We had a picturesque train trip from Lyon through the Geneve then on to Zurich where we had a stopover for a few hours. Just after we arrive in Zurich, it started to snow. It brought back so many memories of when we were there earlier this year. We were lucky enough to catch up with our Swiss host Reinhard for a short time. We then got back on the train for our journey to Raisting in Germany.
We arrived at the familiar train station to be met by George. It was so great to be back somewhere we felt completely at ease with, and one that we knew which direction to take and where the roads would lead too. After a lovely evening with George and Christa we headed for bed.
The next few days or in fact 10 days were action packed with Christmas markets, shopping, catching up with Janna in Munich for the day, shopping with Christa at Passing Arcade, and transport museum for the boys, Christmas concerts, with George and Christa singing in the choir, snow and more snow, collecting beer from the local brewery, German haircuts, visiting Marlies and her finance, visiting Slipf and her organic shop, and went for a walk along the lakeside at Utting. But the best sight had to be walking through Partnachklamm Gorge. This was something we wanted to do last time we visited Germany in 2006, but it was closed. Boy oh boy did we get a treat this time. It had of course been snowing, and the icicles had formed along the rocky overhang of the gorge. The water was so blue, and the rocks on the waterline had icicles on them too. It was simply stunning! Very, very beautiful. Once through the other side we went for a bit of a walk along the tracks before coming across a neat little restaurant where we had a bite to eat.
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| St Nicolas |
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| Christa and George performance at the Diessen market |
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| Janna standing by 'fire kitchen' at the market |
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| Christmas spirit everywhere, enhanced by the snow |
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| Gorgeous ! |
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| Not the right clothing for today ! |
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Munich Beerhaus, with some special cuisine, pork hock,
chicken and white sausage and of course pretzel |
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Don't know how these women carry up to six handles of beer in each hand. Often working from 7am to 1pm,
for no set pay except for tips. They had to serve, clean and pay for toothpicks, salt and pepper, matches for the guests and also pay for any breakages. But they were so strong, many carrying 6 handles in each hand! |
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| Special lock-ups for the private beer handles, and the wash area. |
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| Dinner with Janna |
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| Raisting beauty. |
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| Xmas is close |
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| Christa and me |
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| Boys returning from "Johns" the local brewery |
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| Time for a clean up |
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| Partnachklamm Gorge |
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| So beautiful! |
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| On the other side of the gorge |
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A little Nordic walking
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| Stunning |
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| A gnome |
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| Christa and George |
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| Restaurant where we ate lunch. |
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| The ski jump at Garmisch Partenkirchen |
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| From the front of the ski jump |
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| Catching up with Marlies and her finance Sebi |
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| Funny how snow gets caught up here and there. |
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| Three year old St Bernard playing in the snow - awesome |
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| On the jetty at Utting. |
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| Beautiful mid day sun |
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| Raclette evening - yummy at "Nesch Cafe and Bar" |
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| Murray off to Garmisch to hit the slopes for the day |
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Andechs - monastery Brewery with Swine hock, sauerkraut,
potatoe puree and a humungous pretzel - yummy! |
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| Our wonderful friends Christa and Geroge Nesch |
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Murray and George
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Well we must say, Germany or Bavaria you did it again, put on a snowy white Christmas scene for us, thank you. A beautiful spot in the world and one we hope to visit for the third time, in the future.
And thank you to our wonderful hosts Christa and George, we had a fantastic stay and look forward to seeing you on your arrival in NZ in February
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