On Thursday of the vacation we finally had some really nice
weather and decided to head south to the top of the world in Germany , the Zugspitze .
This is the highest mountain in Germany
and a major skiing area for Bavaria .
I have heard people talk often about this, as the Bavarians love their outdoors
and love their skiing. Mike was also excited to head to this location, although
Deborah was a bit nervous that neither Michael nor Christine had either hats or
gloves, but they were game so off we went.
I headed out early to go and get the rental car, and by the
time I got back, which was around 8:30, everyone was just about ready to go. It
was nice to get an early start, but I was a bit worried as it was a little dark
and gloomy in Munich
as we hit the road. I did not know what it might be like on top of the mountain
as I have heard that fog is a major weather pattern there.
Nonetheless we entered our destination into the GPS system
in the car and headed out. During our last car trip the GPS seemed a bit flakey
and actually took us out of town by what appeared to be a long and circuitous
route. So sure enough, we did not even get far before e began to wonder what
the GPS was doing as it sent us we wanted to turn left but it sent us straight
and then around the block. We finally realized that we could not take a left
turn so the system actually knew what to do. After a bit we were on the
Autobahn and headed south towards the town of Garmish
and the Zugspitze .
It is amazing how close the mountains really are to Munich , and how quickly
you can actually get there. In less than ½ hour we could see the Alps as they
rise majestically straight up out of the Munich
plain. Then within another 15 minutes or so we found ourselves in the town of Garmish , looking for the
cog railway that takes you either up the mountain, or to the high speed cable
car. Upon arriving we were a bit early for the train so we headed into the
local grocery store to stock up on water and snacks for the train ride.
We had decided that we would take to cog railway from
Garmish to the Eibsee (a large lake at the base of the mountain) and then take
the cable car to the top. Once the railway started we realized that the first
trip was on a normal railway, with a stop after about 10 minutes when we then
go onto the cog railway. As we travelled along the first rail section, which
was out on the valley floor, there were some spectacular views of the mountains
as they just jump up out of the valley.
We then switched to the cog railway which was quite a bit
slower, but finaly arrived at the cable car after about a 15 minute trip. You
could in fact take the cog railway up to almost the summit of the mountain (we
did in fact take it back down) though a massively long tunnel, but for the
first trip we decided upon tha cable car. This cable car spans a length of
alomt 5 kilometers, and takes you from an elevation of 1,000 meters at the lake
to the summit at an elevation of 2,950 meters, thus rising over 1950 meters or
close to 6,400 feet vertically. This was not as scary a ride as I expected, but
at one point the wind did pick up and the car did start to sway and this DID
cause some concern, but we made it fit and fine to the top of Germany. Here is
a shot looking back down the mountain just as we were about to arrive at the
top.
While you might think the top of the mountain is a lonely
and empty place, you would be wrong as this is a ski resort so there are
several restaurants, the cable car, gift shops, a train station and even a post
office so you can mail post cards to people from the highest point in Germany.
At the very top of the Zugspitze , there is a
gold cross to signify the exact peak of the mountain.
Perhaps though the most surprising thing to find as you
arrive at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet above sea level is that there is a
big bowl where there is mostly beginner and intermediate ski slopes at the
highest point of the mountain. You are far above the tree line and from the
summit you look down into this massive bowl that has very gentle slopes (at
least in the center of the bowl) and has numerous t-bar and rope tow lifts for
beginners and intermediate skiers.
Nonetheless, when you look over the other side of the
mountain, the side where the cable car comes up, the drop off is truly scary as
the mountain just drops vertically away to the valley below.
We really were lucky as it turned out to be a sunny day on
top of the mountain with visibility as far as you could see. The clouds rolled
through from time to time, but they all seemed to pass around us and never over
us blocking out the view. From the top of Zugspitze you can see over 400 peaks
in 4 separate countries from the top of the mountain, including Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.
We then headed down into the bowl where there are located
more restaurants and where the ski lifts are all located. This entailed taking
another, shorter cable car from the top of the mountain to down below. It was
really funny to drop down to this bowl as here you were in the tops of the Alps
and sitting in this rather flat, broad bowl. There is also the highest chapel
in Germany way up here, and I guess a large number of people get married up
here. There were also lots of people with small children sledding down this
little hill from the chapel, towards the lower valley below. This was really
scary, as at the end of the flat slope we were on, it dropped away about 500
feet to the second bowl below. Nonetheless, no one seemed to mind and the kids
were recklessly sledding down this hill and headed towards oblivion if they happened
to go too far. The second photo looks down from the chapel and shows the drop
off at the bottom of the hill.
We then left the mountain and still with some time remaining
in the day headed east into the small town of Mittenwald. This town is famous
for it’s colorful and intricate frescoes called Luftmalerei, where the houses are lavishly painted with historic and
religious scenes.
It is truly amazing to go into these small towns and walk
into these little churches and see how much is invested in their design and
decoration. Mass had just finished at this church so as the patrons were all leaving
we decided to step inside and see just what it was like.
We wandered around the town for a while, stopping and looking
at all of these houses and finally settled into a little coffee shop for a
quick dessert and some coffee and beer. I was able to then get myself another
beer coaster (which I am slowly collecting) and we had some great beer and
desserts before finally getting back into the car and heading back to Munich.
Mike then had his chance to drive on the Autobahn and speed
as fast as he could (without getting his mother and the rest of us too
anxious).
