Saturday, July 14, 2007
Bastille Day in Bavaria
My traditional birthday ramblings will have to be postponed this year. Needless to say, I'm planning a rather traditional German way to celebrate, involving both mountain climbing and a trip to a beer hall with my friend from The Sleeper Cell .
I'll post more details (and pictures) from these festivities a bit later, but for now, a special thank you to those people who e-mailed me electronic cards, etc. to celebrate the occasion from several timezones away. Sorry I couldn't be awake at 4 AM local time to receive them immediately.
And for those of you who still feel the need to comment about Bastille Day, Germany, the weird new title to my blog, or anything in between, feel free to do so below.
Wiedersehen!
UPDATE BELOW: Here are some pictures from the day's festivities.
The Sleeper and I began our morning with a train ride to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Originally two separate towns, the two were forcibly combined in 1936 during the Winter Olympics. You can get a sense of the scenery from the picture below.
From the main train station, we bought tickets on the Zugspitzbahn, a cog wheel train which would carry us to the summit of the Zugspitze, Germany's tallest mountain.
The train stopped briefly on the way to the top to allow passengers to take pictures of the Eibsee, a large lake and its beautiful surroundings.
In hindsight, we could have taken the Eibsee-Seilbahn...a steeper cable car that went right to the summit. But the cog railway was a more leisurely journey and afforded us a wonderful chance to see the sights until the part of its journey where it entered a lengthy tunnel.
But then, before you knew it...we were there, slightly below the summit. The area was reminiscent of a quarry combined with a ski lodge. The rock face was barren and there were a few scattered buildings including a cafeteria and a church. And then there was the view.
Here's a picture of the Sleeper checking out the surrounding countryside.
Here's the interior of that church I mentioned. I imagine there must be more than a few weddings on the top of the Zugspitze each year, especially since one can take a train to the summit.
How far above sea level was this church? Well, to give some idea...there was snow outside. So we constructed the world's smallest snowman. Due to a lack of sticks, we were forced to use mechanical pencils for arms. That's the cafeteria in the background.
This was all well and good and ordinarily I would have suggested we grab lunch at the cafeteria pictured above. But not when we were just one short cable car ride away from the summit and the highest altitude beer garden in all of Germany.
Here's a picture of the summit, 2964 meters above sea level, and conveniently marked with a large golden cross.
And here's a picture of diners at the nearby beer garden. (The sign conveniently informs you that this is Germany's highest beer garden!) I ate a traditional Bavarian breakfast of Weisswurst und Brezeln and the Sleeper ate some vegetable noodle soup. We both enjoyed a refreshing alcoholic beverage.
After lunch, we visited the gift shop and picked up some souvenirs for our respective significant others and for Corinna, who could not join us for the expedition. Unfortunately, we left the gift for the latter at home when we went out for dinner that evening at the Hofbrauhaus. I suppose it was my fault. I got distracted calling family and friends during that brief window of time when it is reasonable to call people in America from Europe.
The Hofbrauhaus is a Munich institution. Since the late 19th century, this fine establishment has been serving locals and visitors alike heaping helpings of beer and German cuisine, and no, the latter is not a contradiction in terms. Although widely acknowledged as a tourist trap by locals, this is ground zero for Oktoberfest, complete with brass bands, dirndl-clad waitresses, and tankards capable of holding a full liter of the city's finest.
Here's a picture of Corinna and the Sleeper enjoying a cold one.
We ate outside, and yes there really was a brass band playing traditional drinking songs. Sadly, the Sleeper and I didn't know any of the words, so we had to content ourselves with "The Ballad of Mad Jack."
One other notable thing about the Hofbrauhaus? GIANT PRETZELS!
After finishing dinner, we rambled through the streets of Munich with Corinna pointing out some of the major sites. I got to test out my new camera's night photography settings from the steps of the Feldherrnhalle.
But by then it was getting late, so we stumbled over to Corinna's place for a little bit, listened to some music, and then the Sleeper and I wandered home to rest after what turned to have been a very exciting Bastille Day indeed.
My traditional birthday ramblings will have to be postponed this year. Needless to say, I'm planning a rather traditional German way to celebrate, involving both mountain climbing and a trip to a beer hall with my friend from The Sleeper Cell .
I'll post more details (and pictures) from these festivities a bit later, but for now, a special thank you to those people who e-mailed me electronic cards, etc. to celebrate the occasion from several timezones away. Sorry I couldn't be awake at 4 AM local time to receive them immediately.
And for those of you who still feel the need to comment about Bastille Day, Germany, the weird new title to my blog, or anything in between, feel free to do so below.
Wiedersehen!
UPDATE BELOW: Here are some pictures from the day's festivities.
The Sleeper and I began our morning with a train ride to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Originally two separate towns, the two were forcibly combined in 1936 during the Winter Olympics. You can get a sense of the scenery from the picture below.
From the main train station, we bought tickets on the Zugspitzbahn, a cog wheel train which would carry us to the summit of the Zugspitze, Germany's tallest mountain.
The train stopped briefly on the way to the top to allow passengers to take pictures of the Eibsee, a large lake and its beautiful surroundings.
In hindsight, we could have taken the Eibsee-Seilbahn...a steeper cable car that went right to the summit. But the cog railway was a more leisurely journey and afforded us a wonderful chance to see the sights until the part of its journey where it entered a lengthy tunnel.
But then, before you knew it...we were there, slightly below the summit. The area was reminiscent of a quarry combined with a ski lodge. The rock face was barren and there were a few scattered buildings including a cafeteria and a church. And then there was the view.
Here's a picture of the Sleeper checking out the surrounding countryside.
Here's the interior of that church I mentioned. I imagine there must be more than a few weddings on the top of the Zugspitze each year, especially since one can take a train to the summit.
How far above sea level was this church? Well, to give some idea...there was snow outside. So we constructed the world's smallest snowman. Due to a lack of sticks, we were forced to use mechanical pencils for arms. That's the cafeteria in the background.
This was all well and good and ordinarily I would have suggested we grab lunch at the cafeteria pictured above. But not when we were just one short cable car ride away from the summit and the highest altitude beer garden in all of Germany.
Here's a picture of the summit, 2964 meters above sea level, and conveniently marked with a large golden cross.
And here's a picture of diners at the nearby beer garden. (The sign conveniently informs you that this is Germany's highest beer garden!) I ate a traditional Bavarian breakfast of Weisswurst und Brezeln and the Sleeper ate some vegetable noodle soup. We both enjoyed a refreshing alcoholic beverage.
After lunch, we visited the gift shop and picked up some souvenirs for our respective significant others and for Corinna, who could not join us for the expedition. Unfortunately, we left the gift for the latter at home when we went out for dinner that evening at the Hofbrauhaus. I suppose it was my fault. I got distracted calling family and friends during that brief window of time when it is reasonable to call people in America from Europe.
The Hofbrauhaus is a Munich institution. Since the late 19th century, this fine establishment has been serving locals and visitors alike heaping helpings of beer and German cuisine, and no, the latter is not a contradiction in terms. Although widely acknowledged as a tourist trap by locals, this is ground zero for Oktoberfest, complete with brass bands, dirndl-clad waitresses, and tankards capable of holding a full liter of the city's finest.
Here's a picture of Corinna and the Sleeper enjoying a cold one.
We ate outside, and yes there really was a brass band playing traditional drinking songs. Sadly, the Sleeper and I didn't know any of the words, so we had to content ourselves with "The Ballad of Mad Jack."
One other notable thing about the Hofbrauhaus? GIANT PRETZELS!
After finishing dinner, we rambled through the streets of Munich with Corinna pointing out some of the major sites. I got to test out my new camera's night photography settings from the steps of the Feldherrnhalle.
But by then it was getting late, so we stumbled over to Corinna's place for a little bit, listened to some music, and then the Sleeper and I wandered home to rest after what turned to have been a very exciting Bastille Day indeed.
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