Weekend in Chiemsee

I should start by saying that I've been updating this blog at work. For some strange reason, I can't SEE the updated blog. The last update it will show me is the Aug. 1 post. It's so annoying! I won't go into a permanent apartment until end of September. At that time, I'll get internet access at home and will update the blog regularly and with photos.

Saturday morning I drove down to Prien am Chiemsee, the town of Prien on the Chiemsee (lake), about a 3-hour drive. The hotel was supposed to be 4 star, but I'm not sure what made it thus. It was fine but nothing outstanding. The lake is sometimes called the Bavarian Sea and is about 30 square miles.

I took the ferry Saturday afternoon to Herrinsel and on Sunday to both Fraueninsel and Herreninsel. These are two islands in the lake. Herreninsel, or "men's island," is the larger of the two. It contains a former monastery and Mad King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee castle. It was to be a replica of Versailles, but he ran out of money (and also died) so it was never finished. The island only contains the old monastery (now a museum and art gallery), the castle and grounds, a hotel, and a few other buildings.

Fraueninsel or "women's island" was smaller but much more interesting. It contained a thousand-year-old convent that's still active, several hotels or guesthouses, some restaurants, a couple of shops that sold local art, and some homes and summer homes. If I return to Chiemsee in good weather, I'll try to stay there.

About 21 years ago, I went to Chiemsee on a unit trip (a weekend organized by a military unit) with a young soldier I was seeing. We stayed at the US military hotel that was open there at the time (it was quite nice), and we went to the salt mines in Salzburg and to Berchtesgaden. We really didn't spend any time around the lake at all other than spending the night there, so it was nice to actually see the lay of the land this time. By the way, the last time I saw this guy was about 20 years ago when he left Germany. Then I ran into him when I was on a post in Kuwait in 2003. The army is a small world.