Somehow our master planner had led our group of hikers from Starnberg to Andechs, but due to some kind of ill-fated disease seizing me I could not join this tour. Truely regretting it as rumour has it that this tour was a really decent one I can do nothing but skip on to the next part, which did not take us quite forward towards the Alps but at least gave me the chance to experience the famous monastery of Andechs.
Update: Some corrections
Update: And some more corrections...
Time had passed by since our last hike and it had become May when we joined again in Wessling, on an early Saturday morning that did not present us with the best of all weathers - it rained. As always we ran for the border of the settlement pursuing the open fields and forrests. Heading roughly south our hike was shortly interrupted by an encounter of bits and pieces weirdly hung into a tree and arranged around and within an old decayed shed, ostensibly the deeds of some self-appointed artist. They have become quite abundand around the lakes in this area... Over a meadow and through a clump of trees the trail led us out of the rain, and into a wood. Some foxes sped away when we passed by a small pond.
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| Image: A lovely pond - or is it a swamp already? |
Leaving the forrest we reached Seefeld at the Pilsensee lake, and headed for the castle Seefeld, and visited its restaurant for lunch. They served oxen and they served it well... The castle is still possessed by the nobel family which built it, and one of their decendants spends her time creating odd but fascinating artifacts from the remainings of dead beings, be it fur or bones, leaves or bark. Much of it is presented in the cellars of the castle, creating an atmosphere in between dream and nightmare. And if you ever wondered where Santa goes after Christmas, you will find him down there as well, ever snoring.
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| Image: The portal of Seefeld castle |
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| Image: The weird fountain in the inner court of Seefeld castle |
We spent quite a bit of time discovering the oddities of this exhibition, and quite a bit of time had passed by when we finally left again, through the wild park of the castle into the woods south of Seefeld and when we reached open ground again, we could already spot the holy hill of Andechs where monks decided to build a monastery to become one of the most famous monasteries in Bavaria.
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| Image: Approaching the holy hill of Andechs topped by the famous monastery |
Yet a bit of distance had to be surpassed. We reached the hill, the monastery and as the weather had improved even further, sat down in the beer garden to have lunch and of course, some of the tasty Andechser, brewed in the very monastery. Unfortunately, some members of our band where not in the best of all shapes and thus we decided to use the shortcut to Herrsching instead of heading further south. Through the Kiental valley we reached Herrsching rather early and decided to have a final meal in an asian restaurant, then walking to the railway station. Two of us left here by train, the other three of us decided to despite having become dark head on to Steinebach by feet. we reached there at around midnight, where the this trip ended...