Relaxing Day in Unterammergau; Ettal Christmas Market

It is another beautiful, sunny day.  It's actually very warm here for this time of year.  Our hostess, Marianne, said that even if it did snow, it will not last because the ground is too warm.  This area is usually covered with snow by now.  I'm sure Herr Mueller is disappointed because he should be giving sleigh rides by now.

The man of the house is tending to his wood pile.  I took a few pictures of the wood splitting machine he uses.  My dad will like seeing these.

Splitting Firewood

After breakfast, while Marianne used my computer, I took off for a walk in the hills.  There is a walking path right by the house that climbs rather steeply in a wooded area.  Here's the farmhouse from my viewpoint.

Bauernhof (farmhouse) Down Below

                                               

While I was walking, Herr Josef came along in his tractor.

Herr Josef

He knows our hostess, Marianne, and mentions how hard she works on her farm.  Marianne was telling us that the farm house was built 20 years ago.  They owned the land, however, it was hard for them to get permission to build the house on their farm.  The Germans usually live in town and go out to work on their farm. 

We left the house at 1 pm to go to the Ettal Christmas Market.  Our first stop was at the Die Schaukaserei, the Kloster Ettal cheese factory.  The cows at our Bauernhof supply the milk to make the Ettal cheese at this factory.  Of course, I had to buy some.

Marianne drops me off at the market while she attempts to get her computer fixed.  The market has an admission fee of 4 Euros.  Most of the stalls have handcrafted items, a lot of which are for the garden or to decorate outside for Christmas.  I've seen some of the items at previous markets and the prices here are a lot higher.  However, I do find a nice colorful winter scarf for 12.50--of course, it's made in India for that price.  Oh, well, not everything can be made in Germany.

Ettal Christmas Market at the Monastery

A tour of the Basilica is going to begin at 3 p.m. and I take my place among a tour group.  Standing next to me is a tour director.  She said she'll translate the German for me.

Interior of Kloster Ettal Monastery

The Basilica is massive.  Inside, from the floor to the top of the dome, is 17 meters.  The style is Baroque with several paintings on the walls and ceiling. The painting behind the altar is from Italy.  Byzantine Monks live here at the monastery and produce, and sell, their own cheese and beer.  After an introduction to the Basilica by a Monk, an organist and a brass band played Advent songs.  Marianne finds me among the large crowd and afterwards we head back to Unterammergau to eat dinner at Landgasthof Stern.  We each had a great German salad and Jagerschnitzel with a cream sauce for dinner.  It was delicious, however, it was too rich for my stomach.

We return to the monastery, however, we hear only the end of this evening's Gregorian chant.  We get back to the apartment early.  Tomorrow we're on our way to Munich and Augsburg.  I really hate to leave this comfortable apartment.