back in munich

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So after a big swing out west and then along the south, I am back in Munich, one week later. After my last entry we went to Mittenwald and stayed there one night. It would have been nice if it had worked out there but at the same time the place was far out of actual Mittenwald - most DJH hostels aren´t actually IN the towns after which they´re named. So we left early in the morning from Mittenwald the next day and went to Berchdesgaden, a nice little mountain town in a projection of Germany down into Austria. It´s surrounded by beautiful mountains, and a quaint little place overall. Upon getting there we immediately secured lunch, being very very hungry. We found a touristy-looking streetside restaurant (the waitresses wore traditional Bavarian dresses, complete with poufy blouses and bosom-squeezing bodice) and ordered some sausages. Sausages are just what´s eaten in Germany. In Italy the cheap plentiful food is pizza, but here what you can get is sausage. Knockwurst, weisswurst, bratwurst (that´s ´vorsht'), currywurst. (Currywurst is a newer creation. Sliced sausage in ketchuppy tomato sauce sprinkled with curry powder. Delicious. Stomach-achingly delicious.)

After that we caught a bus back to our hostel. The local buses are freaking expensive; it´s like a euro per stop you´re going. Ouch. So we got to the hostel, checked in to our sex-segregated rooms, then went out for dinner at the Bavarian restaurant next door. We had some schnitzel because it was pretty much the only thing on the menu, if in a million different forms. A pair of German men watched with curiosity and a little amusement as we decoded the menu and enjoyed our beers.

Ah, the beer; the beer, the beer, the beer. How I have enjoyed it in its different forms since my arrival here. Crisp, yellow-amber Pils beers that catch the sun and seem to glow from within. Cloudy, orange-tinged Weissbier with its special clovesy taste. Dark, foamy Malz beer that tastes just like fruit juice. Oh me oh my, isn't it wonderful.

Anyway the next day we hung out in the morning. I bought a cheap pair of round-framed sunglasses and a new belt to hold my jeans up. Kathleena laughed and laughed when she saw my new shades-maybe it had something to do with the litre of beer she´d consumed. Then we went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food for the next day. In the afternoon we headed over to see the Dokumentation Obersalzberg, after stashing the food in a Bahnhof (train station) locker. Dokumentation is a museum detailing the town's history as Hitler's favoured mountain retreat, and also the Nazi government's structure and organisation as well as the propaganda, Strength through Joy, the ideology, the concentration camps, etc. It was really quite detailed. We were given a little device which translated the various displays for us. We got to number forty before finding out there were like a hundred. So we started to skip a few at that point. Also at the museum was an underground bunker system, all that remains of the Nazi complex that once stood here.

We went back to the Bavarian place, and each ordered something at random. I ended up with a kind of scrambled eggs, Kathleena with some beef stew. With a fried egg on top. The next day we woke early. We had a bus to catch. It was going to take us to a mountain that we were going to climb.

It was called Schärtenspitze, and it was awesome. First we had to walk up some very very steep roads. Then some very very steep forest trails. Then some very steep stairs set right in the ground. Kathleena didn't like those, and told me about it at length. Hiking is special for the Germans. They all wear serious boots and use a kind of ski-poles. They even have little huts on the mountain where you can order a beer and sit at a picnic table, enjoying a beautiful mountain panorama as you quaff your brew. It's great, it really is. After a long hike, we got to the timber line and there were only rocks. We found ourselves in a big valley lined with steep mountain walls, and actually snow on the ground! There was a beer hut there. We ate a sandwich each before beginning our final ascent.

It was steep. It was rocky. There were bits where you pulled yourself along on a cable fastened to the rock. There were bits where it was all loose shale and you had to step very carefully. As we got to the highest parts, there were areas where there was a cliff a foot on your right, and it would take you probably a minute to hit the bottom, were you to fall. With each step up the view grew more and more spectacular. Finally we reached the peak. Man oh MAN was it great! You could see mountains crowding on one side, and on the other, you could see a thousand miles of forest and field and town. It was a very clear day (the only one we had while in Berchtesgaden) and you could just see forever. The air was fresh and chilly and crisp. It was quite memorable, and probably the highest mountain I've yet stood on. The descent was a slow, careful process, until we got back to the timber line. Then we just marched down, until we got to the last beer hut. We sat there and enjoyed the view, had a sandwich and a beer. I had a nice Weissbier, Kathleena a light Hells. We caught the bus back. I took a shower and Kathleena crashed dead away, but it was the night of the Germany - Spain match.

I should explain. The Euro20 football championship is happening right now - it's pretty much half a World Cup. When we were in Croatia, they were on a hot streak, and every week, wherever we were, they'd go absolutely crazy in the streets over a victory. Fan-craziness the likes of which you'd never imagine in Canada. Tons and tons of people roaring around in cars with people hanging out, waving flags and football scarves, honking their horns and screaming. Our last day in Croatia they got beaten by Germany. Sad day. We went for pizza and the owner of the place told me that everyone in the place had cried after the match. When we got to Mittenwald, Germany had just beaten Turkey, and it was even crazier. It was like a huge traffic jam full of cars all honking their horns, people sitting on the rooves with their hair dyed black/red/yellow, waving mugs of beer and flags and screaming. Screaming! Man it was crazy.

But Germany lost the match that night. They're out now. That is sad for them. I wish I could've seen the country that won, because it would have been a once in a lifetime thing.

The next day (today) we were planning on visiting these thermal wellness baths in Berchtesgaden. It's a huge complex with indoor pools, outdoor pools, saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms; the Germans are big on this kind of thing for health. We just thought it would be cool, but we had to be here in Munich to check in by four, so we caught a train at eleven and were here by two thirty. We'll go to another one, they're everywhere.

So now we're back in Munich. We'll be here for four nights then on to Bamberg, then Prague. In one month I'll be back at home.

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