June 25, 2009

Written June 26

Friends and Families ,

This is the start of the story of our four-day trip to the German Alps. We were up and out early on Thursday morning, looking forward to our breakfast at a roadside rest area. The plan had us past the Nuremberg traffic jams just before they created their daily "stau". As usual for these official road stop restaurants, the breakfast was convient, tasty, but a bit pricey. No matter, it's all part of showing Henry various aspects of our life and travels.

	After another couple of hours of driving and over three hours at the Dachau Memorial (separate diary), we needed "lunch". Fortunately, we had delayed until our mid-day meal could be Kaffe und Kuchen: coffee and cakes. We stumbled onto a charming cafe in the village of Kochel and noticed the menu was only sweets. Of course the chalkboad description couldn't match the sample tray! We each picked one and all left convinced that OUR decision had been right.
	Farther along, we had to stop a few times for photos of the lakes that are in the area. I can certainly understand why residents of Munich, less than an hour away, love their countryside.
	Finally, we made it to the Alpen Rose, our small hotel in Mittenwald. It was about as authentic as Bavarian gasthauses come.
After a bit of wandering around the village, we found a typical restaurant - a typical Italian restaurant. I think this part of Germany, so close to Italy, may have the best combination of German beer and Italian cuisine. But, we've just begun to sample.

So, that's day 1. What's next?

John and Marianne