Sunday July 3
Up early for brekkie at 7am - we took a taxi to the airport to collect our hire car. The concierge told us a taxi would be 20€ cheaper than our pre-booked (via the hotel) service from the airport to the hotel - however it was a bit more exxy - 100€. There was a bit of a queue at the Europcar desk so it took some time before we were on our way - finally on the road at 10:30AM. Due to fairly heavy traffic the 2 hour drive took over 3 hours. We arrived at our hotel at 1:40pm and fortunately we were still in time for lunch (included in our full board) - so we had a salad and couple of open-faced sambos from the very simple but adequate buffet lunch.
We settled into our wonderful suite and while I unpacked everything (as we were staying 8 nights) while Dieter tried to sort out the car which would not lock. After a few calls to Europcar Dieter decided we would need to drive back to Munich to get the issue sorted (i.e. exchange the car) - I offered to go see if I could do something about the issue - and low and behold I fixed it !!! It turned out the boot was not properly closed - all’s well that ends well.
To my dismay our room had no tea and coffee making facilities - I was expecting a Nespresso machine - on talking to reception it seems supplying one would be just all too difficult; in fact the lady at reception looked at us as if we had asked to land our flying saucer on the lawn. We decided we would try and buy a machine the next day - with breakfast only starting at 7:30am it would be a long wait with no coffee.
We had a bit of a happy hour on the hotel terrace then showered and went for dinner. The meal was pretty good - better than expected - you select your main course at breakfast (from a choice of 4) - appetiser was a salad buffet and a soup. The buffet also had a cheese selection if you’re still peckish after 4 courses. There were some funny, in an annoying way, surcharges - a change of mind at dinner cost 3€ - the free tap water had a 4€ service charge and the mini-bar had 5* big city hotel prices with a sign warning you not to put your own stuff in the fridge.
Monday July 4
Even though it had rained overnight it turned out to be quite a fine day - 20℃ odd with mainly sunny skies. After our excellent hotel breakfast with heaps of berries and lots of coffee to make up for the lack of a Nespresso machine in the room we drove into the local village - about 10 minutes away. Our aim was to wander around the picturesque old town and see if we could find a bag-wash laundry; however, all we could find was a self-service Laundromat which was very busy. We then drove to an Aldi to check out coffee machines - they did in fact have one - but after considerable deliberation I decided it was all too much trouble.
After a quick lunch at our hotel, we took a tour of the local salt mine - the area is very famous for these mines. The tour was very informative and lots of fun with an underground train ride and 2 steep 30-40 meter slides.
Back at the hotel we had fives’es in our room and I did some preparation for our strata plan AGM but advised the rest of the Strata Committee that I would not dial-in as planned. We had an excellent dinner - antipasti followed by lamb rack (which was really a backstrap), dessert was a medley of Italian goodies.
Tuesday July 5
It rained again overnight and was very overcast when we got up. After a short pre-breakfast walk we had brekkie …. Then set out for a big gorge hike to Almbachklamm some 10 K’s away. It was am amazing hike up the gorge with manny steps (apparently 300 but it felt like 10,000) and many bridges - it took us about 2 hours. At the top we hiked for another 45 minutes to a mountain restaurant (Durrlehen) - which I presumed was a mountain hut was was in fact a hotel and a few other houses which could be reached by car. Our lunch was amazing - a shared spaetzle and side salad - impossible to finish even for 2 of us. What we thought would be an easy 1 hour walk back to the entrance of the gorge was a fairly steep and rugged slog - good luck we had our new high tech trekking poles.
We returned to our hotel around 3pm and had a bit of snooze before showering for dinner - again very pleasant.
Off to bed early - totally exhausted.
Wednesday July 6
It was a great mostly sunny day so we set out for a day trip to the Koenigsee - a natural lake in Bavaria near the Austrian border and less than 10 minutes drive from our hotel. We took a boat ride (8 K's and 50 minutes) to the end of the lake where there were a number of walks - we did 2+ hours.
Lake Königssee with its emerald green colour and nestled at the foot of the imposing eastern wall of Mount Watzmann in the heart of the Berchtesgaden National Park is one of nature's true masterpieces. The greatest luxury in these fast-paced times is silence. As soon as you board one of the attractive electric passenger boats all the noise, hustle and bustle is left behind. During the crossing to St. Bartholomew the boatman plays his trumpet to lure out the world-famous Königssee echo from the steep rock face. In St. Bartholomew the lovely pilgrimage church is world-renowned for its wine-red onion domes.
On returning to the start of the lake we stopped at a bier garden for a quick refreshment before returning to our hotel for dinner. While we were tripping about - our strata AGM took place - I was hoping for a few e-mails with the highlights and lowlights but there were none - quite disappointing - I’d have to wait for tomorrow.
Thursday July 7
It was an overcast morning but we decided to take the gondola up the Jenner for some hiking. The gondola and stations were very modern; we learned it had been rebuilt in 2019. At the top of the gondola there was a short but rugged climb to the summit which looks down on Koenigsee but the view was obscured by clouds. We started the hike to the middle station (about 1.5 hours after the return trip to the summit) - it was downhill on a gravel track/road. By this time light drizzle turned to pretty steady rain - not the best walk ever. Once we reached the middle station we decided to abandon our plan for a walk around a lake and just return to our hotel for a late lunch (included as part of the full-board package). After a quick light lunch we moved to the bar area where the afternoon cake session was on - we ordered 2 pieces of cake (included) and 2 coffees - each coffee cost 6.8€ - no wonder the cake was free.
We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about as the drizzle and rain persisted. Of course we had dinner as per usual - ate too much - cutbacks start tomorrow - no afternoon cake and no dessert.
Friday July 8
It rained all night and was still very cloudy in the morning so we decided it was a good day to visit Salzburg only 40 minutes away. We had a great day out - the weather cleared to a fine sunny day - touring the old fortress and walking around all the small streets window shopping in all the high end and curious shops.
Back at home - it was showers and dinner as per usual.
Saturday July 9
We went to Bad Reichenhall - a town some 30 minutes away with a salt mine which we toured as we had a combo ticket from the salt mine at Berchtesgarten. It was also quite interesting and very different from the previous one. Afterwards we wandered around the town and gardens. We returned to our hotel for a quick lunch and rest before heading back to Koeingsee for a walk - only about 1 hour but with a steep ascent - I bought another pair of hiking pants, on sale of course, then we had a drink at the beer garden overlooking the lake.
It was after 5pm when we got back to our hotel so we quickly showered etc and went for dinner where the highlight was a dessert buffet !! Amazing !!
Sunday July 10
We visited Wimbachklam (klam is German for gorge) - a fairly easy climb - quite amazing. From there we drove to Hintersee and walked around the lake. We nipped back to our hotel for lunch and a rest then did the panorama road (8.5€ toll) where you have an amazing view from the top.
Then it was back to our hotel for showers and our last dinner as we were leaving for Lake Wolfgang in the morning.