Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Midway through October already.  We had an absolutely perfect week of weather until Friday when it reverted back to cold and rainy.  That day the kids got to participate in a German event called a Volksmarch (People's walk).  Volksmarching began in the 1960s in Germany to promote physical fitness.  Volksmarches are held in most German towns at some point during the year and are done in the spirit of a popular credo in Germany - "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."  They are held rain or shine and lead you on trails through the hosting town in either 5k, 10k or 20k lengths.  Elise's class did the 10k and I tagged along.  We had a great walk through the town, some farmer's fields and then the forest near our house.  At the halfway point there was a building in the woods that was selling sandwiches and soda.  Lydia's class did the 5k and arrived at the halfway point a little bit after Elise so I got to see her there.  After lunching we walked through some more of the forest, back through town and then ended at the village hall which was selling brats, soda, and homemade cakes and pastries.  They also had some beer mugs and other trinkets for sale, the proceeds of which go to the local walking club.  Upon finishing the Volksmarch you can purchase a trophy as well, which the kids did.  It was a great time and I think it would be a great way to visit other German cities in the future.

Lydia's class

 Elise's class

 On the trail

 Happy Finishers 

On Sunday we left for Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is about 3 hours south of us in the Bavarian Alps.  Garmisch's claim to fame is that it was the host of the 1936 Winter Olympics and it is an alpine skiing destination.  Part of Carissa's 'time off' includes 5 days for continuing education, and last week was the European Dental Command's big conference.  The conference was hosted at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, which is a R&R resort for US and NATO soldiers.  Garmisch also has a small US military installation which after the week we are bummed we didn't get stationed at.

View from our hotel room

Carissa had meetings most of the week but we did manage some sightseeing during the week.  Monday I took the kids to breakfast and then the pool for most of the morning.  The whole family was working on new colds so I had the kids lie down in the afternoon.  That night we got to meet up with Fritz and Lindsey for dinner.  They were on a two week trip through Germany and before they left Fritz and I figured out that we'd both be in the area at the same time.  We ate at a great Italian restaurant in Garmisch and it was nice for us to see friends from home, if only for a night.  

Tuesday Carissa skipped out of the afternoon classes and we went on a beautiful hike to the Partnach Gorge.  We took a gondola up the mountain from the Olympic Stadium and then hiked 3 hours down and through the gorge.  The gorge is about a mile long cut through high stone cliffs by the Partnach River.

At the top

Coming down the mountain

Partnach Gorge

 Haaken's silent protest after 3 hours of hiking

Wednesday Carissa had meetings all day but that night we walked around the streets of Garmisch.  We bought Haaken a new ski hat and had some hot chocolate at a little cafe.  That night we ate leftovers in the room and watched a movie.  

Streets of Garmisch

Thursday Elise woke up sick and laid low the whole day.  I took Lydia and Haaken to the pool again and made everyone nap.  That night we were all supposed to go out with Carissa's boss from TCMP (the contracting company), but Elise was too sick and Haaken too tired so just Carissa and Lydia went.  

The conference ended at 10am on Friday, after which we jumped in the car and drove to King Ludwig's castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.  It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains along the Loisach River.  

King Ludwig II was King of Bavaria in the late 1800s through the early 1900s.  He gained the throne when he was 18 after his father died.  He is famous because he comissioned fairy tale castles to be built and almost bankrupted the country because of it.  The most famous castle built under his rule was Neuschwanstein.

Hohenschwangau was the royal family's summer hunting lodge.  Ludwig grew up in this castle hunting the mountains surrounding it.  We toured this castle which is relatively small compared to other castles we've seen, primarily because it was a private residence and had no public function.  Ludwig apparently was not too fond of living in Munich and spent a lot of time here during his rule to get away from the capital, and to keep an eye on the construction of Neuschwanstein.

Hohenschwangau Castle

Town of Hohenschwangau

Afte the tour we hiked back down the hill from Hohenschwangau and then up another hill to Neuschwanstein.  Neuschwanstein was designed in the romantic interpretation of the Middle Ages that Ludwig admired.  The design was apparently conceived by a drawing from a theater set designer which was then given to an architect.  The construction continued until Ludwig's death.  Only one third of the interior was finished and he had only lived there a total of 6 months.  Six weeks after he died it was opened for tourism.

At the castle gate

The tour was short and sweet and it held the kid's attention.  The castle is absolutely huge (64,000 square feet), and we got to see the two floors that were finished and one that wasn't.  No pictures allowed inside either of the castles unfortunately.

After the tour we hiked a little further up the mountain to the Marienbrucke (Mary's bridge).  The bridge spans two high cliffs above a waterfall overlooking Neuschwanstein.  After snapping some pictures we hiked back down to the car and drove back to Garmisch. 

Neuschwanstein Castle from Mary's bridge

Saturday morning we packed up and drove to Innsbruck - about an hour drive through the mountains from Garmisch.  We walked the old town, but most of the stores and sites were closed surprisingly and the kids were worn our from the long week.  After lunch we drove back home to Graf.

Innsbruck

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Another week of work, school and soccer passed without anything notable happening.  It's definitely getting colder.  Friday the 8th Carissa went out with a group of women from work to a restaurant in Pottenstein that most people refer to as Steak on a Stone (not sure what the real name is).  Perfect place for a vegetarian.  They serve exotic wild game - kangaroo, ostrich, alligator, etc - raw, on hot stones with seasoning in little cups on the side.  Once you've been served, you season and cook the meat to your liking.  Reminds me of Kramer's make your own pizza in Seinfeld.  While she was out I took the kids to Burger King on post (kid's choice) and then bowling.  This bowling alley is not my favorite - 2nd time (of 3) that I bowled less than 100.  I beat Elise by only 1 pin!

We had a 3 day weekend and felt like we should travel somewhere but were content to enjoy the beautiful weather in Grafenwoehr.  Saturday we went to a birthday party for a daughter of one of Carissa's coworkers.  She is Filipino and they had prepared what she described as a traditional spread for the party.  Their whole dining room was filled with food - 4 different kinds of grilled meat, multiple salads, sushi, chips, dips, 4 pizzas, and a separate table covered with cakes, muffins and candy.  The grilled meat was incredible, but I tried to limit myself due to the fact that we were supposed to celebrate my birthday that night and I had purchased a giant porterhouse for the occassion.  The party also included one of those jumpy castles for the kids and face painting.   Needless to say the kids had a great time.

That night we celebrated my 38th birthday with the aforementioned steak dinner, sweet potatoes fries, salad and a homemade Grandma Jensen sour cream chocolate cake - my favorite.  I got a new Brewer's cap to replace the one I lost on the train home from Paris, and a cool adjustable tripod for the camera.

Birthday dinner

Monday we finally got motivated enough to do a little sightseeing so we drove two hours south to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  Rothenburg is a really cool walled medieval town with narrow streets and interesting shops, restaurants and churches.  We arrived around 10 am and slowly worked our way down one of the main boulevards to the center of town.  Along the way we bought and ate some schneeballen, fried egg dough sprinkled with sugar or covered in chocolate, an authentic Rothenburg treat.  Once in the center of town we entered the Rathaus and climbed to the top of the tower for a view from above.

One of the city gates

Rodergasse

Rothenburg Rathaus

From the Rathaus tower

After the Rathaus we shopped a little bit at the Kathe Wolfhart Christmas store (huge) and then walked over to visit the Cathedral.  I think we're becoming a little bit immune to the spectacle of cathedrals at this point, because we went in, snapped a few pictures and left.  Not to say it wasn't cool though, we've just seen so many in the last 3 months.

Side of the altar in the cathedral

After the cathedral we walked to the edge of town, where we were able to climb some stairs to walk along the inside of the city wall.  The wall itself is a pretty impressive structure.  It was built in the 13th century of stone.  Is probably about 15 - 20 feet thick with slits open about every 10 feet all along it, presumably to shoot from.  The ledge we were walking on had a wooden roof and railing and was held together with wooden dowels.  We walked along the wall until we reached our starting point when we arrived in the morning and then went for some lunch at a restaurant we had seen earlier in the day.  At this point it was around 3pm and we decided to head home after agreeing that we would definitely be back.  Next up, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Bavarian Alps.

Another gate to the city

The wall from the inside

Oktoberfest

First week in October was back to a regular routine, work/school, eat, soccer, repeat.  Saturday we were going to go to Oktoberfest but instead enjoyed sleeping in and lounging most of the day.  Sunday we got ourselves up relatively early and out to make the drive down to Munich.  The weather was clear and sunny and we made good time to the outskirts of Munich where we stopped at a park and ride and hopped on the train to the Oktoberfest grounds.  Elise gave us some very good background on the history of Oktoberfest on the way down.  Apparently Oktoberfest marks the anniversary of King Ludwig's wedding to Prince Therese.  It actually started as a giant horse race.   The event was so successful they continued hosting it every year and over time morphed into what it is now.  Another fun fact is that most people want to know is why is it called Oktoberfest when it starts two weeks before October.  Elise told us it originally was held in Oktober, but was moved back at some point to take advantage of the better weather.  

We weren't really sure what to expect, some people had said definitely do not take the kids, and others said they would love it.  There was a consensus on when we should go (the morning), and that we probably wouldn't want to stay past 2pm if we had the kids.  We came up from the metro and followed the crowd to one of the secondary entrances and found ourselves right in the midst of a bunch of carnival rides.  Looking down the avenue we were on it looked like it was just a giant carnival - rides as far as we could see.  

The girls went on a ride right away and had a blast and then we walked down through the rides after grabbing a couple donuts from one of the food stands.  It was about 10 o'clock and at this point I'd say the avenues were at about 30-50% capacity so the crowd wasn't too bad.  There were a lot of Germans walking around in their traditional garb - the men in lederhosen with checkered shirts, wool hats with feathers, brown leather shoes/boots and long decorative socks pulled all the way up and the women in drindls, which are the traditional bavarian dresses.  I also noticed a lot of Americans as we walked along.

We turned down an adjacent avenue and entered our first beer "tent" which really aren't tents at all but large permanent beer halls.  The first one we went it was pretty much empty so we just walked through it without ordering any beer or food.  Across the avenue was the Lowenbrau tent which looked to have a little more activity so we decided to check it out.  Before we went it we bought a giant pretzel to share.  The outdoor seating was all full so we went inside and found it packed.  We walked through the crowd and luckily a large group got up as we walked by so we got a good spot right in the middle of all the action.  We ordered some food and drinks and watched the crowd while we waited.  Already people were obviously already on their 2nd or 3rd giant beers and feeling happy.  As our beverages came the band started up and lead the crowd in a German song that everyone knew and ended with a lot of cheering and clinking of the giant mugs.  The band played on and Haaken of course got all excited and was standing on the bench, clapping and trying to toast with his giant mug.  A group of young guys next to us took note and a couple of them came over and raised a glass with him which of course he loved.  The atmosphere was great with the band and all the people and we had a great time.

First Beer Tent

Lowenbrau Tent 

 Eins, Zwei, Drei, Super!

 Fun with mugs

Our waitress 

We stayed for probably a little over an hour before we decided to head back out .  The kids wanted to ride on the giant ferris wheel so we made our way over to it - the traffic was starting to pick up now.  Carissa took the kids on the ride and I stayed back and people watched.  I noticed that the street in front of me was suddenly thick with people - I'm guessing it was about 12:30 at this point.  The ride took quite a while and by the time the kids found me the crowd was barely moving.  We got some cotton candy and found a little eddy behind the building we bought it from where we could stand comfortably and let the kids eat.  Once they were finished we joined the slow moving crowd back toward the beer tents.  It probably took us 20 minutes to get back to the Lowenbrau tent, which unhindered would take maybe 3 minutes at the most.  We kept going, and started to notice the beer taking it's tool on the crowd - had to step over some stuff and passed a nearly unconscious woman being attended to by the Red Cross.  We decided we'd let the kids get a souvenir and then head out.  It took us another 20 minutes to get to the exit.  Overall it was a good time, but I have never seen a crowd like that before in my life. 

Crowd Thickening

Getting worse

Top of the picture is the Exit.