The weekend before last was just stunning. Unseasonably high temperatures tempted even the grumpiest of us (I had a chest infection thing, and the Small People having just broken up for half term just wanted to laze) out into the great outdoors to make the most of it. This time we ventured to the other side of Freising, to the beautiful (and slightly tamed) wilderness that is Weltwald. Set in over 80 Hectares of Kranzberg Forest, it’s easy to while away the hours in Nature’s company whilst surrounded by trees from all corners of the globe.
It’s hard not to notice the amazing array of mushrooms and toadstools too, they have been incredible this year. If you go down to the woods today, it’s doubtful you will find any bears having picnics (unless of course you’ve been eating mushrooms of a questionable variety), but far more likely that you will find instead many a Munchener armed with small wicker baskets that are more often than not filled to the brim with countless specimens of beautiful funghi. This quite often leaves me filled to the brim with an odd mix of both jealousy and respect. Jealousy that they are likely to be having the freshest foraged dinner ever that evening, respect that they actually know what they are looking for, and then that they are brave enough to eat them!…
And as the day wore on, the more diverse it became. From the close inspection of a large gathering of grasshoppers (a birthday party according to the 6 Year Old!), observations of the surfaces of giant ant hills that seemed to move and swirl in all directions. Discovering a pair of Giant’s binoculars, and the thorough analysis of the leaves of specimens we had first admired during our summer travels.
And of course trees made for climbing, and sticks made for wielding (no surprises there then!)…
Then, in the midst of a clearing (and almost straight out of folklore), we found the tiny immaculate (and thoroughly beautiful) forest church of St Clemens with its rows of outdoor pews, and a carpet of autumn leaves. A sacred spot from ancient times, it is open to the faithful just twice a year (one of those dates being Christmas Day), and might just be tended to by fairy folk at all other times…
And the best bit about the whole day (apart from the beautiful sunshine)? The fact that the two Small People that hadn’t wanted to do anything much, now didn’t actually want to leave. We will be back…
i could imagine a unicorn walking through those woods, you must have a very patient family waiting for you to take these amazing shots
They are more than used to it now Helen! :D Thank you…
Simply beautiful! The colours on the toadstools are so vivid! #countrykids
Thanks so much! :)
What a stunning walk – that church is so pretty, then so many are in Germany, especially your neck of the woods (pardon the pun). I don’t think I’d have the bravery to pick fresh mushrooms either. X
They can be quite fairytale like can’t they? Thank you! :) xx
Oh wow, the whole post from the toadstools to the church is like something out of a fairytale. I can certainly see why your children didn’t want to leave in the end.
Thank you Debra! :)
Clicked on your post purely because of the mushroom photos – they’re amazing! Wish I knew more about them; despite Mushroom being so called, we tend to stick to the chestnut and button variety… As for the toadstools… They look unreal, like something out of a fairy story. Beautiful.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment! Love your blog name! :D in London at the mo without a pc. Will pop over when back! :)
Everyone seems to be finding Fly Agaric this year.I think we need to brave the mud in wods and g on a mushroom hunt.I’ll post this on Facebook and get my forager friend to take a look.
Thanks Aly, I have never seen a couple of them before! :)
Such a beautiful place. I love your photographs, especially the mushroom ones. Getting out into the woods when the sun is shining is such great fun.
Popping over from #CountryKids x
Thank you so much! :)
Those mushrooms look straight out of a fairytale! They don’t look real. I would definitely rather photograph them than eat them, I’d be terrified to try them! Sounds like you had a lovely, relaxing time.
We did thank you! Yes, another one just for taking photos here! :D
How beautiful and quite magical looking, I can see why the children were too enchanted to leave. Like you I am jealous of people that have the knowledge to be able to forage funghi safetly and want to be able to do this myself – one day. Thanks for linking up and sharing your autumn adventures with Country Kids.
Thanks Fiona! :)
What a beautiful place – those mushrooms look amazing #CountryKids
Thanks Mary! :)
Quite beautiful. Everything about the day sounds just perfect.
Thank you Trish. As today is much colder and miserable, I shall look book on that day with fondness! :D
Oh that is so magical! What a beautiful place. I do love mushrooms and have been on some organised forays but I can still only identify a handful – all poisonous. Sam x
Thank you Sam. For now I just look at them all as poisonous, I just don’t trust myself! :D x
How beautiful. Loving the toadstool – straight from a storybook!
Thank you! (:
Thanks for bringing us with you on your day out. It felt like I was there. Stunning photos again…. except for the insect thingies!
xx Jazzy
I will forgive you for not liking the insect pic! Thanks Jazzy! :D xx
It looks so wonderful!
Love all the different mushrooms. :) xx
Amazing aren’t they? Thank you! :)
Stunning photographs, the mushrooms look amazing! Looks like just our kind of walk :) Lovely x
Thank you Sara! :)
What a beautiful day out – I love the red fungi, its like straight out of a story book :)
They feature very highly in fairytales and the like here! Thank you! :)
You know I think these are ace beans already – thanks for joining in this week :) *beams*
And thank you for hosting! :)
What a beautiful place and great photographs. Looks like the kind of place I could happily get lost in for days…
I think you could actually do that here, plenty to eat (if you are brave enough!) and somewhere to take shelter too! Thank you! :)
oh my goodness, it is perfectly fall here. i am oh so very envious. hope you are feeling better.
Thank you Claudia! I am much better thank you! :)
Those toadstools and mushrooms are fantastic! What a nice thing to discover in a clearing of trees – I love the idea of a forest church :)
Thank you Gemma! :)
Those toadstools are just fantastic and that little church beautiful – as you say, almost straight out of folklore!
Thank you very much! :)
How very gorgeous, you have captured the beauty of nature so well. Those mushrooms particular caught my eye.
Thank you J! :)
Gosh, walk through there for a while and you can understand how tales like hansel and gretal, red riding hood and Rumplestiltskin came to people’s imagination. I’ve got fairy tales galore going round in my head just from looking at our pictures.
So funny, I have several pictures taken on the day of the Small People walking together and Hansel and Gretel is exactly what I thought of too, just without the gingerbread house and the witch! :D Thank you K :)
Wow this is so beautiful! You are so lucky to lvd where you live.
Thanks Otilia, I think so too sometimes! :D
Gorgeous mushroom photos. Wish I knew something about foraging!
Me too Sabrina, thank you! :)
What a beautiful way to while away a day in the sunshine. I love forests and woodlands and must make more of an effort to go out exploring in them.
Thanks Stacey, it was a great way to spend the day. Making the most of it before the snow comes! :D
Absolutely beautiful pictures – promising myself a walk in our woods next week to take fungus photos but we never seem to have the red and white spotted ones here (or the sun at the moment!) x
Thanks Mum… They are usually under pine trees! :) xx
Your mushroom photos are stunning!
I love this time of year.
Thanks Liz! Me too, definitely my favourite I think! :)
Seeing all these familiar mushrooms makes me all soppy. Stunning photos – as always x
Thanks Carolin, if you know what any of them are (apart from the Fly Agaric, about the only one I do know) then I would love to be enlightened! :D
Oh! So beautiful. I love the proper toadstools, just like out of fairy stories. Magical!
Thanks Penny, so many things are quite fairytale like here at times! :D
Ah family days out in nature like this are the best, everyone enjoys it and wears themselves out in the process! Looks very similar here at the moment, I would have it was here had it not been for the church photo x
Perhaps that’s why I love it so much, I do miss Autumn in the UK! Thanks Annie xx
That’s my kind of forest day out! And your photos are just wonderful x
Thank you Steph! :) x
What a wonderful place for a stroll with the family and the forest church is so picturesque.
Thank you Louisa! We have to make the most of it while it lasts! :D
As always stunning pohotography! Sounds like a wonderful family day in the great outdoors, at this time of year we have to grab all the good days we can and make the most of them!
Thaks Sonya! Definitely definitely need to do that! I saw my first big snow plough of the season this morning, not long now!! :D
Oh Emma, beautiful!
For the first time ever we found some red spotty toadstools in the forest last week, there is something so special about them isn’t there?
I’m not sure I would ever trust myself to pick the ‘right’ fungi to eat!
Thank you Emma… They are a bit of Bavarian icon it seems! :D I wouldn’t trust myself either! xx
What an amazing array of fungi and how fabulous to find that church. Stunning pictures of a beautiful day out. Hope you’re better now :)
Thanks Anya! Much better, thank yoU! :)
Oh my what GORGEOUS photos. Love those mushrooms.. am soooo on the hunt to find myself and photograph them (ahem, maybe I should go for a walk, eh?!)
Thanks Maggy… You wouldn’t want to do that here today, it’s miserable! :D
Loved this Emma, your photos are stunning. Every autumn I talk about going on a fungi foraging course. Still talking… Even if I did go on one, don’t know if I’d be brave enough to do any lone foraging – though a few weeks ago we did find a perfect giant puffball, and after checking and re-checking online, I fried it up with some butter, bacon and garlic. It was delicious and did about 3 meals!
Thanks very much! It would be amazing to do a real course wouldn’t it? The only thing that puts me off is the story about the author who booked a mycologist to take a group of friends on a walk and then cook dinner. I think two of them died… But then in Italy, more people die from the dangerous locations they pick them in, rather than consuming them! You can’t win! Love the sound of the puffball! :)
It looks beautiful, can’t wait to come back and visit. There’s so many nice places to go to we didn’t manage last time :) Love your pictures!!xx
We can’t wait for you to come back either. Hurry up! :) xxxx