Snapshots from Bavaria

Passing through the pretty provincial town of Memmingen in southern Bavaria on overcast, rainy days of early autumn

... in search of a place for dinner, of which there were plenty to choose from.

I passed on the bratwurst and Knödel (dumplings) but did sample some good local Bayerische beer.

A perfect rainbow over the central town square

In nearby Ottobeuren the next morning, the landscape was typical of towns in this prosperous region, A-framed houses and well-kept farmlands

 the main attraction being the grand Benedictine abbey of Ottobeuren 

founded in 764 by the sweetly-named Blessed Toto, but rebuilt in its current form by Bavaria's King Ludwig I in the 1800s 

whose extraordinary interior could be described as baroque-over-the-top

 with no fewer than three grand organs (one below). 

All was empty, quiet and clean and neat as a pin. You had the clear impression that every ornate rococo curlicue, taper, garland and petal is kept minutely cleaned and the chairs lined up with a ruler. 

If all was serious here, it was about to get a little crazy. We were headed further south to this Ludwig's much quirkier grandson's place in the mountains ...

Bavaria September 2015