Challenging Arts & Crafts: a weekend in Chiemsee.....

It´s about 400 kilometers away from home and took us 3 1/2 hours of driving from

Vienna to Bavaria, Germany. We were visiting relatives in a town

called Schonstett and spent our weekend there with Lily.

As an attraction of our tour, we went to the "Fraueninsel" in Chiemsee,

a famous lake in Germany visited not only by the locals but

tourists all over Europe as well.

This island is also inhabited by the locals who in turn make the most of

their hobbies by creating artisan objects and

sell them to visiting tourists.

One does not get to see the inside of the

Benedictinian Monastery (nuns) founded by

Duke Tassilo II in the year 782.

But, its administrators sometime hold various

seminars on special topics that are offered

to the public.

Frauen Insel image source: Photorator.com

Chiemsee has four islands and two are the most

famous of them which are Herreninsel and the

smaller Fraueninsel.

We decided to visit the smaller one and took the

ferry boat going there.

image source : bahn.de

It was Lily´s first time on board this kind of vessel. She had been

on a train, a plane to Spain, a bike ride, a car ride and

here the ferry boat ride.

She seemed to have enjoyed it as swift wind made it

cooler for her to manage the heat at around 25 °C.

The distance from the dock of Gstadt to Fraueninsel is around 1.8 Km
which took us 15 minutes to reach the island

Although the weather forecast on that day wasn´t that good,
there was no gusty winds at all.
We were lucky to have made the excursion.

As we were getting closer to the island, we could see the tower of the Monastery,
the lush green trees, and the many docking stations for private boats.

The water had been calm and still all the time.

We saw so many small sailing boats and

many sports enthusiasts who strived hard to reach

the islands of the lake with their canoes.

We took the walk to get to know the island and noticed that there were

many restaurants and bars offering hot and cold drinks.

The Benedictine Monastery can´t be seen on the inside, but from time to time,
various seminars are offered to the public.

This lime tree is believed to be around 1000 years old and had been planted
during the medieval times. In order to protect this tree, a fence was made around it to
prevent the island visitors from going near the tree
that might cause damages to its roots.

This is an example of typical house in the island, built in the alpine style

where most houses in the Alps were constructed

with wood or log.

This tree is not as old as the protected lime tree, but surely,... this is centuries old..

As we went round the island, I noticed the

so many sitting areas where you can simply rest and

enjoy the view, feel the clean air, the quietness of the

surroundings. All the stress will surely be gone,

I saw flowers in abundance and everyone has lovely

garden full of flowering plants to enjoy.

Lily seemed to have enjoyed the scenery, the people, the tourists we met,

but surely not the water...as she was avoiding it!!!

As we continue to go round, people stopped and

greeted Lily. She in return didn´t acknowledge the gesture as she´s the
kind of dog that would run away from
strangers, LOL!

The tourists and locals alike do various sports

in the lake. We´ve seen this group of senior men

and women, age between 60-75 cannoing..gosh,
they were unbelievably strong...
how sporty they were!!!

Others went sailing, some were just paddling
on the water in their tiny boats without direction
.....and some simply enjoyed swimming in the lake.

A cold delicious drink in a restaurant along the bay gave us a big refreshment.
The drinks not only quenched our thirst but
also the sitting had done our tired feet good..

It was such a pleasant day activity... and hubby
and I were happy that we made the tour.

We took the ferry boat again and back at the Gstadt docks, we prepared
ourselves to go back home..

Along the way to Vienna , we passed by the lake in Oberösterreich
( Upper Austria) and took a break.

This is the Mondsee, one of the most beautiful lakes in Austria.

These are houses on top of the Alm that are located high up in the mountain.
I just zoomed them with my camera to see
the structures of the houses.
Mostly, these are the houses of the farmers tending the surrounding slopes.
Mind you , they have excellent views towards the lake!!!