Familie Schwan

Being a lover of all things natural I couldn't resist taking a few images of this family of swans...

Come along dear, catch up!

 I spotted this family on the Chiemsee in southern Bavaria. Of course like me the Schwans could just as easily be tourists, but I rather suspect they were locals.

The Familie Schwan

 There's something very majestic about swans don't you think?

Do you think he was trying to tell me something?

This is 'Dad' showing his brood the finer arts of mooning! lol

Re-cycling

Tilly spotted a perfect cycle for a small person while we were out walking this morning...

Can't you just tell from the expression on her face that she wanted to take it home?

Wonder whether I could teach her to ride it?

Back from foreign climes...

I arrived home from a trip to southern Bavaria yesterday morning where I spent a very enjoyable week taking photographs in the company of my good friend Antlady69. We stayed close to a town called Marktschellenberg in the district of Berchtesgadener Land and I must say it was stunningly beautiful.

Antlady69 collected me from Munich airport and we drove south to our destination, stopping en-route at Erding to stretch our legs and get a coffee. I loved the model of the town plan - so much nicer than displaying a map don't you think?

Street Plan of Erding

Isn't it cute? I so wish more cities/towns would do this:

Street Plan of Erding

A lot of the churches in this part of Germany have what I referred to as 'onion' towers, which reminded me somewhat of buildings in Russia. I don't think there's any connection, but it was worth taking a few photographs to illustrate the style. Here's one from Erding:

Church in Erding

After coffee we moved on to Seebruck beside the Chiemsee for a spot of lunch and a short stroll. The Chiemsee is an absolutely huge freshwater lake, which was formed around 10,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. The Chiemsee is also known as 'The Bavarian Sea'.

Lake Chiemsee with the Bavarian Alps in the background

I was fascinated by the drive through the Bavarian countryside, it proved to be quite different to what I had imagined. Just goes to show how wrong preconceptions can be! Of course I was aware there would be mountains, but I was quite unprepared for their beauty: I will be posting more about the landscape in the days to come.

We stayed in a very nice ferienwohnung (FeWo for short) with the family Fuchs. The property was called Steinlehen and is fairly typical of the area.

My room opened on the right-hand top balcony at the side of the house

Although it was dry on our arrival the skies were quite cloudy and unfortunately the view from my balcony was somewhat restricted, but of course I had to document it anyway!

The view from my balcony

As nice as the outlook was, on clearer days this view was quite spectacular as you will see at a later date! 

Oh God I'm stuffed!

I've been missing my annual sojourns to the Greek islands and in particular some good old Greek food so tonight I thought bugger it, I'm going to splurge and cooked this...

Greek Roast Lemon & Garlic Chicken with Potatoes

So I've pigged out on some wonderfully tasty chicken and spuds and now I'm working on being a couch potato with a second glass of rather good red wine. lol

Diet? What feckin' diet! I'm so full it's embarrassing and I just know I'm going to regret this tomorrow, but right now, who cares!

To the woods, the woods I tell ye!

I do love our local woodland at this time of year, especially on a warm sunny morning like the one we had today. The wood anemones, celandine, violet, cowslips, primrose, bluebells and wood-orchids are all in bloom... sadly of course you never see them all together, but it is common for the orchids and bluebells to bloom in close proximity and for bluebells to be found with wood anemones too.

English Bluebells

English Bluebells are quite different from the Spanish Bluebells that are colonising many areas and in my eyes are preferable simply because they are native. I'm not saying I dislike the Spanish variety of course, I just wish there was some control over the ever-growing population.

Wood Orchid and English Bluebell

I may be a trifle odd, but I really do enjoy seeing beds of celandine despite the majority of people regarding them as weeds to be avoided at all costs.

Celandine

  Tilly says she doesn't care about the flowers... she prefers her walking snacks!

Just gimme the biscuits!

To me though the flower beds make the woods an even nicer place to walk during the Spring and early Summer months.

Bluebells among the trees

Meet Usky's new friend

I spotted this guy while out cycling this morning, took a shine to him and stopped to pass the time of day... then I thought you might like to meet him too. Let me introduce you to The Celtic Warrior

The Celtic Warrior

Pretty impressive isn't he? Carved from a single hunk of tree by a local artist - you can view him at the end of Isca Road, Caerleon.

Facial Close-up

 Seeing this guy today reminded me of an old friend I haven't spoken to in ages... her name is Rosemary and she's an artist and sculptor who I know would appreciate this piece of work.

In other news I got my India Badge recently for having walked 1997 miles in my attempt to get fit!

India Badge - 1997 miles walked

Crossing the border

It was a lovely morning for a quick trip over the border into England...

Second Severn Crossing

Sadly you can't cycle over the Second Severn Crossing, but you can grab a nice image of it from Blackrock. Fortunately you can still use the original Severn Bridge (M48) to cross back and forth over the water.