Back to Mittenwald

Our dear friends Muriel and Tony have a vacation apartment in Mittenwald, way down south in Germany very near the Austrian border.  In the Alps.  It is beautiful.  Every time they go, they let us know and invite us to visit, but you just can't do it all the time.  But this time, it was time!

We first visited in 2007 and were so enamored of the place that we had a German vacation there in 2008 with Michelle, Joey, Hunter and Hannah.  But that was warm weather.

Cold is fun, too; you just have to pack more stuff.  So we did and left Bremen at dark thirty on the train. L O V E the DeutscheBahn even when it's a bit late and you miss your connection in Hanover....

We read and I stitched and play puzzles and snooze.  It's so much easier than driving, and would you believe it, cheaper and faster too!

We arrived mid afternoon and walked around the town catching the remnants of the annual "Fat Thursday" parade.  There are masks and costumes and groups walking around making lots and  lots of noise to scare away the winter blahs.

And we had a cup of Glühwein (mulled wine).  Just be careful of the edges of the cups!

We walked by the house where we stayed with Michelle and family.  Now there's a big garage out front, and somehow the place looks a bit smaller, but it was roomy enough for us!

  

Friday we drove to Murnau.

 
In the village center there's a museum in the old manor house  - Expressionist paintings by Gabriele Münter that we were anxious to see.  Actually, I hope we get to go back again!  It was lovely and we like her work.

 

 

That evening, there were other guests, another "mixed" couple, German-English.  Good food, good fire, lively conversation.  Boy was it heated!  Germans aren't loathe to share their opinions, and we jumped right in.  More fun.

Saturday it was off to the hills to take a walk we'd done before, but winter looks different! Tony was born to walk and he went without poles but I took two as did Muriel.  Werner took one, and wished he'd taken two - there were more than a couple of slippery spots on the slopes.

 Saturday we had Sun!  Wow!  I woke up before 7 and watched the various incarnations of sun on the Wetterstein behind the house.  Just gorgeous. Here's a comparison of fall and winter.

Later we drove to Garmish-Partenkirchen where there was a sometimes-annual parade that's also part of the get-rid-of-the-winter-mardi-gras-carnival celebration.  There were lots of silly groups of firemen and feet washers (really?) and a men's band all dressed up like women, and of course schnapps.  Little kids ran a wheelbarrow race and a good time was had by all.

And suddenly, it was over!  Time flies when you're having fun, but we'll save some time to have fun with Muriel and Tony again.