{"id":3640,"date":"2015-09-04T14:44:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T19:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3640"},"modified":"2015-09-04T14:44:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T19:44:54","slug":"european-vacation-day-8-deep-in-bavaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3640","title":{"rendered":"European Vacation: Day 8 Deep in Bavaria"},"content":{"rendered":"

We got up this morning to cloudy skies in Garmisch.\u00a0 They were hanging pretty low over the mountains around the town.\u00a0 We might have the threat of rain for our drive deeper in the German Alps and Bavaria as we head to Berchtesgaden.<\/p>\n

We went down to the Fruhestrucher Raum for breakfast.\u00a0 I love the traditional breakfast items along with all the fresh fruits and specialties.\u00a0 Rich got the scrambled eggs with herbs.\u00a0 I was satisfied with the scrambled eggs on the buffet and the delicious sausages.\u00a0 I had peaches, pineapples and dates to go with them.\u00a0 The goal is to eat enough to hold you over until we could get lunch.\u00a0 Sometimes, that is the hard part.<\/p>\n

We packed up and took our bags down to the car in the garage.\u00a0 When I tried to go back upstairs to check out, the door was locked.\u00a0 There is a sling that prevents the door from shutting all of the way and the strap was keeping the lock from turning.\u00a0 We opened the big door and I walked up the ramp.\u00a0 I made sure the door was not shut when I went back into the garage from the hallway.<\/p>\n

We punched in the address for our hotel in Berchtesgaden and hit the road.\u00a0 The navi was taking us up to Munich and then over to Salzburg.\u00a0 This got us back onto the autobahn for a ways.\u00a0 At this point, the autobahn was a lot smaller than I was used to.\u00a0 It was only 2 lanes on our side and full of traffic.\u00a0 We got behind one car from Hungary driving way, way under the speed limit in the left lane.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t mean to pass, but there was an opening and I took it.<\/p>\n

As we got closer to Berchtesgaden, Rich gave up on the navi and gave me directions to get onto one of the back roads into town.\u00a0 It appears the navi was sticking to the major highways and taking us out of way and then circling back.\u00a0 The sites on this road were beautiful with the mountains.<\/p>\n

We arrived in Berchtesgaden before lunch.\u00a0 There was a little more traffic than I expected.\u00a0 We went through the roundabout and the navi was telling me to turn left.\u00a0 I did and found myself in a parking lot.\u00a0 We could see the hotel just in front of us, but didn\u2019t know how to get there.\u00a0 I got out of the parking lot as someone nice let me in front of them.<\/p>\n

At the light, we had to make a strange sort of left turn to go up into this tiny, tiny street where people were walking.\u00a0 We drove beside the hotel and turned at the top of the hill into their parking lot.\u00a0 It was small as the hotel sits on a piece of land that juts out of the mountain.\u00a0 Welcome to Hotel Bavaria!<\/p>\n

The owners were working out front.\u00a0 From the looks of things, they have been working very hard to update and get the hotel into nice shape.\u00a0 It feels nice.\u00a0 The only problem was the sound of traffic since it is on the main road through town.<\/p>\n

We checked in and got our room.\u00a0 A person actually takes your key and walks you to your room here.\u00a0 They don\u2019t give you the key and tell you how to find it.\u00a0 We have a nice room with a balcony.\u00a0 The view is OK and the noise is pretty high during the day.\u00a0 There was rain coming into the area, so we didn\u2019t expect to sit outside tonight.<\/p>\n

First thing we needed to do was find lunch.\u00a0 The road where the hotel sits is very steep and we found that it lead up to the town proper.\u00a0 With our calves stretched to the max, we walked up the hill and found a path that lead to the market square.\u00a0 At the top of the path, we were at the back of the church.\u00a0 We had to walk through the church yard to reach the square.<\/p>\n

Out on the street, we found the first necessary item.\u00a0 It was time to hit the ATM and get more cash.\u00a0 With that done, we walked down the street toward the market square.\u00a0 In the square, we saw a welcomed site.\u00a0 My Uncle Max said we had to eat at the Golden Bear.\u00a0 There it was in front of us.\u00a0 We took a table right along the walkway.<\/p>\n

The server came by and we asked for menus, which had English printed right the German items.\u00a0 The whole thing looked so good.\u00a0 We decided on ox goulash for Rich and Hunter\u2019s meatloaf for me.\u00a0 Both dishes came with these wonderful buttered noodles.\u00a0 With a couple of beers, we were set for a while.\u00a0 We ate and watched people shopping through the square.\u00a0 It was very pleasant.<\/p>\n

We finished and paid our bill.\u00a0 Time to walk through the square ourselves.\u00a0 The town is set up with a walking trail around the top of hill.\u00a0 We started toward the Schloss (castle).\u00a0 It was more of a country house than a castle with its own square.\u00a0 Pink seems to be a popular color for schlosses from the 17th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 We decided not to pay the price of admission and to continue walking around town.<\/p>\n

We went into St. Peter\u2019s Church in the Schlossplatz.\u00a0 It was a beautiful example of a church with paintings and sculptures from the 1500s and 1600s.\u00a0 There was lot of gilded work around the altars and stations.\u00a0 The floor was very worn around the doors as many centuries of people passed through.\u00a0 The quiet was beautiful as well.<\/p>\n

We continued on our walk going by a bar with the traditional pretzel hanging above the door.\u00a0 The next church was St Andres, but it was being renovated.\u00a0 We had a decision to make at this point.\u00a0 Walk up a steep hill or take a lower road.\u00a0 I opted for the steep hill hoping to get a great view of the valley.\u00a0 I was not disappointed.\u00a0 The valley spread out below us with some low clouds on the mountains.\u00a0 A house at the top of the hill had beautiful flowers in the boxes.<\/p>\n

We continued around the top of the hill.\u00a0 However, it was going to be very easy to get lost out here.\u00a0 We could see the farmland spreading out around us on the right with town still visible on the left.\u00a0 We walked past the hospital before Rich realized that we need to go back and find the trail that took us through the woods.\u00a0 This meant walking up someone\u2019s driveway.<\/p>\n

I felt strange about walking by someone\u2019s front door, but it was obvious that this is what we had to do.\u00a0 We walked through the back to find the trail that we could see running up into the treeline.\u00a0 There was a memorial with a dedication for a priest who appeared to have died in WW II.\u00a0 These memorials are little huts with a cross of Christ and things to remember the person.<\/p>\n

We walked by a bunker from WW II after that as well.\u00a0 Up through the trees, we walked to the Lichtenstein road that ran to a house up on a small hilltop overlooking town.\u00a0 We took the other direction toward a barn with very nice wood carvings.\u00a0 This sleepy lane was leading us back down to the center of Berchtesgaden.\u00a0 We walked by the Alte Hospital and tried to find the trail we needed to walk around the outside of town.\u00a0 We missed it altogether and ended up just above the market square.\u00a0 It turns out the trail went between a couple of houses to get you to the back of their property and onto the trail.<\/p>\n

We wandered on down and found an alley that took down to the square.\u00a0 We came out by a restaurant called Anna\u2019s Nightwatchman.\u00a0 It appeared to be one of those places that gave you the essence of what it used to be like in the village.\u00a0 Down the steps from here, we were back in the square.\u00a0 So we continued to wind our way through the village.<\/p>\n

It was about this time that it started to rain.\u00a0 We put on our raincoats and continued to walk.\u00a0 When we reached the church and its graveyard, Rich checked out a restaurant with outdoor seating that we thought would be good for dinner.\u00a0 We were planning on the sausage platter with a cheese platter since we didn\u2019t expect to be that hungry.<\/p>\n

We made our way back to the Hotel Bavaria to rest.\u00a0 That meant writing blogs and get pictures together.\u00a0 I updated Facebook with the latest for my boss.\u00a0 She was the one asking for pictures here.\u00a0 Some of my co-workers were expecting them as well.\u00a0 Somehow, this lets them know that I\u2019m alive and doing well.\u00a0 I think they are just counting the days to my return.\u00a0 In the meantime, I carry on with vacation.<\/p>\n

After six o\u2019clock, we donned our raincoats and made our way back up the hill again.\u00a0 The rain was a lot less for the walk.\u00a0 We went back through the churchyard to the Gasthof Watzmann.\u00a0 With the rain and chill, we decided to sit inside.\u00a0 It was very quiet with few people.\u00a0 The red lounge on the right appeared to only have a single couple.\u00a0 We went in a found a table.<\/p>\n

The server came out and asked for our drink order.\u00a0 We let her know we needed English menus.\u00a0 Their menu had some English, but enough for us to see what we might want.\u00a0 I like reading the German because it is more descriptive of what you are getting.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t read German well.\u00a0 I got say, I read it better than I speak it, which is not well at all.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t see the sausage platter, but did order the cheese platter.\u00a0 Rich ordered one of the sausage meals and we split it.\u00a0 The beer wasn\u2019t as good as that at the Golden Bear at lunch.\u00a0 It would do for now though.\u00a0 We talked and ate.\u00a0 This gave us time for the rain to slow down some.\u00a0 It had been pouring while we ordered.<\/p>\n

We finally got the bill and suited up for the weather.\u00a0 The girls at the front door said, \u201cAuf Weidersehn\u201d as we left.\u00a0 Back on the street, we headed through the churchyard and down the hill to our hotel.\u00a0 It was a quiet evening.\u00a0 I finished up blogs and pictures.\u00a0 Rich was hanging out reading and playing Sudoku.\u00a0 After finishing what I thought I had to do, it was time to go to sleep.<\/p>\n

I did wake up in the middle of night as the rain was trying to come in through the window over the bed.\u00a0 Rich closed it and I got comfy again.\u00a0 The comforters are soft and warm.\u00a0 I might just have to try doing the single comforters on my bed at home.\u00a0 That means I have to have the soft and fluffy pillows as well.\u00a0 I like Germany for its attention to small details and its view of comfort.\u00a0 I should say that I love how clean the country is and its love of flowers and greenery.<\/p>\n

\"Clouds<\/a>
Clouds on the mountains as we look out from our balcony one last time in Garmisch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sitting<\/a>
Sitting in the patio of the Golden Bear and watching people shopping in the square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Koniglische<\/a>
Koniglische Schloss in town is more like a country house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"St<\/a>
St Peter’s Church in Schlossplatz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Building<\/a>
Building with memorial to the war dead in the Schlossplatz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View for the top of hill as we walked around town. This is looking north into the valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful house at the top of the hill on our walk around town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Private<\/a>
Private chapel we passed on our walk around town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Private<\/a>
Private resident you had to walk through to get to the trail that takes you around town. Beautiful example of a German house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View of the farmland as we walked the trail around the town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Memorial<\/a>
Memorial on the trail around town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Very<\/a>
Very cool barn with wood carvings of different things. We saw this as we were doing the trail around town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich checking out a place for dinner later this evening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful German cemetery that we walked through. There is such order and beauty here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Alpine Rose hotel is right next to us. Thought of you, Rose, when I saw it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
One view from our balcony in Berchtesgaden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We got up this morning to cloudy skies in Garmisch.\u00a0 They were hanging pretty low over the mountains around the town.\u00a0 We might have the threat of rain for our drive deeper in the German Alps and Bavaria as we head to Berchtesgaden. We went down to the Fruhestrucher Raum for breakfast.\u00a0 I love the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3660,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3640\/revisions\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}