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Published: April 1st 2010
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Photo 1
A Lost Aussie in Garmish Partenkirchen? So this month has been a rather quiet travelling month by comparison to the past 8 or so but we still managed to keep the “2 or more countries per month visited” thing alive!
We took a day trip to Garmish Partenkirchen, the home of the German ski fields in the deep south of the country. Big name yes, and big snow yes. It seems a rich kids hot spot to me and it was very pretty to say the least. The week following our visit GPK was hosting a world cup skiing event so there were plenty of grand stands and fencing and stuff going up. It was good to see the giant ski jump surrounded by grand stands. It gave us an idea of how it would look at the Olympics. Let me tell you that if you haven’t seen one of these in real life it is certainly a sight to behold! The jump is simply massive and anyone that decides to jump off one has sh*t for brains! Crazy, crazy, crazy! TV does not do this sport justice!
Christina had spent many holidays in GPK and therefore she was familiar with the local sights so
Photo 2
The What Bahn in Garmish Partenkirchen? we walked around for the day through cute little towns and ski fields and took in a traditional Bavarian lunch of wurst, sauerkraut and of course (my favourite) weiss bier! Lecker, sehr lecker! I even managed to make a snow angel (at the request of my cousin!)
Another event in March - a big event in March - was Starkbierfest. For the English speaking people playing at home this translates to ‘Strong Beer Festival’...yup! In a way it is a kind of mini-Oktoberfest thingy but without the plethora of beer swilling ugly Aussie tourists but...... with the added advantage of 9% beer in one litre masses (or steins if you will) on offer.
Christina and I bought the appropriate attire for the night. Myself in the lederhosen and Christina in her dirndl certainly looked the part. I’m not so sure that I can explain the traditional outfits however the photos attached will speak a thousand words. Let me just say that in the leather pants I was well and truly tucked away but Christina in her dirndl was quite the opposite......she was up and out! Just the way our German elders would have liked it to be!
Photo 3
Giant Ski Jump Ramp at Garmish Partenkirchen. So...did I perform at Starkbierfest I hear you ask? Well, there was plenty of traditional Bavarian singing, a big band etc but nope, I only had 4 beers and went home. A quiet night really.
Living in Munich means you have many options for day trips. We love a day trip. Last weekend we booked a seat on a fancy bus and went to Austria (no kangaroos there!) for a day of skiing or snow eating as it was for me. We went to a place called Zillertal for anyone who cares. I couldn’t tell you if it was a bad, good or great ski field to be honest, as it was my only my 3rd time skiing and to be fair on myself, my first time I was 8 years old and the 2nd time was about 5 years ago and I only tried snow boarding then. Both were in Australia, a place renowned for fine ski fields. God bless her, Christina skied with me for the first few hours and everything was going great for the 30 something beginner that I am - no real falls, slowly carving up the treacherous blue slopes until.... and you knew
Photo 4
Maybe Australia's First Ski Jumper? Good Style Hey! there was an “until” coming..... we accidentally found ourselves on a more than treacherous red slope. Damn that red slope I say...damn it to hell!! Well let’s just say that Christina was very patient. I was not. I cursed, fell, cursed, fell, slid, cursed, fell, slid some more until finally we could get back onto one of the treacherous blue slopes. It was a disaster to be honest and my skiing prowess was seriously tested...and failed miserably. All in all though it was great fun - especially the half an hour nap I had whilst the others carved up some beginners black slopes.
In general life in Munich has been amazing. The weather in the past month has gone from sub-zero temps to 20°C + which even by Melbourne standards is very fluid! On my return from holidays to Turkey in April we will have moved into a new apartment but this time with an open ended finish date - we will be able to really settle in this time (don’t worry too much mum - I’ll be back!). The apartment is right near the Isar river which in summer time comes alive with runners, cyclists, cafes, bars and
Photo 5
Bavarian Meal - Weiss Beer, Wurst and Sauerkraut. sun baking Germans - I will be in my element!
My German classes are still fun although the grammar is still proving a mighty big handful. The vocabulary isn’t too bad although they do have some words which when translated into English exemplify the meaning of “lost in translation”. I will leave you with some great examples that will surely make you laugh and hopefully make you understand why German ain’t so easy to learn!
„Handschuh“ = Hand + Shoe = Gloves
„Nashorn“ = Nose + Horn = Rhinosaurus
„Hosentasche“ = Pants + Bag = a Pocket
„Baumwolle“ = Tree + Wool = Cotton
„Nilpferd“ = Nile + Horse = Hippopotamus
„Kühlschrank“ = Cool + Cabinet = Refrigerator
I suppose you could say that some are logical but really.....hand shoes? Gloves? Please! I’m surprised they don’t call a hat a head shoe!
‘til next month.
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Niki
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Cool
I like the fact that a 3 year old kid zooms past you when you are skiiing, thank you for the snow angel and more people should be eating pretzels over there - soak up some of the beer - you are leading such an ordinary life at the moment!! Seroiusly, its great to see you making the most of your time - will conjure up some great stories when you are Nans age!! Might see you on Thursday, Nik