Pauls-Paradigm: October 6th, 2007

Bavarian "Top Ten" Around Town

Counter to almost forty years of socialized “purpose” programming, the idea of this week in Berchtesgaden is to consciously relax and enjoy. It is easy to enjoy climbing in the mountains because there is purpose or correlated accomplishment inherently attached. But, ultimately counter programming would be defined as existence for any period of time without accomplishment, while inclusive of enjoyment.

So today, I wandered the town of Berchtesgaden in recognition of the fact that I only truly know the bits that have been repeatedly exposed. See, purpose is so infused in everything that programming wins again. Oh well, baby steps.

As long as I’ve already admitted to purpose generation and therefore “free flow failure” I decided to try to capture the most typical or stereotypically Bavarian pictures possible. This of course would require criteria or judgment points that would be gathered along the journey.

Fortunately for me there were many classic examples of “Bavaria” throughout town, since today was the next to last day of celebration for Oktoberfest. Walking along the drive way and looking up hill, men prepared a festive bonfire for the evening.

By taking a right turn at the end of the drive I stumbled across a youthful celebration. It appeared that the owners of this particular Gasthaus were helping to educate or reinforce tradition with the younger generation by holding an Oktoberfest celebration just for the under 16 crowd. (I found out later from my Gasthaus Frau that this is a hospital for sick children.) There was a hired Um-Pa band and dancers to get things moving with the “wall flower” set. The universal “Tween” need to be cool combined with the embarrassment of being faced with an actual girl was amusing to watch. The dancers did a great job of working around the awkward “x chromosomes” and literally bent over backwards to accommodate,

... while the young girls danced whole heartedly with their lederhosen wearing princes, never losing eye contact even in a spin.

I really appreciate the good-natured disposition that everyone seems to have. Granted this “is” Oktoberfest and the musician and dancers are hired for a purpose, but they carry out their task with honest laughs and smiles when a gawky teen actually gets the dance in time.

So what truly “makes” a traditional Bavarian scene? Walking down the hill into town gave me some criteria clues. The hotel down the hill/mountain, on the way into town, was built in the early 1900’s and had some obvious characteristics: carved woodwork, vegetation, artwork, an understated elegance, and a hint of depicted history or religious reference.

In town I stopped into the local church whose bells seem to ring right in my balcony window.

Inside was a surprising display on the alter steps. Autumn apples, grains, vegetables, and breads were splayed on the steps, almost in offering.

On the way out, a “grovin’ monk” carried an enlightened child. I have really grown to like the still movement form of the relics in this region of the world. This is in contrast to the stone anatomy lessons of Grecian form. I’m definitely not a prude, it just seems impossible for a human body to flex that many marble muscles at the same time, so it looses impact in chiseled overkill.

There is no shortage of churches in Berchtesgaden or in Bavaria for that matter. The cityscape is littered with jagged towers. This makes for a really interesting skyline.

Wandering through the back streets of Berchtesgaden I stumble onto the Furstensteinweg that leads up to a wooden scaffold path along the cliff’s edge.

This is known as the Konigsweg or King’s Way. The hike is an adventure up the hill side on leaf covered paths and could actually have been a “mushroom hunt”, if I knew the difference between what kills and what "schmecht gut". There were little white fairy tale mushrooms…

… and great big ones dwarfing my shoe.

Wandering back into town there were cows, with bells clanking across the valley, on the hillside. Now where is Heidi?

So many childhood barriers come crashing down as I walk through downtown Berchtesgaden. There is no time pressure or attentive expectations but a simply idle absorption of a scene.

The King’s Castle or Palace is attached to his own church. The square surrounding is impressive.

But what is more interesting is that one wall of the palace is shared with the church, so palace windows open right up into the edifice. All the king needed for requisite church attendance was to open the window.

The evening comes early in the mountains, with the peaks blocking the sun sooner than the actual set itself. So by 6:30pm I’m ready to push through the huge oaken doors of my evening dining habit.

The past three nights at Hubertus Stuben have been a culinary taste bud extravaganza. First there was venison, then a salad with grilled chicken, and tonight would be rainbow trout! Well, I didn’t exactly expect for it to arrive like this, but trust me the chef delivered once again. He just happened to peak out of the kitchen and I waved my fork at him with enthusiastic approval. The chef is a rounded man in his late sixties and returns my gesticulation with a hearty “Schon Appetite”.

My after dinner up hill ascent has become a welcome post evening gorge energy boost. I can feel the metabolic furnace stoking. In spite of my daily hikes and given my sumptuous consumption rate, I'm definitively losing the Germanic “Battle of the Bulge”. Maybe my waistline will recover before returning home for Christmas? If not there will just be more cushioned hugs to dole out.

I can smell smoke before actually seeing the bonfire. Rounding the corner to the half-kilometer driveway back to Belvedere Gasthaus, flames reach easily ten meters into the sky. The children who were eating and dancing hours before were eagerly waiting for the flames to dim and the more approachable embers to gather. Many carried long sticks with pieces of meat dangling. I guess it makes sense since marshmallows or smores would hardly be traditional.

Speaking of traditional, here is a top-ten of sorts for traditionally Bavarian pictures of the day from the previous criteria of needing: carved woodwork, vegetation, artwork, an understated elegance, and a hint of depicted history or religious reference.

Number 10