I combined a couple days here as the third day of our trip was primarily a full day meeting. The fourth day, which was a Saturday was a Gantner sponsored ski day that included a beautiful trip up the side of one of the mountains and a few beers at very high altitude.
As I said, the third day involved quite a bit of time in a meeting. It was a very good day and when it was done we had a few hours to spare and wander around the town of Schruns a bit. Jen and I ventured out and there are quite a few very beautiful homes in the area, a nice little waterway and even a guy practicing tight rope walking.
After a brief walk around town we headed back for pre-dinner drinks with the rest of the SAS crew, Gantner people and anyone else that wanted a drink. That was pretty much the pattern of the evenings. Dinner was a Gantner sponsored dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was awesome!! Our appetizer was a plate of assorted meats, cheese, tomatoes and so much tastiness. We each got a plate that I would normally have as a meal. For the actual meal I had a shrimp and fetuccine dish that was so good. Dave ordered a pizza that looked amazing and according to Dave, tasted better. Wine flowed very freely throughout the night and I think Dave became very familiar with the bartender as he rarely made it to his seat before having to get up and grab another carafe. After dinner we all went to a Spanish bar that was very small. We all crammed in there and continued to drink the night away. I had a great conversation with one of the German guys from Gantner and Jen and I drank until about 1am. John and Janet were heading out and we took the opportunity to join them. We had heard that staying out until 5am was pretty common on this night and doing that and then getting up and heading up the mountain just did not seem like a good idea. Call me crazy. But Dave did it, and he seemed fine.
DAY 4 - Where we ride up the side of a mountain and drink some beer while watching people throw themselves out in to the great wide open!!
The idea of waking up early in the morning on a Saturday and going to the top of a mountain and skiing sounds like a good idea at 1am. At 9am when you actually wake up and realize you missed the early shuttle to the mountain and the next shuttle is leaving in 30 minutes, you rethink the idea. Our basic plan was to pack everything up and head to Fussen, home of the famous castle and spend the night there. To do this we would have to drive about 2 hours through the winding roads of the mountains. So we decided we would enjoy the hospitality of Gantner for the morning and then head out. We all jumped in to the packed car by around 11am and headed towards the lift up the mountain. Now Jen is very anxious about heights, VERY. So riding up the side of a mountain in a glass box held up by a single cable is not her idea of a good time. But she did it and she was very anxious. She faced the mountain rather then the receding town. Probably a good idea as we got pretty high up the mountain. Practically to the top but there was an open ski lift up the remainder of the mountain. Once we got to the top we basically were indulged with beers and food. We could have skied but decided against it as we had a few more days in Germany and neither of us had skied in a long time. So the idea of really hurting yourself and then traipsing around Munich was just not a good idea. Dave was a little shaky after being out until 5am and he broke a beer on the patio.
The view was amazing at the top of the mountain. I took a panoramic shot and probably a hundred other pictures. There were guys who were carrying very large backpacks and no skis up the mountain in one area. On the way up we noticed some parasailers floating down. It looks like they would haul their gear up, hike up to a section of the mountain that was fairly open. Then unfurl their canopy and simply walk off. They caught some updrafts at some point as I captured several rotating around us in the open sky above. It was amazing to watch. It was so nice up there, the temp was 70 and the sun was shining. I even got a little sunburn and we were only up there for a couple hours.
Day 4 - On the winding road to Fussen, or was it Fussen, maybe it was pronounced Fussen.
The winding road to Fussen was just that, a winding, switchback, narrow road through the Alps with barely enough room for two cars to pass. I think Jen found this more nerve racking than the ride up the mountain. I wouldn't be me if I didn't take a load of pics on this section of the trip. Hell, you have a couple gigs on a card you might as well use them.
Fussen is another small town in Germany. Quite nice and it has two beautiful castles in the town that are pretty famous. Ludwig was the one who commissioned both castles and the people of Bavaria love crazy Ludwig. We were there in the off season so it wasn't that crowded and we ate at a nice Croatian restaurant. The hotel was called the Hotel Fantasia and was very nice. Crazy Ludwig was looking down on our bed and that was a little disturbing but I can't complain too much about that. The weather was awesome and so were the sights and the people.
Jen has a better memory than I do and remembers the crazy things we did so much better. Must be all of the hops on my brain.
No comments:
Post a Comment