Pyrenees vacation - Hike 1, Setcases to Molló

In the prior blog entry, we introduced our "individualized" trip:  an organized 5-day hike from the edge of the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean coast.  It was structured by a travel company (a different hotel booked each night), but we would actually execute it on our own - no guides or groups.

The first hike was from Setcases to Mollo, both in Spain.  (Although you can already see the French border on the Google Map below.)  It's not the high Pyrenees, but still a hike of 650m ascent over 13km in that day's plan.

Below was the sign that greeted us at the start of the day.  This trail section is part of the major GR11 route across the Pyrenees, so we hoped that it would be well marked with the red/white stripes the whole way.

Our first steps were across a mountain stream, with the same flowers we saw in town (Setcases) on the bridge.

After 30-45 minutes of immediate incline, we reached a relatively wide, flat, grassy track through the woods.
We stopped frequently to take photos of the peaks across the way.  It was a beautiful, blue day in Spain.

The woods here were dominated by pine trees and rough shrubs along the trailside.

One thing we did NOT expect was to see cows in the mountains.  We learned, in fact, that the locals let them graze freely and just round them up a few times each year.  They were quite skittish and afraid of people.

The next surprise was to see horses in the mountains, also roaming freely.  As with the cows, people here let them take care of themselves and find them a few times each year.  What was a little disturbing to Frau A is that the horses are used for food!  (We'd seen Spanish dried horse meat on menus in Munich, and here they were.)

They were very nervous as well, but we snuck through the trees for a few closer photos.  This one was young and liked to stay close to mom... but still curious of us nonetheless.

To help people track them down, many horses wear bells like the one in the photo below.

In the next photo, you get a much better view of the wide, grassy train we were following.  No problems so far.  Until this point, we were following the GR11 and would see the red & white stripes marker periodically.

We caught this guy sharing our path, but he beat it as soon as we came around the corner toward him.

At this point, we could look back and see how the trail wound its way around the side of the mountain.

We then came to a point with a great view across the Pyrenees - peaks are far as the eye could see.  This is where the instructions told us to leave the GR11 (to take a path down to the next town).

Frau A took this chance to pose with the horses that were sharing our lookout point.

Unfortunately, things started to go poorly from here.  Our printed map and turn-by-turn guide sent us onto this narrow dirt track.  That was fine, except the instruction (remember, printed in German) told us to look for a fence on the left, go through the gate, and continue on the trail to Mollo.

We never found the fence, and therefore not the gate, and therefore not the path to Mollo.  We backtracked twice and checked each direction carefully, but just could not figure it out.  These cows couldn't help, unfortunately.  At least the weather was perfect - not too cold or hot for extended hiking.

It's funny.  Even though she's tired, somewhat lost, and it's getting on towards dusk, Frau A still wants to take photos of animals!  She would have taken one home with her, if it were possible.

At this point, it was starting to get dark.  We spent a LOT of time taking photos, and after backtracking twice to try and find the turnoff that the instruction said we should follow, we put away the cameras and headed to one place we knew existed and hopefully find some help.

Because this was already early October, peak season for hiking was over.  There were almost no people on the trails with us.  Fortunately we remembered passing a small turnoff into a national park, where earlier we had seen a few cars.  We hiked there as fast as possible... and luckily found one family left.  They were having a picnic.  Frau A asked them for help in Spanish.

Unbelievably, they offered to drive us to Mollo - where they are from.  They did not know the fence and gate the instructions mentioned, but since we had already hiked 15km (and probably 1100m total ascent) we didn't feel guilty about accepting their offer.  We had hiked more than in the plan anyway!

Ironically, it was a great way to end the day.  Their kindness was a reaffirmation of how nice people can be.  On the other side, we learned that we cannot trust the given directions from Wikireisen blindly.

The next hikes proved to be just as "interesting"... coming soon.

Pyrenees vacation - a self-guided experiment

(Sorry for the lapses in posting here - I'm back in action.  Thanks for understanding - Herr J)

Do you remember that I asked Frau A to marry me at Oktoberfest?  She said Yes, and the very next day we left for a week-long hiking trip.  This trip was destined to be interesting because it was a hybrid between a guided tour and a do-it-yourself vacation.  Here's how it worked:

A German travel company called Wikireisen offers multi-day hiking packages that go from hotel to hotel (or hut to hut) through the Alps or Pyrenees.  They offer other trips as well (biking, walking, etc.) in many different countries around Europe.  The idea is that they provide the structure of the trip, but you're not constrained to being herded with a group each day.  They call it "individualized travel".  They book the hotels (your start and end points each day), provide maps and outline the hiking routes, but you hike the route on your terms.

What made it appealing to us is that the plan details are (supposedly) fully and professionally prepared, but you execute it as you want.  Are you a late sleeper?  Most hikes each day are 5-6 hours, so just start at 10:30 and you'll be in the next town by dinner.  Frau A and I planned to start earlier, because we take so many photos that it slows us down.  In the heavy tourist season, many people will be booked in the same hotels, but would depart and arrive according to their hiking speed and preferences.  A pretty interesting concept, right?

So the next morning after the Oktoberfest proposal, we flew from Munich to Barcelona.

We selected a hiking plan through the Pyrenees, so upon arriving in Barcelona we took the train from the airport to the main station.  We bought tickets, and hopped the next train to Setcases, Spain:

The adventure we bought from Wikireisen included 5 hikes:

Day 1:  Setcases (Spain) to Mollo (Spain)

Day 2:  Mollo (Spain) to Prats de Mollo (France)

Day 3:  Taxi from Mollo to Coll de Noell (France), from there to Amelie le Bains (France)

Day 4:  Amelie le Bains (France) to Ceret (France)

Day 5:  Ceret (France) to Banyuls sur Mer (France)

In short, this would take us over 5 days from the Pyrenees to the French Mediterranean coast.  Very cool. 

We were quite excited when we finally arrived in Setcases, so before dinner we walked around the small town a bit.

In addition to the stone buildings, there were some water passages that (we think) help direct mountain run off.

A few stores were open, but we weren't there for shopping.  (Although the olive oil looked quite tempting.)

We weren't sure if this was the home of someone who loves plants and flowers, or a closed flower shop.

Setcases is quaint, but we took a quick dinner so we would be ready to start early the next morning.  The hiking directions were in German, so that made things a bit more complicated.  Frau A speaks Spanish, but neither of us speak French, so local help could be an issue at some point...

In the next posts, we'll share a hike-by-hike account of the adventure.  Lots of photos.  Stay tuned,.

Munich Day Trip - Hiking in Murnau

In late November, we attended a suprise party for a friend in Munich.  As part of the surprise, we used the pretense of hiking to get him and 3 sons out of the house while his wife and other son prepared for the party.

(I must admit here that we were an hour late getting him back, since he'd promised the boys we'd stop for ice cream and we didn't know how to hurry everyone along without ruining the surprise. Besides....ice cream!...)

 

Murnau lies just 70km from Munich (less than an hour), near Staffelsee. There are several Rundweg in the area (hikes where you can circle back to your starting point), ranging from the 4 and 5 km walks like the  Höhlmühle-Rundweg to the 20.5 km Staffelsee-Rundweg that circles the lake.  Most of these are not strenuous hikes nor have great changes in elevation, so they're good options for families with small children or for a day when you want a relaxing excursion into nature.

We chose the 5.9km Drachenstich-Rundweg,which offers a walk through Murnau, along the banks of the Staffelsee, across the Murnau Moor and down a small gorge. The circuit takes its name from the dragon that legend holds lived in the gorge and feasted on maidens.

You'll find many businesses in Murnau with the name Drachen (dragon) in them, and of course the local volleyball team is the Murnauer Drachen!

It's an area known for nature and art (Kandinsky's longtime partner, painter Gabriele Münter, lived there), and a beautiful trip to the lakes below the Alps.

You can see below where the Drachenstich-Rundweg breaks off from the longer walk around the lake:

It was a gorgeous fall day. Probably the last good day of fall or the first nice day of winter. But beautiful clear skies, lovely winter sun, and the last of the leaves falling from the trees.

And the first frost (for us, at least....I'm sure there was frost south of Munich earlier).

There are many lovely houses and hotels along the lake.

It's a great area for watersports. Though most of the boats and kayaks had been put away for winter, there were a few still out there enjoying the day.

And a couple of paddleboarders. That looks like a great way to travel to the islands! Though I'd be terrified of falling in the cold, cold water.

So, after a walk along the shore, we met the trail to the Drachenstich. It's a pretty leisurely walk through the tall, thin trees, with a gentle slope.

You then exit the woods to a field with several bluffs overlooking the lake to one side, and the main road and farmland to the other.

After crossing the road and the train tracks, we're now ready to enter the dragon's woods.

Though this isn't a steep hike or one at a high altitude, the views of the Alps across the fields are beautiful!

As with most popular trails in the area, it's incredibly well maintained.

We finally come to a steeper descent, down to the dragon's gorge. And a small waterfall, of which one of our hiking buddies scrambles up to the top.

I can't say enough how wonderful the light was!

The guys paused to enjoy the sun and the view before heading back into town. 

We stop at the playground for a quick break.

But most importantly, ice cream!

After a few covert SMS's to our hostess to let her know the ETA, we finally make it back to find a wonderful feast and many friends.

They made great use of the covered pool in the backyard - using it as a party area!

A wonderful afternoon hike through the woods and fields, followed by a great night with friends!

Goodbye, 2011!

2011 has been a challenging year, but looking back through our photos and posts I realize just how much we've done this year - and that it really was quite a good year!

What have we been up to this year? Here's a walk through the year at Schnitzelbahn through photos.

We began the year with a snowy walk through the English Garden, where the surfers and football players didn't let the cold spoil their New Year's fun.

Surfing at the Eisbach

English Garden

Armed with some new warm winter clothing from our Christmas trip to the US (thanks, Herr J!), I tried to really enjoy winter...and totally suceeded for the first year ever. Skiing definitely helps, as do these incredible Alpine views.

For Valentine's Day, we checked out some real skiiers and watched Lindsey Vonn take 2nd in the World Cup downhill event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Stacey Cook (team USA)

And then rounded out the weekend with a Cuban-Bavarian folk concert and a lovely dinner at the Charles Hotel with cake and tiki drinks.

die Cuba Boarischen

 

Munich had a few fun events in winter, such as the mini ski slope on Wittelsbacher Platz and we amused ourselves in the dreary February days by investigating Germany's supposed love affair with David Hasselhof:

Siemens Snow City

Yes, the Hoff is Back!

But for the most part, winter slow in Munich, since most people go to the mountains on weekend. The festivals and special events run mainly from spring to Christmas. We took advantage of the low period here to spend a long weekend in Vienna. We ate wienerschnitzel and goulash, drank Austrian beer and wine, and of course had cake and coffee.

Dinner and Doppelmalz at the Zwölf Apostelkeller

Café Landtmann

Building upon our recent cultural exporations, we saw a German schlager musical (based on songs of Udo Jurgens), visited Schönbrunn Palace, and explored all of the crazy instrument innovations at Vienna's Technical Museum.

Schönbrunn Palace Gardens

Player piano/violin

And, in one of 2011's high points, I received a call late Saturday night offering me a new job. No more haggling over paperwork with the Arbeitsamt!

With that news, March became a month of constant (and sometimes overlapping) travel. We fit in weekend trips to Stuttgart and Thuringia before I went to New York for my first two weeks of work. 

Though it was still winter in Munich, spring and crocuses were just starting to peek through in Baden-Wurtemburg and we saw these beautiful sun rays bursting through the clouds.

view from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof tower

We of course hit both the Mercedes and Porsche Museums, as well as getting our fill of wonderful Schwäbisch food. A zweibelrostbraten type dish with spätzle AND maultaschen? I couldn't pass it up!!

Porsche MuseumMercedes Museum

Between trips, we held the finals of the Schnitzelbahn German Beer Tournament, where Andechs Weissbier beat out Andechs Bergbock Hell for the championship.

And then headed off to Thuringen, where we were greeted with another beautiful set of sun rays.

We covered quite a lot of ground on this trip. The main purpose was to see Roger Hodgson play in one of the coolest concert venues anywhere - 500m below ground in the the former salt mines of Erlebnis Bergwerk Merkers.

From this base, we sampled some of the region's attractions. We visited Wartburg Castle, with its beautiful inlaid rooms and rich history. This is one of the few remaining castles from the feudal period and is also where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German after his excommunication.

We also visited Point Alpha, one of the more infamous checkpoints of the East-West German border.

Border at Point AlphaAnd of course, we sampled some of Thuringen's famously good food (here in Eisenach). The Thuringen sausages were good, as expected, but the pork cheeks with dumplings were and excellent surprise!

And finally, we stopped through the adorable baroque town of Fulda on the way home. Its old city is well-preserved, with churches and building from many time periods, and gardens reminiscent of Paris'. 

Fulda Cathedral (L) and St. Michael's Church (R)
And the next morning, I was off to New York to start the new job. Luckily I had the middle weekend of the trip to wander through the city with Herr J's new camera (and enjoy the art filters!) and to meet up with friends.

Strangely, New York couldn't decide whether it was time for spring, or whether it was still winter!

Bryant Park

We had planned to fly to Japan several hours after my return from NY. Given this schedule of back-to-back trips, I'd carefully packed suitcases for Thuringen, NY, and Japan - all of which required quite different attire. This would have worked quite well, had there not been a major disaster in Japan that forced us to cancel the Kyoto/Japan trip. But Herr J took charge and booked us on a trip to Finland we'd been eyeing since last year. Luckily the tour provided our gear, so I could easily pack and run back to the airport.

Our weekend in Helsinki and week of new winter sports and nature in Finland are definitely one of my best trips ever. In additional to trying dogsledding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiliing, ice climbing, and showshoeing, we can now say we built and slept in an igloo! While I'd like to try most of those again, I'd probably be OK sleeping indoors next time it's -25 C outside. The igloo isn't so bad inside, but it's the walk outside that hurts!

Suomenlinna fortress (Helsinki)Dogsledding near the Arctic CircleIce ClimbingEarly morning in our igloofireside dinner of reindeer stew and Finnish beerWe arrived back just in time for Starkbierfest and the beginning of spring in Munich!

Starkbierfest at Paulaner am Nockherberg

To get in one last bit of winter, we made a late April trip to the Stubai glacier, where there's powder on top and beautiful spring in the valley.

We spent most of spring and summer doing what good southern Bavarians do - enjoying nature and festivals. We attended the major local festivals, hiked in the Alps, and made many walks in the Nymphenburg and English gardens. With so many cute baby animals, it was hard not to go check on their progress every week!

Raising the Maypole at Augustiner

Frühlingsfest

Dachauer Volksfest

Picnic and football in the park

We also took avantage of the gorgeous weather for some sunrise photowalks and experimenting with HDR photography. (On a weekend morning when half the city is on holiday or sleeping off the previous night's partying, you can get some great shots without too many people walking across your shot)

Bayerisch Staatskanzlei

Morning in the Hofgarten

Sunrise at Olympiapark

As with fruits and veggies, everything has a season here.  Adult beverages are no exception, so Munich residents turn to radlers, spritzers, and rosé wines in the summer (along with the normal light helles)

This year we finally made it to the Kocherlball, where we donned our new trachten and watched people dancing traditional dances.

I love my new dirndl!

We had a great visit from some Dallas friends, who we took hiking and then mountain-carting in Austria.  This was one of my favorite hikes so far - an amazing view (and from only halfway up!).

Fuschl am See

Walking dogs at the animal shelter

With the local economy booming, we see scaffolding all over the city - for both new buildings and restoring historical sites.  Despite a tough campaign, Munich was not awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics. But there were huge parties and public viewings of the official announcement.

In addition to culture and nature, we tried to enjoy the sports here too. We were able to attend 3 of the Women's World Cup matches (in Augsburg and Frankfurt), as well as a couple of Munich Cowboys' American football games.  Since we've been searching for Munich's best burger, we also sampled the flame-grilled burgers there. Not bad, but still not beating Hard Rock! On that front, we've also been enjoying tasting whisky and  schnapps, new Mexican restaurants, pizza, and of course beer.

Japan vs Sweden

Munich Cowboys vs. Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns

And we visited the BMW museum, to round off 3 of the 5 top German automakers' museums. Their Art Cars exhibit was worth a visit.

On the professional front, Herr J's division was sold and he was moved into a (literally) crappy office with a spectacular view of the Alps. My contract was extended another 9 months and I started spending a lot of time in Frankfurt and on the train. 

The view from Herr J's offic
My "2nd Office" (in diorama filter)

Given all of the work committments, we weren't able to take a long summer vacation. To stave off my restlestness, Herr J planned some fun weekend excursions in the area, as well as some great day hikes and a trip to a nearby ropes course.

Waldkletterpark (ropes course)Another walk with the Tierheim dogsthrough the Höllentalklamm (Garmisch)
Using my awesome new (birthday) backpack!Best of all was a trip to the Hopfenland (in the Hallertau area). Since we'd been learning about beer, we wanted to learn more about the ingredients - especially since they were less than an hour from home. Not only was it educational, but also just a really beautiful part of the country. When our morning began with sunlight streaming through the trees, we knew it was going to be a great weekend!

Herr J in the hop fieldsLittle brewery.......BIG brewery!

And I spent another two weeks in New York working, coming back just in time for Oktoberfest (good timing, since we'd finally learned most of the songs). We had a couple of friends visit and join us, and then Herr J proposed (also at Oktoberfest) and made me an incredibly happy woman.

Central ParkOktoberfest - perfect excuse for a new hat!12 hours later, we flew to Spain for an adventure-filled hike from the Spanish Pyrennees to the French coast.  I believe the quote of the week was, Just so you know, we will NOT be hiking on our honeymoon! We had some amazing views, flora and fauna different than we see in the Alps, and a relaxing final couple of days in a French seaside resort. The rest, well...we'll save the story for another post.  But the little old Spanish and French towns were beautiful and the views worth the hike

fun with the macro lens
Our final destination: Banyuls sur Mer

And then we come to fall and early winter. Though we haven't posted much lately due to work, fractured ribs, and sickness, we did manage to fit in a bit of fun in late October and November.

We attended our first WEBMU (Whiny Expat Bloggers Meetup) in Cologne, where we made some new friends and toured Cologne's sites. I think this tiny chamber in the top of the Dom is my favorite place anywhere.

Cologne Dom rooftop tourThe bone chapel at St. Ursula's Beautiful fall day in CologneWe enjoyed one of my birthday presents (time with a falcon) in the gorgeous countryside near Bad Tölz and hiked with friends at the very end of fall (with some of the first frost on the ground).

hiking around StaffelseeLuckily we did get in one trip to the Christmas markets with our friends from German Gems and Deutschland Über Elvis and a weekend in London (where my stolen passport decided to stay) and saw the great comedy band Axis of Awesome.  We spent Christmas in the US with family and set a wedding date/location, and then spent the last few days of the year relaxing and catching up in Munich.

St. Nick

And in great news, I got a permanent contract at year end and now have some better job security! Looking back, 2011 was a pretty great year - and we're looking forward to an even better 2012!

Munich Day Trip - Salzburg (Austria)

Another city that is sooooo close to Munich is Salzburg, Austria, perfect for a Saturday trip:

Wikipedia describes its appeal:  "Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997."

Just a few photos from a brief time there...

The view from the nearby Hohensalzburg Castle (on a small mountain overlooking the city) is lovely.
The castle itself it interesting too -- one of the largest medieval castles in Europe (built 1077-1519).

The two greenish spires in the cityscape above belong to the Salzburg Cathedral.  The crypt is my favorite part because it dates to 1020!  But the two towers and big dome get most of the photos:

 Here's the facade of the Cathedral:

Some of the small shopping streets are really charming.

Frozen Fog in Munich

In late November, Munich had about 2 weeks of consistent fog.  Almost every day, at least downtown or out in Neuperlach where my office sits, there was low cloud cover and a thick, cold haze all around.  I've never experienced anything like it.

At one point it got cold enough that the fog froze overnight:

At first glance you might think that it snowed, but the ground is clear and the layer of frost gets thicker as you go higher.

It created quite a photo opportunity at one of the train stations south of Munich:

Here's a close crop:  nothing on the ground, but everything the fog had condensed onto became frozen white:

Finally, at the end of November, the weather cleared up a bit, enough to see the mountains again from my office:

Of course, now the sun is setting around 4:20pm, so even during afternoon meetings it starts to feel late:

Still no snow, so it doesn't feel like Winter has really arrived, but you can see some on the peaks (two photos up).
Hopefully we get some nice storms and then the sun comes out for some good skiing.  Until then, it's still umbrella weather.

Falconing experience - Part 2

This is our second post at Frau A's photoshooting experience with falcons (first blog entry is here).

Frau A's event started with a younger female falcon that had very little training experience (in the first post).  After that, Herr Schmidt & his associate brought out a second bird.  This female was a veteran flyer with trainers and guests.

The falcons travel in the car with their hoods on (first falcon is on the right, second/older one on the left):

Herr Schmidt and his associate kept the hood on the second falcon until the first was back in the car...

 

...then the trainer took the falcon's hood off and let the bird acclimate for a while on her glove:

This falcon was lighter in color than the first bird, but not nearly as fidgety - its maturity really showed.

It was another very handsome bird:

This time, we could do exercises without an attached rope and up to maybe 20+ meters in distance.
Therefore we all walked around the side of the farm house - down this path in the photograph below:

In the video you'll see the trainer take the falcon, Frau A walks away a bit, and it flies right back.  Well done:

That was quick - no hesitation like the young falcon.  And like the first bird, these two definitely got along well togther.

You'll see in the photo below (background, upper left) the trainer standing down the path, ready for the falcon.

The trainer and Frau A continued sending the falcon back & forth a few times:

Here's a video of the falcon flying to Frau A - it's cool to see the head-on view of its landing approach, wings spread.
It's also interesting that it only secures the chicken meat that Frau A was holding, and doesn't eat it immediately:

After it landed and settled on Frau A's glove, it seemed to pose for us:

The process continued - in the pictures below, the trainer (background, left) stands up the path as the falcon lands:

Here's a cropped version to better see the falcon coming in for a landing on Frau A's glove.  Very cool.

Again later,this falcon seemed to pose - it certainly has style!

I was able to catch a few fast action /sequence shots of the landing too (with Alps in the background!):

Like the first bird, it reached a stopping point (and after the treats, it's not motivatable by food anymore).
So we spent a few minutes taking some final photos with these two beautiful models and gorgeous scenery!

I could tell that this part (hint: more posts) of the birthday present was a hit with Frau A.  That smile says it all:

Actually, I'm not sure who enjoyed this falcon experience more, Frau A or myself.  I got to take some great shots of my beautiful fiancee with some cool falcons, fall colors, and the Alps.  It was a perfect afternoon in Upper Bavaria.

We eventually had to bid a final farewell to the second falcon back at the entrance to the farm house:

A special "thank you" to Herr Schmidt and his associate, and their two great falcons - we really had a nice time.