I can’t believe today is day twelve. Where has the time gone? It seems like I’ve been on vacation forever, and like we’ve just arrived all at the same time. We haven’t set an am alarm since we’ve been here in Garmisch, so that’s been pretty glorious. We went to breakfast around 9 and our plates looked about the same as yesterday. The staff is really friendly here and this morning the owner was walking around in the kitchen and dining areas, so the staff was being even a bit more friendly, if that were even possible.
On the way back to the room we walked through the outdoor pool area and Guy asked me if I had seen the inside pool. I had not! Wow! It was AMAZING inside (and hot) but there were steam rooms, lounging areas (a very zen space with mossy rocks on the ceiling) a huge heated pool with reflective black marble on the ceiling, and the entrance to the spa! It looked quite fancy, almost like it didn’t fit in the quaint little traditional hotel. I can see why people would come to this hotel. If you love hiking and outdoor activities, there are so many things to do for any and all skill levels. The hotel also has bicycles you can hop on at any time. The food is amazing and the pool and spa area are over-the-top nice! Once again, Guy has done a stellar job as travel agent extraordinaire.
We weren’t sure what we were going to do today exactly, but we let the weather decide for us. Today was supposed to be light rain in the morning then more steady this afternoon. However, at breakfast, our information paper at at the table said just clouds today. So we decided that morning was going to be best for any kind of outdoor activities so we loaded up in the car and drove a short distance to Eibsee lake (maybe 15-20 minutes or so by car). The drive was spectacular as we were heading straight towards the beautiful mountains that I’ve been trying to get the perfect shot of. As we got closer, I realized this was THE mountain that was the tallest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze. It is 2,962 meters above sea level (9,717 feet) and is home to three glaciers and Germany’s highest ski resort. This is the place to take the gondola all the way to the top. Nope. Not. Happening. I saw the gondola heading up to the top of the mountain and it literally disappeared into the clouds. Nope. Not. Happening. I tried to convince Guy to do it. I’m totally happy to wait at the bottom for however long it takes, but he said it was too cloudy to be able to see anything once you made it to the top (IF you made it to the top I’m thinking) and he was right. Clouds totally had the peak covered. So instead we watched the two gondolas passing each other as they leisurely made their way either up or down, dangling miles from the earth on just a tiny wire. Nope. Didn’t. Happen.
In the same parking lot was also the entrance to Eibsee Lake. A gorgeous lake at the base of the mountain that had crystal clear water with a few tiny islands dotting the center of the lake. We set out on the path around the lake and strolled along the pebble path watching the fearless ducks pacing back and forth waiting for the passing hikers to toss them some crumbs. They were not even close to being afraid of us. We were going to walk around the entire lake, but once we looked on google earth, we had only gone about ¼ of the way around and we decided that the walk around the entire lake was perhaps a longer adventure than we had planned on for today and will put it in our “back pocket” for the next time we are here. After our stroll, Guy walked back up to where the big gondola was because he saw a hat in the gift shop he liked, but the shop was closed. A smaller shop by the lake said it should be open, so by chance he looked again when we got back to the parking lot and they were indeed open! So, Guy scored his first souvenir, a black sock hat that said Zugspitze on it. I told him he couldn’t wear it if he didn’t actually take the ride up, but he just stared at me like I had three eyeballs. Ha! I have a feeling he’ll ride it some day.
Back to the hotel we went straight in for soup to warm up and we grabbed a nice little seat in the corner of the bar and scoped out our lunch options. I just wanted soup and a pretzel, which they had, and boy was it good. It looked like chicken noodle soup masquerading as what I think was “kitchen sink” soup, because everything but the kitchen sink was in it. But it was oh so yummy. Guy got the same soup, after I gave him the thumbs up, as well as some sliced beef and a roll. It was only 1:30 so the little cakes were not out yet, as those come out at 2pm. However, I decided on a cappuccino and it came with a little cookie, so all was good and my sweet tooth was happy. We sat and surfed the internet on our phones and when we finally got up to leave, little cakes had been put out!! I looked at my options and Guy said we could take them back to the room, but I knew dinner wasn’t that far away and I needed to leave some room in my stomach.
After lunch we decided to take a walk into the town that we haven’t explored yet. We saw it as we drove by, a pedestrian area filled with shops and things we might find we can’t live without. It was several blocks away but we walked in the drizzle, Guy with his new hat on and his jacket hood up and me with an umbrella borrowed from the hotel. We perused the shops and I did make a few purchases. A hat and scarf. Not necessarily for this trip, but they were fabulously fuzzy and were matching. Several people were purchasing hats and scarves and I heard a lady at the checkout talking to the owner. I think she must have been from the south because it’s not frequent you hear english conversations, but certainly not ones with a heavy southern accent! I’m guessing Kentucky or Tennessee. When I went to pay for the hat and scarf I think he thought I was going to put them on immediately, because he cut the tags off and didn’t offer me a bag. So I just rolled them up and put them in my pocket. I also bought a little handmade pin I saw in a gift shop and it will be a nice little addition when pinned to the plain hat I just bought. In and out of several other shops, we enjoyed looking but didn’t find anymore “must-haves”.
Back in the room, the rest of the afternoon was spent actually planning our next trip to Europe which is a Rhine River cruise in 2023. There will be lots of us on this next adventure, so that will certainly be a good time with lots of laughs and stories I’m sure. Can’t wait. But since we are headed to Stresa tomorrow, Guy is going to work with them on rooms for next year as we plan to extend the trip for a few days after the boat drops us off in Basel Switzerland. We’ve been meaning to take the time to sit and figure out dates and costs, so we finally got that knocked out. We usually find ourselves planning on our next trip when on a trip, but we usually do that on the plane or car ride home.
Dinner tonight was again 4 courses. First we had sugar crusted goat cheese on couscous, followed by soup that was a basic beef broth with a semolina dumpling. The dumpling had a bit of a texture to it, similar to polenta, and was not overwhelming with any particular flavor, but simple, hot and very delicious. We did get a few items off the salad bar. Guy had a lettuce salad, and I tried the german potato salad along with the zippy pasta salad from last night. All really good. So I had my first bad item. The “boiled beef” we thought was maybe supposed to say “broiled”, but I honestly think it was boiled. It was a bit tough, but I shared it with Guy and he put a bigger dent in it than I did. I had ordered it because I was looking forward to the root vegetables and potatoes, but the root vegetables were shavings…like an edible garnish. Trust me when I say I wasn’t disappointed in having a lackluster dish…I was already headed toward my belly being full before it even arrived. Guy, however, ordered the fried char and it was good. It was over sweet peppers and finger noodles. We haven’t quite figured out the finger noodles yet, but they were deep fried and tasted something like deep fried mashed potatoes. It shall remain a mystery. Dessert, on the other hand, was a delicious chocolate mousse garnished with peaches. The outside of the creamy mousse had a very thin layer of hardened chocolate. YUM! After dinner we were a bit hesitant to leave the building because last night we could see our breath as we walked back to our little house. But tonight I think it was a smidge warmer and the walk was brisk and refreshing.
Back to the room Guy has begun to pack up just a little and we are going to head to bed early. We still aren’t going to get up at any certain time, but if we woke earlier that would be fine, too. We are headed out immediately after breakfast for a 6 hour drive to complete our loop back down to Stresa, Italy. We have no certain time we need to arrive, so we’ll just be taking our time as I’m sure the scenery will be quite lovely and our day’s entertainment.
For the last time on the trip, gute nacht from Germany.
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