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From May 2010, the village of Bayerisch Eisenstein on the Bavarian-Czech border will be offering free bus and train travel on more than 1,000 kilometres of routes in the Bavarian Forest area to guests staying in the village The area covered stretches nearly 100 kilometres to the south to close to the Austrian border, 50 kilometres to the north to Furth im Wald and nearly 50 kilometres to the West, to close to the Danube river, including the whole of the Bavarian Forest National Park. The scheme is being financed by a levy on each guest night in the village, paid for by the hotels, guest houses and holiday apartment providers. Margaret Leach of Bavarian Forest Holidays, owner of 5 star holiday apartments in the village, has warmly welcomed this additional service for guests: “We already have increasing numbers of guests making the 11 hour train journey from the UK to Bayerisch Eisenstein or flying to Munich or Prague and taking the train to get here for their holiday. Free bus and train travel once they are here is a major added bonus and will hopefully also encourage guests who arrive by car to make more use of public transport, with huge benefit for the environment.” As well as free bus and train travel, the new guest card for visitors will also provide free use of the special ski bus in the winter for travel to the nearby Arber ski slopes, free mini golf in the village and discounts on a range of tourist attractions in the area.
Well, not quite, but yesterday the Bavarian parliament voted overwhelmingly for a total ban on smoking in all places where food and drink are served as well as all public buildings from 1st January 2008. This was the final stage in a long drawn out process. Originally, the proposed law would have allowed smoking in temporary structures such as beer tents, allowing the Oktoberfest to continue to be a smokers’ paradise, as well as in one closed room in a restaurant or bar. In the latter case, the smoking room had to be smaller than the non-smoking rooms. At one stage, it was even proposed that discos would also remain smoking areas. A few weeks ago, following the installation of a new Bavarian government after the retirement of Ministerpraesident Stoiber, the proposed law was strengthened to include all indoor areas.
7th March: Following the CSU’s drop in votes in the local elections last Sunday, the party bosses are now looking for a scapegoat and have come up with the anti-smoking law. Apparently, election meetings were well populated with vociferous opponents of the law and the CSU have taken this to mean that a significant proportion of the population are still opposed.
At the moment, it seems that the ban on smoking in beer tents may actually be delayed until 2009. The apparent reason for this is that tents at the Oktoberfest in Munich are too close together to allow space for emergency vehicles to get through if people are standing outside smoking. A change in the layout of the tents can only be made in 2009. The timing of the Bavarian government elections, which take place during the Oktoberfest, is claimed by the CSU to be irrelevant.
A further possible weakening of the law, to allow the ‘Spanish solution’ i.e. to allow single room cafes, bars and restaurants to decide whether to allow smoking or not, is also being discussed.
This weekend sees the first Sunday in advent and the start of the Christmas season in Bavaria. In our village, Bayerisch Eisenstein, deep in the Bavarian Forest on border with the Czech Republic, this is how the season goes. This weekend, the decorations appear on and in people’s houses. Coloured lights are almost unknown here but white lights are quite widely used – strings of white lights draped around the balconies or cascading down like icicles, draped around outdoor trees. The autumn decorations of greenery, pine cones and candles are dressed up. On Saturday, there is an advent market in the Waidlerhuette, our local ‘village hall’, selling decorations, presents, cakes and biscuits, even home made schnaps. The ladies of the village bake huge quantities for every event and would put most WI markets to shame. They have even produced their own cookery book.
This weekend the big, daily Christmas markets in the cities get going – Nuernberg, Munich, Regensburg and Passau all have lovely markets within easy reach of here – 2 years ago we sampled all of them (especially the Gluehwein!), to make sure we could recommend them to visitors! Although you can buy presents at the big Christmas markets, the main function of most Christmas markets, and especially the smaller ones, is social – groups of friends and families meet to chat and sample the Gluehwein and various specialities offered in the wooden huts by local clubs and societies, farms and small producers. The markets get going as darkness falls and continue until mid evening.
During December, the smaller towns and villages have their own Christmas markets for just a weekend or even just a day.
bavarian forest holidays 