Garmisch: Day Two!

Zugspitze day! We'd reserved the entire second day to go up and explore Germany's highest point. The picture above is of the Zugspitze from Garmish-Partenkirchen. We were headed to the rightmost peak, in the center of the picture.


Our plan was to round-trip up the Zugspitze. We would take the cogwheel train (Zugspitzbahn) from Garmisch to Eibsee (a lake at the very base of the mountain), then up the mountain, through the mountain, and onto the Zugspitzplatt, the glacier on the other side of the mountain. From there, we'd take the glacier cable car (Gletscherbahn) to the peak itself. Our way down, however, would be straight from the peak via cable car (Seilbahn) back to Eibsee, from whence we'd take the cogwheel train back to Garmisch.



The cogwheel train (named for the cogs necessary to pull the train up and through the mountain) was next to the main train station in Garmisch, but separate. I could not use my Eurail pass to take this train. One must purchase a special ticket to ride the train, and say whether or not they'd like to include passage to the summit (whether by cogwheel or cable car) as well. We asked for the Zugspitze Roundtrip. The trip from Garmisch to Eibsee was about twenty minutes, and then from there it was a steep half-hour climb. Going up the mountain provided a great view of Eibsee Lake from above.


The fifteen-minute trip through the mountain itself was very dark and disconcerting. But once through the mountain, we were at our destination on the glacier, in a station. We were waiting our turn to go outside amid the crowd, and Brittany was taking my picture next to the cogwheel. I was trying to be patient about getting outside to look around, and my monologue was something along the lines of: "It's ok, we've got time, we'll be up here for awhi- OH MY GOD! LOOK!" Out in the sunshine, the scenery was unreal.





And we weren't even at the summit yet! This was Zugspitzplatt, an area overlooking what would be a glacier. There was a restaurant and gift shop, a chapel, and lots of space to walk or hike around in the sunshine. There was also enough snow to merit sledding! As you can see, I amassed an army of children and then, with dignity and grace, tobogganed down the slope (I let the kids go in front of me, which is why they are absent from the second picture).



The last cable car back down the mountain doesn't leave the Zugspitze until late afternoon, so we were able to relax and take our time before heading up to the peak. Brittany knew that it would be crowded up there, so we enjoyed the quiet and the view from Zugspitzplatt for awhile first.


When we eventually did board the glacier cable car that would take us to the top (a five-minute ascent), it was jam-packed. Little handles hung from the ceiling to grab onto, and a little old lady next to me was far too short to reach them. She laughed and made a face at me, then reached her arms up. I, for a wild, fleeting moment, thought she was reaching for me, as though to say, "I can't reach those handles, so I'll hang onto you!" So I automatically hugged her... like you do... It quickly turned awkward, as it turns out she was just reaching for her friend... I tried to apologize but she didn't speak English. Fabulous. I was due for a public faux pas.


Reaching the top of the Zugspitze swept all embarrassment away. It was incredible. The peak consisted of two buildings, and large balconies, big enough to cover the summit. One was the German/Bavarian side and the other was the Austrian/Tyrolean side (the Zugspitze spans the border between Germany and Austria). The balconies had plaques showing the peaks in each direction, giving the name and height. The Zugspitze, being the highest point in Germany, boasts the highest biergarten (outdoor place one can purchase/drink beer), so we had some lunch and beer, and I wrote some postcards for families back in Portland. I posted them from the Zugspitze itself, so the stamps will say they were sent from 2,962 meters (9,718 feet)!


No border patrol or anything to cross over into Austria! Tyrol ("Tirol" in German) is a state in Austria, just like Bavaria ("Bayern" in German) is a state in Germany. It is noteworthy to say that while the Zugspitze is the highest point in Germany, it is not the highest point in Austria. But still neat!


The technical summit was marked by a giant golden cross, and it was on a small peak all it's own (on the German side!), near and above the viewing balconies. In order to reach it, one walked down steps alongside the building to the rock itself, stepped off the man-made building and onto the mountain, walked across a natural rock span that was barely four feet across with nothing but air on either side (there was a cable knee-high onto which mountain climbers could clip their ropes), then climbed a ladder and walked along another slim, treacherous ridge to the cross. There were people making the trip, which, if one went slowly, took about half an hour there and back. I wanted to do it, as did Brittany, but there was no way. In our tractionless sneakers and with no mountaineering gear, and with people literally shoving one another out of the way (no joke, 9,000 feet in the air). There were other unprepared people (i.e., wearing nothing but street clothes) going over to touch the cross, but they looked ridiculous and arrogant, next to the properly-attired and helmeted mountaineers.


To take the cogwheel up and the Eibsee cable car down is the most popular way to enjoy the Zugspitze, so Brittany and I had to get a reservation for a ride down. It was actually a close call: people were standing in a long line, and there was a large chart showing times, times that were methodically being crossed out. Brittany suspected that this was for cable car rides down, so it was a good thing we checked. If we had waited, we would have had to take the cogwheel back down.

Our reservation wasn't until four-fifteen, and it was only around two pm, so we still had plenty of time to explore. We looked around the gift shop, and Brittany got a sweet little cutting board with the Zugspitze etched onto it. I found a poster of the Zugspitze that I liked, which is great because I brought little to decorate my walls with. We took the glacier cable car back down to the Zugspitzplatt and sat in the sun for a bit longer as well. Then we went back up to the peak to board our Eibsee cable car down the mountain.

Evening was a quiet affair. Delicious pizza and radler (half beer, half lemonade, fully amazing), eaten outdoors, with the Zugspitze as a picturesque backdrop. Bed felt great after a full day of hiking and exploring, and Brittany and I had both had a bit of sunburn on our faces!

In closing: sweet Zugspitze panoramic action! Click for fantastic larger view! Note the golden cross marking the summit on the left side of the picture.

Garmisch: Day One!

On the tenth, the day of our departure, Brittany and I woke up around five-thirty to catch our six-thirty train. We found our own compartment for the first leg of the journey, which was nice because eventually we both fell asleep. Changed trains in Munich, and then it was just one hour to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The scenery changed abruptly from flat fields to high mountains on both sides of the train.


The bed-and-breakfast where we'd made reservations was just a five-minute walk from the train station, which proved to be extremely convenient during our stay. The place, called Alpenkranz, was (sorry to use clichés) cozy and quaint. The owner's daughter showed us to our room, which was a perfectly acceptable room, but then two minutes later came back to say that they had a better room for us. The new room was larger, with sofa and chairs, our own bathroom, and even a balcony with patio furniture. Upgrade!



We only stayed to take off our backpacks and we were off again to Partnach Gorge (it was only eleven-thirty, so we still had most of the day). It was about a forty-minute walk from our B&B, and it was sunny outside. The walk took us past the Olympic Skistadion: the Olympic ski jump. The Olympics were held here in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936, as well as the World Alpine Ski Championships in 1978.


The only gorge I've been to is the Columbia, so that's what I was imagining. This gorge was not like the Columbia at all. It was a narrow fissure in the rock (less than ten feet wide at points), very deep (200 feet in places, sometimes deeper), with a river rushing through the bottom. It was loud, too; the sound of rushing water through such a small space was deafening at times. A walkway had been created along the side, sometimes through the rock itself. You'd walk into a tunnel and it would be pitch black, with only your hand on the raw rock wall guiding you. There must have been streams above us as well, because even though there was blue sky, water was constantly streaming down from the rocks above.

Brittany even brought her umbrella--the streams from above were sometimes small waterfalls! I was glad my coat had a hood.


The walk through the gorge itself took twenty minutes, and then the path widened into a sunny, open area. It looked almost like a beach, with people sitting and eating by the river. We turned 180° and walked up a steep path that would take us back up over the gorge, parallel to where we'd hiked next to the river, but above the fissure. It felt exactly like Alaska, with pine trees around us and logs set into the path as steps. We came out into the open after ten minutes, and the view was amazing.


There was a large hotel and restaurant (Forsthaus Graseck) at the top of the hill, which seemed like an odd, inaccessible location for such. Patrons of the hotel don't have to hike there, as we did, but instead take a cable car up. Please note the remoteness of hotel on the very official Google Maps visual below:

Brittany and I sat in the sun and had lunch (well, mid-afternoon meal) at the restaurant. I had goulash, Brittany had salad with chicken, and we shared apple strudel for dessert. We took the cable car down. It was teeny.




Our stay at Alpenkranz, along with other B&Bs in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, comes with a Visitor's Card, which gives one all kinds of freebies and discounts in the city (mostly for the tourist attractions). With aforementioned Visitor's Card, we were able to take the city bus for free. After taking the cable car down and walking back to the skistadion, we took the bus directly back to the train station. We walked to the town center, and Brittany knew of an Indian restaurant that she and John had enjoyed on their trip to Garmisch. I felt guilty about eating Indian food while visiting Germany, but Brittany reminded me that I'd already had German food twice and did I remember how rich it is? I wasn't expected to eat the local cuisine at every meal. I felt better after hearing that... plus, I love Indian food.

Partnach Gorge

The three days Brittany and I spent in Garmisch-Partenkirchen were absolutely fantastic. Incredibly long post to come, but here's a picture of the Partnach Gorge to tide you over. Click for larger view!

Amberg

Despite the fact that the forecast had predicted rain, when we arrived in Amberg (forty-five minutes from Weiden) yesterday, the wind had blown all the clouds away and we enjoyed gelato while we walked around the stadtmitte underneath clear blue sky. Yogurt with cherries for me, Smurf-flavored and watermelon for Brittany (the Smurf-flavor was blue and undefinable, but good nonetheless).


We saw people walking on the balcony around the clock tower and tried to find the way up. We walked around the entire cathedral and tried several locked doors (some were teeny), to no avail.


Giving up the search for the stairway to the clock tower, we strolled along the main street, enjoying the nice weather, until the crowds thinned and we came across this empty cobblestone street. It happened to be the Amberg library, with statues of men reading on the steps. Brittany took my personal favorite picture:


We walked back to the river to see the Spectacle Bridge, named so because the arches' reflections in the water create two circles, like spectacles.



Last but not least, a friend had told Brittany that Amberg boasts the smallest hotel in the world, but Brittany didn't know where it was located. So we went back to tourist information, hoping that they would point us in the right direction. If they didn't, no big deal, on to Vilseck for dinner. But if they did and it wasn't too far away, we could try to find it. The woman knew exactly what we were talking about, and she pulled out a map. Turns out the Wedding House, or Eh'häusl, as it is known, was less than ten minutes away, back the way we'd come. While we walked back down the sunny strasse, Brittany read aloud the legend that goes along with the Wedding House:

"According to legend, a couple could only get a marriage license by the municipal authorities if they owned a house or some property within the city. A clever husband-to-be discovered a courtyard between two estates, acquired it, put up a front wall and a back wall completing the structure with a roof. Technically this fulfilled the regulations. The legend has it that in the following years the "Eh'häusl" very often changed hands thus enabling many couples to enter matrimony."

Finding the little house was very easy. It had a very notable door, and the flower boxes were decorated with wedding rings. Knowing that we had found this tiny attraction was fun partly because the street was deserted except for us.


An ominous dark cloud was quickly blowing our way and we felt raindrops, so we hurried back to the car and headed to Vilseck for dinner.


Brittany and John's favorite German restaurant, Gasthof Specht, is located in Vilseck, about twenty minutes from Amberg. Schnitzel! Delicious fried schnitzel. Although not with noodles. I am truly my mother's daughter, as I'd sung "My Favorite Things" to Brittany before eating at the restaurant, and when I called my mom later that night to tell her I'd had schnitzel without noodles, she began to sing it as well... My schnitzel came with onions and a fried egg, with tater-tot-like potatoes on the side. Brittany's favorite schnitzel comes with a mushroom gravy.


Tomorrow we leave for Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a town on the border of Bavaria and Tirol (Austria). We'll be staying for a couple days, but prepare to hear all about the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany, upon my return. "Tschüs" is the Bavarian farewell, pronounced "chuse." Tschüs, dear readers!

Kulmbach beerfest, or, I just had the one beer

On Tuesday night, Brittany, two of her friends, Katie and Melanie, and I drove to Kulmbach for my first beerfest. Katie and Mel's husbands are also deployed at the moment. Brittany wore her dirndl, as did her friend Katie. I'd assumed that dirndls and lederhosen were the Americanized stereotype of German attire, but at least half of the crowd at Kulmbach were rocking the traditional getup.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect a giant tent with a band playing, and hundreds of people standing on the benches singing and clapping along. The noise was incredible. Sorry for the poor-quality photo, but at least it conveys the size of the tent.


I had a liter of beer--that was one stein of beer (although it bears noting that the word stein is an English neologism; it means "stone" in German). Not only was it an enormous mug of beer, but German beer has a higher alcohol content than American beers (or so I was told). I went to the fest thinking I'd have several beers over the course of the evening. Yeah, I had one and it was more than enough. We all got dinner from the food carts surrounding the fest test--mostly bratwurst in rolls with french fries, but there were other food options as well. I got my bratwurst with curry sauce: "currywurst."

The four Germans sitting next to us as we ate and drank didn't speak very much English, and we didn't speak much German, but that didn't stop them from attempting to converse. They were two couples, and in between "Prosts!" they asked us why we were in Germany. Katie, the best German speaker of the four of us (she's been here a year and a half), gestured to we four and said, "Mann ist Soldat," which means "Husband is a soldier." I leaned over and said, "Nein mann. Nein mann! Prost!"

Servers were offering small trays of some kind of white wavy item, and Mel got me some so I could see what it was. Turns out it was peeled, salted radish. I did not like it, but Brittany did!


We walked around and inside the fest tent, amid the deafening crowd singing along with the music. The songs were usually traditional German folk songs, with some popular songs as well. Dessert to follow (my delicious chocolate-dipped banana not shown).