Displaced Beachbums

We landed in Munich, after a little over an hour flight from Gatwick Airport (London).  Once we got on the Autobahn, the Audis (and one Aston Martin) were flying by, making our car shake as though we were standing still. No doubt they were trying to break the sound barrier.

We traveled extensively during our 5 years living in Germany and several of those trips were spent in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  As always, it was great to see the mountains as we drove into Garmisch:

All the sights, sounds, and smells brought back a flood of wonderful memories.  My heart was a little heavy as I remembered our last visit to Garmisch which was New Year’s Eve 2005.  My mom spent the week with us at the Edelweiss Lodge and it was a magical time.  There was lots of snow, fireworks, trips to Neuschwanstein Castle and other local historic sites. For years afterwards, my mom would frequently tell me how much she enjoyed that particular vacation. Made me miss her more than usual.

Sadly, as we drove into town, we could tell there wasn’t a lot of snow.  Our main purpose for returning to Garmisch was to ski so we needed to chase the snow.  We found it in Ehrwald, on the Austrian side of the Zugspitz, which is the tallest mountain in Germany at 2962 meters.  It’s only a 30 minute drive from Garmisch,  20 minutes if you can drive like a German.

Admittedly, I’m a snow snob.  If it’s icy or slushy, I’d rather not go through the expense or pain (those boots are torture to me).  John learned to ski in Ohio so his idea of a good snow day is any snow at all. John and Logan hit the slopes with a smile on their faces:

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Olympic Ski Stadium where the 1936 Winter Olympics were held. The stadium has hosted a variety of ski competitions and also has a ski jump school.  The ski jumps make my stomach queasy just looking at them:

Reading the signs in German are always fun ~ trying to decipher the words that have been cobbled together.  I actually figured this one out:

Logan sat in the old seating:

Garmisch is a beautiful Bavarian town with lots to do whatever the season.  We’ve been to Garmisch over half a dozen times, at different times of the year, and it’s always been a fun time.   We’re heading north today ~ back to the Oberpfalz (Bavaria) where we lived for four of our five years in Germany.