Again with the hot weather?  That can’t stop us from enjoying today.  We got up early and headed downstairs to breakfast.  I think the breakfast room is called Fruhkstracker Raum.  We were met by a gentleman who said, “Gut Morgen.”  He seated us at table and introduced our server.  We got kaffee and Rich ordered scrambled eggs with salmon.  The breakfast bar was typical for most places.  There were brotchen and luncheon meats with cheese.  There were scrambled eggs with a meat combination of real bacon, link and patty sausages.  With all of the fruits and breads, it was a great way to start the day.

We packed up our stuff for the day, including water, and headed out to catch the bus to the Partnachklamm.  One of the maids stopped us on the stairs and asked if our room was free to clean.  The phrase she used was “zimmer frei.”  I only know this from the signs in front of houses that have rooms to rent to tourists.  It was a different connotation for me.

We walked out to the main street and found the bus stop.  When I asked Rich how we would know when we got to the right spot, he said there would be a very large stadium there.  Plus, there were several families packed for hiking.  He was pretty such they were going to the same place.

The hotels here give out passes when you register so you can ride the buses for free.  You just show the pass to the driver.  That was really great.  We enjoyed the sites as we rode along.  There was Sebastian’s church, the train station, historic Ludwigstrasse, and finally the Olympic Ski Stadium.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics in the stadium here.  It all appears very small compared to other stadiums, but I don’t guess many people would have traveled to see the sports back then.  The ski jumps are very impressive and tower over everything, but the mountains themselves.

We walked around the side of the stadium to walk the road that leads to the Partnachklamm.  Partnach is the name of the river that flows in this area.  Klamm is the gorge that was cut through the mountains by that river.  It is an incredible site and one I so wanted to see.  There is a fee at the gate, but then you start the path into the side of the mountain.

In the 1700s, the local bishop authorized the locals to cut timber from the upper mountain.  To get the timber down from the mountain, it had to be floated on the Partnach River through the gorge.  They cut a path into the mountainside and hung walkways onto the walls so they could control the logs floating downriver.  Today, you walk this same path up the gorge to admire the beauty of the river and what it sculpted.

A lot of the path is wet and dark.  You hike along the edge of the river and then suddenly go through a long tunnel through the mountain.  All along the way, the river is roaring and carving its way through the mountain.  There are wonders of carved rock and churning waters.  The colors are beautiful with light suddenly filling the space from far above.

At the end of the walk, you come out into the open where the river continues to pour down from upstream.  There are lots of gravel and sand bars where people sit or picnic.  We looked at the maps to try and decide on a route back down the mountain without going back through the gorge.

One route would take up one side of the mountain to a chalet and back through a forested area.  We finally decided on the other side of the mountain that would take us up to several chalets and through an alpine meadow.  With some luck, there would be cows with bells.

First, there was the straight up and switchbacks to climb to get up the 800 foot elevation gain to reach the meadows.  I started up and knew it would take a while.  There were a lot of older ladies with hiking sticks already making their way up the mountain.  I couldn’t let them show me up.

We gained the top of the mountain without dying.  That was a good thing.  The first building was a shepherd’s hut where supplies were stored for anyone staying with the animals.  A little beyond this was a chalet where you could sit outside and have drinks and food.  Several people were already taking advantage of this.  Mostly, you saw people eating ice cream.  It was hot.

The meadow was lush and green.  I thought the paved track we were on was for walking, but it turned out to be the road for the locals to get to their house.  We were passed by a few of them coming up the mountain.

There were cows in the meadow with their bells ringing at they ate grass.  Most of the poor things were standing in the shade of something to try and escape the heat.  I couldn’t blame them.  Once again, it was hot.

We passed several houses and barns as we made our way back to the stadium.  There was even a hotel up here with a restaurant and a bar.  I wondered if they were open during the winter months.  I bet so to accommodate the number of skiers who want to stay close to the action.

We followed the road along until it started to descend.  It went very steeply down the side of the mountain.  We stepped aside as a small truck came up the track and made the sharp turn for the top.  Oh my gosh, I had to go down that?  Well, I was up here and now I had to get down from the mountain.

I tried all kinds of things to help my legs handle the incline and the weight.  Walking sideways helped somewhat.  Rich finally came up with walking in a zigzag pattern from one side of the road to the other in switchbacks.  It was a long way down.  By the time we go to the bottom, I could have sworn I had jello for legs.  Pretty sure Rich was trying to get rid of me.

We made it back to the stadium in time to grab lunch.  After that hike, I wasn’t particularly hungry.  Now the ice cream sounded good.  Rich got wursts with brot.  I managed to finally pick something that man actually had on hand.  Like I said, it was hot.  Everyone was eating ice cream.

After resting up in the shade, we made our way through the stadium and back to the bus stop.  We had a little bit of a wait before the Green #2 bus arrived.  Unfortunately, the buses don’t have air conditioning either.  The windows weren’t even down.  Remember, it was hot.

We survived long enough to get back to the hotel and a long, hot shower.  I know, it was hot outside, but the shower would feel good.  That a pound of Ibiprofen.  My legs were already showing signs of locking up and very sore to touch.  How would I make it through dinner?

But first, we needed to get some laundry done.  It was that point in the week when clothes were not so fresh.  We had gone through more of our clothes with the heat and trying not to smell too unpleasant to those around us.  The lady at the front desk gave us directions to a laundry where we could our clothes.  She told us how to drive there.  Town wasn’t that big.  We decided to walk.

What’s more miles once you have hiked a mountain.  We had discovered a very direct route through the construction to that side of town.  It was only 10 minutes to walk to laundry, one we found it.  The lady inside understood English and helped us get our laundry started.  Then she said it would be washed and dried in one hour.  She told us to go get coffee while we wait.  She took over from there.

We went down the street to the Drunken Queen for coffee.  Well, not me.  I had still water.  It strange that you have to ask specifically for different types of water.  Even tap water comes with a cost here.  We sat on the patio and talked about our day.  The muscles complained, but it was good to be sitting down.  There was a McDonald’s on the corner here.  One of the corners had a hotel that appeared to be used by Turks and Saudis.  I saw a lot of women in burkas.

At this corner, a very tiny street came to a sudden end.  Anyone coming up here had to figure out how to turn around in zero space and go back down.  We watched as more than half a dozen cars of all sizes did this feat.  One guy must have done a 20 point turn to get his tiny VW back down the street.

After we finished our coffee, we still had time to burn.  I dragged Rich down to one of the shops where I had seen some things I wanted to purchase.  I rambled through looking at every little thing.  It is all beautiful.  It was time to go back and check up on our laundry.

We walked in to find our stuff still in the dryer.  There was a small park on the side of the road.  We sat by the river there and talked.  I noticed the clouds coming in for the rain expect that evening.  Hopefully it would drown us for dinner tonight.

The clothes were finally ready.  We started to fold and put them in the laundry bag.  A Japanese couple came in and she was trying to ask about things.  It didn’t seem she spoke English and I didn’t really understand her German.  I kept pointing to the laundry attendant for her questions.

On the way back to the hotel, Rich caught sight of some trout in the small stream that run beside St. Martin’s Church.  He had stopped and take pictures.  I think he secretly was hoping for a fishing rod to appear out of thin air.  As we passed the church, a group of ducks were loudly letting everyone know where they were.  I accused them of having choir practice outside of the church walls.

Back at the hotel, we cleaned up and rested.  We had a reservation at the Flosserstubin that evening for dinner.  While we were showering, the threatening rain began and come down with a vengeance.  It was pouring.  We got luck and it lightened up for our walk to the restaurant.

We arrived to find out a few people out on the patio under the protective awning.  We got seats in the dry area and started ordering.  I went with the venison goulash or Hirsch goulash.  Rich went with the jagerschnitzel.  Both were so good.  We ordered beers.  The restaurant served Lowenbrau, which I had not had in years.  This is definitely not the stuff you get in the states.

The rain came down again in torrents.  We stayed dry and watched the excitement in the streets as people parked, ran to and from cars, and tried to stay dry in general.  For three hours we sat and made our way through food and drink.  We had coffee and apple strudel and apple kuchen.  The kuchen turned out to be an apple slice done up as a sugar and cinnamon donut sort of thing.  There was ice cream and lots of cream to go with it.

The rain took another break and we decided to try and walk back to the hotel during the lull.  We stopped the server to ask for our bill.  She wanted to know if we wanted amaretto or schnapps.  What?  Yes, there was complimentary amaretto or schnapps for an after dinner drink  I passed on this, but Rich had the schnapps.  Who knew there was such a thing as schnapps frei!

The walk back was uneventful.  The rain held off until we were safely back in our room.  It was a long day, but I managed to get a blog entry done and went through my pictures for a Facebook entry.

Good night all.  Hit it with the rain again.