From Berchtesgaden we headed west and decided that we would base ourselves in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Once again we didn't have a reservation and just picked a gastehaus at random. Thankfully the first one didn't have any rooms b/c the second one we found was truly wonderful. We must be living right b/c after our good fortune with Karl and Erna this was just to good to be true. The gastehaus was actually in Partenkirchen. It had about a dozen rooms and when we drove up Frau Reise offered us the nicest one in the place. It was actually a suite with two rooms and three beds and a wrap around balcony with views of the tallest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitz. Too bad about the cold rain or we would have spent a bit of time out there. Frau Reise ran a tight ship but was a great hostess. We lucked out and ran into a woman who spoke great english thanks to her time in the German army and the occupation. She had grown up in Partenkirchen and was full of recommendations. Our breakfast tablemates, two guys about my age, one from Berlin and one from Finland who had come to to hike every day, were also a great help.
Our first day we took advantage of a lull in the rain and went for a ~3 hour hike. It started with a trek through the Partnachklamm Gorge and ended with a great cable car ride down. In between...a lot of UP hill terrain :-). I was proud of my mom!
That night we decided to go explore the town of Oberammergau. We got there about 6pm, only significant because that's when the Passion Play lets out. Apparently the town has been performing this 5-hour long religious play, 5 days a week for a few months in the summer, every decade since he 17th century. It's their promise to God for saving them from the effects of the plague. Around 2,000, or over half of the people in the town, are actors in the play and catholics from far and wide travel to take in the play. We went for the shopping and for the famous "Luftmalerei" (visual illusions) on the facades of numerous buildings in town. We also lucked out and found another great Brauhaus with a pork and cheese spaetzle dish that was to die for! At dinner we enjoyed our view of the locals' table which grew in numbers through the night. Men of all types (I swear the town doctor and drunk were just a few seats away from each other) found their way to this table for a beer or two. I really wish I could have understood German to know what they all talked about for hours.
On our second day we visited briefly the neighboring town of Mittenwald. It's famous for its history of violin making thanks to a man named Matthias Klotz who brought the violin trade north from Italy in the 17th century. We visited the local violin making museum.
From there we headed to King Ludwig's Linderhof palace with a stop off at the Ettal Cloisters. The cloisters are still home to 50 – 60 Benedictine monks whose claim to fame is apparently a liqueur that they still brew.
Linderhof, both the residence and the surrounding gardens, was truly impressive. Ludwig reigned in the late 19th century and was thought to be a bit mad. Mad or not he certainly had a passion for ornate castles. The interior of Linderhof (sorry no pics allowed) was not very large but decorated in an elaborate Rococo style it was just over the top. Easy to believe it was the vision of an eccentric personality. The tour was a great introduction to the history of Ludwig's life which would come in handy the next day.
On our third day we had booked tickets to visit the famous castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau was actually built by Ludwig's father as a country home for hunting trips and was more understated.
Neuschwanstein is known as the model for the castle at Disney World. Ludwig oversaw the construction of it, just up the mountainside, while living as a young King at Hohenschwangau. After Linderhof we weren't sure what to expect. Apparently he didn't have the finances for quite the same level of finishes though. While quite a vision, only 1/3 of the interiors were completed before Ludwig died. The décor was almost Moroccan inspired. Ludwig must have had an obsession with this style as he had built both a tea house and one other out-building on the Linderhof property that were impressively decorated in a Moroccan motif.
The fourth and final day it just poured buckets so among other things we checked out the Army's resort Edelweiss. The highlight was definitely our salad at lunch...three cheers for vegetables (a endangered species in German food). It's the little things we've been missing. Not a drop of peanut butter, for example, since we left home.
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