Germany - Day 10/11: From Ansbach to Atlanta

We are back home now, got back to Atlanta around 230 PM this afternoon, Tuesday June 16. I wasn't able to make an entry last night, details a little later on, but I wanted to let y'all know what we did yesterday, Monday, June 15.

We slept in a bit, then headed off to the Brothaus (pronounced brote-house meaning bread house...their version of Panera or the Atlanta Bread Company). This is where Marcus and I ate exactly 1 week ago while Tammy was in Oberjoch. When she saw the pictures of what Marcus and I ate, she got a little jealous, so she wanted to eat there. She and I got the same thing that Marcus and I got last week.

Marcus' grandfather lived in a nursing home across the street from the Brothaus so we decided to go and visit him. He was in the dining room eating with his friends, but then when he met us, he wanted to show us his room. After we got to his room we discovered that he knew a little english. As we talked with him, Marcus being our interpreter, we discovered that he fought for Germany during World War 2, was capture and put in an American prison, then put into a French prison. After he was released, he worked for an American company. I think my dad and Marcus' grandfather would have loved to talk to each other. What I found really cool is that although he fought for the other side, we now are speaking as friends! He was very welcoming and seem to really enjoy talking with us.

Afterwards we went shopping at the mall in Ansbach, then crossed over the pedestrian bridge into the city center. They still have a piece of the Berlin wall just on the other side of the bridge. Needless to say we did a bit of shopping.

The Pedestrian Bridge

Pice of the Berlin Wall

Ansbach

After we got back to the Humpeneder's, Erika made a wonderful "good-bye" dinner for us with one of my favorite German dishes, a knoodle (pronounced can-noodle). 

After dinner Tammy suggested a walk, so we all took the dogs for a nice walk. 

One thing I need to note...I always wondered why the German houses had blinds on their windows that completely blocked out the sunlight. I finally figured it out. It gets daylight around 4 AM and the sun doesn't go down until 10 PM. They are much further north than Atlanta.

We had a fantastic stay at the Humpeneders! It gets more difficult to say good bye each time we leave because we get to know this family better and better. Fortunately for us we will see Marcus and Stefi in 2 months as they will be coming for a visit. For the others, it may be 2 years before we get to see each other again. They treated Tammy and I like we were their family. I reallly can't say enough good things about the Humpeneders, although they are on the other side of the pond, they are part of our family!

We left for the airport at 530 AM this morning which was 1130 PM Monday evening. The flight was 9 1/2 hours and we got into Atlanta around 230 PM. I got a little sleep but not much and the same with Tammy.

We had an awesome time in Germany and we look forward to future travels there. This will be my last entry on this trip, I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures! God Bless!

Germany - Day 9: From Mountain to See

A very early start to a magnificent day! We left Burgoberbach at 7 AM and headed for the Konigssee (pronounced kern-ig-see) area. The Konigssee is a lake nestled in the German Alps in the extreme southeastern part of Germany right along the Austrian border. The drive took us about 3 hours, and admittedly I slept for most of it. It was well worth the drive.

When we first got to the lake area, we decided to take the tram up to the top of Jenner (pronounced yen-ner) Mountain. The tram ride was about 30 minutes long and takes you up to a height of 1800 meters, which is about 5905 ft. From where the tram drops you off, you walk another 74 meters to the top of Jenner which is about 6148 ft. While we didn't see any snow on Jenner, there was plenty still left on the mountains surrounding Jenner. The views were absolutely beautiful! At the tram station at the top had a restaurant and on the outside deck was a traditional German folk band playing, pretty cool. 

The tram with Manuel and Marcus

On our way up on the tram, there were a lot of cows grazing on the mountainside, and each cow had a bell around its neck, which reminded me of a riddle. Why do cows wear bells around their necks? Cause their horns don't work...get it? Anyway, take a look at this video and listen to the bells, it was really cool...

Cowbells on Jenner Mountain

http://youtu.be/cW1DwIPIK2g

Like I said, the views from the top of the mountain were incredible. I also noticed that most mountain tops have a cross at the top, and oddly enough, no one wants to take it down! What's wrong with this picture if...don't get me started. Anyway, take a look at the pics which includes some alpine flowers...

Konigssee (the lake)

The trail going to the top

The First rest top on the walk up

the final ascent to the top

360 Degree View from the top of Jenner Mountain

http://youtu.be/x4pHF3nhOhc

Some alpine flowers...

After we got back down the mountain, we headed over to catch the boat to go to St. Bartholoma (Bartholomew). Before arriving at St. Bartholoma, we stopped about halfway to a location on the lake called Echowand. Apparently this echo of Konigssee is famous. They stopped the boat, and the captain got out his horn and played. I recorded the entire song, most of which, if you listen carefully you can hear the echo...its faint. Unfortunately the camera did not pick up on it as much as what I would have liked it to. Turn the volume up to listen to the echo...

Echowand Echo

http://youtu.be/lPO0Gh6LYnk

We then went on to dock at St. Bartholoma, took some pics, had some eiskaffe (that's ice cream in coffee), pretty darn good. St. Bartholoma was the first chapel consecrated here in 1134. The chapel we see now was built in the 17th century. Bavarian Kings used to use this as their hunting castle, now it is a restaurant and cathedral.

The mountain in the background is the 2nd highest in Germany. It was also first climbed in 1881, and since then, over 99 people have lost their lives trying to climb it.

My eiskaffe

After we got back to the parking lot, I was able to get a good picture of Kehlsteinhaus, also known as Eagle's Nest. This is Hitler's diplomatic house. Now it is a restaurant.

Here is a close up...

From Konigssee, there was a rock formation called The Sleeping Witch, see if you can see it...

On our way back, we stopped along the shores of Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria.

Our day just about ended, so we decided to get a picture of the Konigssee Crew...

A HUGE GROSSE thanks to Manuel and Marcus for being our tour guides. Konigssee is definitely a place we want to come back to and spend a couple of days. There is a lot to do around there, including hiking, mountain biking and cross country biking...definitely a do-again!

Germany - Day 8: See and Coast

Today started out late in the morning like all the other days...so what's new, right? After breakfast, Gerhart and Erika took us to their property that is just about 1 mile outside of Burgoberbach. When we first saw their property 4 years ago, they had just purchased it. Their property is called Hirschrevier. Since then they have done a lot of work on Hirschrevier, planting flowers, trees, making paths, etc. Take a look...

As you can see, they like taking the dogs to Hirschrevier. This one with Tammy is Jesse. There is a younger one called Gandolph, which is Jesse's son. And then there is Rocco, the dad. Gerhart likes to throw the ball and have Rocco get it. So Gerhart wanted to show us how Rocco did this, you really need to watch this video...

http://youtu.be/lWSaZT9maqA

Once we figured out he was okay (all of 0.94 nanoseconds) we laughed what seemed like forever!

After leaving Hirschrevier, we went to Brombachsee. This is a lake that is used mainly for wind surfing, kite surfing, fishing, sail boating and this one excursion boat that we got to ride on. It was really nice. They served food and the views were spectacular. The weather made it even better!

Here you go John Benkert, we got our curry wurst!

After our boat tour, we headed to a sled coaster which was just a few miles down the road from the lake. I've always wanted to ride one of these and I finally did. Tammy was a bit apprehensive at first, but after the first run down, she really liked it, so we did it again...and a little faster too!

(that's Tammy up on the hill. Ropes pull us up the hill backwards...sorry for the shot of my hair in the pic)

(looking from where I came from, still going up the hill)

(Christian and Renate getting ready to go down hill)

Here is a video of mine and Tammy's final run...really more at the end of the run...

http://youtu.be/ulJ4bwF2dj4

We had a great dinner of wurst and sauerkraut along with great conversation. A lot of our conversation revolves around English words and German words. Gerhart and I, although we may not understand each other verbally, we understand each other to a point where tonight we just started laughing and couldn't stop. The Humpeneders are an awesome family who treat us like one of their own, we love them very much!