High on a Mountaintop

Forgive the cheesy title, but I’m in the Alps! Or I was. I guess this post is an afterthought now, but I was high on a mountaintop a couple days ago. I kept singing “Ricolaaaaaaaa” in my head the whole time, and I had to keep reminding myself that I’m in the German Alps, not the Swiss Alps. Eh, who cares. It’s the Alps either way.

Wanda and I stayed in Garmisch, with Carina and Toni (Gert had to work. Boo). It was incredible. We were smack in the middle of this huge mountain chain, surrounded on all sides. Carina’s home is lovely, with an amazing view of the mountains through the trees. As my mom would say, it doesn’t suck.

Well, since I was in the Alps, that obviously meant I had to climb up them. Ok, we cheated. Carina, Wanda, and I took the gondola. That was my first gondola ride, and coming down felt like a roller coaster! Now it was fun but the best part was at the top. We were at the base of the Alpspitze peak, which is next to the Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. There is this platform, called the AlpspiX, which sticks out 42 feet over the cliffs. Actually, it’s two platforms that form an X, with one arm higher than the other. All that separates you from the ground 3000 feet below is a metal grate. Can you say vertigo? You step out from the cliff and you just feel your stomach drop. It’s really funny to watch people walk out for the first time. You hear a lot of expletives, followed by apologies, and shrieking, and then the people start creeping forward slowly, clinging to the railing. There was a big, black guy that looked like he was going to be sick. And you never get used to it. I went on the upper one first and then went to the lower one. I stepped out the second time, got dizzy, closed my eyes, and ran all the way to the end. Once you realize how ridiculous you look, you can’t help but laugh the rest of the time.

Zugspitze

The view from up there is just breathtaking. You can see the whole town of Garmisch, and several other towns, plus into more of the Alps. You gotta love the mountains.

Garmisch

On our way back, we stopped at the ski jumps from the 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch. I don’t know how some people can jump off those. That must take a lot of guts.

I ate a traditional German meal of pork roast and dumplings, aka schweinsbraten. So yummy. I think I definitely like German food more than Spanish food. It’s rich without being super heavy, so I don’t feel ten pounds heavier after every meal.

The next morning we went up to King Ludwig’s (king of Bavaria) castle Linderhof, which is more like a mini palace. It’s pretty small, in comparison with other castles, but Ludwig actually lived here, as opposed to some of his other castles that he built just for show. That doesn’t mean that this mini palace wasn’t showy. It was. But it was tastefully done. Well, except for the grotto. That place was really cool but crazy. He had this huge cave built for him (none of the rocks are real) where he listened to Wagner and paddled around on a boat for hours at a time. He even had electricity for the grotto to power his colored lights, but not for his palace. Yeah, he was a little loopy.

Illegal picture inside the castle!!

The grotto.

We were super lucky with the weather. It was beautiful and sunny all morning and then rained just as we got in the car to leave. This was no problem because we just wanted to drive through Oberammergau, the site of the Passion Plays. Every ten years or so, the whole town participates in a production of the Passion of Christ and people come from all over the world to see this show. They just had one in 2010, so around 2020, be there.

Passion playhouse

We also stopped at the Ettal Abbey, founded in 1330. It’s now a boarding school, as well as a monastery, and they brew their own beer to raise money. Carina also swears the cake from a little shop across the street is the best in the valley. Since she lives there, I’ll take her word. Plus, I’ve tried it and it’s pretty darn good.

Mountains, castles, and cake. That’s what you have to look forward to in the Garmisch area. You couldn’t ask for much better.