This is my father's world. I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas. His hand the wonders wrought.
As of Tuesday I have been here a month already! It has actually gone by so fast! So in honour of that occasion I thought I would share something very important that I have learned in my time here = I really like hiking. Well, okay, I've only been once, but it was great and I'm going back! At lunch last Sunday the family told me they were heading up to hike in the Alps. They invited me to join and I accidentally replied, "gerne!" (gladly!). A month ago I would never have ever replied so enthusiastically. I was going swimming later with a friend who spends every Saturday and Sunday morning cross-country skiing and then goes running, so maybe I was just trying to channel a little Eliz. It was a gorgeous day ( a little crisp at 10 degrees C) but there was a great concern over whether I had appropriate footwear and clothing for the mountains. (This is probably a normal concern for the average hiker, but I'm told it's also very German to have every possible piece of outdoors equipment and gear).
I ended up going in my regular winter boots which were awful in the wet mud (we hiked off the path for a while) until we crossed above the snow line and starting hiking through snow and hail! We could not even see the top of the mountain for all the snow at some points! It sounds awful but it's really not that cold here (they complain of cold at +1 degree!) and it's been so warm that it was nice to see winter again! The entire walk I just could not get over how gorgeous it all was. I was singing, "My Father's World" the entire day! I am so in awe of this beautiful country!
Near the top of the mountain is a little restaurant and hostel where people can overnight and hike higher up the mountain. Here we stopped for süßigkeit and saftschorle. First, Germans are apparently famous for both their love of mineral water, especially fizzy, and their love of mixing odd drinks. So Apfelsaftschorle is a mix of apple juice and carbonated water and is incredibly popular. When you go to someone's house they will most likely offer you espresso, tea, or Apfelsaftschorle to drink. It sounds like a drink a 5 year old would concoct, but its actually really good! The dessert was a really cool donut type thingy filled with marmalade or chocolate and sitting in a bowl of sauce that tasted like birthday cake batter. Amazing! I can't say I've been going hungry here :)
It being a mountain, it was an incredibly steep climb and we were there for about 3 hours. A great workout! Along with the 4 hours walking in the mountains around Neuschwanstein the day before, I'm actually a little surprised I can walk today! And to think that I did it with a 3 and 8 year old who did not complain once (incredibly out of character for them, haha). Paul suggested I invest in a good pair of waterproof hiking boots for spring, when they walk through the creeks, so next time I'm in Rosenheim I will search out a Jack Wolfskin (the German equivalent of MEC; Tori, I'm looking at you). And so begins my new life as an outdoorsy person... stay tuned!
I ended up going in my regular winter boots which were awful in the wet mud (we hiked off the path for a while) until we crossed above the snow line and starting hiking through snow and hail! We could not even see the top of the mountain for all the snow at some points! It sounds awful but it's really not that cold here (they complain of cold at +1 degree!) and it's been so warm that it was nice to see winter again! The entire walk I just could not get over how gorgeous it all was. I was singing, "My Father's World" the entire day! I am so in awe of this beautiful country!
Near the top of the mountain is a little restaurant and hostel where people can overnight and hike higher up the mountain. Here we stopped for süßigkeit and saftschorle. First, Germans are apparently famous for both their love of mineral water, especially fizzy, and their love of mixing odd drinks. So Apfelsaftschorle is a mix of apple juice and carbonated water and is incredibly popular. When you go to someone's house they will most likely offer you espresso, tea, or Apfelsaftschorle to drink. It sounds like a drink a 5 year old would concoct, but its actually really good! The dessert was a really cool donut type thingy filled with marmalade or chocolate and sitting in a bowl of sauce that tasted like birthday cake batter. Amazing! I can't say I've been going hungry here :)
It being a mountain, it was an incredibly steep climb and we were there for about 3 hours. A great workout! Along with the 4 hours walking in the mountains around Neuschwanstein the day before, I'm actually a little surprised I can walk today! And to think that I did it with a 3 and 8 year old who did not complain once (incredibly out of character for them, haha). Paul suggested I invest in a good pair of waterproof hiking boots for spring, when they walk through the creeks, so next time I'm in Rosenheim I will search out a Jack Wolfskin (the German equivalent of MEC; Tori, I'm looking at you). And so begins my new life as an outdoorsy person... stay tuned!