Bavaria - part 1
Sep. 8th, 2015 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jackoSo, holiday. It's taken me a little longer than anticipated to write this up. Partly because I needed to clear some disk space before I could sort through the 816 photos I took. (I really need a new computer.) Partly because of work stuff I needed to do over the weekend. Partly because I'd obviously got so unused to typing during my three weeks off that I got RSI in my left hand when I started again. But I'm getting there...
Saturday 15th August:
We flew from Manchester. The Goblin and Bug didn't know that I was coming on holiday with them, so it was a surprise when we met up at the tram stop. I was gratified to get an emphatic "Yes!" from Evie.
The journey went smoothly and we arrived in Munich to find the weather was distinctly... British. It was grey and rainy and we got soaked as we transferred from train to bus at Uffing. Due to engineering work (which we knew about in advance), replacement bus services were a feature of our holiday. Still, we got to see more of the countryside than we otherwise would.
We arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ("Ga-Pa"), where we were staying and trekked across town to our apartment. It was on the edge of town, with a good view of the mountains - or at least, there would have been if it had been less cloudy!
We arrived some time before the shops closed, or so we thought. We hadn't factored in Assumption Day, which meant nothing would be open 'till Monday. Hmmm. Ed and I raided the small shop back at the station for essentials and grabbed Pizza Hut for dinner. We wouldn't starve :o)
Sunday 16th August:
Sunday's weather was brighter but still drizzly. We had a fairly lazy first full day after all the travel the day before, going for a gentle walk up to the almhütte a little way up the Kramerspitz (the mountain behind our apartment). Evie found a four-leafed clover, which she was very chuffed by. The grown-ups found beer, which we were very chuffed by.
Monday 17th August:
Enough rest - time to sightsee! The forecast was still a bit gloomy for the next few days, so we planned to do the less weather-dependent trips first.
We started with Schloss Linderhof, one ofloopy eccentric King Ludvig II's royal palaces - a small summer pad with amazing gardens, Moroccan and Moorish pavilions and a literally fantastic underground grotto, which recreates the set from one of Wagner (Ludwig's "very close friend" *cough*)'s operas.
On the way back, we had a short time between buses to admire the monastery at Ettal.
Tuesday 18th August:
Back to Munich for a grand (and sunnier) day out! The big city was a change of pace from the Bavarian countryside we were fast getting used to. There are hundreds of things to see, so we had to pick and choose. The Rathaus with its famous carillon was an obvious one. We watched it chime the hour and the knights come out and fight.
We spent a lot of time exploring the English gardens, which live up to their name. They remind me of London's parks and claim to be larger than Central Park in New York, with the added advantage of having a biergarten around every corner. When in Munich...
We rounded off the day with a visit to the Residenz, the Bavarian royal palace for 400 years. There were some amazing rooms and furniture. The Goblin got snap-happy with Krissy's camera.
Wednesday 19th August:
We walked through the spectacular Partnachklamm gorge (via the 1936 Olympic ice stadium), in what was meant to be a gentler day. That didn't work out, as we cleverly improvised a scenic walk to the Riessersee, which turned out to involve rather more up than we were anticipating.
The Riessersee cafe is one of Ed and Krissy's favourite spots, but it was closed by the time we got there and the view was somewhat impared by the mist. We banked a group photo, but we'd be back another day.
It had been a good walk, if tiring, and I felt we'd started to properly explore our surroundings.
Thursday 20th August:
Bavaria has some spectacular lakes, and the Eibsee at the foot of the Zugspitze is one of the better-known ones. The scenery is beautiful and the lake is a good size for circumnavigating on foot in an afternoon. So we did.
We stopped for a picnic lunch and a paddle. The water really was quite warm. We found various faces on tree stumps as we walked through the woods, which Toby and Ed had fun adding to.
Evie had been desperate to hire a pedallo, so I did, and we all set off uncertainly across the waters. Krissy and I pedalled while the kids took turns steering, which they both managed remarkably well. We found Frog Island.
Friday 21st August:
We awoke to find the sky a strange blue colour and all these mountains had suddenly appeared! Clearly this warranted closer investigation. Since we could actually see the top, we decided that today would be the day we went up the Zugspitze.
We caught the cogwheel railway up most of the way to the what they laughingly call a "glacier" (in reality a small patch of ice and snow). The Bug's prediction that we'd get snowed on turned out to be right though, which meant I got to pelt his sister with a snowball :o)
We got the cable car the rest of the way to the top, and... Wow. Look at the view.
Nearly 3 km above sea level, it was like looking down from an aeroplane, but we were standing outside. You see that tiny patch of water in the middle? That's the Eibsee, which we'd spent several hours walking around the day before. Okay, it was a little cloudy up there, but being above the cloud cover added to the sense of height. Ed worked out the air pressure was only 75% that at sea level, which meant it was impossible to make a decent cup of coffee. (Fortunately, we had beer. And sausage.) We noticed the difference when climbing stairs!
Funnily enough, a large mountain range forms an international border. I popped into Austria to use the loo. I also got my passport stamped. The German side of the peak is very proud of being the "Top of Germany". The Austrian side casually points out lots of other nearby mountains which are higher...
We descended via the Eibsee Sailbahn, which will shortly be rebuilt. Coming down out of the cloud cover was spectacular as suddenly the whole landscape appeared.
We weren't done for the day yet! We caught another cable car up the nearby Alpspitze to terrify ourselves on the AlpspiX (I see what they did there) - an X-shaped pair of overlapping platforms with an open grill floor over a ~1 km drop. We enjoyed messing around up there and managed not to die :o)
Slightly less than half-way through the holiday, and the forecast was sunny and hot from now on. There was still a lot to do!
Saturday 15th August:
We flew from Manchester. The Goblin and Bug didn't know that I was coming on holiday with them, so it was a surprise when we met up at the tram stop. I was gratified to get an emphatic "Yes!" from Evie.
The journey went smoothly and we arrived in Munich to find the weather was distinctly... British. It was grey and rainy and we got soaked as we transferred from train to bus at Uffing. Due to engineering work (which we knew about in advance), replacement bus services were a feature of our holiday. Still, we got to see more of the countryside than we otherwise would.
We arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ("Ga-Pa"), where we were staying and trekked across town to our apartment. It was on the edge of town, with a good view of the mountains - or at least, there would have been if it had been less cloudy!
We arrived some time before the shops closed, or so we thought. We hadn't factored in Assumption Day, which meant nothing would be open 'till Monday. Hmmm. Ed and I raided the small shop back at the station for essentials and grabbed Pizza Hut for dinner. We wouldn't starve :o)
 |
 |
Sunday 16th August:
Sunday's weather was brighter but still drizzly. We had a fairly lazy first full day after all the travel the day before, going for a gentle walk up to the almhütte a little way up the Kramerspitz (the mountain behind our apartment). Evie found a four-leafed clover, which she was very chuffed by. The grown-ups found beer, which we were very chuffed by.
 |
 |
 |
Monday 17th August:
Enough rest - time to sightsee! The forecast was still a bit gloomy for the next few days, so we planned to do the less weather-dependent trips first.
We started with Schloss Linderhof, one of
On the way back, we had a short time between buses to admire the monastery at Ettal.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Tuesday 18th August:
Back to Munich for a grand (and sunnier) day out! The big city was a change of pace from the Bavarian countryside we were fast getting used to. There are hundreds of things to see, so we had to pick and choose. The Rathaus with its famous carillon was an obvious one. We watched it chime the hour and the knights come out and fight.
 |
 |
 |
We spent a lot of time exploring the English gardens, which live up to their name. They remind me of London's parks and claim to be larger than Central Park in New York, with the added advantage of having a biergarten around every corner. When in Munich...
 |
 |
 |
We rounded off the day with a visit to the Residenz, the Bavarian royal palace for 400 years. There were some amazing rooms and furniture. The Goblin got snap-happy with Krissy's camera.
 |
 |
 |
Wednesday 19th August:
We walked through the spectacular Partnachklamm gorge (via the 1936 Olympic ice stadium), in what was meant to be a gentler day. That didn't work out, as we cleverly improvised a scenic walk to the Riessersee, which turned out to involve rather more up than we were anticipating.
The Riessersee cafe is one of Ed and Krissy's favourite spots, but it was closed by the time we got there and the view was somewhat impared by the mist. We banked a group photo, but we'd be back another day.
It had been a good walk, if tiring, and I felt we'd started to properly explore our surroundings.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Thursday 20th August:
Bavaria has some spectacular lakes, and the Eibsee at the foot of the Zugspitze is one of the better-known ones. The scenery is beautiful and the lake is a good size for circumnavigating on foot in an afternoon. So we did.
 |
 |
 |
We stopped for a picnic lunch and a paddle. The water really was quite warm. We found various faces on tree stumps as we walked through the woods, which Toby and Ed had fun adding to.
 |
 |
 |
Evie had been desperate to hire a pedallo, so I did, and we all set off uncertainly across the waters. Krissy and I pedalled while the kids took turns steering, which they both managed remarkably well. We found Frog Island.
 |
 |
 |
Friday 21st August:
We awoke to find the sky a strange blue colour and all these mountains had suddenly appeared! Clearly this warranted closer investigation. Since we could actually see the top, we decided that today would be the day we went up the Zugspitze.
We caught the cogwheel railway up most of the way to the what they laughingly call a "glacier" (in reality a small patch of ice and snow). The Bug's prediction that we'd get snowed on turned out to be right though, which meant I got to pelt his sister with a snowball :o)
 |
 |
 |
We got the cable car the rest of the way to the top, and... Wow. Look at the view.
Nearly 3 km above sea level, it was like looking down from an aeroplane, but we were standing outside. You see that tiny patch of water in the middle? That's the Eibsee, which we'd spent several hours walking around the day before. Okay, it was a little cloudy up there, but being above the cloud cover added to the sense of height. Ed worked out the air pressure was only 75% that at sea level, which meant it was impossible to make a decent cup of coffee. (Fortunately, we had beer. And sausage.) We noticed the difference when climbing stairs!
Funnily enough, a large mountain range forms an international border. I popped into Austria to use the loo. I also got my passport stamped. The German side of the peak is very proud of being the "Top of Germany". The Austrian side casually points out lots of other nearby mountains which are higher...
We descended via the Eibsee Sailbahn, which will shortly be rebuilt. Coming down out of the cloud cover was spectacular as suddenly the whole landscape appeared.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We weren't done for the day yet! We caught another cable car up the nearby Alpspitze to terrify ourselves on the AlpspiX (I see what they did there) - an X-shaped pair of overlapping platforms with an open grill floor over a ~1 km drop. We enjoyed messing around up there and managed not to die :o)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Slightly less than half-way through the holiday, and the forecast was sunny and hot from now on. There was still a lot to do!
