We tried to put the dogs up at their usual kennel, but since it was a German holiday weekend, and this was a last minute trip, they were booked. No big deal, though, because with two cars, we could easily transport the five of us, plus the two dogs. We hit the road early Friday morning, and were down there in no time. We'd driven close to Garmisch a few years ago when we drove to Nove, Italy, and one thing I remembered about the drive was how beautiful it was. It did not disappoint this time, with a clear day and beautiful mountains.
We made it down there fast, and got checked in. From the hotel, we had a beautiful view of the mountains. In addition to wanting to visit the tallest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze, we also were there to visit one of Ludwig's castles, Linderhof. It's the only one of his three castles we hadn't seen yet, and was high on Shanna's list to visit because it's the only one of the three castles that is not only finished, but King Ludwig II actually lived in.
Before we could head there, though, we had to take the doggies on a long walk to wear them down, so that they would sleep while we were gone. Dogs were allowed on the palace grounds, but not in the palace itself. While we were walking around, Dad spotted a '73 MG, the first car he bought when he was commissioned in the Navy, and the car he had when he first met Mom.
After the dogs were sufficiently worn out, we put them in the room and headed to Linderhof. After we got there and bought our tickets, it was a short walk through the forest area to the actual palace. The palace was smaller than I expected, especially compared to the other two, Neuschwanstein and Chiemsee, but still impressive under the back drop of the mountains.
We took the guided tour, and thankfully Ben slept through the whole thing. Shanna has a wrap she wears around herself, and Ben slides right into it. When she has him wrapped up and is walking around, he goes right out. He did wake up in the final room, and was mesmerized. It was the hall of mirrors, modeled after the same hall in Versailles, and he couldn't stop staring at it.
When the tour was over, we walked around the palace grounds, then headed back to the car. Once back at the hotel, we were both tired, and Ben was ready for bed, so we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and called it a night.
The next morning we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and headed to Zugspitze. At close to 3,000 meters high (almost 10,000 feet), it's the tallest mountain in Germany, as well as the highest point in Germany. It also spans both Germany and Austria.
There are multiple ways to get up and down the mountain, so we decided to use them all. To get up the mountain, we took the cable car. Once you got the top, it was amazing how much the temperature dropped. It had been in the mid 80's at the bottom, but was 50 degrees at the top. The view from up top was incredible. You could see for miles up there, as well as the beautiful lake down below.
On the cable ride up, as we got close to the top, we actually saw two mountain climbers. I don't know if they started at the base, or part way up, but still, I couldn't believe they were out there. There is no way I would ever be out there doing something like that. After we got to the top, there was a giant observation deck with restaurants, a bier garten, and of all things, chairs that you could stretch out and tan on. The sun was more intense at the top, so even though the wind temp was 50 degrees, in the sun it felt much warmer. There was also a cross at the very top of the peak, but it was only accessible if you were climbing the mountain. And sure enough, as we got out to the area where you could see it, those same mountain climbers were making their way to it. As they both touched the top, everyone who was in the general area started clapping. If you look closely at the picture below, you'll see them above us as they were about to touch the peak.
We briefly walked over to the Austrian side of the mountain and looked around, but it wasn't any different than the German side.
We took a cable car down part of the other side of the mountain, where they had a giant Maypole set up and a place to eat, but since no one was hungry, we then took the last method of transportation down...the train. Most of the trip was actually underground so that the train can make it up in the winter with heavy snows. When we were mostly down the mountain, we finally came out of the mountain.
By that point it was getting late in the day, so we headed home.
Over all it was a fun trip, and good to see that Ben could handle a trip with no problems. Now that his passport is in, our next trip is planned for July 4th weekend. In previous years, we've visited England and Russia for July 4th...this year we're heading to the birthplace of Democracy, and spending a 4 day weekend in Athens, Greece.
Check back in a few weeks for that blog post!
To see the pictures, click here or any picture above.
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