Jen and Dave: Adventuring

We rose early, quietly, and made our way to the ridge for a slow, golden sunrise over the mountains. After drinking in our fill of liquid gold, we packed, napped, and waited for breakfast. After eating we got our boots tied, packs on, and started back to the Jennerbahn middle station. Highlights included the antics…

One thing Jen dreamed of while being a little girl was staying in a chalet in the Alps. Yesterday, the evolved version of that dream came true, as we hiked to Gotzenalm in the German Alps and spent the night. It was a full day of hiking, catching the hiker’s upload to the middle station…

Today was the holiday Corpus Christi, so most things were closed – a perfect excuse for a rest day. We did start by getting up and walking across town to watch Fronleichnam a procession to the church. We also checked out Haus der Berge, the visitor centre for the National Park with a rather modern…

We bussed back to the Königssee this morning, and this time we got in one of the electric boats that ferry tourists and locals alike about the lake. The ride was smooth and we enjoyed the towering mountains framing the turquoise waters. At the echo wall our captain played the trumpet, and you could hear…

After a lot of travel yesterday, we thought an easy day made sense. We slept in, had breakfast, and then wandered over to the local castle. Yes, seriously, another one. This one really layers the history, from old monastery to Renaissance rooms, to a royal wedding in the 1950’s, to being the current summer residence…

If you are King Ludwig II you need to build three of your own, apparently. Today we visited the third, Herrenchiemsee, another incomplete marvel on his own private island in Chiemsee (the “see” means lake). This meant a couple of trains to Prien, a historic narrow gauge train, and a boat. First order of business…

We decided that another day of clear sky meant Eagle’s Nest would be a good destination. Unfortunately, so did half of Berchtesgaden and the first transit bus to the ticket station got us to the end of a very crowded 1+ hour line – just to board busses to get you there. We considered it,…

Mixing it up more from the plan, we decided that the good weather called for alpine hiking. After a lovely breakfast staring at the scenery, we made our way to the Jennerbahn, a gondola in the Berchtesgaden National Park. Then it was time to go up! And what a view from the top! We decided…

We said farewell to Füssen today, and hit the rails. Four trains and 6.5 hours later, we pulled into Berchtesgaden Hbf. We made our way up the hill, and checked into our hotel. The weather had just cleared, and the view from the street is magnificent. We wandered the old town a bit, then grabbed…

Between the rain in the forecast and the impact yesterday had on Dave’s knees, we decided on a simple wander day. We started by sleeping in until breakfast time. After breakfast, we wandered around the old city walls some more before walking to the river. Dave checked out the dam, then we followed it to…