photos

This photo is taken on one of the beautiful hikes we took--of me ahead of Mark, a rarity. This scene is taken at Eibsee Lake and shows you the massive mountains, the famous Zugspitze to the right, Alpspitze on the left.
Here I am looking out at Eibsee Lake, at one of the seven islands that dot its surface. We had just finished lunch.
Mark loves to include people in his photos, so he snapped this elderly couple at Riessersee Lake. We saw many elderly people walking daily.
Wood piles are everywhere, and I thought this was interesting because they also act as a kind of garage for the owners of the house (to the right and not pictured).

Mark snapped this photo last Friday at the celebration of St. John's Eve. These employess of the hotel played for us as we sat around the pool enjoying grilled fish and cold salads and dessert (and lots of beer).

We will be posting more photos, probably after we return on July 1.

Hiking Adventures

Tourist Traps are not always bad as we learned on Wednesday when we hiked to the world famous 700 meters long Partnachklamm Gorge “with walls that rise 80 meters (260 feet) high." Mark tells me that it was established to attract tourists over 100 years ago. Last year we had happened upon the Hammersbach Gorge, and I thought that was wonderful. But I would use the word, “stupendous” and the books say, “magnificent” for this gorge, especially after the incredible rains from the last few days. The pathway through the gorge lines one side and allows views of the massive amounts of water that pass by. Water is falling everywhere, so I was happy to have my rain jacket with me, and I would say that the rapids defy whitewater rafting categories. The velocity of the water is hard to measure, and photos do not do it justice. It reminded me of a Joan Chittister (Benedictine nun who writes extensively for her order and for the National Catholic Reporter) column which called for us to learn to cry for the number of men, women, and children who have died in Iraq and in other unjust wars—she believes we have hardened ourselves to the carnage, and perhaps that is why it continues. When I glanced at the gorge, I thought of the number of tears that the gorge could contain and wondered if that would be enough?

After the gorge, we completed the hike up the mountain to a hut where we rested for the walk down the hill—the whole trip was about three hours including stops. We lunched on sausage and turkey salad in the 1936 Olympic Stadium where we looked out at the ski jumps before we headed to Partenkirchen where Mark and I visited the Chocolaterie Café and another place which sold Belgian chocolates; of course we stopped in a few bakeries as well. For supper we were back at the Husar for a fried veal and cheese frittata on noodles—but the prize was Mark’s potato pancakes with cream fraiche and salmon on top. He also finished his meal with strawberries in Sabayon. We finally got to meet the chef of the family, the host’s wife, Verena, and heard a little more about their restaurant.

Today we got up and were ready to leave earlier than usual, so we went over to what appears to me as the largest and greenest mountain in the region (so many of the others have rock promontories), the Wank Mountain. Last year it was the site of our longest and most difficult walk down the mountain that took a little over three hours (the mountain rises 1774 meters) in the hot sun. It was after that hike that we decided to go on multiple length hikes so that we were both challenged.

Like last year, we took the gondola to the top, but this year Mark found some moderate pathways on the mountain top which we hiked. The vistas were incredible—we saw the road to Munich, the mountains which surround Garmisch, and the mountains of Austria. The clouds moved in then so we lost our views, and it was ironic that at breakfast I had noted the sunny weather forecast, the first since we have been here. Perhaps the hotel had clicked on weather.com which has been for the most part dead wrong with forecasts.

The path circled around the mountain, and we ended up at the café for a cherry kuchen which we split. Then we decided to go down to the mountain, and Mark continued hiking more and then biking home (which ended up in the rain). I had come in the car, so I went to Partenkirchen for lunch which were strips of turkey, peaches, green and red peppers, and cucumbers on a bed of fresh lettuce and a slice of rye bread. My next stop was a lingerie and houseware’s store where I purchased three cotton kitchen towels and a camisole for ten euros.

Tomorrow is our last full day here, so we are working on our last hike—should we repeat one we liked earlier or choose a totally different one?

A Day without Exercise is like . . . Heaven?

Tuesday, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided that this would be a good day to do no exercise, in fact, to be a car tourist. Mark agreed to the touring, but only after he did a three hour bicycling tour to the nearby town of Mittenwald.

Around lunch time, Mark took me to a place he had visited and hiked the day before in the town of Farchant not far from Garmisch, where there is an outdoor forestry tour, a set of stations which illustrate the kinds of trees that inhabit the local forests, the age of trees, items that are made out of trees (like wooden sculptures), and so on. We sat on a bench not too far from our car to eat the lunch he had made for himself at breakfast and which he shared. We had purchased strawberries and had other fresh fruit to supplement the dinner.

Our goal was to visit Ettal and Oberammergau. Our first stop after lunch was the same store we had visited last year in the rain, on our way to the Benedictine monastery which dates to 1330. Edward looks to be in his early 30s, has a round face with round glasses, and crafts all of the objects in his store which are works of art and inexpensive, and many of you received wooden souvenirs for Christmas last year. He had his workshop open today and showed us the chestnut which he had gathered for future projects.

Next we went down the road to the Monastery and then the rain came. It seems that we will only have wet memories of Ettal because when we are here, it rains. We ran into a café to sit out the rain which only got worse. To help us tolerate the inconvenience, we ordered a cherry cake and coffee and tea, read the latest Herald Tribune, and called Laura for her 29th birthday and caught up on her news (they celebrated with 30 guests and lots of food on Saturday).

When the rain let up, we visited the old monastery (which still has monks who run a private high school and make fruit wines and liqueurs) and then drove a few kilometers further to Oberammergau where we visited the church and drove around town.

Came back later and went to eat at 7:30! So the day without exercise was a huge success—just didn’t eat any dessert last night!

Food in Garmisch

If you know us, you know that wherever we visit, we plan the day around meals and snacks. In previous blogs, I have described our breakfasts and lunches, but I have not mentioned suppers. We eat at 7:30 p.m. every night which gives us time to get done all the other activities we have planned with time (for me at least) to rest and recoup for the evening ahead.

Like everywhere in the world, Garmisch offers a variety of cuisine. We went one night for Chinese food at Jade, Italian food at the nearby pizza place, German food on most menus. We have seen Indian and Thai eateries as well as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut (they advertise that one euro will buy you an order of fries). We try not to visit fast food places since we can get those at home though it is interesting to see what shows up on the menus.

Our favorite restaurant from last year, the Husar, did not fail us again this year. We had six humongous pieces of fresh white asparagus, Mark’s meal served with salmon and mine with Weiner Schnitzel. The last time we had this asparagus, we had seen it growing in the fields on our first bicycle trip to France (B.L.B—before Laura and Brian) and ate it in local restaurants. Mark’s appetizer was the most interesting dish: cooked, thinly sliced eggplant, carrots, zucchini, were arranged on a plate with baby tomatoes and mozzarella cheese in the middle and sprinkled with olive oil. The vegetables had probably been marinated, and the taste was exquisite.

Last night we went to the only five star hotel restaurant in town for dinner where they were featuring a whole menu based on Chanterelle mushrooms from starters to entrees to desserts. I ordered pan fried Chanterelles with lettuce (excellent), and Mark had Chanterelle crepes with cheese sauce for his entrée. I had sliced leg of lamb with fried polenta (we call it mush back in Kentucky), ratatouille, and sliced onions. For dessert, Mark had the most beautifully arranged strawberry dessert (Strawberries Walterspeil), a crust of macaroons, a ball of ice cream surrounded by cream with strawberries arranged in a pyramid fashion on top of the cream.

For snacks, we have mixed nuts and dried fruit, bakery cookies, and some fresh fruit with cold drinks from the minibar in the room. Last year on our trip, we made a habit of having dessert at 4 p.m., eating later in the day, and not ordering dessert with the evening meal. We tried it this year on the first day and decided that it added too many calories to the day.

We will continue to search for the best entrée, best dessert, and will go back to some of the places with just good basis food. Like restaurants everywhere, some places try too hard, put on airs, charge too much money, and disappoint by trying to be all things to all people. Simple food wins, generally.

Hiking in the Alps

Pounding,
Pounding,
Pounding.
Hiking boots in rhythmic steps,
Like soldiers in formation
Hut, two, three, four,
Hut, two, three, four.
Falderee, Faldera, a knapsack on my (Mark’s) back.

I hear the noise of my boots,
A Cat clearing a path
Birds singing
The whirr of bicycle wheels
As bikers pass.
Nordic walkers’ poles
Clicking stones on the pathway up the mountain,
Cowbells on field cows
Chairlift overhead
The train whistle as it carries folks up to the Zugspitze.

I see massive mountains
Deep green with pines and spruces
(I thought they were firs
—you would think I would know by now.)
Craggy rocks reaching skyward
(Where are the rock climbers?)
Paragliders’ multicolored sails in the air.

I touch the backpack to reach for my lunch,
To retrieve my bottle of water.
Mark is so gracious to carry it
So that my burden is lightened.

I taste water which quenches my thirst,
Unpack the lunch we prepared at breakfast,
Oatmeal rolls with sliced salami,
Turkey, cucumbers, cheese spread.
Strawberries and nectarines
From the Friday market.

I eat this manna from heaven to satisfy the hunger I have worked up.
Rejuvenated by the calories,
I begin the
Pounding,
Pounding,
Pounding again.

Today, June 24, 2006, I did not hike. The sore muscles could, I fear, take no more pounding.

St. John's Eve

St. John’s Eve

Germany joins with several other countries in celebrating the Summer Solstice, June 23. According to the International Herald Tribune, the pagan holiday became Christian when the Church decided to replace the pagan emphasis by designating June 24, the feast of St. John the Baptist (the precursor of Jesus Christ who came during the Winter Solstice), so the eve of the feastday was celebrated with fires. People celebrate the sun being at the highest point and take us back to ancient rituals. It’s cloudy out, but I see four fires on the mountain already, and they look like huge candles from here. I believe if it were clearer, we would see more on the other mountains. The hotel celebrated with an outdoor grill and buffet, and we were seated with other guests, very nice, but only one of them spoke a little English. We really do need to get some German lessons!

Today we hiked for four hours, a hike of 1650 meters. We began our trip at 10:30 a.m. in the Kreuzeck gondola which took us to the top of the mountain. Mark planned the hike so that it wouldn’t be too steep, so we hiked down the gravel road through fields and valleys where flowers greeted us at every turn. At 12:30, we stopped for lunch at a picnic table near one of the many huts we ran into along the way. After another two hours, we stopped at another hut to have something to drink, then back to the room. An excellent hike!!

We began the day at the Friday market where we bought the juiciest nectarines I have tasted in a long while, a pint of strawberries to take for our lunch, and two desserts, a walnut and hazelnut torte for our midafternoon snack on our room balcony. An interesting coincidence occurred at the market: I observed three Native American Indians playing the woodpipes and selling CDs. Two years ago at Hillbilly Days in Pikeville, a similar group of Native Americans were playing the woodpipes and selling CDs. The music is soothing, and I have one of their CDs.

Later I negotiated getting my glasses adjusted, buying two hard cases for those reading glasses and for my sunglasses which so easily get smashed. Then I went to the drugstore for some items, and I ended up at the shoe store where yesterday I purchases hiking socks; I bought Mark a pair for his hiking boots. He was at the city pool doing his swim.

Today is day 6 of the trip, and everything is going so well, we cannot believe it.

Bits and Pieces without Transitions

June 22, 2006


Back on the trail again today! The break yesterday helped my sore legs, and I only requested a flat path from my number one guide, Mark Sohn. We went on a trail we had biked last year but saw new territory, and Mark found a few more species of orchids. Someone told him that there were 120 varieties in the region, so he has a ways to go, but the eight species he has spotted are ones we don’t see regularly in Kentucky.

We were grateful today that once again, every day since we came, the weather.com forecast has been wrong for Garmisch. We were fully prepared today to travel to Innsbruck, Austria, just over the border, since rain was predicted. At 5 today, we got our daily afternoon storm, and there was no hint of rain this morning as we planned our hike.

I discovered from a non-family reader of this blog, a German who now lives in China, that the term we keep hearing when we pass other hikers is “Gross (I do not have the German symbol for the double ss letter) Gott” and not “Das Goot” as I has written in an earlier blog (last year). It means “God’s blessing” or “God be with you.” He posited that because of the thick Bavarian accent, it sounded like “Das Goot” to us. Now isn’t that just the nicest thing in the world to say to some stranger you pass along the way? My grandfather Berry always said, “Guardian angels watch over you” before we left his house; my mother and now my dad continued the practice. I always found it comforting to have that blessing.

Today Brian Sohn is 27 years old! We called him and learned all about his new assignment at Belfry High School where he has his own classroom across from the technology center and faculty lounge. He will be teaching Spanish I and II. Belfry is one of the better schools in the county system and just last year moved into a brand new facility. He will complete his internship there and finish his Masters of Teaching and be certified to teach Spanish. I promise him every year that I will not tell the story of his birth, no matter how lyrical the details, that day in June when our 9 lb 15 oz. bundle of joy entered this world! Laura will turn 29 next Tuesday. Many years have passed since she viewed this boy as an interloper into her territory.

Soccer is of course big here, and Germany as the host of the World Cup makes it certain that there is a fever in the air, much like NCAA college basketball in March! The US played and lost today—so sad. The TV in the lobby lounge is full at night when Germany is playing, and there are a few scattered viewers for other teams. I remember when Brian played soccer in Flagstaff (4th grade) while we were on sabbatical, but there were no teams at Pikeville High School until after he left.

Before I left for Germany, I found a website which recommended a local restaurant at the Hotel Obermulhe as having the best food in town, so we went there last night. I must tell you that the lamb chops I ordered were the best I have ever eaten, and Mark ordered veal tongue. So we concur with the recommendation and may return there. The untold story is the spacey waitress who waited on us. Enough said that she was what we might describe back home as “dumber than a coal bucket” if her behavior was any indication.

While we were at dinner, we talked about our upcoming sabbatical in New York (beginning in September), mainly what we would take from our Pikeville house. Because we will be living in Mark’s parents’ apartment in NYC, we are moving into a fully furnished apartment, so we decided that we would only need to bring comfort items like pillows, music, our computers, and the clothes we will need for the month or season we are there. Because Mark wants to stay active as chair of the Mountain Comprehensive Mental Health Board, we will be traveling to Pikeville once a month for a long weekend (they meet on the third Thursday of each month).

I will be traveling back to Pikeville on September 15th to be part of the Habitat Women’s Build which will occur from Sept. 16-23. I have been on the steering committee for the Build, and I can’t even describe how wonderful it has been to work with the women leaders of Pikeville to identify the mother and daughter who will own the house, to raise money, to work on individual projects, and to attend the Lowe’s workshops together. I thank all of you who gave a gift in honor of my 60th birthday because I raised about $3000 which started us on our way to the $24,000 we have raised so far. The cost of the house is $45000, so we are well on our way. The Lowe’s sponsored workshops have focused on using power tools, drywalling, plumbing, and constructing walls. I now know how to wield a hammer in the correct way (I was pushing the nail in with ineffective strokes). Workshops resume on July 10, and I will attend those that I can.

Another summer activity for me is participation in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania reunion of the doctoral composition program graduates. Because of the recent publication of my book, Whistlin’ and Crowin’ Women of Appalachia, I have been asked to speak to the attendees about my work and am listed as “distinguished alumni.” To be so designated by the institution I respect so much is indeed an honor.

I am sitting on our balcony, listening to the light rain, and hoping that Mark doesn’t get too wet coming home (he rode his bicycle). We will head for supper about 7:30 which has been a good time for us.

Vacation Means Rest and Food

Today is my day off. Three days of hiking have killed my shins, and for those who know the benefits of bio-freeze, I am using it to sooth the aches and pains which truthfully are everywhere. Three days in a row of hiking gave me a good start, and now Mark is hiking without anyone to slow him down (though he confided that, after his run today, he is picking a leisurely path).

We began our day today with breakfast at Thron, the most wonderful confectionery restaurant where Mark had a prune dumpling in crème anglaise sauce. If we talked about dumplings last year, please excuse the repetition, but the Germans serve all kinds of dumplings. They are bread-like, but Mark thinks they steam them as well as bake them. This one was close to a soccer-ball size with prunes in the middle; the ones we had on Sunday were tennis-ball size. Last year, we had a liver dumpling which sat in the middle of a clear broth. For lunch today, I had a fruit salad and it was pure joy to eat—peaches, grapes, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries generously tossed with all kinds of fresh lettuce in a light vinaigrette sauce and seven grain bread made me feel healthy just to look at it.

Last night our food experience was delightful. Mark decided we should eat outside since it was warm enough. We found a small pizzeria where Mark ordered spaghetti with bacon, and I ordered veal in lemon sauce with fried potatoes (out of this world wonderful!). Shortly into the meal, we felt a few drops of rain but that was it. Then in an instant, the rain began to pour, so the young waiter rolled down the outside awning, and we moved under it. We finished our meal with a lemon tartoffe, a ball of ice-cream with lemon flavor inside and lemon powder on the outside. When the rain stopped, we paid our bill and strolled out into the boulevard.

While there, we asked the waiter and the others sitting there if they knew where Bingswagen was located because Mark’s cousin, Harry, said the Baldaufs, ancestors of Harry and Mark were from that region. This is the day of the Internet, and the young woman who appeared to also be the cook and only speaker of English in the crowd, said she would find out more about it. The next thing we knew, we had a colored map printed out from some mapquest equivalent, showing where it was and how to get there from Garmisch! Wonderful people!

So I will complete my day by reading, posting on the blog, enjoying the sunshine, and resting my shins for hiking tomorrow.

Back to Garmisch, 2006

Last summer, Mark and I combined a tour of Berlin and the Bavarian Alps, and because we had so many days of rain in the Alps and liked the hiking so much, we returned this summer. This blog resumes with the tales of our first three days in Garmische-Partenkirchen where we plan to be for the next two weeks. I hope to keep up with the blog on a regular basis.

In contrast to the rain we had last year, this year every day has been sunny during the day. At five or six every evening, we have thunderstorms, but they clear away by the next morning.

We hit the ground running, so to speak. After being couped up in a plane for hours, we rented a car for the drive to Garmische and shortly thereafter began our first hike, a walk from the hotel to Lake Riessersee where we walked on the easy path around the lake and split an ice cream dessert at the outdoor café overlooking the lake . Yesterday we returned to another beautiful lake, the Eibsee which we had biked and hiked on two different occasions last year, all in the clouds or rain. On this trip, we finally saw why everyone describes it as an important landmark because in the sunshine, we looked up to see the stupendous peaks of the Alspitze, Zugspitze, Wank, and others. In the clear, green lake, we saw the seven islands and picnicked along the path with dozens of other visitors.

Tuesday we ventured higher up the mountain and hiked the Kramerplateau on the other side of Garmisch, one whose landmarks we can easily spot from our hotel window. Before we hiked too far, we took a short detour to the World War Two Memorial/Chapel where the pictures and names of the men in this region who died and where they fought. Then we began our uphill trek to the St. Martin’s Hutte (café) where we shared a pastry torte, peppermint tea, and water. On our trip down, we ran into a couple from Flushing, New York, an event that doesn’t occur much in Garmisch because there are not that many US folks around, so we enjoyed sharing Garmisch stories since they travel here quite often. Afterwards, we found a great lean-to to enjoy our picnic lunch.

We have resumed our practice of having breakfast in the hotel because of its incredible choice of hot and cold foods. After we eat out yogurt, fruit, and granola, we then make our lunch with the hard rolls and choices of salami, other meats, and cheeses and a choice of apples, banana, and fruit. We pack the lunch in our back packs to bring out at lunch time on the mountains.

On our hike today, Mark found six different orchids and numerous other wildflowers including columbine, buttercups, and daisies. I hope that we will be able to post some of his pictures of those on the blog, if not today, then in the next few days. As we were hiking, I remembered someone recently asking us why we hiked, and though I often wonder that as I hike up the mountain very slowly, sweating profusely, we would be unable to see these flowers, and if they were on the side of the road, we would pass them by too quickly.

Being here in the midst of all this splendor also reminds me of my friend and next door neighbor, Connie, who died on June 11 after battling cancer. I know how much she would have enjoyed the flowers along the way. And she would be able to name the birds we heard because her knowledge about birds, their songs, their behaviors, their sizes and shapes was so extensive. Besides all of the wonders of nature she awoke me to, she, as many of you know, edited and critiqued my dissertation, and shared in my joy as that dissertation became a book. I will miss her.