Crossing the Alps

We're getting closer to the end of our short six-country-trip, but I'm afraid for the last day I will need more than one post. Today, we're starting in Südtirol (South Tyrol) which is an autonomous province in the North of Italy. The majority of the population here speaks German followed by Italian (less than a quarter of the population) and Ladin (less than 5%). Südtirol is the wealthiest province in Italy and among the wealthiest in the European Union. I want to add it is also one of the most beautiful ones. As you can guess, the region has a tumultuous history like so many parts in Europe. With the new  right-wing government in Rome, many people in Südtirol are also afraid that their autonomy might be limited in the future.

After we left the Campanile di Curon, we eventually found a beautiful place to stay in the village of St. Martin in Passeier (San Martino In Passiria) - an entire flat with several rooms and a balcony, plus a delicious breakfast served the next morning, accompanied by good conversation with the hosts. This was the view from our appartment:

In the evening we went down into the village to a nice restaurant where we could sit on the terrace and eat while watching the mountains' Alpenglühen (alpenglow). The food was delicious! We had it with a bottle of the local white wine which was excellent (we would call that "süffig" in German for which there is no adequate translation to English). Of course this is for Elizabeth and Bleubeard's T stands for Tuesday where you need to post something drink related.

From left to right: Trio of dumplings (beets, cheese, spinach); homemade potato gnocchi with asparagus, prosciutto and ramsons pesto; filet of trout with veggie gnocchi

This was followed by dessert - dark and light tartufo (left) and panna cotta.

The next morning we started the last leg of our trip, the journey back to München. First, we need to cross a part of the Alps. Let's take the Jaufenpass (Passo di Monte Giovo) which is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2094 meters. It was a pleasant, mostly sunny day and we stopped many times to take in the views.

Of course, we took family pictures again - how could we not?

I enjoyed all the wildflowers in the area.

Almost at the top - let's take a look back from where we came.

Finally at the top - looking back and ahead:

This brought back so many memories of familiy vacations spent in the Alps in my childhood. I stood at this place more than 50 years ago and I was just in awe as I was as a child. The majesty of the mountains are second to none.

Like so often in the Alps, there was a tiny chapel at the pass.

Next week I will tell you about the next stop of our journey, but today I want to show you some happy mail that I got. The first one, from Elle, I received several weeks ago. She knows that I love cats (and so does she) and sent me a cat card - how cute is this? And look at the beautiful stamps!

The second one made its way from Australia. Over the years, Elephant's Child has sent me magnets of Floriade, an annual flower and entertainment festival in Canberra. They are on my fridge and always remind me of the time when we were both writing for Vision and Verb - that's actually how we "met". This year's magnet is particularly beautiful and I love the happy sunflower card.

If you're in the US, go out today and vote (if you haven't already done so). Our democracy is at stake.

Germany's Most Romantic Lake

 

Hello T gang - today I am going to take you to a very special place in Bavaria which IMHO is the most romantic lake in Germany: the Königssee (which translates to King Lake but has nothing to do with kings). It is surrounded by steep and high mountains - these are the Bavarian Alps - and most of the lake is part of the Nationalpark Berchtesgarden. It is a natural lake that was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. It stretches for almost 5 miles (7.2 km) between the steep mountain walls and measures just short of 1 mile (1.2 km) across its widest part. It is similar to a fjord.

The best place to access the lake is from Schönau, and the only way to explore the lake is by electric powered passenger boats. You can see one of the boats in the middle of the picture below. The buildings in the background are the "garages" for the boats.

Of course we took the boat - it's the only way to get on the lake and see all the beauty and natural drama it has to offer. Each boat has a tour guide. We were very lucky that we had a wonderful guy with a refeshing sense of humor, colored by his soft Bavarian dialect that makes everything a little bit more special. The Bavarian dialect is often said to be "hefty" (mostly by people who don't like it), but I would characterize it as "hearty". Like with almost every language, it can be lovely and soft, or rough and hard. This guy definitely belonged to the first category - he was charming.

He told us about the lake and everything you need to know about it. It has a maximum depth of 620 ft. (190 m) and thus is Germany's deepest lake. It is supposed to be one of the cleanest if not the cleanest lake in Germany. The surrounding steep mountains rise to a height of 8,900 ft. (2700 m) and that includes the famous Watzmann massif, the third-highest mountain in Germany. Only the electric powered boats as well as rowing and pedal boats are allowed on the water. You can swim in the lake, if you like - but be forwarned, the lake is extremely cold.

In the middle of the lake, the boat stopped and our guide gave us a sample of the incredible echo at this spot. He took up his trumpet and played short melodies that sure enough were then repeated by the echo. It was simply amazing. I made a minute-long video of it; you have to turn up the sound to be able to hear the echo (the baby will get quieter).

After about 30-40 minutes we reached the first stop which for many people is the final destination on this tour. This is probably the most photographed view of Königssee - St. Batholomä with Watzmann massif behind it.

St. Batholomä is a pilgrimage church that was re-built at the end of the 17th century on the foundation of the original 12th century church. At the beginning of the 18th century it was remodeled to its current baroque appearance. It is very picturesque how it snuggles in its surrounding magnificent landscape.

Königssee is famous for its fish and our guide had already told us on the boat to try the smoked char which we of course did as well as a smoked fish spread. Both were avilable in a little shed for just a couple of euros. It was so delicious I would have happily eaten a second helping.

After this tasty refreshment we took a little hike along the shore of the lake and into the woods. Just look at the color of the lake - this is its actual color. Isn't it amazing?

The mountains were equally amazing and wonderful. It helped that we had a picture-book day.

Eventually we embarked on one of the boats again and went further south toward the end of the lake. There were noticeably less people taking this direction.

The terminal station is Salet where there are two Almen (Alm is a mountain pasture in the Alps, but simple inns with a very limited offer in food are called Alm as well and one of the best things you will encounter during a long hike when you're hungry and thirsty), Saletalm and Mooskaser Saletalm. In the picture below you can see Mooskaser Saletalm in the typical Upper-Bavarian architecture style.

As tempting as it was, we decided to skip the Alm and hike over to Obersee (Upper Lake) instead. I think we made a very good decision. The view was just breathtaking.

At the far end you see Röthbachfall, the highest waterfall in Germany with a vertical drop of 1,540 ft. (470 m). The mountains here belong to the Steinernes Meer ("Rocky Sea"). This is right on the border to Austria.

It was finally time to turn around and take the boat back to Schönau, passing boat stations and crosses of pilgrimage that you can find all over Bavaria.

Back in Schönau it was time for dinner. We were hungry - that smoked char was many hours ago! We wanted to go to Echostüberl which was still a bit to walk. We had to cross this beautiful covered bridge which is actually a weir to get to the other side where the restauant was located.

From the restaurant we had a lovely view over the lake and saw the last passenger boats coming in (it's a good idea not to miss the last boat) and then finally going into their garage.

The food in the restaurant was delicious - of course I had fish. Any guesses what we had to drink?

Thank you, Elizabeth, for hosting T Tuesday again. I'm so happy to join.