Hotel Alpina Rosenheim

... are tucked away here and there. We saw two horses rolling around in the dirt. The island started off as a monestary site first, also a museum, though all in German. From what I gathered something very important happened there after WWII. Had to read up later to find out that that's where Germany's constitution was created. Would have been interesting, but I couldn't understand the signs, must learn more German! A ...

... br>
Took about 2 hours each way with a nice break up the top to rest and take in the AMAZING view over the Alps and into Austria(would've been quicker coming back down if we hadn't got lost and needed to back track a bit...)
My photos don't do the view any justice at all!
Excellent decision to go ahead with the hike as it was an awesome day - despite being absolutely wrecked at the end of it :)

Met up with Julia for ...

... down by the ankles to two vertical poles, then sawn in half down the middle. Right down the cleft. Thinking of all the roadside shrines and crosses I had seen in the Tirol, my mind strayed to wonder how the religious imagery of Christian Europe might be rather different had the Romans favoured this method of execution instead of crucifixion!

Behind the tower is a ...

... legs began to whimper and ask whether it wasn't time to gently ride back to base for a nice, cold beer. However, they quickly came to their senses and marshalled themselves for the coming onslaught: a long, hard fire road climb up 9 long switchbacks. Bigger than anything in South East England, for sure. The reward was worth it: a long singletrack descent with lots to offer in ...

Now for the heavy stuff! After our customary farm-fresh, home-made breakfast, a 45-minute drive took us to Leogang. €25 bought a day's lift pass and I donned my arm and leg pads.

The beginner-freeride level trail is called Hangman II and runs from the midway lift station. It's a fairly wide trail with fine-gravel surfaces and big corners, with berms that weren't as high as I was ...

... and a small Franziskaner Weissbier.

We descended to Westendorf on the other side of the range, then crossed to Brixen and took another lift up to the top. Plenty of technical riding and learning today.

Dinner was served up by Keith back at the apartment: home made vegetable soup, followed by ham and sauerkraut and banana cake for dessert. Keith taught us to play German Whist.

... the hotel wouldn't be able to give us a lift into town. Okay, we thought, but would we be able to book the glacier trip? I resolved there and then to find our own way into town. How hard could it be?

Anyway, they taxied us out to our hotel after dropping the Kitzbuehel contingent as our hotel was out by the lake. First impressions - very beautiful setting and they gave us a room with an enormous balcony - even though we hadn't paid extra for ...

... train to Munich. A short break for coffee, then on a local train to Lenggries. There waiting to meet us was Anna (grandma) and Andrea (one of the four children -- who had a good grasp of English and acted as interpreter all night). From there it got rather confusing. We met George, George junior, his wife Anna Lisa, their son George junior junior who had a hot date, Andrea Junior and Franziska. We didn't meet Anna Lisa the daughter, or Martin (thank God for a unique name ...

Well, I was supposed to go to Dachau this morning, butI couldn't get myself out of bed. It is hard here b/c there are no windows, so it is always dark in the room. So instead I stayed in all day and read. I finished Lord of the Rings. I actually REALLY enjoied it. Have to get the second one.

... When the parade ended, we went to an outdoor cafe to have lunch. As we had lunch, we noticed that the parade kept coming around and around and around and we watched it again (and again) while we ate. It just did not want to end…and we didn’t want it to end, either…it was just so delightful. We could not have asked for a better way to start our vacation.

That evening, we went to St. Johann in Tyrol (a nearby village) for dinner and ...