Fussen - A Romantic town

Fussen is a small town in Bavaria. Even though small in size, it's one of the major tourist attractions in Germany.

This town is embedded in the mountains of the Alps and surrounded by lakes

The 'Romantic Road' which is the breathtaking scenic route along the pictureque villages ...ends in Fussen.

Snow fall on the day we arrived in Fussen !

The view of the convent Franciscus ..one of the main attractions in Fussen

The beautiful Lech falls ... it was 0 degree temperature and we stood with trembling legs watching the lech river form this roaring fall into the gorge.

The Gästehaus Herb .... a lovely apartment which was our home during our stay in south germany.

The view of the Alps from the apartment kitchen :-)

The easter celebrations !

The world famous fairy tale castle - 'Neuschwanstein Castle' and also the 'Hohenschwangau Castle'  are only a stone throw away from Fussen.

More on these beautiful castles in a separate post :)

Eggs-tra Special Easter !

Easter has always been special for me since the time I moved to Cyprus.
Even though I do not have the tradition to celebrate, it’s really great to see the festivities all around.

This year's Easter was more special since the two branches of Christianity (western and eastern orthodox) celebrated Easter on the same date...which I understand happens only few years in a century!
This gave me the opportunity to see the Easter celebrations in Austria and Germany, which we visited during our Easter holidays this year :-)

We couldn't miss the special Easter market that was everywhere.

The egg symbolizes the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when a chick hatches.

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs. But a modern custom is to substitute with chocolate eggs or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans.

These eggs are often hidden, allegedly by the Easter Bunny, for children to find on Easter morning.

There were lot of other stores in this easter market....

....but our main focus remained on the ones selling some delicious easter sweets and pretzels :-)

My little girl amused with the size and colour of these eggs ;-)

Apart from the eggs, some special easter toys for kids....

......and some entertainment from this super huge "chicken" :-)

More on Austria and Germany in the coming posts. Keep visiting and do write in your views :)

(Images by Anupama Puneeth. Information courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg)

St. Bartholomä - Königssee

The lake Königssee is a long mountain lake in the Berchtesgaden National Park in the southeastern Bavaria.

The lake is noted for its clear water and is advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany! For this reason only electric driven boats, rowboats and pedal boats have been permitted on the lake.

Lake Königssee's landmark is the chapel of St. Bartholomä that can only be reached by boat or on foot after a long hike. On the day we reached, it was pretty chill and we decided to stick to only the boat ride.

On the boat ride, at about half the journey to St. Bartholomew's, it is traditional to stop and play the trumpet to demonstrate the echo.
It was amazing to hear this. Highly recommend the boat ride to anyone visiting this place.

St. Bartholomew's Church is a pilgrimage chapel and is considered the oldest mountain pilgrimage in Europe.

St. Bartholomew is said to be the protector of alpine farmers and of milkmaids.
Since 16th century it has been in the baroque style. It has two onion domes and a red domed roof.

The easter celebrations in the church.

Apart from the church, this small island has a fish tavern, a hunting lodge which is now turned into an inn, a souvenir shop and few other small buildings.

Once the last boat leaves this island in the afternoon, St Bartholomä turns into complete silence !

(All Images by Anupama Puneeth. Information courtesy http://de.wikipedia.org/)

Happy Easter !

Wishing an Eggs-tra special easter :-)

.... all the way from Austria and Germany !!!