Sunday night found us on a train...again...headed to our next destination. A perk of all of these train rides I didn't foresee is that when there are the touristy options in a couple of town squares, not a single child requested to ride them. This is a first in our family. Someone always wants to ride the train.
I had a couple of concerns for the train to Bavaria. There is an option to reserve seats (for a small fee), which I did on the train to Stuttgart...and then we didn't actually sit in our seats. And at the time I bought the tickets to Bavaria, the DB app (I love that app!) indicated the train would not be crowded, so I saved the reservation fee for a future beer or ice cream purchase (a huge chunk of our overall budget was spent on beer and ice cream). Yet, as we are preparing to leave, I see our train is now indicating high occupancy...and we have 6 people to find seats for...on a long journey. Nicht Gut!
I frantically attempt to reserve the seats for a small fee in the DB app (I love that app!), but it tells me it can't accommodate my request...stupid app (Just kidding, I still love you! This was all on me)
As we wait for the train, my blood pressure is going up and I inform Eric he cannot go anywhere because we need to get on the train as soon as it shows up for the best chance at getting a recently vacated set of seats. Which we do. Immediately. There are loads of seats! How did we get so lucky? Then I realize our seats have a 'reserviert' notice on the electronic board above them. As do all other seats except a few in a car train a few wagons up. (At this point, I could type a word that I was thinking, but I won't, because I'm trying to be a good example for my children...but it is German and my mom use to say it all of the time...and still does from time to time...you know the word).
The train starts moving and no one has come to claim the seats so we are at least safe until the next stop. I'm not really sure how the reserve thing works, but the car is basically empty. As the conductor comes through to check tickets, I overhear snippets of a German conversation and hope everything will be fine. Which he confirms in English when I ask him. There is a bug in the system. I will be sending them my blood pressure medication bill.
Following this, we ride the train stress free. I even beat Eric handily in our one game of cribbage. (Note to self: should have bought a pack of German Flag Cards)
Now there is smooth sailing until we reach Munich...and then on to two more trains. Yet, I still have some anxiety about our next hotel. See, when I booked places I had two main features I was looking for. The first was free cancellation until well into the window of us knowing whether we would be in the country. The second was distance from train stations. The hotel I booked in Bad Kohlgrub Kurhaus(a small village outside of
Oberammergau), The Bavarian Dream (I know! But, it had a pool and breakfast was included), had free cancellation until 2 days prior to our first night (Check), and it said it was less than 1000 feet from the train station (double check!). Yet, when I went to double check everything a couple nights earlier (because this is how I calm down), I realized there was a strange German word next to the train station: Talstation. I put in Talstation into the DB app (I love that app!) and it let me know that no place existed...I did a google translate and learned that Talstation is a ski lift. I had booked us into a hotel at the top of an Alp. At least that is where my worst case scenario imagination led me (For the record, when traveling, my worst case scenario imagination runs rampant...as opposed to Eric's best case scenario imagination heavily dosed with a glass of red wine...which he uses to calm down at the end of a long day). And we were outside of the cancellation window. I did a quick search for the address and saw there was a train station about a kilometer away. Most likely at the base of a mountain. I let Eric know my fears and he calmly said everything would work out, as he took a sip of red wine and suggested I do the same.
And it did. Eric thought perhaps we could get a taxi, initially, until we realized our particular stop had to be requested on the train. Like we are on a bus, but it is a train...it was a one gleis train platform...ergo: no taxis! (You also had to wave down the train as it passed by in order to board, so cool!)
It was all uphill with bags on our backs and we got there after check-in, but got into our rooms no problem, got a hot meal and beer, and all got to bed ready to discover what the beautiful area had in store for us.
Our friends had recommended we do the
Alpine Coaster
As we had no other real plans for our first day, we decided to give it a go (side note: basically we never had real plans...except to eat pretzels, drink beer, and make it through the trip with all 6 of us...unless the Space A flight back to the states had less than 6 seats, then we did discuss I would stay behind with however many kids and figure it out...yup, that was the extent of our 'real plan') .
We had two choices, one was to walk up the mountain for free and ride the coaster down, or to spend a little more and ride the ski lift up. We were all set to hike up...and then decided at least 2 of us may not make it, and the ski lift was only a few more euro a ticket...plus John was free...ski lift it is!
John was so excited he was bouncing. I quickly learned this also meant he needed to use the WC. Guess where is a really horrible place to be when you need to use the WC? If you guessed on a slow ski lift to the top of the mountain, you would be correct.
Yet, the views were amazing. I tried several times to get a good picture of the mountains behind me. (Selfies are the worst, unless I have at least one other person in the shot)
And the day was gorgeous. Many times throughout our journey, we saw rain forecasted, but it always seemed to hold off until our sightseeing was over. Thank you, Nature!
We got to the top, John and Eric found the facilities (ironically, this would not have been necessary if we had hiked up...the world could potentially be John's facilities), and the kids played for a long while at a park. Parks in Europe are amazing. My personal theory is there is not the lawsuit culture there that we have here in the USA. I have not researched incidence of traumatic injuries in European parks, but we are 0 for however many parks we have visited with ziplines and three story slides and other tall wooden structures. At least 7. We'll say 0 for 7.
Eventually, we wrangled everyone to go for a short hike.
Which was basically straight uphill. William was in heaven. And the others were enjoying themselves quite a bit. I couldn't help thinking we would need to get back down eventually...and that altitude sickness might set in at any time...
But, then we came out into a clearing overlooking where we had been the rest of the time.
And it was idyllic. Blue skies, flowers, mountains, and a straight shot down.
It was beautiful.
On the way down, Will noted a trail off to the other direction and he and Eric went to explore it. Upon their return, Eric described it as the perfect trail for our family. Wide path and fairly flat. Granted, I was probably the only one who thought the previous steep incline was not the perfect trail...so he really meant it was the perfect trail for me.
I'm thinking that ship has sailed. We figure we will drink a celebratory beer, eat a pretzel, and head on down the mountain. But, the beer garden is too crowded and we aren't assertive enough to just take half a table. Everyone uses the WC...we are all set to get in line for the coaster...and then Will yearningly asks to go back on the trail. Eric and I look at each other and realize this might be the only time we have this opportunity...what is another 30 minutes? The other three grouse a bit...but, we all head to the trail head.
And Eric is proven correct. (Post in Eric's diary dated June 10th: Dear Diary, today Liesel said I was was right.) It was a perfect trail for me. I immediately felt a sense of calm walking through the quiet of the trees, away from the holiday crowds (It was Pentecost Monday, a holiday in Germany). We even found snow, which made Molly and John's day.
We crossed snow melt run-off, and William (and I, if I'm honest) wanted to just keep going...but, we needed to turn back. Our family tries to do majority rules when possible, and we had told the others we would only hike out for 15 minutes and go back. (note, my face got quite a bit of sun...I'm a moron, I had sunscreen in my purse the whole time)
We got in line for the alpine coaster. These are toboggan type sleds that you operate down the mountain. You have control of the brake and can go as slow as you would like (Dom and I opted for this strategy) or as fast as gravity and friction will allow (Eric and Will opted for this strategy...except I was in front and sort of denied Will true freedom of speed). Molly will hold it against me for a while that I didn't go full throttle. John had a great time as Eric's co-pilot, and Dom and I wish to have a second try now that we know we won't die. And Will just smiled the whole way down when he wasn't yelling at me to speed up.
We had a little time before a train, so we moseyed into Oberammergau to find ice cream and window shop (everything was closed due to the Holiday)
We had decided prior to the days events we would stop in at the pizzeria at the bottom of the hill to our hotel. Except this plan was thwarted when the proprietor saw our huge group of 6 and claimed we needed to make a reservation with so many people. At 5 in the evening. When his restaurant was empty...and it was starting to rain. Ah well, can't win everything on this glorious day. (For the record, our family has now been denied pizza at three establishments. Which means we have been denied pizza at an infinitely higher rate in Europe than experienced traumatic injuries at their parks.)
We headed up the hill/mountain to our hotel feeling a bit dejected. Got to our hotel rooms, and John went to bed. Jetlag finally caught up with him. He was so exhausted and this explained some of his out of character behavior during the day. Poor guy.
I spent the evening with him while Eric and the others swam in the pool, and discovered a restaurant around the corner that didn't kick them out. The sun was shining, everyone loved their meals of chicken nuggets, schnitzel, and
Käsebrot (multiple times this particular day, William mentioned he would love to come to live in Bavaria for while)...and whatever random meal Eric closed his eyes and pointed at. They have all claimed this was the best meal they had in Bavaria.
So, I clearly need to get back to re-do my Alpine Coaster experience and to eat at this restaurant. Schaumamoi!
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