Looking back a bit, I realized that there was quite a bit of negativity in my last posts about our travels in Europe. I am not going to try to change that, or apologize about the feelings I expressed, because, well, that’s how I feel about it. It wasn’t a mistake.
But a mistake was made.
The mistake was that I failed to include some of the great stuff we did see along the way.
There was plenty. So, I am dedicating some of my free time here in Thailand (between surf sessions and seven-dollar Thai massages) to go back through the ten thousand photos and finish posting all of the pretty places and good moments we did have during our European road trip.The next handful of posts will all be dedicated to that goal.
Here is to getting caught up.
These beautiful nearly-Caribbean-blue waters of Lake Eibsee. We had a really nice hike around the lake. It was all beautiful Bavarian forests, friendly hikers, and great views of the surrounding alps.
Lake Eibsee sits just North of the highest peak in Germany (well, shared with Austria), the Zugspitze. There were some really fantastic walks in the Bavarian alps.
We took another great hike up the Partnach Gorge. The trail was built into the walls and caves, and even tunneled into the gorge through which the Partnach River flows. It is quite the feat of engineering, and made for some great views. The glacial runoff water was a really mysterious blue.
Here is Tam, in her own personal hell… walking up hill.
After leaving the gorge, we had to hike up the side of a mountain for a couple of miles. She was less than excited, and kept saying, “you didn’t tell me we had to hike up a hill!” I got more than a few dirty looks for this one.
Aaaahhhh, the thrill of victory and the agony of da feet. She made it!
After walking uphill for a couple of miles, then across some beautiful rolling hills in the Bavarian countryside, we came to this corner. The road then descended the entirety of what we had just come up in about a half a mile. thirty-two percent is no joke. You can’t even ride a bike down it (there was a really tight switchback at the bottom of the hill, too).
There area lot of these beautiful vistas in the Bavarian foothills. I always expect to see some lady go dancing by in a dress, singing something about the hills being alive with some sounds or some such nonsense.
And a couple of nerds, being nerds, at the bottom of the Garmisch Partenkirchen ski jump from the 1936 olympics.
Believe it or not they still use this thing. From 1936…
So, yes. Some good sights and hikes from Germany.
Keep an eye out for more posts about the good stuff we found in Europe.
