On clear days, we get an enticing view of the Bavarian Alps from the balcony of our farmhouse flat.
After a couple of weekends checking out the local area, we could resist the yodel of the wild no longer. We needed an alpine day trip. “Alpine,” I thought. “I’ve seen plenty of alpine in my time—alpine meadows, alpine tundra—yet always in the New World. But these are The Alps, the Alpiest of alpine places!”
It’s about an hour drive south to the nearest Alpine access point. Gwen Wren wasn’t too psyched about the long car ride, but she found some entertainment in grabbing at the map while we tried to figure out where we were going. Along the way, we decided to stop for a bathroom break. It turned out to be quite a rest area.
I sat out on the lawn to study the map while Rachel went inside with the Wren. I saw a man walk by dressed in a brown burlap robe. “A monk,” I thought. “That’s odd. Wait! This must be a monastery!” And indeed it was: the Kloster Ettal.
Inside, Wren couldn’t take her eyes off the flashy religious iconography.
Short of shutting one's eyes, it was impossible to avoid the iconography—it was everywhere, including the ceiling.
Although the inside was pretty spectacular, the Alps were still beckoning…
…until we passed the kloster’s restaurant and biergarten on the way out. We stopped for a late lunch. Our standard Bavarian restaurant order now: spätzle and salad for Rachel, schnitzel and a weissbier for me. I must say, German monks make some GOOD beer! OK, now we were REALLY ready for some Alp action.
As it turns out, the preferred method for getting up a mountain around here—especially for someone with a baby strapped on her chest, and who has just had a filling meal, and whose husband has just had a large glass of beer—is to take a cable car. This one went up Mt. Laber, outside the town of Oberammergau.
At the top there was—believe it or not—yet another bustling eatery. This was quite a bit more civilized than the alpine landscapes I had seen back home. We were still full from lunch, though, so we passed on the cakes and coffee (and even on the beer).
Gwendolyn, on the other hand, was happy to stop for a snack.
Then we took a hike along the ridge…
…swapping the Wren back and forth between us as we went. She is getting heavy!
We returned to the summit to find the café closed. Probably for the best. We watched as some adventurous guys leapt from the summit to paraglide back down to Oberammergau. We decided to take the cable car down instead. :-)
After a couple of weekends checking out the local area, we could resist the yodel of the wild no longer. We needed an alpine day trip. “Alpine,” I thought. “I’ve seen plenty of alpine in my time—alpine meadows, alpine tundra—yet always in the New World. But these are The Alps, the Alpiest of alpine places!”
It’s about an hour drive south to the nearest Alpine access point. Gwen Wren wasn’t too psyched about the long car ride, but she found some entertainment in grabbing at the map while we tried to figure out where we were going. Along the way, we decided to stop for a bathroom break. It turned out to be quite a rest area.
I sat out on the lawn to study the map while Rachel went inside with the Wren. I saw a man walk by dressed in a brown burlap robe. “A monk,” I thought. “That’s odd. Wait! This must be a monastery!” And indeed it was: the Kloster Ettal.
Inside, Wren couldn’t take her eyes off the flashy religious iconography.
Short of shutting one's eyes, it was impossible to avoid the iconography—it was everywhere, including the ceiling.
Although the inside was pretty spectacular, the Alps were still beckoning…
…until we passed the kloster’s restaurant and biergarten on the way out. We stopped for a late lunch. Our standard Bavarian restaurant order now: spätzle and salad for Rachel, schnitzel and a weissbier for me. I must say, German monks make some GOOD beer! OK, now we were REALLY ready for some Alp action.
As it turns out, the preferred method for getting up a mountain around here—especially for someone with a baby strapped on her chest, and who has just had a filling meal, and whose husband has just had a large glass of beer—is to take a cable car. This one went up Mt. Laber, outside the town of Oberammergau.
At the top there was—believe it or not—yet another bustling eatery. This was quite a bit more civilized than the alpine landscapes I had seen back home. We were still full from lunch, though, so we passed on the cakes and coffee (and even on the beer).
Gwendolyn, on the other hand, was happy to stop for a snack.
Then we took a hike along the ridge…
…swapping the Wren back and forth between us as we went. She is getting heavy!
We returned to the summit to find the café closed. Probably for the best. We watched as some adventurous guys leapt from the summit to paraglide back down to Oberammergau. We decided to take the cable car down instead. :-)
2 comments:
Cable cars are so much fun, maybe because they are so scary. I especially get the willies when the car has to go past one of the pillars holding up sections of cable and there is a loud clanking noise.
There is a cable car that you can take up to the highest point in Seoul, South Korea. Each time I visited Seoul, I would take someone different on the trip with me so their delight at the novelty would match my unabated enthusiasm. If only they made paragliding cable cars...
Loved the Alp posting. So much so that I gave your blog address to a friend who is German (from Berlin) and she loved it too -- so well done, she said. The writing is fun and the photos are magnificent. Beautiful monastery!
Christina (still happy about Obama)
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