Andechs Monastery in Bavaria

Today we took a day trip to Andechs Monastery. Despite being well outside of Munich, we were still able to use the city's transit system to reach it. A regularly running S-bahn light rail train and a bus later we were at the foot of the hill to the monastery. We had actually hoped to hike there from the train station, but the bus appealed to us instead as the trail head was not clearly marked and it had begun to drizzle. 

We still had a little hike at a steep incline to reach the monastery chapel. In the chapel we took in the highly ornate decor with hushed silence. My dad and I tried out the pews; they were highly uncomfortable and forced us to sit upright. Unfortunately most of the informational literature around the place was not available in English, so we were not able to learn much about the monastery or its history. We did gather that it burned down at one point and was rebuilt. 

My dad and brother making their way up the steep ascent 

Ridiculously ornate chapel

Look at those ceilings 

A view from the balcony

We wandered upstairs from the chapel to see what else was around. We discovered another room as well as a turnstile monitoring the entrance of the monastery bell tower. For 1 euro we could climb the stairs all the way to the top. We decided the adventure would be worth it, so we all filed through and climbed stairs, stairs, and more stairs. The views at the top were somewhat obscured by the wire screens, but the trip was still well worth it. We took in vistas of the neighboring town, bright green countryside, and the nearby river. 

Climbing up the bell tower stairs

The inside of the dome 

One of the bells 

Candid shot at the top 

View of the wall around the monastery grounds and the river

Beautiful view of the countryside from the one window that didn't have wiring over it

Looking down on the square outside the chapel 

That's what we climbed up! 

Now for the best part of our trip to the monastery, the beer hall. It would seem that the monastery produces its own beer. Between all of us we tried three different kinds of beer. Two of the three were surprisingly sweet, kind of like sweetened ice tea. Those were not my favorite; I thought the witbier was the best. 

Monastery brews

Cheers from Andechs

There was also a ton of traditional Bavarian food available cafeteria style. We ordered an assortment of meats, sausages, cheeses, and sauerkraut as well as some giant soft pretzels and shared samples of everything with each other. It was quite a feast. 

A delicious Bavarian spread

Eventually we made out way back to Munich to check out more sights around the city. But, this visit to the Andechs Monastery has been my favorite part of Germany thus far. 

A final view of the Andechs Monastery