Bavaria- The Destination For Fairy-Tale Family Holidays

Welcome Fellow Holiday Lover or "Gruess Gott" as they say!

A few years ago we decided to visit my sister in Bavaria, for the family holidays in the south of Germany . We loaded our car and piled the whole family in. Once we landed in France it only took us about 12 hours to drive along the autobahns! Little did we realise, that it would result in us moving there a few months later and having an amazing 13 years in a breathtakingly beautiful country. Very soon we discovered that many of our family and friends were keen to visit us, not only because it is such a wonderful place for a holiday in family style, but they enjoyed staying in our typically bavarian house with the view of the beautiful mountains, less than an hour away. Even now as I write this, I can smell the delicious fresh rolls that wafted by as you passed the many bakeries where they sold such a variety that you could hardly try them all! I can feel the thrill of arriving at the top of the beautiful mountains and having to stop to take in the amazing landscape scenery in the full blaze of sunshine, before I enjoyed an exhilarating ski back down to the bottom, trying to keep up with our boys. I can sense the feeling of peace and freedom as I swam in the many beautiful lakes where we also ice-skated in the winter. This lens is dedicated to the wonderful time we had there, in the hope that I can convince you how well-worth a visit it is, if you want a cheap, fun, restful and beautiful holiday that you won't forget!

When we visited this huge place, we had an amazing couple of days. Yes- there was too much to experience just in one day, we had to come back for more. We loved the fact that we could make a base and recline on the comfy sunbedswith our books, inbetween visiting the many different sauna and steam rooms. These ranged from scented rooms, roman saunas and underwater soothing music to saunas showing videos of the planetary system set to relaxing music. We also enjoyed the swimming pool with a bar in the middle where you could order and drink cocktails or German beers. There was a choice of restaurants and yet they didn't seem to mind us eating our own food whilst relaxing on the sunbeds either. The whole experience was reasonable and worth every penny. We made the most of the adult only sauna complex, saving the family area with all the slides inside and out for another time when we take our boys along.

"Maibaumaufstellen"

This spring festival takes place after the Maypole is erected on April 30th. The Maypole is the pride and joy of every Bavarian town and symbolizes it's wealth, independence and strength. Although it dates back to the 16th or 17th century, it became quite popular again in the 18th century. It symbolized fertility, originating from the spring fertility festivals in Egypt and India and the pole would be decorated with flowers and streamers. It is the job of the men to find, erect, decorate and protect it. The pole represents the male principle of nature and the wreath the female principle. The streamers were held by dancers who would weave in and out of each other as the danced around the pole.The Bavarian maypoles would be 20-30 meters high and usually stripped of their bark and often painted in the bavarian colours, blue and white. The wreath would be placed on the top. They are usually decorated with the crests of the different craftmens guilds in the town, with many beautifully carved ornaments, as you can see here.