BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture German Culture Beetle, Welcome Back!

I would love to hear about your vacation in Germany and Austria. What were your favorite places you visited? It must be beautiful over there. Did you scale the mountains?

Hi Phyllis:

Yes he is back, noticed in the Walking Forum.

He was missed BIG TIME by Rosie as they both have kept the Walking game going.

When I was the editor for that forum, I had asked about the game as it was pages and pages long...

Needless to say, it continues and Lisa reassured me it would not crash the forum(lol).

I had to stop by and add my "two cents"....

Beetle, I had no idea you went to Germany until I asked where you were in the Walking forum game - welcome back and YES, I too want to hear how it went.

Hey, got any pictures...

Pictures... Yes, lots of pictures were taken. Resolution of the wife's digital SLR seems to make files that approach 5Mb each; not very friendly for posting or e-mailing. Until they are available, a simple search of images on the internet can whet your appetite.

Scaled mountains? Did eat some trout in Austria, but I didn't see many scales on it. Had to 'scale' the luggage since it was limited to 50 lbs each with all the 'booty' coming back. Region has not received the usual October snows to generate ski resort opening. Pretty sad, but made for many attractions being fully operational.

Every location has it's place in my heart & memories, with these making the largest impact...

- Innsbruck was her trip to Swarovski World & mine was the cogtrain/cable gondolas trip to the Hafelekarspitze ridgeline over looking Innsbruck to the immediate south. A simple 2-day tourist card permitted museum entries, mass transit, & a one time 'up-down' to any of the 3 ridgelines (we took the newest)

- Salzburg was Hohensalzburg Fortress & coming down the funicular (inclined railway) into the emerging night-lit city at dusk; the Salt Mine Tour after traveling the border region with Germany & seeing Hitler's Eagle Nest near Berchtesgaden.

- Rothenburg ob der Tauber could find me returning to explore more of the well-preserved medieval old town. The internet pictures only present half the story.

- Garmisch-Partenkirchen led to another alpine assault via cog train & cable gondolas - the Zugspitze, Germany's highest point at about 9,800' above sea level... still no snow, just a galcier. Was able to see mountains in Italy, Switzerland, & Austria (but then Austria is just on the opposite slope of the mountain).

- Munich fulfilled my wishes from high school German classes to visit the Hofbrauaus & see the Glockenspeil at the Marienplatz (main city plaza/square).

- Not to mention being well filled with Brots, Schnitzel, sauerkraut & spaetzel.

Yes, Flammkuchen was found along with many other similar fares at the stall in the Christmas markets.

Snow may not have been present but that lent to my rapid ascend of the Partnach Gorge (Partnachklamm) at Garmisch. Advertised to be a 1-hour one-way trek after a 20-minute walk from the bus stop. The 2 hour + 40 minute adventure was accomplished in 1.5 hours, in order to catch the laast bus running before a dinner-time shutdown for 90-minutes. Beautiful frozen waterfalls in the darkening skies could only be glimpsed at due to the timing (plus I was smart enough to not take her camera, which would've been banged up along the cliffside walkways.

Francine, I so agree with you -- Beetle makes a difference whether it is in Germany or here in the forums. I am surprised to hear there was little snow over there.

Beetle, you make me want to go over to visit those areas. Seems like you had a great time. Mrs. B. must be thrilled with all the pics she took. What a great album and memories that is going to make!

Ahh, yes, the Flammkuchen -- did you find any? You should have rang up Francine to whip up some for you and Mrs. B.

In every city we hoteled at, the facility was in the older, historical sector - Altstadt (Gr=Old Town) - with the narrow cobble streets.

The B&B hotel in Innsbruck (Hotel Wei�es Kreuz) was so old that the stairways were very worn & slightly sloped. This, in conjunction with the three fr�hst�ck (breakfast) stuben (rooms) really started out the adventure into the Tyrolian/Bavarian/Alpian culture.

Ein Prosit...

Awesome!

When my brother and sister went to Ireland, they did the same for hotels - chose all the historical ones, even a castle for three nights. My brother locked himself out of the castle one night and had to ring the bell, which echoed throughout the whole castle and woke everyone up! When he was let in, he was surprised to see that the ancient door opened outwards, not in. So - actually he was not locked out, he was just trying to push the door in rather than pull it out. He said it was quite spooky standing outside by himself late at night. We still laugh often about that story. The Doyle family name in ancient Ireland was not very welcomed because they were Viking invaders -- so, little brother only renewed the ancient feelings about the Doyles.

Beetle, you have to play "catch up" I am now TOP DOG & Rosie right behind me - I was wondering what was going on and finally asked - glad they told me - thought you had left the forum.

Next time, tell sis you leaving = she is getting too OLD to be worrying(lol).

On the serious side, glad you back and thanks for the chuckle in the "unemployment" forum - you are a mess!!!