Kloster Andechs

Opening note: if you are trying to get in touch with me, please use my new yahoo email address. I can't get onto the web site that has my church email address. My yahoo address is jimmorse52@yahoo.com I'm able to get mail from that address. Love to hear from you!

Yesterday we traveled from Rothenburg to Andechs, going through Augsburg (on the fly), heading south. Hard to find the Romantic Road much of the time--poorly signed and easy to get turned around. Finally just got on 17 south (even though you wouldn't know you are going south from the signs, because their route signs don't have north and south (S & N) on them.

Took the autobahn (with some driving in the left lane!) in Lansberg to the Amersee exit and headed south in search of Andechs. Jan said that every big church we could see was the Andechs monastery because, "It's big; you can see it from miles away." However, Andechs was about 20 km down the road and we couldn't see the monastery until we had climbed the mountain to Andechs.

Went directly to the Kloster, exploring, and found things that looked like they fit with Jan's dad's descriptions of the Kloster when he was stationed here at the end of the WW II. He stayed at an inn not far from the monastery and would bring used coffee grounds to the monastery, giving them to a woman through a portal in a door of the church, then getting some schnapps in return! This was a daily ritual.

We found a door that fit the description, but were not sure. Jan had a photo of her father standing in front of the inn he slept in while in Andechs. Once we located that inn, we would be sure we were in the right spot.

How to do that? Ask some locals.

Where find some locals? At the biergarten at the monastery!

Jan and I sat at a table that happened to be next to a table filled with older gentlemen who looked "local." After about five minutes, I took Jan's photo of her dad, approached the men and asked if they recognized the inn in the picture. Long story short--they did! It was at the bottom of the hill! Not more than 300 meters from the parking lot at the bottom of the hill.

Herman, one of the locals offered to go with us to what is now the Ehrlinger Inn, having been the Seefelder Gasthof in Jan's dad's days. We went and showed the photo to the innkeeper, and he pointed to old photos on the wall. We had definitely found the spot!

We booked a room for the next couple of nights, went back to the biergarten and had a roaring good time with Herman, Rudi (really Rudolph), and Michael. Michael speaks some English and is the nephew of Rudi. We are scheduled to meet them back at their special, reserved after 3 p.m. daily, table at 5 p.m. today, Friday, June 6.

Side note: had a pork knuckle for dinner last night at the biergarten. Great!

Another side note: Our room is a triple, which means it has a "double," which is like two twin mattresses together in one wooden frame. So it's like a kingsize bed. We also have a couch that folds out into another bed. Very spacious and comfortable. The bathroom is huge, compared to the ones in the first two inns we inhabited.

This is being posted in an internet cafe right by the Amersee (Lake Amer). Found it last night and wanted to make some posts today and check email.

Weather is overcast and in the low- to mid-70s. Comfortable. In pants and a shortsleeve shirt. Shorts would be great, but wearing them marks you as a TOURIST as if you had a neon sign blinking above your head!

More tomorrow.

Email me! I'm feeling out of touch! :)