The Ammersee

On Saturday, it was another sunny and warm day, so we decided to head out of town.  We took the S-Bahn about 30 miles south of Munich to the town of Herrsching and the Ammersee, the sixth largest lake in Bavaria.  After a stop at Tourist Information for maps and directions, we walked down to the lake.  

Our first view of the Amersee

Looking back towards the shore

The pier where a ferry docks and continues
around the lake - which we will do
another time

After spending some time at the lake, we walked to the Andechs Cloister above Herrshing in the little village of Andechs.  The walk was about 4-5 km each way with an elevation gain of around 500 feet.  The fussweg took us through forest, in a lot of ways similar to our forests in the northwest, however firs and pines were rare.  Mostly hardwood of one sort or another.  The walk ended at the ridge, with views below, very pretty.  At the Cloister there was a church, butcher, and of course a brewery and Biergarten.  They are known for their beers and schweinshaxse (pork knuckle).  We did a short visit to the church, and it was very pretty inside with a Baroque style.
Of course, the highlight of the visit was lunch in the Biergarten.  Denise had the Ribs (a whole rack for 8 Euro) and Pom Frites, and Gary had the Schweinshaxen (8.50 Euro) and saurkraut.  Of course, to wash this down we had a Mass (Gary) and a halb (Denise).

Signs on the Fussweg

Welcoming us to Andechs at the Ridge

The Andechs Church

Baroque Interior

Lunch is Served!

Lunch on a Perfect Day

Grilled Specialities

Fresh Roasted Trout

Finally, on our way down the mountain we saw this funny looking device in someones yard making seemingly random movements.  As it turned out it was a Robo mower.  Kind of like the Robo Vacuums that are available.  Pretty neat concept, but we weren't sure how well it worked.

On Sunday, we went to the English speaking Methodist Church Service.  It was nice and we met some really nice people.  Very friendly congregation, very mixed ethnicity, about 40% Caucasian, and lots of children around.  The church is very popular with refugee families from Africa, probably because English is a common language.  Lots of Brits there also.  We will definitely go back.

Tomorrow, Monday, is a holiday - the third religious holiday this month, which means everything will be closed.  Too bad we didn't know that ahead of time, especially since everything is closed on Sunday, too.  We probably won't starve, but since we only shop a day or two at a time, the cupboard is a bit bare!