1,906. That’s the number of pictures I took while I was in Germany and Austria. It was a great vacation, but I’m very glad to be home now. The sun was shining in Munich this morning and it was a great day to fly. I woke up to the sound of planes taking off and even squeezed in a visit to the observation deck before I had to get to my own flight.
I spent the day today alternately torn between wanting to go home (I’m ready!) and wanting to enjoy more of Germany. The wanting to go home part had a stronger pull today, especially after getting back to the Munich airport tonight.
Today I rode a cable car, hiked down a mountain, saw a massive gorge, visited the tiny village, walked around a Bavarian town, and attended a choral concert. Here are the highlights:
What did I do today? I dropped my phone and cracked the screen. How did that happen? I was trying to take a picture of my kücherl (German-style fried dough). End of story.
Just kidding, but that sort of soured the day. My phone still works, and it can probably be fixed, but it shouldn’t have happened because I didn’t need the picture. I already had one on my camera.
Anyway, I spent the day driving up to Wieskirche (the Pilgrimage Church of Wies) and then made stops in Oberammergau and Ettal on the way back. I’ll just give a couple of highlights of each place.
Any guesses about the weather today? Clouds, rain, clouds, rain, and a couple of hours of sun to end the day. Despite the weather, I spent the day touring the two castles everyone who thinks of Bavaria knows: Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein is obviously the more famous, and you’ll no doubt recognize the picture of Mad King Ludwig’s prize castle high on a hill. But it was actually Hohenschwangau that I enjoyed more.
The day has finally come. You know which one I’m talking about: the day when I’m ready to go home. I love all the places I’ve seen, but the weather forecast calls for more rain and clouds the next few days, and I just want to sleep in my own bed and stop living out of a suitcase.
Hallstatt was a great little town, and being able to wander the streets without the crowds this morning was very peaceful. I did manage to grab the iconic photo with a little sun before the clouds set in.
This morning I had to pack up and leave Berchtesgaden. I could easily have spent another week there. The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the low 50s, and it was a beautiful morning in the mountains. The rainy days had their beauty too, but this is what the pictures in my head looked like before I came here. After breakfast, I walked around the town taking pictures and then saw a sign for a hike up to a lookout point.
The hills are alive! Can you guess what I did today? Yep, a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg! It’s touristy and semi-cheesy, and… well, I felt like I needed to play tourist for the day.
Today’s adventure was to Lake Königssee, just a few miles outside of Berchtesgaden. The lake is long and narrow, about 5 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest point, and crystal clear. Thanks to electric boats which carry passengers to a couple of stops around the lake, and the absence of any development, the lake water is unpolluted and said to be the cleanest in Germany. The small tourist village of Königssee where you catch the boat is filled with souvenir shops and restaurants, including everyone’s favorite Bavarian restaurant, McDonald’s.
Today’s weather certainly didn’t cooperate with my outdoor plans for the day. I couldn’t decide what to do this morning because in the span of time it took me to use the bathroom and put my laptop away, it went from pretty clouds hanging over the mountains to torrential downpour. After much internal debate, I decided to just go with my original plan for the day and head to the Dokumentation Obersalzberg, a museum/archives dedicated to Hitler’s use of the Obersalzberg region (the area around Berchtesgaden) as a “getaway” and propaganda location during his reign. I downloaded the audio guide to my phone before I left my hotel and found the whole exhibit fascinating, aside from the crowds thanks to the crummy weather. Hitler basically started using the area as a vacation spot and eventually turned it into his Nazi headquarters, forcing out all of the other landowners. During his visits there, he used the opportunity to have pictures taken against the mountain backdrop to let his people know that all was well in Germany.
Traveling with Laura 