(Friday, Sept. 18) Last night the fellow who served me a post-dinner glass of Metaxa brandy guaranteed that we'd have sunshine on Friday. His weather prediction was spot-on as the British say, so we headed off the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany (just under 10,000 feet, give or take), about 45 minutes from our hotel. A smooth cable car ride from the Austrian side of the mountain took us to the top in ten minutes. Air temperature was cool, but there was no wind, so it was pleasant strolling back and forth across the terraces that connect Austria and Germany. (Before the EU ended border crossing checks for citizens of its member countries, Germans and Austrians had to show their passports to make this walk. It’s a thing of the past for everyone, including us Yanks, these days).
We know from our 1999 European trip that Parisians low their dogs and are even allowed to bring them into restaurants. But for dog-adoration, Germans take the linzertorte: They even take them to the top of the Zugspitze (on leash, of course). While little “dust-mop” dogs seem popular, Germans are also found of Yellow and Black Labs, various kinds of spotted dogs, and probably any breed that goes “Arf!”
Clouds extended north and south, but all of the high peaks poked through the stratus. You can hike up and ride the gondola down, ride up and hike down (even into a country where you didn’t start out), or simply take the “elevator” up and down as we did. Locals were eating wurst and drinking beer and enjoying the view, but we were feeling a bit cold after an hour at the top of the mountain and decided that a warm bowl of minestrone soup partaken off in a glassed in restaurant with the same splendid view made more sense.
After riding the gondola to the bottom, we drove back into Germany. Near Garmish we found that the U.S Army still maintained a base there. Cindy remembers saying at a For U.S.-Officers-Only resort on a lake in that area; we probably we looking down at the lake from the top of the Zugspitze.
Although Reutte gets it share of tourists, it’s nothing like the Garmish area which with its McDonald’s and Pizza Hut is like Lake Tahoe without the casinos. After snaking our way through town, we drove for a few minutes up the Autobahn north towards Munich, then exited west and drove to the small town of Ettal to visit the magnificent Baroque church that is associated with a monastery there.
After a mid-afternoon cake treat at the konditorei, we drove back to Reutte along the road that skirts the Plansee, the biggest mountain lake in the region. In the middle of nowhere between Ettal and the lake, we passed (for the second time, the first being on our way to Reutte from Munich two days earlier) a big glass and steel box being built next to the narrow, two-lane, unstriped highway. It sticks out like a sore thumb, and doesn’t match the Swiss-chalet style architecture that is predominant in the area. We thought this must be some secret German (or Austrian --- we’re not sure what side of the border it is on) government building, maybe full of spies. We’d later learn that this monstrosity was built by BMW as a resort for employees and guests and which tore replaced a traditional hotel the company owned on the same site).
A couple of sailboats were racing each other on the Plansee, and two tour boats were plying the water of the lake as well. Twenty minutes later we were back at our hotel, glad to have had a least one beautiful sunny day in the Alps this trip.
