The Journey Continues…
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007Although it has been less than a year since we returned from the “Big Trip” our explorations of the world around us continue although now at a more moderate pace than before.
This May we traveled to Germany for my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. The event was great fun my grandparents were very excited and the whole extended family and there friends joined them for a wonderful afternoon celebration and short church service. True to form there were very nice speeches, a few comical interludes followed by the cousins, my dad and Steve hanging out in the beer garden drinking heavily, speaking English and hiding from the German contingent.
After a few days of eating way too much, hiking, and family bonding Steve and I headed to Southern Germany, a smallish outdoorsy town called Berchtesgaden for 4 days of exploration and relaxation in the German Alps. Although traveling there was a bit of a challenge (think 8 hrs on train) it is hard to describe the thrill of watching out the window as our old regional zug twisted, turned and rattled along, the Alps rising up around us. Once settling into a generally odd vacation apartment in a private home (a great cheap alternative to a hotel) we began the serious task of exploration. Here are the highlights, aka the short list of must sees for this small town.
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Sliding down the miners’ slides in the Salt Mine dressed up to look like gnomes.
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Beers and Pretzels in the best German beer hall ever! Forget the Hofbrau House you know a place is authentic when they have an entire ox roasting on a spit in the court yard. (Braustüberl Berchtesgaden for those of you who want to look it up)
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Konigsee – This stunning alpine lake is a shining jewel that is not to be missed. The teal crystal clear waters from which the Alps rise in sheer cliffs is simply one of the most beautiful sites in Europe. We took the boat ride out to St. Bartolomä Church which is too picturesque to be real but actually is. This is the best place to hike, put your feet in the lake, and relax in a beer garden fit for a baron (it was his summer home).
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Drinking a beer at a hiking hut half way down the Jenner! Ok this was on my personal list of top 100 things to do in my lifetime. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain then hiked down and took a little break at one of the hiking huts for a quick pint and then kept hiking. This is hut to hut hiking at its finest!Kehlstein House (Eagle’s Nest)– A gift by the Nazi party to Hitler this is a creepy reminder of the Nazi’s presence in this area (it was his second seat of government) but at the same time this is one of the most scenic locations from which to admire the view across the Alps.
All in all we had a fantastic trip! It was a bit sad to come back to the states after such a short trip but I guess that is the price we pay for actually working again.
Tip: The value of the Euro has increased so much that for the first time even though we were only in Germany for 10 days purchasing a Germany Rail pass in the US prior to our trip was worth the cost. I recommend doing the math before you go by pricing out your tickets at http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml.
Steve