Europe 2014: Berchtesgadener Land.

I decided to reduce my posting on Europe into smaller parts because I ended up writing a lot about Switzerland and then it was deleted somehow.  Maybe publishing smaller segments more often will prevent that from happening in the future.

The view from Julia's living room to her neighbors house. 

A boathouse on the Koenigsee, Berchtesgaden.

The outside of Julia's house. 

     After arriving in Julia's town, we spent a day exploring the region of Berchtesgaden including snowshoeing, a spa visit and a visit to the Grassl distillery.


           Snowshoeing in the alps is quite different than on Mt. Rainier here in Washington.  For one, the scenery is magical and magnificent, one can imagine the fairy tales that have taken place in these mountains.  We took a four hour snowshoeing tour with another couple from Germany.  They were friendly and the guide was extremely jolly and helpful.  Though it was beautiful, it was quite a workout. I finally figured out why it is so helpful to have the sticks to hike with. They can help pull you out of the snow if you fall in it and they also help with balancing.

Julia and I on the snowshoeing tour. 

We are having fun, but it was strenuous with the heavy snow and the inclines. 

Me and Julia, 2014. 

"Schneeschuhlaufen" German for Snowshoeing

        After four hours of strenuous activity, Julia and I ate lunch with the other folks from the tour and made our way to the Grassl Brennerei (www.grassl.com) where we were able to sample several different brandies and liquors made locally in Berchtesgaden.  The Grassl distillery is famous for it's Enzian Schnapps, an after dinner digestiv made with a local flower called enzian, which only grows in this particular region of Germany.  It has a strong but sweet flavor, somewhat minty, definitely tasting of herbs.  In addition to Enzian Schnapps, they make a wild cherry liquor, hazelnut liquor, enzian mustard and many other delicacies.

A container of the different herbs used to distill the Schnapps. 

        After having our fill of samples at the distillery, we headed to the spa, in German it is called a "Therme." We visited the Wachsmann Therme in Berchtesgaden, one we had visited back in 2006 when we were visiting my friend Sven in the same region.  The thing about German spas is that they are inclusive of spending the entire day there. This one had saunas, steam rooms, hot rooms, pools, a bar and cafe.  Most of the people there that day were older than 65.  I enjoy this therme as they have outdoor areas that you can cool off in that are surrounded with trees and snow.  They also have an outdoor heated swimming pool. Breathing in the fresh mountain air was such a treat.  We spent about 20 minutes in this outdoor extremely hot sauna, taking in a herbal air infusion.  Julia and I were the only women in the sauna during this time, and the only ones under the age of 40.  We ended up having to leave the sauna before the infusion was over.  As all the older Bavarian men walked out of the sauna, each had something of a wise crack to say to us.  We noted on how Bavarians have a great sense of humor.  It was a great day spent in Berchtesgaden.