Garmisch, Germany

We traveled to Garmisch, Germany today which lies on the southern border.  Garmisch was the host to the 1936 Winter Olympics and is also in the bidding for the 2018 Olympics.  It is a busy tourist town but very peaceful.  There are many folks on bikes, foot and a few by car.  I would compare it to Vail, Co.

We drove through several small towns on our way to Garmisch and noticed how quiet the towns were.  Busy but suspiciously quiet.  It's like the serene background music in a movie that makes you feel that any moment something crazy is going to happen.  But nothing does, the bicycles keep whizzing by, the cows keep mooing and the church bells continue to ring pleasantly through hills.  Is this a real place we are walking through? We just assume that our life in America is the "normal life" but we're all starting to wonder if mabe we've been missing out on a different "normal." 

On our way to Garmisch we stopped at a grocery store to gather up bread, meat, cheese and juice for our lunch.  We ate outside the grocery store at a couple of small tables.  The view was amazing.

I don't know how these small towns keep so clean, I can never find a trash can.  Our lunch mess filled up the very small receptacle inside the grocery store.  I feel like I might get a trash ticket when I don't put things in the recycle bins.  We walked around for 5 minutes looking for a place to put our garbage.  We have become much more conscious of our waste. 

Annie and I searched and searched for a bathroom and finally found one......it cost half a euro!  Rats, we raced back to the car to get a coin but then it stole our precious coin and the door wouldn't open.  We went to the restaurant next door with our last coin but there stood a staunch German woman who wouldn't let us in unless we ate first! None of my pleading worked.  We stopped at another restaurant that was packed full of hikers and their dogs and went potty for free! This joint took care of man's best friend.  Hunde means dog in German.

The girls fell in love with these rabbit fur boots in Garmisch.  After I found out they were $800 I gave the lady an "I'll be back to purchase 3 pairs when we're done shopping" sort of look and scurried the girls out.  Yikes!  Grandpa and Grandma could whip up a pair for few bucks.  However, these are just the boots to get Claire and Nancy over here! 

The mountain in the background is Zugspitz which is the tallest mountain in Germany.  It was quite a spectacular site.

Thee The candy store in was a big hit.  Dennis gave the girls their euros and they had to figure what they were spending in American currency. 

The day ended with one last trip to the grocery store for supper.  I finally figured out how to unlock the carts.....with a coin, of course!  Nope, not me, I am carrying my groceries.  I fumbled around the store going crazy not being able to read the ingredients.  Maybe I should consider myself being set free from the restrictions I place on our family.  Bring on the antibiotic filled chicken, the high fructose corn syrup and the hydrogenated oil--at least until I recognize the words in German.