Thanks to Martina’s efforts and preparations on my behalf yesterday, today was an easy and enjoyable trip to Bavaria. The target was Berchtesgaden, literally one of my favorite places on earth. Most everyone should be familiar with the mountains and alpine meadows as they were “the star” of the opening scenes of “The Sound of Music”. There is something truly magical about the place and almost all is right with the world when I am there.
This was a multiple transfer traveling day. First, I walked for ten minutes from the hostel at Rosa-Luxemburg Plats to the train station at Alexander Plats, where I caught the regional train to the Schoenfeld Airport.
Berlin actually has three separate airports depending on carrier and final destination. I flew German Wings, Luftansa’s version of “Southwest Airlines” to Munich.
From there I wandered the huge airport to find the S-Bahn (Street Train) to the Eastern main train station.
The Bayern Regional train strode through rolling alpine pastures to Freilassing.
In spite of tempermental weather, the conductor kept us on schedule. The massive thunderstorms in Berlin brought the largest snows of the season to the Alps, even though it is technically almost summer.
Hungry and with a fifteen minute layover, I submitted to the new fast food of choice and had a Turkish gyro.
Finally, I boarded the train for the short 45-minute ride to Berchtesgarden. The entire trip cost 89 Euros and about six hours. The strange thing is that if the train was the only transportation method the cost would have been approximately 179 Euros and over ten hours of travel. What happened to the fairly inexpensive and fast trains of my youth?
The other surprise was the final leg of the trip. In 1997 I traveled to Berchtesgaden by train and the final stint was a tourist’s fantasy. The train pulled nearly antique cars, that had huge window opened to the crisp mountain air. From this vantage point, and the slow pace, I felt like the mountains were absorbing me into their perfect scene. The train was so unimposing that the cows didn’t even look up at it passed and bells tied with ribbons around their necks rattled a deep mellow tone.
Today’s trip could not have been more polarly opposite. Poised with my camera at the ready, when today’s train rounded the bend and into the station, a long sleek hermetically sealed aluminum bullet glided on track number five. I would have taken the rattletrap train any day over this modern isolation chamber. Tinted windows hid the light and the recycled environment filtered out any external natural scents that may have blown our way.
In talking with a German woman about the former train, she reminisced by saying, “From the other train you could pick flowers as you went along.”
In spite of the overly modernized ride, stepping out into the mountain scenery and amazingly pure mountain air still sent my senses and heart racing.
Berchtesgarden is a classic community nestled between jagged alpine peaks. To make the scene perfect there is an incredibly clean stream that runs through the center of town.
(For those of you who may have visited previously, check out the total replacement of the simple bridge crossing in front of the bahnhof with an amazing round-about.)
The architecture is "classic Bavarian". How's do you like the local bakery...
... Or church
The US Armed Forces were the major income for Berchtesgarden, providing tens of thousands of visitors during the year. The Berchtesgarden facilities were not immune to the decades long rash of US Military base closures and were returned to the German government in the late 1990’s. With the transfer, many historical buildings were razed in a continued decision to destroy almost any structures related to the Nazi regime. The former General Walker Hotel placed high in Ober Salzburg was bulldozed because it was used for a brief period as the former SS Headquarters. Parts of the structure dated back to the middle ages and are now gone.
Of much lower historical significance, but of great sentimental value, all that remains of the Berchtesgarden Hof is one basement wall and the former horse stables/garage. We would come to this grand hotel for conferences and it was amazing to wander the seemingly endless wood paneled halls. My first earthquake experience was in this building. As a third grader I had no idea what was happening, but the picture on the wall was moving. Then I realized that the bed and everything else was moving as well. The experience was so new that fear wasn’t even attached to the trembling, shifting, terra not so firma. The Berchtesgarden Hof survived many alpine earthquakes, but ultimately not the return from US control back to the German people.
(If the stables are this large and grand, imagine what the giant hotel was like.)
On my arrival day there were only two missions. First to find fresh cut meats, cheese, bread and fruit for the hike tomorrow and second, find my favorite German meal: venison drowning in mushrooms and brown gravy with spatsle (a Bavarian form of lumpy noodles), veggies and heffe weissen. So many of the restaurants were closed and really survive on the two month July/August native tourist window and many German restaurants are now replaced with Italian and even Chinese food choices. Success was hard to achieve, but after an hour’s walk, finally, alpine comfort food on a plate.
The hostel that is home for the next couple of days is a half hour quick paced walk from the center of town. After a filling dinner, the stint of exercise left me feeling great upon arrival at my hilltop lodge.
Along the way a trio of German kids were playing and asked to have their picture taken. It is amazing how similar kids are around the world. They laughed and smiled when looking at the digital image on the back of the camera. I loved the fact that these kids were playing outside and were naturally in good physical condition. It made me happy that one of them actually took the time to create a bow and arrows from scratch. My fear is that this kind of natural imagination and active play is or will be gone soon, replaced with low exertion electron substitutes (ala the US childhood obesity epidemic).
The night was an absolute sleeping dream. The double sash windows were left open for the cool alpine air to circulate in the room. With the Watzman mountain peak looking over me from outside my window and snug under a thick duvet, temperate perfection was achieved with body toasty and head cooled by the fresh alpine air.
