Since our trip to the Alps last weekend, I have been doing nothing but running around. We're going to Brussels again this weekend to see the once-every-two-years Flower Carpet at the Grote Markt, so we've been spending this week getting in gear for that. I also resumed my Red Cross volunteer training at the on-base Medical Center, which had a surprise test that I had to retake three times to pass. I also had to do a lot of out-of-the-ordinary running around which sucked out a good chunk of my time including paying our landline bill and figuring out exactly what plan I had on my phone.
A few recent job opportunities popped up this past week. First, a substitute test examiner position was offered to me. While the position in and of itself yields very little pay, it is typically a stepping stone for a full time position (within months) because of the high turnover of personnel. The same group also offered me some positions further away, but J and I felt that the income did not justify the travel cost. Most significantly, a reservist that J worked and had a good rapport with invited us to a farewell/thank-you dinner. At the dinner, of which the food was crazy good, he mentioned that he presently has one of the largest aquaponics systems in the US and was about to go online with it. Being a huge fan of aquaponics myself, we got to talking. He liked my enthusiasm, and asked me to meet up with him today to discuss things further. That would certainly be a crazy awesome place to work for, but the catch is the distance. We'll see what happens.
Ok, now on to the Alps!
We were there for about four days. Because I've been so horrible about posting, I'm going to focus on the first day or two we spent there. In the next post, (which I found out I can start by phone!) I will finish that trip up and then start on our Brussels trip.
Friday, after about a six hour drive, we arrived in the Berchtesgaden region of Bavaria very much in the Alps. We stayed at Campingplatz Simonhof. The very first guy we met happened to be the owner, a very nice old man. He spoke little english, and our german isn't good enough to meet half way, so he nabbed a camper who did speak english a little better. We were a little confused about the fact that there was a gate at the entrance, but it turns out that they let their cattle roam free so it was actually to keep the cows from getting into the campground. I guess the cows are all programmed to wander back to their prospective farms for milking each day. Who knew?
The mountains were gorgeous! All of the surrounding rock looked like a shock white granite or marble (of which I'm pretty sure it wasn't that fancy), and all of the surrounding green was like something out of the Shire in Lord of the Rings. There were random polished glacial white boulders everywhere, lots of trees and grass, and all of the stream and lake water was crystal clear! The air was cool and fresh, and everyone was very nice and accomodating.
This was our first european camping trip and our first trip with Etsy and actually our first camping trip with Etsy. She did pretty well, but felt like she had to say "Hi" to every single dog at the camp site. We took her along everywhere, and she was better behaved when she was not at camp. I found that to be interesting.
Before going to bed the first day we got there, we hiked the two mile route around the camp ground. It was a perfect teaser of things to come: large stretches of green grass, clean and quiet hiking, a small hamlet of buildings for travellers and a farmer or two, a babbling brook and a small lake, and enormous and gorgeous mountains all around.
J's cooking was, again, awesome. You can order fresh baked bread rolls the night before for the next morning. This apparently is a common thing in Europe, so we figured we would try it. J used them to make egg muffins for breakfast using our newly purchased cast iron skillet. It was crazy good! This trip also made me a big believer in cast iron pots and pans.
We decided to visit the Koenigsee (King's Lake) where there is a church that is "only accessible by boat." I put this in quotes because you can actually hike to it, but it takes probably a day one way if you choose to go that route. The boat ride was about 30 minutes. Beyond that, there is another boat one can take to the Obersee, the lake that is the result of an avalanche cutting the Koenigsee in half. There supposedly is a beautiful waterfall there, but it was time prohibitive for us to see it because we slept in that morning. Instead, we went to see the Eiskappel (Ice chapel) which is a glacier that has a cavern within making it look like a crude church. We hiked the hour and a half uphill to get there. Beautiful scenery, but once we got to the end of the marked path we didn't have enough time to make it the rest of the way and we also didn't want to risk twisting an ankle. We had to hustle back to catch the last boat back for the day. Back in town, we got T and J a surprise gift (you guys will love it!).
Here is a view from the boat on the Koenigsee to the St. Bartholema church. The church really wasn't that exciting by comparison to other churches, but when you factor in that everything had to be boated in, it makes it more impressive.
A view of the lake from the church...
This is a view from the port on the Koenigsee. Hey Dad or Papa Charlie, what's with the rocks on the beams on the rooftops? We saw a lot of this in the area. The only other fact I can provide is that there were large nails or bolts attaching the beams to the roofs on the opposite side of the rocks. I'm guessing they are some sort of weight for the roof beams? I'm wondering if this is relate to snowfall in some way. There was little to no wind to speak of in the area.
This stream essentially led the way to the Eiskappel. The water, I'm guessing ice melt, was complete clear. The mini-waterfall further ahead was over a dam. Based upon the lack of plants and the small trickle of water going through, I'm guessing in the spring time the melting snow creates a raging river.
See? Completely clear water!
This is not the Eiskappel, but it was a pretty cool hidden chapel with a nice little interior.
To the right is where the Eiskappel is located. We stopped here, at the end of the marked path. We didn't feel like chancing a twisted ankle in the really rocky field. I also loved how the clouds hid the tops of some of the mountains.
One of the many gorgeous views we experienced!
Yep, cows herding in random places...with no fences at all. Somehow, we never saw any on the road itself.
The next day, we decided to check out Adlerhorst (Eagle's Nest): the famous Alpine hideaway of Hitler's. Interestingly enough, Hitler only went there three times, and none of them were for secret meetings or anything. I wanted to have a really solid Alpine hike, so J was a good sport and we hiked about 3 hours uphill to the bus stop immediately below Adlerhorst. It was a pretty grueling hike and J needed a minute or two to adjust to the altitude, but the view, as expected, was spectacular! We took the elevator the short remaining stretch to the top. Wow! Awesome view! There were also paragliders and hang gliders like a small flock of birds up there. It made me want to try it! We also could see the Koenigsee from where we were. The hike back down only took what seemed like an hour (pretty sure it was longer than that) but it made for a good day.
Waking up to a gorgeously clear day and a clear view of one of the nearby glaciers (I presume) inside one of the nearby mountains.
J making some absolutely unreal egg muffin breakfast. The rolls were courtesy of the campground.
Here are several views from the top of Adlerhorst (Eagle's Nest)...
Yep, we were even with the cloud ceiling that day. One just couldn't let go of a nearby mountain peak.
This is a paraglider, the one of two that we saw. There were about five other hang gliders that day as well. The were like a flock of hawks cruising around Adlerhorst. It looked so cool. We did get a short video of it. I'll see if I can post that too. Right below him is the port to and some of the Koenigsee, where we were the very previous day.
Pretty close to a postcard picture of Adlerhorst.
Hang gliding anyone? Oh, this cross was at the top of the mountain, by the way. There was only a year (2003) on it, but nothing written, so heck if I know what it is supposed to memorialize.
That night, I had to hit the bathroom having drunk so much water from the hike. The sky was so clear, quiet, and star-filled. Seeing the Milky Way required no time for the eyes to adjust. Next time, I'll try to bring a telescope. Hopefully, it will be just as clear when I do.
The last day, we went to a Monastery coincidentally during their Gartentage, J saw a very cute monk, I bought cheese, J bought beer, we saw a crazy chapel, we were surprised by the Plansee, and we got home.
I'll talk about that leg of the trip next blog ;)
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