Two Churches

Another highlight of Fussen was visiting two churches. At the edge of the town was an abbey, high on a hill. We climbed up through lovely trees on cobblestone ways until we reached the central court and entered the church of St. Mang (have to look up his story one day). Marty and I are interested in experiencing the themes or central messages of each church we visit so we were curious what we’d find here. While the outside of the church was unremarkable, the inside was alive with Baroque style pink marble and frescoes. Swirling and catching your eye, the walls and ceilings seemed alive with stories of rapture. The windows were clear glass cut in circles. The ceiling conveyed the entry of St Mang (we guessed) departing from this very church into heaven—a picture within a picture. Defeating death, which lay at St Peters gate, there were angels about to cover St Mang with a lovely pale green veil.

What interested me even more was at the back of the church, there were steps down to the baptistery. Dark, cold and grey, this low ceilinged room has a massive covered font and around it, simple painted figures of Jesus’ passion—one with Jesus on a donkey, another depicting the agony in the garden, with the 3 disciples asleep. Going back up stairs, you could really feel the belief system of the church’s designers: Passing through the waters of baptism allows us to experience God’s love and salvation. It was an interesting and expressive church!

Next we headed out of town to visit Wieskirche (church in the field). Marty remembered attending Christmas services there many years ago. Greta (aka our GPS unit) suggested we turn right on this fairly narrow road. We hesitated but had grown to trust her implicitly so we took a right turn. In the next few minutes we traversed through lovely fields with cows and neat farm houses and barns…and still no church. We kind of reached a dead end and decided to turn back. On our way we passed a sprightly young couple on bicycles, mom with a toddler on the back of hers. While they spoke German, they knew enough English to tell us nicely that we were on the bike path to Wieskirche. They had a map, gave us good directions and smiled good bye with a greeting that they’d see us at the church.

Back on the ROAD, we found the church easily (and a great parking lot). This church is truly out in a field, quite a striking with its whitewalls and neat trim as you pass through agrarian country. Stepping into this church, our first thought was—this is HEAVEN! A rococo style church, clouds, white and puffy fluffed the walls, accompanied by saints and Jesus and Mary, everybody happy and peaceful. The effect was glorious, relief from the tough life we imagined farmers lived day to day. The marble pillars and alters were pink and blue swirls, more colorful than St Mangs but reminiscent. I don’t remember stories of Jesus’ passion in this church—it was all glory and honor. Wieskirche is just a lovely spot in the countryside and worth a stop on our way through the area.

Two Castles

Marty lived in Fussen for four months when he was 19. He’d often shared stories about the beauty of the area and proximity to two castles—the castles of Ludwig II and his father Max. It was fun to visit and reminisce about Marty’s time there many years ago. Fussen is a lovely bustling town, very pedestrian-friendly. Everything refers to Swans here. We stayed in Schwangau, just outside Fussen, and had a view of Neuschwanstein (New Swan Rock).

Our tour of the castles was on a lovely fall day, crisp and clear. The autumn colors brought the foothills to life. We first toured dad’s castle, where Ludwig grew up. Schloss (Castle) Hohenschwangau (High swan --). The umber colored exterior with burnt orange trim juxtaposed perfectly with the season. The rooms struck me as higher than broad—ceilings easily 12 feet high but the rooms themselves not that big. The queen's rooms were decorated before she was on the scene so she lived with her husband’s taste—a Moorish-style bedroom. My favorite was a tea room, set with a lovely cream and green china echoed in the table linens as well, The rooms were heated with free standing tile fireplaces fed discreetly by the servants using hidden tunnel systems.

Her rooms were on the second floor while her husband’s were on the third—connected by a hidden stairway…dad’s bedroom had lots of Romantic voluptuous women in paintings on the walls. Hmmm, wondered what his fantasies were.

Ludwig’s bedroom showed the roots of his idiosyncrasies. He had little stars over his bed and some way of simulating the phases of the moon. He also had a huge telescope through which he watched the 17 years of construction of Neuschwanstein.

We took a bus up to Neuschwanstein, set quite high on the mountain. The white exterior is actually a plaster-type finish over red brick, both mined from nearby. Still about half unfinished, the tour allowed us to see both the vision and construction. We walked up over 100 steps to get to the 2nd floor and then 4th floor, the two finished interior areas of the castle. The servants quarters were nicer than mom and dad’s place so you can imagine Ludwig’s digs. While dad seemed to be a womanizer, his son was a bit weird—and his room certainly one-upped his father’s. Connecting his bedroom to his living quarters was a cave, complete with stalactites. Perhaps the psychologists among us could comment on that.

The throne room was truly out of this world. Gold and lapis lazuli adorned the walls—just unbelievable! Mosaic floors, statues, paintings, you name it. Martin reminded us that Ludwig nearly broke the treasury building this place. He only lived there 6 months, then died mysteriously after being declared mentally ill, either murdered or suicide, they are not sure. Interestingly, 6 weeks after his death, the castle opened for tours—and has been a bustling business ever since. Perhaps that was Ludwig’s genius for the ages.

Grossglockner

As we drove to Mayrhofen in rural Austria, we found it disconcerting that the highway continued to run straight thru the towns without slowing down or reduced traffic. We arrived at Mayrhofen and were shocked that the hotel was right on the hwy. Instead of fresh air we smelled diesel fumes. The hotel decorations were kitchy rather than authentic and we all agreed immediately this was not a place we wanted to stay. Plus they lost our reservation. So we stayed one night and began problem solving... where would we like to go instead?

Salzburg was an easy second choice. We reserved a place in the old town and headed out. It was hard to be leaving the mountains-but Marty found us the perfect antidote: a Day on the Glossglockner Hohenalpenstrasse (Try saying that five times fast! Once is more than I can manage!)

Glossglockner is the highest mountain in the Austrian Alps. Hochalpenstrasse means High mountain road. That is the truth! The Alps we viewed in Switzerland were softened by villages nestled under the peaks. The Glossglockner section is pure massive rock and glaciers and snow. Raw beauty of the mountains, approached by a series of 14 switchbacks--amazing! More like Alaska than Hurricane Ridge. At the top we had nearly 360 degree views. An interesting aspect of the road is special acknowledgement of motorcyclists who have a special 'bikers path' to the top. Lots of Harleys and leather up there, all of us really awed by the mountains. We met some friendly folks from Toronto (driving a Nissan). We thoroughly enjoyed the jaw dropping views at the top and celebrated with warm apple strudel and vanilla custard (and a latte) in the bright sunshine.

Of the Earth

Sunday morning we drove through some of the most pristine countryside I have ever seen. The villages nestled against the mountains, mother earth the care taker, nurturing all. The peaks were changing as autumn became winter, colored foliage replaced by bright white, bleaching the countryside. Houses spilled geraniums out of window boxes, reds and pinks restating the richness and connections of the earth.

The glacial rivers, veins of ice blue, ran through the valleys too, washing and singing along our route. We played classical music and saw the echo in the landscape. The mountains were sopranos, carrying the melody, always attracting our attention, soaring above. The rivers carried the bass line, grounding the symphony in luscious rich sound. As a former mezzo soprano, I have a special connection with the trees, who fill in the background, adding depth to the melody. The churches and villages offered tenor, sometimes being the counterpoint, but often content to blend and connect. Before, behind, beside, the music was all around us, living, breathing mother nature in her glory.

Hotel Sonne Fex Dinners

We cannot do justice to Suzanne's hospitality at the Hotel Sonne Fex without raving about the meals. Oh my goodness, each was delicious! Dinner was always a five-course meal. Here are several menus we experienced; they speak for themselves.

Day 1

Tomato turine with a warm jumbo shrimp
Corn soup
White fish/prosciutto/spinach/sea salt
Game hen/potato/broccoli
Raspberry sorbet/chocolate leaf/pineapple crepe

Day 2

Potato salad stuffed cucumber with parsley and cherry tomato garnish
Curry lemon grass soup
Salmon curry over cous cous
Veal with carrots with nest of buttered noodles
Pear in red wine/chocolate mousse and berries (presented as a beautiful still life)

Day 3

Caprese salad (radicchio/tomato/mozzarella)
crab bisque
Spetzel (noodle) wrapped with local greens and creme sauce
Char (fish) over asparagus with pearl potatoes
Citrice ice and ?


Day 4

Autumn salad (fresh greens with herbs)
Consomme with ricotta dumpling
Fish ?
Filet of beef with something incredible
Almond cake with creme/raspberry and vanilla ice

Each meal was delicious!!!

White to Green via Bernina

The Bernina Express is a train that loops on serpentine tracks over the Bernina Pass, from St Moritz to Turino Italy. We decided to use our Eurail Passes to enjoy a day of vistas. And the views were incredible! The train has special panorama windows so we could see nearly 180 degrees. The snowy peaks were nearly blinding, but so beatiful. The valley villages were so quaint, we just thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

We arrived at Turino, Italy, which was green and warm, late summer weather. What a nice change after our cooler climate. We only had a half hour there, took time for gelato and something to drink, then back on the train. The ride back was even more fun, just a great way to see the mountains in the snow.

Dry Run to Italy

We've had such limited access to internet I'm behind but have lots of stories to share. The night manager at our hotel is letting me use his computer now. Kindness of strangers continues.

Way back 3 days ago, we decided to drive down to Lake Como to check out warmer weather and a bit of Italy...We drove over the maloja (conveniently pronounced molloy-a) pass thru a series of switchbacks down to a charming town called Chiavenna some distance before Lake Como. There we found this great parking lot! Yes, Marty was on the lookout for ways to protect his new car from dings. Now a great parking lot is no small accomplishment in Italy as most of you know. We wandered around town, got lost, found the botanical garden five minutes after it closed for lunch...so we decided to drive on to Lake Como. We got there and began driving the north shore, lovely little towns but crazy drivers and narrow streets...no parking. so we kept driving on and on, finally decided we'd missed a good prospect with a decent parking lot so headed back there for lunch. With help from a couple of nice guys, we got a passable parking space.

Food was delicious!! Teddi and Martin each ordered calzone and had enough to feed a family of four! We thought about walking around a bit but the towns were so crowded and parking so nerve wracking, we decided to head back to Chiavenna to the great parking lot!

Seriously we had a lovely afternoon there. The botanical garden was really cool, a mix of flora unlike any we'd seen in one place--from pines to cactus right next to each other, and an old fort ruin from the year 1000. So after an enjoyable day we headed back to the Fex Valley, glad we'd had a little warm up for Italy and grateful we will be dumping the car before we get there again!