said both were good, but he preferred the potato dumpling (now we know!)
I still love how Germany has no problem with dogs in restaurants. This little guy was at the table next to us and was hoping one of my kids would drop him a little nibble! No such luck for him, though!
Until next time, Garmish Partenkirchen!
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