Fall Break in Bavaria

During Stefan's fall vacation we kept Ronja with us. Stefan's mother joined her church on a two week trip to Israel, so we picked up the dog and drove south to Bavaria to visit Frank. We were only down there for the last four days of the break, so we had plenty of time to take some long walks on the outskirts of Marburg.

Frank lives about 30 minutes from the Austrian border, right in the Bavarian Alps, so it was gorgeous! He was happy to have family show up and check out his new digs. He's living in a totally cute little two room cabin. It's really cozy (isn't the entrance like a fairy tale?) and I love the painted shutters! Ronja liked napping in front of the warm stove while we worked outside. I actually really enjoyed raking -obviously there was a lot to do! We've had so many years of just having to sweep the balcony... A huge load of wood was delivered the day we arrived and the guys were outside stacking wood long after I finished raking. I made a big batch of chili to help warm everybody up when they finally came back inside.

We really enjoyed walks outside in the cold sunshine. Ronja just never seemed to tire, so we just walked and walked and walked. Most of these shots are from our walk along the Walchensee. There were little boathouses along the shore for summer paddles around the lake. We'll have to come back in the summer and rent a boat for an afternoon.

One of the things we saw on our walk was a tiny chapel. It was ancient and had a bone and skull display in the door to mark the faithful. I'd seen a fancier version of this in Austria once before, but it's still a little weird. Unfortunately the doors were locked so we couldn't go explore the inside.

I have to say I really loved this little farm we ended up walking through. The blue and white painted shutters are just too cute for words! Eventually we came back around to the shoreline and Ronja had a nice long drink. See how clear the water is? And yes, it was icy cold water!