In the shadow of a gazillion other trips, I didn’t have a chance to get super pumped for the second of back-to-back weekends in Bavaria. The idea formed around an opera on the lake performed on a Seebühne (floating stage), and expanded to include hiking and exploring.
We took the Deutsche Bahn down to Munich on Wednesday night. I love the train. I couldn’t believe it was a six hour ride, it went by so fast. Munich was an in-and-out operation we got up early, grabbed a quick brunch and picked up our car. This was my first time in the city and it would have been nice to explore but I knew I would be coming back for Oktoberfest. While on our power stroll I stepped in wet concrete.
First stop, Spitzingsee. We stayed in a Hütte called Blecksteinhaus well situated for mountain hiking. Little did we know that we would not be able to drive there. We pulled up to the road and a rando explained in German that we couldn’t pass as his friends joked that he was Checkpoint Charlie. We parked the car and gathered a night’s worth of stuff. Ben pulled wheely down the path which caught a few stares as most other hikers had backpacks, go figure. If we don’t stick out like dopes then are we even Americans?
When we got to the Hütte there were cars in the parking lot! We felt totally ripped off. The lady there told us to go ahead upstairs to room 6 but take our shoes off first. The hutte had a shoe room (it smelled pretty foul) and no shoes were allowed upstairs. Room 6 wasn’t so bad but also part of hütte living means no locks on the door (or towels, good thing Ben brought one). It had beds and wifi so we were ok.
we left immidiately for a hike, not wanting to lose any sunlight. We commented on how beautiful the landscape was as we walked up and up. I felt like I was in really terrible shape! We came across some cows, a toad, and some other huttes and eventually turned around when the path ended and some well meaning strangers pointed us into a direction that seemed like it was best suited for them to harvest our organs. We had a dinner in a classic German lodge and walked back to our hutte in the dark night.
Having spent very little time in truly dark places (the term for this is city slicker), I was terrified shortly after leaving the lights of the lodge but luckily Ben had a head lamp and a good sense of humor.
Friday we set off for Bodensee with a couple other agenda items in mind. We thought we had a lot of time so we would stop by Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. But our dawdling combined with traffic and poor planning resulted in us arriving at Zugspitze without enough time to go to the top. That and it cost 48 euro!! We took a picture from the parking lot and got back in the car.
I was starting to freak out about having enough time to get ready so we drove the rest of the way with a little more dedication. A detour and traffic put us in Lindau just before we needed to catch our ferry. We quickly got ready and rushed down to the show, which meant we didn’t get to appreciate how awesome the view was on our first glance.
The stage was on the Austria side and we were taking a ferry from the Germany side to drop us directly at the stage. We tore through the streets and parked the car, running through the cute town like foolish Americans are known to do. I was sure we were going to miss it so I was already crying which clearly helped the situation. Somehow I managed to not wipe out and we made it onto the boat as they were putting up the walkway. We rushed on the boat and they asked if we had tickets. Afraid we needed to purchase them in advance, but also hyperventilating and with mascara running down my face I made an impression on the captain he will not soon forget. As always in Deutschland the boat only accepted cash and there was no time for the ATM so we scrimped together our last euros as the boat pulled away.
Immediately it was clear that it was worth the rush and stress. The boat ride was amazing. Crossing the beautiful lake during sunset with the mountains all around was beyond picturesque. Even with the lake winds it was out of the question to go inside and be a pane of glass from the amazing view.
The boat dropped us off at the stage about 15 minutes before the show. We hoped to find a Breze or something to keep us from being crabby during the show. We discovered there was a full on dinner available! There were 4 buffets, one for each course and you could pick a course and fill up on whatever. Great for pre-show so then you don’t need to wait for your meal. Here’s how it went down: Found two seats at a table that was already occupied by two others. frantically flagged a waitress. ordered our buffets. had man next to us offer to pay because we had neither cash nor time. politely declined and paid for ourselves. ran to the buffet. ran back. ate as fast as possible (the food was soo good!). choked a little bit. continued eating. ran to our seats.
The Opera, André Chénier was unlike anything I’d ever seen. The stage was set in the water but there was more than what we know as a stage. There were moving parts, boats and the actors jumped in the water! The stage opened and closed in a dozen different ways and as I watched the subtitles (auf deutch) I missed the action. It flew by, there was no intermission but we barely noticed. We took the ferry back and ended the exhausting day.
The area we stayed at was amazing. We stayed at Montfort Schlössle, it was a recommendation from Sebastian and we never would have found it otherwise. It could not have been more perfect. I don’t know if it’s best described as a restaurant with rooms, a B&B or maybe a little piece of heaven situated on top of the hill overlooking the lake, town and into the mountains the roads were lined with pear, apple and plum trees. The parking lot was bursting with blackberries, so much we couldn’t even open the trunk!
The huge yard had a dining area/beer garten overlooking the most amazing view with a huge old tree as a canopy. A rose covered archway to the side yard full of fruit trees and on the side a little fenced in area with three adorable goats. When we approached them they started ramming horns, as if on cue. Our room was the perfect combination of new (bathroom, floors) with old touches (wooden beams in the walls, exposed stone). Everything about the place was entirely tasteful without one bit of cheese, except goat cheese!
We had a great breakfast at the schlössle and headed for Pfänder, the big peak of the town. We planned a hike but there was also a gondola which mean kids and strollers like mad. We were scared the hiking path would be a day care but luckily it wasn’t and it was actually a pretty steep hike at some points. We veered off the path and found some hidden treasures and even hand a picnic in a clearing. We worked our way down a different path and met a couple friendly sets of locals, even some that had formerly lived in Minnesota!
Our next agenda was to go for a swim. We walked along a peninsula also recommended by Sebastian and found a nice spot to jump in.
Next up, Lichtenstein and Switzerland, which was a quick hop away. When we crossed the border to Switzerland, we discovered that we needed to buy a toll pass and we weren’t interested enough for 40 euro so I took a picture of the street sign and we made a u-turn.
We excitedly went back to our hotel for dinner. On the way, we saw a selbst schneiden flower patch and picked out some Dahlias and Lilies. There were so many perfect flowers, it was fun picking out the best ones. They made our already perfect view a just a notch better.
We had a delicious dinner that included goat cheese homemade from our goat friends! Unfortunately, my tummy hurt from stuffing it with treasures all day and I had to go upstairs and lay down. Moderation with food is clearly a lesson I will never learn.
As people in NY have been asking me about my travels and european living, this trip is all I can talk about. It was so amazing and I want to go back someday!
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