Impressions of Germany

Written Monday, July 18, 2005 on the plane home

While we ate Indian curry in Berlin last night, Mark and I made a list of impressions of Germany. We take credit or blame for our opinions and do not mean them as generalizations about the whole country, and as we get to know Germany better, we may change our minds.

Our first impression was of efficiency.
When we arrived at Tegel Airport, we had to walk no further than the end of the jet way to have our passports checked and to claim our luggage since the baggage claim area is attached to each gate. The same thing happened today as we checked in; the security check took place at our gate. The only line we had was the passengers on our flight. Having just read a USA Today article about waits in US airports, we wonder why the model of this airport might not work for other cities.

The apartment key opened the building’s entrance, the mailbox, and the apartment itself--no separate keys to easily forget or lose.

The windows in our hotels folded out two ways. We could open the window to the inside of the room for full air or open just the top to let air in at night. The same thing happened with the patio door, so that it was either a door or an air vent.

We found the Germans very bike-friendly. Berlin and Garmische both have bike paths on most all of the roads, and when I once accidentally walked in that lane, the woman yelled at me for being in the way and didn’t I know better? People of all ages use bicycles to shop, to go to work, to go to the market, to pick up groceries to put in their bike baskets, to transport their children, and to perform numerous other functions in addition to biking for exercise. We could not get over the number of bikers who biked in the rain, holding their umbrellas with one hand as they steered with the other. Today we saw a young man using his cell phone (they call them “handys”) while biking. The bicycles are sturdy mountain bikes; it was rare to encounter thin wheeled bikes. So Mark had a good time with his fold-up bike.

Germans are very active in the out-of-doors. In addition to biking, there were hikers of all ages along our paths in the Alps. Most impressive were the women in their late 70s whom we met at our hotel who came from Frankfurt to hike for two weeks in Garmische, something they do every year. With about 15 major ski lifts operating in the area, it is possible to make any hike a downhill hike. At Wank, for example, we rode up and hiked down. We saw runners, and when we visited the gyms which are everywhere, we saw active men and women. The German women that I met were no nonsense people, strong and full of determination.

Mores are also different. Yesterday on our way to dinner, we saw two teenagers drinking from a wine bottle as they walked on the sidewalk, something that does not happen in the US, but especially in Pikeville, Kentucky. Nudity in unisex saunas and steam baths (only one sauna for both men and women) is accepted without comment, and the modesty with which we are familiar does not work. Mark even saw men sunbathing naked in a section of the gym where he worked out (of course they were blocked from view by walls, so people on the outside would not be able to see them).

We were told that Berlin has a large gay population, but we rarely encountered gay couples, at least not as much as we might in New York.

The cabbies were unusually polite and patient with us. We needed drinks for our picnic yesterday, and the cabbie, Norbert, stopped at a gas station on the way to our final destination so that Mark could purchase them. While he was gone, I asked Norbert about the age of his Mercedes cab (nine years and really clean), and he remarked about the proliferation of “one-stop markets” in Berlin. Last night, another cabbie got out of the car to open my door when we arrived at the restaurant. The cabbies drive at a leisurely pace (their driving is neither jerky nor rough) and their English and our map pointing were good enough that we communicated easily.

On the first hike we took at Eibsee Lake, no one that we passed would respond to our greeting either in German or English, so we just started believing that there was no custom of returning a greeting. But when we were hiking down from Wank, everyone whom we passed said, “Dat’s Gute,” which sounds like, “That’s good,” but we never did find out what it meant and were just happy that they returned our greeting. Generally people were friendly but not overly so, but we found no one impolite.

Having been in the movie theater three times to see Garden State and Wedding Crashers, we noticed the routine differed from ours. Before the feature begins, there are numerous filmed ads for beer, cigarettes, liquor, food, and ice cream. Then they turn the lights back on, and a man comes in selling ice cream bars. If you want something else, you go out to the concession stand in plenty of time to see the lights turned back off, one or two more beer ads, previews, and finally the main feature. Of course, the concessionaires also sell beer, wine, and liquor. As an aside: anywhere you can buy penny candy or snacks at gas stations or candy stores, you can also buy a variety of alcoholic beverages. They sit side by side.

Something bothersome was the smoking everywhere—it was rare that we had the choice of a nonsmoking section in restaurants, and the café tables were so close that if someone were smoking, it was sure to come your way. Many young people smoke, and of course there are massive amounts of beer drinking, even as early as 10 in the morning. In mostly older men (35+), we saw beer bellies and some men with red blotched skin.

Another remarkable thing about Germany, especially Berlin but also in Garmische is the number of sports cars. Since Mark has his eye on purchasing one, he noticed every make and model, and nowhere that we have traveled have we seen so many. Related to that is the speed on the autobahn. I was driving 120 km/hr (about 75 mph) and Mark about 140 (90 mph), and people were whizzing by us!

Visiting Germany for three weeks was a way for us to get to know a culture different than our own and than France to which we have traveled more frequently. It was this interplay of cultures which made the trip so good, and if we return to Germany next year, I hope to learn a little more German, bring a pocket translator, and ask a few more questions so that I can learn more about this great country.

Back in Berlin

(written July 17, 2005)

Leaving the quiet peaks of Bavaria, we headed back to Berlin for our last days in Germany. We fly back July 18. If you have kept up with these missives, you know that we added two days to our Bavaria trip in order to get two more good days of hiking, so we cut off two days which were originally going to be four days in Berlin before we returned to the US.

Our day began, Mark on his bicycle and me on my feet, taking our last spin around Garmische. We were up early to see the sunrise reflected on the mountains before we finished packing, loaded up the car, and ate our last breakfast in the hotel. Before we left, the owner’s son gave us a gift of a Garmische wall calendar and his good wishes for our safe trip home with apologies for the rain during our stay.

We headed north to Munich to find the airport (our trip from Munich to Gramische on July 4 had been three hours long in the dark and pouring rain because we kept making wrong turns). Though this trip was in the daylight, we still had some epithets flying around as we tried to negotiate the drive through Munich amid construction and signs in the wrong places. We arrived at the airport in 1.5 hours, turned in the car, finally found our check-in gate, ate lunch, boarded the plane, and slept all the way to Berlin.

Now the adventure begins. Mark originally had the idea that we would spend our last four days in an apartment, mostly because of the great experience Laura had had renting one in Paris. Living like other Berliners, we would shop, make some of our own meals at least breakfast, and experience the city in a different way than staying in another hotel. We both took part in the selection of this apartment in West Berlin Schoenberg district, looking at photos on the Internet.

Cutting our stay in Berlin to two days, we decided to have all our meals out, not to buy groceries, and essentially to use the apartment as our hotel. As arranged, we picked our key up from the Argentinean Restaurant below and found our apartment building. We ascended the elevator and opened the door to a spacious modern three-room apartment, spartan in its furnishings and stuffy and warm. We had only one key, but Mark quickly negotiated with the landlady to get a second key. I must say that what seemed like a good idea quickly faded as I took in our surroundings—it really was more like camping than I had been used to with all the other swell places Mark had arranged for us to this point.

Being the good Girl Scout (though I did my share of pouting), we decided to head out to the famous KaDeWe Department store and stopped on every floor to look at merchandise, ending up on the 6th floor which is known for its food selection--every kind of food you can imagine. On the next floor is a food court and there we got a snack and sat to read the Herald Tribune and look out the glass atrium to the western part of Berlin. Next we found the times of the movie we had seen on the first part of the trip, took a cab, and went to the theater only to find that Garden State was not showing until 11:15 p.m. Since it was 7:15, we decided to watch an 8:15 movie, Wedding Crashers, so went to get some supper. The film was light-hearted, so my spirits were lifted a little.

Today Mark did his long run, and I did my morning routine of shower and stretches, after which we ate at a nearby hotel’s breakfast bar. Our day since has consisted of spending time in the gardens of the Schloss Charlottenburg (the castle of Frederick I, named for his wife, Charlotte), eating our picnic lunch packed at breakfast, walking across the street to see the Berggruen Museum which exhibits mostly Picasso, Matisse, and Klee and next door, the Brohan Museum which features “Art nouveau, Art Deco, and Functionalism (1889-1939) . . . [in] glass, ceramics, porcelain, silver and metal work in combination with furniture, carpets and lighting as well as prints and painting.” There was a special glass and metal exhibit as well. Both museums were small and well laid out in 1850 vintage buildings which fit in architecturally with the Charlottenburg Castle across the way.

In between, we had an ice cream sundae. We have been noticing here and in the Alps the most incredible ice cream treats and decided that we would have our dessert before dinner (which we will eat at 8:30 p.m.), so between museums, we walked down the street to an Italian ice cream spot. I ordered a strawberry sundae with fresh strawberries, two scoops of vanilla and one scoop of strawberry with whipped cream and strawberry juice on top. Mark ordered a children’s dessert: two scoops of chocolate and whipped cream which came with wafers making a face, and an ice cream cone split and made to look like the top hat of a clown’s face. It was every bit as good as it looked.

Added July 19, 2005
For supper, we traveled back to our old neighborhood that night to find an Indian restaurant where we ordered chicken and vegetarian curries, rice, yogurt, and chapattis. With the good weather, we could sit outside and watch the people. We then walked 45 minutes to catch the 11:15 show of Garden State which Mark had so desperately wanted to see again but which he missed most of because he kept nodding off and snoring--I must cut him some slack though because he had run his 1.5 hour run that morning, and we had done quite a bit of walking during the day.

Our flight Sunday was without incident; just a two hour delay at JFK which made us 2:45 a.m. arriving in Pikeville, having been awake at that point 26 hours because of the time change. Today we have been unpacking, going through three weeks of mail, sorting through gifts we purchased, and looking forward to having dinner tonight with Laura and Shawn and Brian and Lahla! It’s good to be home, but the trip was so good that we are remarkably relaxed.

Garmische-Partenkirchen

Today, in reaction to the three-hour downhill trek of yesterday, we decided to plan at trip which would make both of us happy. We would hike in a direct line from one of the side streets next to the hotel to Riersee Lake (actually “see” is lake) on Rierseestrasse, walk up a short, steep portion of the ascent to the lake, and walk around the lake (small by Eibsee standards) which was about an hour-long hike. Then Mark would begin his more difficult hike while I walked back to the hotel. The lake is beautiful, sitting in the middle of surrounding mountains, and one can enjoy the scene from a café with outside tables and shade umbrellas facing the lake. After Mark ordered a piece of chocolate cake and coffee (his early lunch) and me a cup of peppermint tea, he headed up the mountain. I sat a bit longer and read for awhile before I headed home to relax. After his hike, Mark will swim in Riersee at a 5 euro beach; we saw many swimmers in the lake before we left. Mark is only hoping that it won’t be too cold!

After writing this blog which will probably be my last one until we are home, I will search for boxes for mailing things home, and at 4, I am taking Mark to the best bakery in town (see the street fair blog) for a mid-afternoon snack and shopping on the Ludwigstrasse. Tonight we will return to Husar, our favorite dinner place so far, for our last dinner in Garmische.

Last night we had moussaka, lamb shank, and the biggest piece of baklava we have ever seen (of course we split it and didn’t even finish it) at the Acropolis Restaurant in Garmische. Because we were both so tired, we drove, though we could easily have walked. We sat outside on their back porch, looking up at the Alpspitze Peaks as the sun reflected against their solid rock, changing them from yellow to pink to grey as it set and the quarter moon began to rise in the night sky.

Tomorrow, July 16, we fly to Berlin for our last two days in Germany, and leave behind the Bavarian Alps and the town of Gramische-Partenkirchen. Mark chose this town based on its size and the Hotel Staudacher based on what we saw on the Internet of its rooms and facilities and for its located in the center of Garmische. The hotel staff has made us feel at home during our twelve days here, translating for us, letting us use the Internet, and selling lift tickets among many other kindnesses.

As we leave this town, we reflect on the irony of Mark’s choice of Gramische-Partenkirchen, since he had no idea when he first made the arrangements that it was the birthplace of his great-grandmother on his mother’s side, and that a picture of her house in Garmische hangs in Fred and Frances’ house in Oregon. If we spoke or understood more written German, we might be able to use the library or talk to the historical society to find out more about the family and time period. Now we feel an even closer attachment to the town and would easily return here when we got the chance.

some photos

Today, July 14, we hiked Wank, taking the ski gondola to the top and hiking down--3 hours of downhill, though preferable to uphill, is tough, but I made it. We had sunshine and clear vistas of all of the surrounding moutains and this time I brought the binoculars. We then rushed over to the concert in the park and heard a band of accordians with drum and backup in Kurhuas Park. We are now scheduled to leave Bavaria on Saturday with two nights in Berlin before we head back. Mark's cousin had to cancel because of family illness.

I am going to try and attach two of Mark's wonderful photos, not from today, but from earlier in the week. He has taken some really good ones and if this works, then maybe I can attach some more.

The attachments worked, though I need to learn about layout. Love K

Sunshine!

As we look at the USA Today weather map, we have been seeing shades of red and orange indicating high temperatures across the US. My neighbor Connie says that Pikeville has been having what we call “dog days,” indicating extended hot and humid weather. But here in the Alps, we have been having cold and rainy days until yesterday when it became partly cloudy. In fact, we decided to add two days to our time here, postponing our trip to Mark’s cousin’s until Friday, because we had heard the weather would improve. Though it was cloudy yesterday, it was dry enough that we planned to hike the Eckbauer trail. When the sun broke out behind the clouds half-way through our walk, we stopped to celebrate the patches blue sky and the promise of sunshine.

This morning, we woke up early because the room was so bright from the sunshine, and as I looked out our balcony, I saw only sporadic, white clouds, that indicated our first sunny and dry day since Saturday.

Yesterday, July 12, we took the two-person gondola with Hamm Beer ads decorating the outside to the top of Eckbauer which is right next to the Skistation, the original high jump ski station for the 1936 Olympics which is still being used for competitions in the wintertime. (We had lunch later in the Skistation restaurant which looked out to the ski jumps—absolutely amazing and unfathomable how high they jump from watching ski competitions on television.)

The gondola looked to be vintage 1936 though the ads on the side had to be recent, so we know they have been updated. Our trip up was slow but the gondola held steady which calmed me a little. At the top, we began our hike down after we took a 5 minute detour to find that the Gasthof Restaurant was closed for the season. Since we had decided that morning not to make our own lunches from the breakfast buffet, we had to be content with my apple until we got to the bottom an hour later.

The hike was a good start to our hiking even though going downhill has its challenges, especially in steep places. The pathways for all of our treks have been either gravel or hardtop and for the most part, they are beautifully maintained. The mountain valleys were lovely, and eventually we saw the town below us. We ran into no one going down but later ran into some hikers going up. The boots I had purchased on our rainy day shopping carried me well and because the path was still wet, kept my feet dry for the first time in several days.

It amazes me how so much cold and rain drags the energy out of a person, but the prospect of dry weather and sunshine filled me with energy. After we returned from our hike and while Mark went to lift weights, I went on an hour-long walk around Garmische and found Kurhaus Park which I had heard about but not seen. The park is a lovely expanse of green lawns with flowers everywhere; I even saw flowers in the shapes of a snake and a turtle. The rose garden, past its prime, disappointed me, but I could imagine it had been pretty. A life-size chess board with huge but moveable figures stood in a gazebo as I passed a water wheel. Next, I stepped into a section where every day there is live music. There chairs were assembled in a square under cover. On one side of the performance stage is the Kurhaus Hotel which has an outdoor restaurant from where one could listen to the music. I am determined to get us to the park for a concert before we leave on Friday.

The rain came back briefly as we headed out to dinner, so we took the car instead of walking. We ate at the Husar Restaurant in a building part of which dates back 400 years. The restaurant is family-owned and operated; the young man who greeted us and took our order is the son-in-law of the owner and his wife is the chef! The restaurant has six tables in a cozy, wood-lined room with pictures of the Husars, Hungarian soldiers, lining the walls. My veal medallions on noodles and strawberry and ice cream for dessert plus the salad with chanterelles what we shared (Mark has noodles with chanterelles for his main course) were all top-notch.

Today, the day we would have been leaving the Alps to visit Mark’s cousin in Bad Homborg, we planned a trip to the top of the Zugspitze after Mark had his short run. After days of mountains shrouded by clouds and rain, we were finally going to be albe to see the panorama of the peaks which surround the town and be warmed by the sunshine! The hotel staff recommended that we see the vista on a day when the weather was good, so we decided to take the train, cog railway, and gondola, about an hour’s ride, to see the 10,000 feet high summit from which you can see Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. There we walked through melted snow to a wooden chapel and kept going higher until we reached the summit. Though clouds floated around us, the sun was shining, and they only blocked the views momentarily. Outstanding! Breathtaking! On our trip home, we decided to get off at an earlier stop to get some walking in since we were only tourists at the top.

I am happy that we added these extra days on to our trip and will remember the trip to the Zugspitze for a long time. Mainly I am happy to be warmed by the sun!

Rain

Rain

The incessant rain has led us to several fantasies:

We could change our plane ticket and head south to the Riviera.

We could hope for a change in the weather and finally do the hike we have been talking about for three days.

We could go to Innsbruck tomorrow and see the city.

We could get in the car and take two days to drive to Frankfurt and get there on Wednesday when we said we would visit Mark’s cousins.

Today we drove in the rain around the block to the cuckoo clock store and successfully purchased a cuckoo clock made in the Black Forest. Then we went to the boot store, and I finally found a pair of hiking boots which it appears we will have no use for on this trip, but which I have needed for a few years. My last pair bought when Brian was 15 has totally disintegrated. We also dropped into the bank to get some cash and went to the train station for our US newspapers (where they also sell papers from all over the world).

We ate the lunches which we made at breakfast in our room and read our papers, snoozing a little in between articles, worn out by the rain. At 2:20 we headed out to Mittenwald, the birthplace of the violin, located about 20 km from here. It is a charming place, so we parked at the train station and walked into the Zentrum (center). On our way, we saw the Effaler liqueurs which the monks at the monastery make and decided to get some as souvenirs. The woman waiting on us spoke a mixture of German and English and laughed at Mark as he kept adding purchases one after another.

We went on to one of the wood carving stores, dropping my eyeglasses off at the optometrist to be fixed: twice now the lense has dropped out. After our shopping, we picked them up and paid $4 euros for their service. In town, we visited the violin store and observed a young man working on one in his shop. Every size violin and guitar hung there, and I thought of Clare, Terry’s daughter, and my Uncle Tom. Afterwards we headed straight for a patisserie for hot tea and cocoa with which Mark ate a piece of linzertorte purchased at another bakery.

We will keep you posted on the decision we make.

The Castles of Ludwig

With rain in the forecast, hiking and biking were out of the question, so we decided to take the car Sunday to visit the castles of the region, thinking that at least inside the castles, we would be dry. We did not pack a lunch for the day, thinking we would stop at a restaurant along the way.

Huge carved puppets and wooden figures of old men with beards beckoned us to stop near the town of Ettal. Stepping out of the car, we could smell the wood shavings of freshly carved wood, and when we went inside the store, we saw the lathe and other tools of the owner’s trade. Eduard Fleig, the artisan, is a young man in his late twenties, early thirties, and inside his shop were bowls of all sizes, puppets, and every kind of object that could be carved from maple, birch, ash. He carefully wrapped the items we brought—an intricate, fold-out crèche, delicate oval Christmas ornaments, a bowl carved out of ash, wine corks, two whistles and a top, and we felt better about buying from him than if his wares had been sitting in an overpriced tourist shop.

Next we drove into Ettal, where we stopped for a short visit to the monastery founded in 1330 by Ludwig the IV. We learned from our reading that the monks produce fruit liqueurs and brandies and that their huge monastery is modeled on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. We walked into the chapel where a high mass was being said—there were more priests on the altar than we have serving all the churches in eastern Kentucky.

Our first goal was to visit the castle at Linderhof, built by another Ludwig, Ludwig the II. Known as the lonely king, he built this small castle as a retreat; one of the saddest things is that he never married and never had guests stay at the castle. His dining room table was a small table that sat one person. The decorations were ornate: golden and silver gilded flourishes around the walls, French porcelain, a bronze equestrian statue of Louis II, woven tapestries, pastoral scenes of the rococo era, silk canopies, malachite tables, and so on. What impressed us the most were the waterfalls and gardens on the outside, and though it was raining, Mark got some good photos. This was the only castle Ludwig finished and that took 9 years. He died at the age of 40 in a mysterious drowning accident.

Since it was nearly 2, we were hungry and stopped for lunch in a café on the way to the other castles. Our menus had no English translation, and our waitress spoke no English, so we winged it with my German dictionary and what we knew from German dishes in the US. Mark ordered the house sausage with sauerkraut, and I ordered a bacon flavored dumpling soup and a vegetable salad. Excellent good luck in our almost blind choices!

We drove on to Fussen where we visited the sites of the other castles also built by Ludwig but never completed. If you have ever been to Disney World, their castle is modeled on the Neuschwanstein Castle. Ludwig loved everything French and built the castle on his memories of trips there. Towering high above the village, this is an imposing castle. Very close to it is the Hoenschwangau Castle which was an old country castle taken over by his father Maximilian II and Ludwig’s childhood summer residence and later his retreat place.

Wet and tired, we decided to tour the gift shops first, and found incidentally a restaurant with delicious looking pastries that were not to be resisted. It was there we decided that just being in the region and seeing these famous castles was enough for us, so we did a little more shopping, drove illegally up to the castle to get a view, and then drove down. We headed home through Austria and did not even know we were there since now there are no border crossings. We knew if it had been the border into any state in the US there would have been a “Welcome to Kentucky where Education Pays” type sign, but we saw none like it. Soon we were back to our hotel for hot bathes and steam rooms to get warm.

Today it is still raining, so we plan to shop for boots and cuckoo clocks, swim, and have dinner at a good restaurant in town.

Strassenfest der Werbegemeinschaft d’Lugwigstrasser

Strassenfest der Werbegemeinschaft d’Lugwigstrasser

Yesterday, I went to a street festival (the title is not literally translated) while Mark went to bike and hike without anyone to slow him down. I successfully maneuvered the roads and parking to find Ludwigstrasse, a historic street in Partenkirchen with a church dating to 1637 and a hotel dating back to 1763 when it was a wine tavern belonging to a group of monks. Remnants of old farmhouses on the street and a grain storage dating back to 1602 provided a great setting for the fair.

My first sight as I turned the corner from the parking garage was a miniature railroad train with an authentic whistle driven by a huge man with small cars carrying young children. Next, I saw fair-like booths, antiques, homemade goodies, and crafts, but my main intention since time had passed since breakfast was to find a place to eat. I had all kinds of choices in addition to restaurants and booths. I was almost tempted to begin with sweets because of the huge bakery I passed where they were serving pizza-like pieces of apple, raspberry, plum and other fruit pies and frying up what looked like a cross between a funnel cake and a donut, but this one filled with cream. I made a mental note to come back there for dessert. I looked briefly at the boots on a shelf outside a shoe shop, and then turned around to look at the other side of the street. I passed tables where children were making picture frames and other craft-like items for themselves with the help of the staff of what might have been a school (there was a teacherly-type running the event).

Making my way through the streets, I heard four different German music groups with male players in leather leiderhosen (leather shorts with suspenders) and females in Bavarian dresses. Their accordions, guitars, and other instruments which I cannot name were delightful. One group was children about age 10 and 11; one group was all male; another was about eight men and women who were singing together; and the last was a man about our age on a synthesizer. As I sat to eat my pork sandwich (pork cooked on a grill and out of this world good), I thought what a pleasant voice he had and noted to myself, “Now I am hearing German music!” I say this because everywhere we go we hear American or English music, mostly oldies, but funny to us.

However, just as I was thinking this, his next song was a familiar one, “The Green, Green Grass of Home,” I think an old Tony Orlando song! As I finished my lunch, he was playing some Credence Clearwater Revival! I have decided that no one likes to be stereotyped with a certain kind of music and people should be allowed to play whatever kind of music they want, and perhaps finally hotels and restaurants play this because they have some English speaking guests, but I will ask our German cousins about why we have not heard German rap or rock or pop music when we visit them on Wednesday.

Having finished the first course of my meal, I went back to the bakery and purchased a cinnamon roll, just as crisp and sweet and not so gooey as those shopping mall Cinnabons. For our picnic today, I bought a piece of homemade cake from another booth and smoked summer sausage from the vendor; they call it Kamenwurst and I don’t have a literal translation for that word, though wurst is sausage.

Mark’s day consisted of biking up to the other gorge we have heard about. His photos of sheep, cows, and vistas were so good that I felt that I had been there myself without the wear and tear on my body! Last night we shared our day over dinner at the Asia City Restaurant in Partenkirchen and then walked along the river in Garmische, finding a restaurant for one of our remaining dinners in town. The best part of the day was that is did not rain!

Food so far in Garmische-Partenkirchen

Food so far in Garmische-Partenkirchen

We have had most of our meals in the hotel since they are part of the package except for lunches. At breakfast we have our choices of every kind of luncheon meats and cheeses, and at least seven different kinds of bread from seven grain to rye to hard rolls which we use for our sandwiches.

At the hot buffet are scrambled eggs, 5 minute boiled eggs, and sausage and bacon. On the side table is every kind of yogurt with grains, cereals, and fruits to add to your yogurt.
Next is the juice table which includes every kind of juice and buttermilk. They bring coffee or tea to your table. There is no way to go away hungry.

For me, the sausage is the best. Last night in fact, we went to a traditional Bavarian restaurant for a change from hotel food (their breakfasts far outweigh their suppers) and had cevapcici and something else like it where spiced meat is served with sour cream, rice, and salad on the side—more than one person could eat. Mark’s dish which is something like our hamburger was better than mine, but they both tasted far too good and I ate far too much.

Hiking in the Alps

Hiking in the Alps

Yesterday (July 7) and today (the 8th) we finally did some hiking. About 1 p.m. yesterday, we started out with a reasonably level path, about 8 km. around Lake Eisbee (the destination of our bicycle trip: see previous blog). We drove to the lake, packed up our things, and found the path around the hotel. After about 15 minutes we felt rain drops but sat down on some rocks on a small beach and ate our lunch—truthfully there has been so much rain lately that we had to get out anyway and besides that, it was like one of those dry Oregon rains. Our path followed the clear green and blue lake which reminded us of Crater Lake and occasionally away from it but in the forest. Our walk went well, only a little uphill, but about 2/3 of the way, the rain really poured. We had our rain gear (how we wish that we had brought our rain pants which we used in Ireland on our first bike trip!), so we didn’t have to run, but as soon as we could, we went in to the restaurant at the Eisbee pier.

After shedding our wet jackets, we sat down at 3:20 p.m. to apple pie, coffee, and tea to warm ourselves before heading out to the car and our trip home—the rain coming down even harder. We definitely went at the right time.

This morning, we saw some sun, so we decided to get up on the mountain as soon as we could since the rain seems to come in the afternoons. The sun didn’t last for long, but we started up the mountain at Hammersold about 10:15 a.m., again with lunches made from the breakfast rolls, meats, fruit from the hotel and our own waters. Mark had noticed this hike while we were biking and assured me that it was an easy hike. Although he has about four maps of the region (he and Brian both say that you can never have enough maps!), he misjudged the terrain, though it was completely manageable. The biggest surprise of this supposedly meandering trail was coming to a closed restaurant and ticket booth, where a young woman was selling tickets to see the Hollental Klamm (gorge). We did not know where we were going, but followed the narrow path built in 1902 for tourists.

To describe the gorge and the water tumbling through it would be difficult, but the sight was literally breathtaking, another reminder of the grandiose power of Nature and our relative insignificance next to it. We followed it around from side to side, stepping carefully because the trail was narrow, wet, and rocky. At one point, a grandmother and her grandchild stopped to tell us with signals (she spoke German) that we really needed rain gear for the rest of the trek, so we opened up our pack and were happy for the warning because as we went along further, the water began dripping more from the rocks around us.

I do think we still might be climbing that gorge, but Mark suggested we turn around, and I am not one to argue (on matters like that). We slowly wound our way down the mountain, happy for the surprise of the day, the gorge. There is a more famous one on a nearby mountain, the Partnach Klamm, but I wonder if it can match the wonder of this one. Although we planned to do tennis shoe hikes, Mark and I are determined to get boots now, because no lines on a map, no matter how many you have, can prepare you for where your foot is going to land.

Biking in the Alps

Biking in the Alps

Twenty-nine years ago, Mark took me to the La Loire Valley to bicycle. Married 2 ½ years, this was the first of many adventures where Mark challenged my physical and mental states and changed my attitude from “No, there’s no way I can do that!” to “Yes, I can do it.” And usually I survive the experience and am better for having done it.

So yesterday when we planned the biking trip to Eisbee Lake, 8 km. away, I looked at the path on the map and said, “I can do this.” At breakfast, we made sandwiches from the rolls and meats and added the fruit in the room to our picnic bag. We headed out about 1 p.m. after a leisurely morning, and not even a half-hour into the ride, we stopped on one of the many benches facing the massive mountains to eat our lunch and observe the numerous hikers and bikers that passed us from both directions.

The path wound its way through the town of Grainau where we stopped at their 12 person chapel (it was that small) dedicated to John the Baptist but full of statues of Mary. A few minutes later, we passed another beautiful church with tiers of statues commemorating burial sites, so that the church looked out over the graves.

Though I wanted to see the lake, we got discouraged when we came to signs along the way which declared that our destination was further than we thought. Two or three times along the way, Mark said, “We can turn back now and park our bikes at the hiking trail and do a little hiking.” I said, “We will always be sorry not seeing the lake. Let’s go.”

Biking a little further, we came upon a gravel trail and navigated it just fine until the hills became steeper. In higher elevation now, we were getting more breathless, so we walked our bikes up the steep hills, stopping along the way for the glorious views and listening to the music of the cow bells as we passed cow fields.

Three hours from the time we left the hotel, we saw clean and clear Eisbee Lake at the base of the Zugspiche Mountain. We celebrated with a sprite and a beer with a pretzel at the lakeside hotel restaurant as we took in the view!

Later, we biked to the train station adjacent to the hotel, since Mark calculated that our trip home on the trail would be two more hours of biking. At 4:45, we walked into the station to find out that bicycles could not go on the train! So we headed out and retraced our tracks. The whole trip had been uphill, so that meant the return would be downhill. I loved biking downhill! However, on the gravel section, I was afraid of skidding (voices of Laura came to me: trust your bicycle), so my hands were white knuckled until we got off the gravel path.

Then it began to rain, and Mark stopped at a shelter and said he was holding out until the rain stopped. Since I had my rain jacket on and a good hat, I thought he was being a little cowardly about so little rain, so we rode on. The last part of the trip was exhilarating because it was downhill on a paved path, so we made it back to the hotel in 45 minutes, 4½ hours from the time we had left.

Occasionally during our trek, a tour bus would pass along the roads we were biking, and I would think, “One day when I am a widow, I will sit on one of those buses and look out at this scenery from the bus and be relaxed and probably be fat from sitting so much.” In all likelihood that won’t happen because I know how much a tour bus misses by not being out on the open road, seeing things closer and being able to stop to really see what’s around you. As I soaked in a hot bath afterwards, I added biking in the Alps to my memories of adventures with Mark.

The Trip to Garmische

Well, Mark is close to perfect and he has designed an almost perfect vacation for us, but on Monday, he showed his fallibility (which is a truly rare phenomenon).

Monday, July 4, we had a relaxing day in Berlin and left the hotel about 5 for our flight to Munich. We had a 1.5 hour delay, and got into Munich too late for the last train to Garmische. Along the way, we had so many helpful people making suggestions for alternatives to getting to our destination, but we finally came up with renting a car when we found that it is 100 km from Munich. How hard could that be!

We rented a Passat station wagon and drove out of the airport with specific directions from the Eurocar agent. We made two wrong turns but finally found the road to Gramische. Mark bravely fought rain and fog on highway 95, and we turned into our hotel driveway at 1 a.m. (we were due to arrive at 9:45 p.m.). We woke the night watchman up, and he let us in.

It was there we realized that we were a day early! From the beginning Mark had July 5 on the itinerary, but we went full force ahead thinking it was the 4th! Luckily they had a room and we moved to our bigger room the next day. So luckily not a serious mistake!

Cold and rainy, we toured the town Tuesday, with our feet and umbrella, and it is a delightful place. With potato sausage soup and hot tea, we warmed up at lunch and treated ourselves to the delicious pastries in the Thron bakery and restaurant. Lunch and supper are included in the hotel and so we came back to have supper later--lamb shank and potatoes. People are delightful and helpful but all of the hotel info, including material on the spa are all in German. Some words are obvious, but many are not. After our biking today, I may try a spa treatment which the hotel is known for.

I wish I could paint a picture or include a photo of the mountains we are seeing outside our window and patio. Think of a postcard of the Alps and add a deep blue that comes with the higher elevation, a blue which etches the mountains in more detail and sharpness and then down to the tree line where evergreens stand tall together. Clear air and deep breathing! About 58 degrees. And I saw today that Louisville is 90, so we are thankful for the good weather.

More later as we explore the mountains!

Food, of Course

Although I am not a cookbook author, I do have opinions on food and offer them here in a brief entry before we leave Berlin (which we will come back to for our last 4 days). We ate the first night at Altes Zollhaus Berlin where I had a white herring salad with river perch and the best creme brulee on the trip so far (I have ordered it every night). At Rutz on the next night, I had a wild herb salad with two pieces of lamb (since the English translation said "lamp" I had not idea I was getting lamb), venison and creme brulee (terrible). Our lunch at Facil was excellent, but we were with friends, so I could not steal the menu (it's a habit I learned from Mark) and we were talking so much, I cannot remember what I ordered. That night for supper we split a potato and wurst plate with link sausages on sauerkraut. Before the concert, we had pasta at an Italian wine bar around the corner, and last night we ate here at the hotel and split a crusted bass. The cream brulee here was good, but not the best.

Overall, I had wrongly assumed that German food would be mediocre, but we were both pleasantly surprised. Yesterday at breakfast, we were amazed at the number of Germans ordering beer when it was only 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The Old Regulars would have a fit! Most menus have two food pages and ten wine, beer, and liquour pages. Too, as in France, there is a lot of smoking though some restaurants offer two sections, still not like it is in the US.

Mark is off swimming, and I will go after I pack to Galaries Lafayette to look around. The sun is shining and it is supposed to be warmer, so we will have good weather to travel to Garmische.

Tiergarten Park

Berlin is green: green trees line Unter den Linden (under the Linden trees) and other boulevards, and they surround the park split by several roads. Berlin has parks, the most famous being the Tiergarten Park which was developed as a hunting ground in the 1600s and was landscaped as a park in the 18th century. The park's green trees, especially the oaks and maples, are relatively young because during the frigid winter of 1946-47, the trees were cut down because people needed the wood for heat.

Tiergarten Park doesn't compare with Central Park or Luxembourg Gardens, and comparisons are unfair. Considering that Berlin has been so battered throughout history, it is amazing that the park exists at all. We found only one section filled with flowers; otherwise it is massive grass lawns and trees. Bikers and strollers pass along the pathways which are developed, and in one section, Turkish families were grilling their Sunday dinners and serving them on white picnic tables or on cloths on the ground. Families were kicking soccer balls around, sunbathing, and enjoying their Sunday afternoon.

We began our morning at the Driscoll Cafe on Under den Linden Street. Our breakfast consisted of one soft-boiled egg, ham and cheese, a basket of breads and jams, and yogurt with fruit. Mark had great plans for us, so our first stop after breakfast was the Brandenburg Gate, built two centuries ago as one of Berlin's 18 gates. It has figured centrally in modern history but especially interesting was the time from WWII to the 1989 destruction of the Berlin Wall to the city's current efforts to unify and improve Berlin. It was emotional reading the history of the Gate and its symbolism for the German people, especially the photo of East Berliners storming the wall in 1989--quite amazing.

Next we set out for the Holocaust Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, a sculpture by Peter Eisenman, a New York architect: it is a whole city block of "concrete pillars of varying heights positioned on a gently wavy ground . . . an abstract interpretation of a field of wheat in the wind." There is an underground information center but the line was too long. Again, one cannot escape the emotional significance of the events that took place under Hitler's reign. I hope we never forget!

Finally, we found quite by accident (actually Mark saw someone with an antique mirror walking in the park and being so observant, he asked where the antique market was) the antique flea market, the Trodelmarkt, one of the largest in the city. Among the treasures, Mark found the wine spout he has been looking for for 3 euros, and we finally had a bratworst on a roll and an apple and nutella crepe.

We will eat in the hotel tonight and see Garden State later (there is not a huge selection of English films). Tomorrow we will leave for Gramisch by plane and train, but we have almost the whole day here to plan something. Then we will be back here at the end for a few days to do the things we could not do this time.

Another good day.

Saturday Market

Spuds of six different varieties. Baby blueberries, golden apricots, jonagold apples, sliced pineapples, and fresh red strawberries in wooden baskets. Farm fresh organic eggs and vegetables sold by mothers and daughters, fathers and sons. Red, white and yellow roses, sunflowers, marigolds and other flowers in bunches fresh for the city dwellers who don't have a garden, who probably don't have a backyard. Smells of the market: every variety of cheese, pork sausages cooking on a grill, falafel samples given away by a middle Easterner and his son. Coffee, fresh juice of every combination from kiwi-carrot to orange-banana- apple (our choice); fresh coffee cake and banana bread become our breakfast. As we stand to eat at tall, red-covered tables, we are surrounded by young families with babies in strollers which double as carriers for market purchases, by young teens buying earrings from the jewelry merchant, by a woman my age trying on Indian pashimas as her friend advises her on her purchase.

After Mark buys African spoons, we sit for awhile on the park bench to read and watch a precious, pudgy, curly-headed toddler chase birds and wander aimlessly under the loving gaze of his young mother and look up to us as he passes to briefly acknowledge our presence on his way back to enjoying his adventures. We guess that he lives in an apartment and that his mother brings him here often to get rid of his energy.

On our way back to the hotel, we stop in the sandlot where dozens of families gather around the slides, snapping pictures, and Mark snaps pictures of the children of all ages. We recall Laura and Brian at those ages and remember how they filled our world with such joy, but we wouldn't give anything for the adult relationships we have with them now and were happy to walk away from the scene, knowing the years of raising these children belonged to their young parents.

Not content to go straight home, we stopped on the way for lunch since our small breakfast did not fill us up. There as we ate our sandwiches in one of many outdoor cafes, we witnessed a young man dressed in a dark suit walking with the passing crowd, wearing a clown's nose, mimicking them as they passed between the two outdoor cafes: the way they walked, their actions (eating, talking on their cell, speaking to their neighbor), often surprising them and eliciting all kinds of reaction from upset to laughter. It was lighthearted comedy for the afe patrons, and he collected our approving euros in his hat at the end.

We got back to the hotel in enough time to get ready to go to the gym around the corner where Mark lifted weights, and I had a massage. What an experience! I went to the gym's front desk, and the young woman called for the masseuse to come. Coming toward me and towering over me was a huge giant of a man, a bodybuilder type, who asked me to follow him. He spoke a few words in English: okay and are you an American? so the massage was quiet. I will just end with the observation that I was happy when he cut five minutes off of the 45 minute massage. The price was right (18 euros) but it was not relaxing.

"A Tribute to the Beatles" ended our day in Germany; it was like a Las Vegas act in a convention hotel on the other side of Berlin, and we sat with people from Amsterdam who helped us with the German part of the act (the actors who were telling the story of the rise of the Beatles). The look-a-like John, Paul, George, and Ringo were convincing, and the music was terrific. So many memories for me from the first time I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 in the student union of St. Joseph's College (no TVs in the room) to their music during the Vietnam war to Peace Corps India where we listened to Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heartclub Band and their other music when we gathered in Bombay. Wonderful nostalgia!

Berliners

Today we met friends of Jerry Sohn's for lunch! Real Berliners! We went first to Si and Deter Rosencranz's home which was airy and comfortable, and they drove us to a restaurant near the Sony Center where we not only had good food, but got to know more about these amazing people who made us feel quite at home. They have spent some time in Santa Monica and have even stayed at Jerry's desert place, so they are quite familiar with the Sohns and happy to meet another one (they remarked on the resemblance of Mark to Jerry). The afternoon was so successful that we arranged another luncheon at the end of our trip when we get back to Berlin around the 14th.

Next we visited the Bauhaus Museum which featured among the furniture and other objects a two room exhibit on color and its use in architecture. Having spent a day many years ago at the Mies Van der Rohe exhibit at the University of Illinois in Chicago, we were curious to see the birthplace of the movement. There was a shop with some of the objects and we thought immediately of Laura and Shawn.

Mark has gone swimming, and after a huge meal at lunch, we are looking for something light and small for dinner about 8 p.m. I booked our ticket for Garmische, got my glasses fixed, mailed 10 postcards, got money, went to the bookstore and bought 3 books (one on Berlin in 1945), and am now writing to you. It rained today so it is cooler and we are into long pants and warm clothes. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are planning to go to the big market for breakfast and sightseeing. Then we may do a museum--Jerry's friends have recommended several for us, and Museum Island is very close.

Hope all is well. Hugs and kisses, Kathy