A Trip to a Waterfall–part 1

We were looking for another outdoorsy activity that would let us see some nature, yet not be too horribly strenuous on our tired legs or out wallets.  There was some discussion which in the end concluded with the decision to visit the highest waterfall in the alps.  Everyone hopped in the car and we drove about an hour to get there.

First up we had to get tickets to get in to the park, it was pretty reasonable, about 5 bucks a person as I recall.  The entrance and lower area of the grounds was by far the most touristy thing we had seen so far.  There were many many booths selling cheesy t-shirts as well as the omnipresent salve made from groundhog fat.

 

 

Tickets in hand and Henrik on back, we set out on the epic adventure.

 

 

Despite all the booths around the entrance, after 100m or so into the park, it was just nature. 

 

 

The boys were allowed to buy hiking sticks and were making fine use of them as they trekked through the forest on the way to the falls.  I think they had a fine sense of adventure.

 

 

The park is arranged so that there is a long trail winding up the side of the mountain next to the falls.  So every 10 min or so you walk back over to get a nice view, then wind up some more trail to the next station.  The first 20 min or so is even paved, but it quickly became so steep that it was in no way pram-friendly.

 

The first and largest waterfall spot was right at the bottom.  Unlike typical North American attractions, there were no fences or other warning things here.  Europeans try to leave a lot of the safety up to “common sense” in the interest of not marring natural beauty with signs and railings when possible.  This allows visitors to get quite close to the action, but also assumes you can control yourselves (and your kids) from plummeting over cliffs and waterfalls.  There are no lawsuits being filed because the state did not explain that jumping off a cliff was dangerous.

 

You can see here that quite a lot of people are enjoying the falls very closely.  Despite being a warm day, the mist off the glacial fed falls made this quite a chilly spot to stand for too long.

 

 

As Mike always likes to test the limits of common sense and safety, he wanted to get as close to the falls as possible for a good look.

 

 

He managed to prove that his judgment is perfectly acceptable and no Starrs were swept away.  They did all get wet though.

 

 

More to follow.

Cool dudes

I am still pretty much swamped with work and evening appointments (Fraser Hockey, Liam Hockey, Liam soccer, etc, etc) so I have not had time to carry on with an up to date post.  Just to keep up some new content, I will share two pretty cool photos of Henrik and Myself taken by Cherie.  

Henrik does still really enjoy sitting on me, but more often than not he ends up smacking me in the face or just generally jumping all over me like a madman.

Quick post….

I have been too busy to make a nice post this week since Monday.  Lots going on right now, so I will just put up this quick one with a photo of Claudia and I at the lakefront.  This photo would mostly be notable since it was taken by Liam.  That is why its from a low angle and much out our bodies are missing.  I also straightened it… but he was still very happy to be holding the camera.

 

Oktoberfest in Munich 2012

This year Claudia and I decided to make the trip down to Munich for Oktoberfest.  We had not actually been there since 2000, preferring some other smaller beer festivals over the years, specifically the Rosenheim fest that we have been to quite a few times.  But since we had a good time at Rosenheim this year and wanted to give our Trachten another spin, we decided to head down and enjoy an afternoon there.  We met up with Michaela and Luisa as well as Bernhard and Vroni.

We decided to take the train down from Gersthofen to Munich both so we could enjoy a beer at the fest as well as avoid the hell of driving in Munich on a Sunday (especially during the fest)  We got on the train just after 9am so we would have plenty of time to get down there before lunch.  There were many people getting on at every stop decked out in Dirndl and Lederhosen.  I noticed that the Trachten wearing crowd seemed to be made up of a few distinct types.

1) Complete families who looked like they were on their way down for the carnival rides and fairground type attractions.

2) older folks (I’ll include Claudia and I in this group now, since we are old)

3) people that for lack of a better word I will call… trash.  Who were already standing around with open beer in hand at 9am.

I thought it was amusing that at about 9:20 or so, the German rail gentleman with the cart selling snacks and drinks appeared.  However in addition to the usual coffee, snacks and sandwiches, he was selling beer and shots of Jaegermeister.  Since we had just enjoyed a lovely breakfast before heading out, Claudia and I passed on the treats.  More than a few people opted to crack open beers though you can guess which group most of them belonged to….

 

Since I have a small mind that is easily amused, I still giggle whenever the train stops at “kissing.”  At this point in the journey, the train was full to the point of standing room only, and you can see some folks in full Bavarian regalia enjoying beverages in the aisles.  Again, it is about 9:30 or so now….

OK, so we arrive in Munich at 10:45 and make our way over to the fairground.  There are TONS of people headed there and it was easy to follow the steady stream of foot traffic and large clearly indicated signs.  It was much closer to the centre than I remembered and the walk was only 10-15 min max.  Once we arrived, we did a walking round to look at the tents and people before we met up with Michaela. 

First site I captured is for the benefit of Mike.  It is a fish-cooking booth with many many Steckerlfisch (fish on a stick cooked over coals)  we had enjoyed this treat during his visit and I know he would have liked this one as well.

I also  really liked the look of this tent the “Ochsenbraterei” where they serve many grilled Ox foods.  In retrospect, I wish I had eaten there since it’s not everyday that I have the chance to sample BBQ ox.  Maybe next time.

The weather was just a little too cool and grey on Sunday, about 14 degrees and very overcast.  It never did rain, but I was very much in need of my warm sweater.  It would of course have been much better with 20 and sunny, but you can’t really influence that at all.  Despite this, the fest was packed with wall to wall people.  Beer tents were already full to the point of closing by noon.

On a whim, Claudia bought this red hat.  She was worried it was too bright and did not match the red of her Dirndl so well, but I think it looked cute.  It  was pretty cool and windy as I said, so she wanted to keep from getting blown around and warm her head a little.

In the next little while, we met up with Michaela and Luisa, however I failed to take a picture of them.  Trust me when I say Michaela was wearing a lovely pink Dirndl.  Luisa was dressed in ordinary modern clothes, but I did notice that she had some pretty sweet looking leopard running shoes on.

Bernhard and Vroni were all dressed up as were Claudia and myself.  We just bought our outfits while the Starrs were here (will cover that in another post) and I still have the grey sweater that Claudia knit for me a few years ago that matches quite well.  Bernhard had also just bought the full outfit, but Vroni was wearing a Dirndl that was previously her mother’s.  I think we all look pretty sweet.

I had to include a photo of my lunch since that is what happens to everyone with a camera in their phone these days.  I decided on a Schweinshaxe mit kartoffelknödel  (Ham hock and potato dumpling,)  a meal which has absolutely zero place in my diet.  I am not about to let my beer fest be limited by a silly diet though, I enjoyed every delicious calorie on the plate.  It was meaty, fatty, crunchy and so very yummy.  You can see the edges of the tasty beer that accompanied it on the side there. 

Oh, in case you were wondering, we had lunch at the Hacker-Pschorr tent.  Tasty beer and tasty food.  We searched for a spot inside, but it was so packed that finding a table to fit six people was hopeless.  We sat out in the beer garden after doing a round of the tent to see the crowd.  It was a pretty nice interior and you can see here the bandstand with the banner behind them reading “Bavarian Heaven”  the ceiling of the tent was all decorated with clouds and blue sky banners.

After lunch we strolled around the grounds and had a look at all the rides.  I thought most of them looked insanely vomit-inducing and I can not imagine people riding them after the volume of beer and food being consumed in the tents.  The other big issue with Oktoberfest is that it is crazy expensive.  Even the simplest rides were 4 euro per ride.  There was no shortage of patrons though.

Later in the afternoon we went to a “coffee and cake” tent where I was the only person too full to even consider consuming anything else.  The others had all selected far more modest lunches than myself and were ready for coffee/hot chocolate/crepes etc, but I was just still exploding with meat.  We were very lucky in getting a table here though, so it was a nice break from the dismal cold weather.

I thought the waitresses had really great hats in this place.   

So that is it, my Oktoberfest experience for 2012.  It was quite fun, but it is honestly too packed and expensive for me to really enjoy.  I had a much better time at the Rosenheim fest and I think we will have to make an effort to head back there for a yearly visit rather than Munich.  The Stuttgart fest (Canstatter Wasen) is on now and we are still debating if we go to that one.  If so it would be one to bring the kids to as well.