Garmisch-Partenkirchen

After a couple of bus rides, I made it to my next stop, Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps. The 1936 Winter Olympics were held here, and you see Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze. I figured it would be a pretty spot to explore. 

I arrived in the evening so I didn't get a chance to do much. My hostel was a little ways from town, so I relied on getting dinner at the local OlympiaHaus for food. I was well fed, but definitely have had better käsespätzle (yummy cheese noodles). After dinner, I ate one of the schneebälls I got in Füssen. They were tasty, especially with chocolate on them. But I think they would be better with ice cream. But lets be honest, almost anything is better with ice cream. 

The hostel was near Partnachklamm, a gorge 702 meters long and in some places, 80 meters deep. The following morning, I packed my day bag, and went for a hike.

Standard Bavarian scenery.

After about 20 minutes, I made it to Partnachklamm. It was pretty cool walking through the gorge. None of my photos could do it justice. 

Partnachklamm.

When I reached the end of the gorge, instead of turning back the way I came, I went for a little hike up into the mountains. I was looking for a change of scenery even if it was cloudy.

Mountain hiking.

After a bit of a climb, I came back down above the gorge and took a walk across the bridge to the other side.

Partnachklamm from above.

When I made it to the bottom, I walked around the Olympic ski jump. In 1936 both the Winter and Summer Games were held in the same country for the last time. And these 2 Olympics would be the last ones until 1948 because of WWII. Garmisch and Partenkirchen were 2 separate towns until Hitler combined in anticipation of the Olympic games. 

Ski jump.

I looked into possibly going down the ski jump, but it didn't look like it was an option. Even if I wasn't skiing down it, it still would have been terrifying.

Home of the 1936 Winter Olympics.

The weather still wasn't great but I was hoping for the best. So I headed into town to walk around and walk up to Wallfahrtskirche to see if Zugspitze was visible. No dice. After checking out the church, I arrived at Panorama Restaurant. The mountain was still not visible but the sun was trying to peek through. So I got a warm beverage, Jägertee, and took a break from all my hiking around. The jägertee was a little sweet for my liking but I definitely warmed up. When I left, the clouds still hovered around the peaks, so I gave up seeing Zugspitze.

Jägertee.

Zugspitze hidden away.

I went back down the hill to explore the Old Town a bit more. Which really just involved buying chocolate, and stopping at a bäckerei for wine and streusel. I mean, are you surprised?

Old town.

The following morning, I packed up my things and was sad to leave since it was a beautiful morning. Of course it was warm and sunny the day I leave town. I was a little regretful of my decision to leave but figured the next stop would also be great. Off to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.