Bavaria 2008

Hello, and here is what we did and saw on our trip at the end of 2008....there is a link at the end to the pictures. :)

What a wonderful trip we have had!

Day one found us getting a very late start getting on the road. We are usually packed up the night before, but the night before we went out to shoot pool and hang out with some friends, and it was just too late to pack when we got back. So as it was, we didn’t get on the road until around 12:30pm.

Our first stop was at our kennel. We were ready to bring Harley with us, but we thought that if the kennel had any last minute vacancies, we would just go by and check. Sure enough, they said they would go ahead and take him! So even though we knew we would miss our giant dog, we also had a sense of freedom from being Dog Mom and Dog Dad for our winter vacation.

The autobahn between home and Garmisch should take us about 3.5 to 4 hours to navigate. The trip is around 300 miles. We made excellent time until we were about 2/3rd’s of the way to our destination, around where the vehicles from the Munich area joined the flow of traffic. Then, we came to a crawl. Brad’s GPS saw that we were in heavy traffic, and told him to take an alternate route, so we did. In one hour we had gone about 14 miles. At that rate it was going to take us until the next day to get where we were going!

Up until then, we had not seen any snow on the side of the roads. Occasionally we would see a car going in the opposite direction with some snow on it, but that was it. I have never seen so many vehicles with Thule carriers on the top of them, but I didn’t put it together in my head that all of those folks were heading to the mountains with their skis on top of their cars until we got into all that traffic. It seemed as if all of Germany was heading to the mountains along with us.

Then it started to get dark. I don’t do particularly well on long road trips; about 3 hours is my limit before stress starts to set in. My anxiety is exacerbated when it gets dark and the roads are unfamiliar. I’m so lucky to have a man that has good eyes and doesn’t mind driving, but I was still way stressed out when we finally got to our hotel 6.5 hours after we started our trip.

Our hotel was very nice, and the husband and wife that own and run it were very kind. We checked in, hauled our stuff to our room, and went to the dining room to have dinner. Neither of us (me especially!) wanted to get back in the XTerra and go search our something to eat.

We had a good dinner of typical German fare. Brad had a snitzel with mushroom sauce and croquettes, gravy, and a salad. I had smoked pork filets with roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. (And beer!)

Bruce, the owner of the hotel, asked us what we planned to do the next day. He said he would try to think of some nice things in the area for us.

After dinner, we walked around the little village of Obernau a little. We found a local bar and went in for a beer for the Hubs and some ghluewine for me. We were the only Americans in the bar, but no one seemed to care.

It seemed that every where we went, we saw stuffed creatures as part of the décor.. In our hotel, we saw deer heads, weasels, and pheasants, falcons, hawks, ravens and magpies. In the bar, there is a stuffed squirrel. (Which the bar owner caught me petting)

As we explored the hotel more, we saw more and more stuffed things. The saddest to me was a stuffed white owl.

The hotel owner told me that he used to have even more of them around, but his wife objected to them. I told him that in America most folks don’t like stuffed creatures, but in some places they do. I think the woods of Bavaria just sort of naturally lend themselves to stuffing and displaying creatures, and I wonder if America was still as wild and natural as it once was if our attitudes towards taxidermy would be different.

It seems to us that Europeans are forever smoking here. I find this very strange, as most Germans are very physically fit , so you would think they wouldn’t smoke like fiends. Being a former smoker myself, I can’t stand to be around cigarette smoke now. Unfortunately, almost everyone in the bar was smoking, so even though the bar was fun we drank our drinks and went back to our hotel. (and had to air out our jackets on the balcony all night.)

Our room had a good view of the mountains, and the typical German bed. The German beds are like 2 twin matresses together in a regular sized frame. It seems that all German beds are like this, I don’t know why. It’s hard to snuggle with someone in these beds, as someone (usually me) winds up sort of sleeping where the two beds meet.

The next morning we got up for the complimentary breakfast. Most hotels include breakfast with the price of the room, and ours was like this. But this was not one of the better free breakfasts we have seen (the very best was at The Golden Tulip in Holland). There was sliced cheese and salami, sliced ham, breads, cereal, yogurt, jams, and hard boiled eggs. It’s the typical European breakfast, which might sound ok but gets old really fast. I want bacon and eggs and toast! Haha! I did have one of the hard boiled eggs, and it was very good with the beautiful farm fresh golden yolk. We could see some snow on the ground by the light of day, but not much…just enough to slip on.

Our host Bruce suggested that we go to a little town about 25 miles away since it was Sunday and not many shops would be open. This little village was named Seefeld, and was just across the German border into Austria.

Seefeld is up on a mountain, and on a plateau, and on the way there we could see the snow piling up on the sides of the road and also on the trees and in the fields. Finally we could see snow!

Pulling off the highway and into the town was like dropping into a magical winter wonderland. There were many hotels, but also many shops, restaurants, and ski slopes. Some of the hotels looked to be very expensive, and some looked more affordable. There was also parking for RV’s, in case someone drove up there and wanted to stay in their motor home.

We walked all around, and everywhere everyone was happy and getting along with each other. We heard many different languages. We watched both young and old taking ski lessons, and skiing down some very gentle slopes. Over on the other side of the highway on a mountain, we could see other more adventurous and accomplished skiers going down a steeper ski run. Most of the main part of the town was for pedestrians only with vehicles on only a few streets.

It wasn’t too long and we were pretty chilled, even though we were bundled up and the sun was shining. So we found an Italian restaurant and went in.

This place was great for people watching as we had a good table with a great view of all of the foot traffic going by outside. Many, many people had their dogs with them, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching them. There was a little Jack Russell terrier with a personalized collar that said “Arlito” on it that to our amazement kept going outside of the restaurant, roaming around, and then coming back in all on his own. (The doors had a motion sensor device on them that he had figured out that he could activate.) None of the wait staff seemed upset that Arlito kept coming in and out, so we thought he must belong to the restaurant.

I had a pizza made with peppercini peppers, artichokes, pepperoni and olives. Brad had one made with bacon, onions and mushrooms. We had a leisurely lunch watching all the people go by.

Europeans don’t stay inside in the winter. I think they think the cold weather is invigorating. We saw the young folks with their ski boots and their families of infants on up, and also the elderly people, with one gentleman bundled up in his wheelchair as he was lovingly escorted thru the crowds.

We had noticed several horse drawn carriages going thru the village, and after lunch we were determined to find them. We did, and we also found another couple that wanted to share one of the carriage rides with us. It was around a 45 minute ride, and we had woolen horse blankets to put around our legs. The carriage driver took us away from the village and out into the woods. The snow in the woods was very deep, with some drifts that looked to be of about 3 feet. The sunlight glistened off the smooth snow like millions of diamonds. It was beautiful. After our carriage ride, we went back to the hotel.

The next day we walked a very short way to a local bakery for breakfast instead of having the hotel’s fare. We had fresh baked cinnamon and nut pastries and good coffee.

There is an American base in Garmisch and we went to find it so that we could get some bottled water. We are so addicted to the bottled “bubbly” water, which is water with carbonation in it, and we couldn’t find any local stores that had it. Once on the base in Garmisch, we wanted to go and check out what kind of clothes they had for sale.

Clothing for us here would be an issue if I was more focused on stuff like that. The clothes that are sold on the German economy are not anything that I want to wear, so I’m limited to what the BX sells or what I can order online. The Hubs found some things that he liked, and I did too, so we spent more time there than we originally intended to. Hubs also ran into someone he knew from Ramstein, so we talked to him and his wife for a little while.

We had gone to a fairly good Mexican restaurant by the train station about 2 years ago and we tried to go there again but they were closed. So instead we went to a German place and had some French fries and pork filets. After lunch we walked around the pedestrian shopping district. It seems that almost every city has these pedestrian places, and I wish America would do this too.

Back at the hotel, we heard someone arguing from the hallway. The walls in there were very thin, and these people were very loud. We heard 2 adults yelling at a kid about how he wasn’t brushing his teeth well enough. The woman called the kid a jack-ass, and the poor kid said don’t you call me a donkey! There is no excuse for people to call their kids names, and we felt really sorry for the kid.

There was a regulation pool table with drop pockets in our hotel, and after we came back we made some rum and Cokes and shot a lot of pool. I think we were pretty even in the amount of games won…I should never have taught the Hubs how to line up shots. *wink* One of the hotel guests came in and turned on the tv to check on some football game. This man was none other than the jerk that was yelling at his kid, and asked him if he was able to get his kid calmed down a little, because we heard him crying and he seemed very upset. I wanted that bastard to know that he had spread his whole business over that floor we were on and maybe he would reconsider yelling at the kid. Hubs said later he almost fell out when I mentioned it, as it might appear we were eavesdropping, but I didn’t care. People like that don’t deserve any breaks in my opinion.

Tuesday we wanted to go back to Seefeld for dinner, so in the early afternoon we went back there. This time it wasn’t quite as cold, or maybe we were getting used to it by then. We walked around and looked in some of the shops and stopped off in a cute little café for some coffee. There was lattice work on the ceiling and potted plants they had let grow up and attach to the lattice, with wicker furniture and lots of windows. In the center of this place was the bar and the kitchen, so all around it was the seating for the patrons and it was just very cozy and nice. The coffee there was really good, and it was served black with a side bowl of whipped cream to put in it. In spite of all of the smokers around us, we stayed for 2 cups of coffee. Hubs bought some fireworks, and I found a beautiful hand-carved tiny baby elephant in a great woodcarving shop close by.

It gets dark here really early, and when we left we noticed that the light of the day was fading. As the night came on, the atmosphere on the streets changed from the frantic pace of day and of skiing as much as possible to partying. Many of the streets, buildings, and shops all had Christmas lights out, and none of them were garish or ugly in any way as sometimes they can be in America.

We walked over to the little ski slopes, but they were all closed. I don’t know why the slopes are not lit up for night skiing, but they are not. As soon as the sun sets, skiing is over for the day. It was nice to walk on the squeaky snow with the Hubs with no one around.

We headed over to the restaurant we wanted to have dinner at, and on the way passed by a woodcutter’s shop. This shop was stocked by three families of woodcutters, and the figures were all very lifelike and well done.

The restaurant we had dinner in was pretty progressive in that they had an area for smokers and one for non smokers. Ahhh, clean air! We had some carbonated water and a cheese fondue for two for dinner. That was really romantic, and very good. We were so stuffed when we left, all we could do was go back to the hotel.

We wanted to shoot pool again, but that night after we had been shooting for only about 10 minutes, who should come in but that same ass that had yelled at his kid., only this time he had his wife and 3 kids with him. It didn’t bother me that they were in there, but what did bother me was when he came in and I said hello to him and he looked at me like he was looking at something distasteful and then looked away without speaking. What an "Ugly American"! We finished that game and discussed playing another, but I thought I should just leave before I whacked “Mr. Happy” with the stick. Thankfully that was the last night we had to see him or his family that seemed cowed by him. I know what goes around comes around, so he was racking up really bad future events for himself.

The last day of the year was once again clear with nothing but blue skies and sun and very cold temperatures. By now we were feeling fat from eating all these meals, so we decided to go up to the Eibsee Lake and walk around it. The Eibsee is at the foot of the Zugspitze, and one of our favorite places.

We had never seen this area before in the snow, and it was beautiful and breathtaking. There was a little ski school on one of the gentle hills, and some people were sledding on it as well. We would like to learn to ski – maybe next time.

We started our walk around the lake, and the snow was nicely packed on the trail. I think someone went out and scattered gravel on it too, so with our hiking boots we had good traction. The woods were beautiful in the snow, and the lake was completely iced over. We walked down to the shoreline and think that the ice was about 8 inches thick. We walked on it just a little, just far enough out that if it should give way under us that the water wouldn’t go any further that the tops of our boots. We didn’t see anyone else out on the ice either, and we were told later that for it to be completely safe to skate on, it should be at least a foot or so thick.

We saw a few other people walking on the trail, some young pushing baby carriages, and some elderly with canes. Several folks had their dogs with them. We got about 1/3 of the way around and noticed a few of these folks were coming back. Hmmm. We didn’t know why, just kept walking. Not all of the people that passed us were coming back, so we thought maybe the others were just tired. The path was gradually going uphill, and we were looking forward to the down hill part. There was a long drop off on one side, and the mountain on the other, and it was just beautiful.

At almost the halfway point, we saw why some people were turning back. There was one place where there was a snow run-off that had covered the path, and then turned to ice. There was no gravel to give traction as it had been swallowed up by the ice. We thought ok, if other people can get across this, so can we, and Brad went on ahead. Then it was my turn. I got a few feet out on it and my right foot started to slide towards the drop off. Oh shit! So I started to crouch down to make myself closer to the ice – it just seemed like the right thing to do – and then my left foot started to slide towards the drop off too! Shit! It seemed like the drop off was drawing me to it! So poor Brad had to come out on it again and extend a hand to me to grab so I could get some purchase and get off that ice. He saved my life!

We saw other, beautiful running snow melts that had formed gorgeous icicles, trees weighted with snow, and one little bird that ran along the path with us for awhile. The air smelled clean and with a touch of pine and good woods.

It took us about 2 ½ hours to walk around the lake. It was probably a little over 5 miles, and we were tired. Brad had seen a little hut further up the ski school hill, and he thought that we could get some ghluewine there, and he dangled that in front of me like a carrot before a mule, as I felt like I couldn’t walk any further at all. (But I did)

I was glad I did, as the little lodge was just beautiful. Lots of people that had been out playing in the snow were in there having dinner and drinking. In the center of the lodge was a very nice, very large fireplace in an octagonal shape with benches around it. We sat there and drank some ghluwine and had a tiny sugar cookie. The fire wasn’t doing very well, and Brad spotted a fire poker which I grabbed and started to readjust the fire and in just a few minutes it was roaring back to life. (I’m such a pyro!)

When we had finished our hot spiced wine, we went back to our hotel. We relaxed for a few hours and then went to our last meal of the year. We had a soup of broth with ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach to start off, followed by a shrimp cocktail, pork medallions in a mushroom sauce, roasted potatoes, carrots, and snow peas. For dessert there was some type of frozen Bavarian cream surrounded by berries.

At midnight, it seemed the entire village set off fireworks. We watched it from our balcony as the church bells rang and rang to celebrate a new year.

In the morning we packed up, had a little coffee, and got on the road. It had finally snowed a little between midnight and when we got up, and there was about 3 inches on the ground. We didn’t know with the snow how long the trip home would take.

We stopped about halfway for gas, and to our surprise there were folks making pizza at this particular gas station. We ate some there, and got another pizza to go. I know gas station pizza sounds terrible, but they had real pizza ovens there and it was delicious!

Thankfully, all the people that were on the road when we went to Bavaria seemed to still be there, and we made it home in record time with absolutely no traffic jams. We were on the road for 4 ½ hours coming in – considerably less than the trip out.

As usual, Bavaria calls to our hearts, and we can’t wait to go back.

See our pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/windburnd/Bavaria2008#