usa: indiana: bloomington

Every time I come back to the States, of course I spend time in my hometown. This ended up being the longest visit in quite a while. I think the total time was 9 days?

Dad picked me up at the airport, and we stopped for food on the way back to Bloomington. Since the portion was American sized, I took home at least half of my food.

When we got home I brought my bags up to my room and went about figuring out everything I would need in my Russian work visa application.

(I already knew I should've had this figured out, and sent off as much as a week earlier, but I didn't get my act together.) I called the visa company at least twice.

We drove to Kinkos/FedEx so I could print something and mail everything, it all went smoothly. From there we drove to the mall and stopped in a couple stores. Then we drove home.

After getting home, I called my sister to figure out when we could hang out. In the middle of the conversation I somehow realized I had forgotten to sign the dotted line on my application. Eeek.

I knew my application would be denied for forgetting that, so I started running to Dad to ask if I could borrow the car to get back to FedEx.

I rushed around, and in my haste, tripped and fell down the stairs. Immediately I knew something was wrong. It was the same feeling I'd had when I'd tripped over nothing in particular a bit over a year ago in Kyiv. Something felt like it had popped, and my foot HURT. Dad helped me stand up, and I was able to walk (not easily, but it was possible,) so I knew it wasn't broken.

That didn't solve my signature problem though, so instead of me driving the car, Dad drove me while I put a bag of frozen vegetables on my foot. Even with the frozen vegetables, I hopped from the car to the store, rather than walk. (I could walk, but it hurt, soooo...)

It turned out I had just missed the chance to catch my packet, so I had to print out the page of the application once more, and pay for another envelope to be sent. Argh. After this disaster we went to the supermarket to get another bag of frozen vegetables, and an ankle brace.

When I got home I propped my ankle up on pillows (it had already swollen quite a bit) and stayed there the rest of the night.

The next morning Dad dropped me off at my sister's house. I got to hang out with her all day, and my nephew. He is awesome, of course. I always love spending time with my sister, I wish it got to happen more often.

For dinner that night I met up with more Gappers. They're everywhere! Kristy is originally from Indiana, though we didn't know each other in the States.

She married a guy she met there, this was the first time I met him. We had good food, and more importantly, good conversation. I love gappers, I'll never get tired of saying that, or with meeting up with them.

The next day Dad had a rotary club something or another, so I went with him to campus, then walked around while he had his meeting. My ankle was still swollen, but I wanted to do some walking.

I went through parts of the Union, looking for a specific spot to take a photo. I'd seen it in other photos, and wanted my own photo.

I found it, but there were people studying there, and I didn't think it would be cool to say 'hey, can you move so I can take a photo?' Studying definitely takes priority.

I also walked through parts of the building that used to be known as HPER. (In my head that's how it will always be known, but the powers that be changed the name.) The intramural basketball courts were empty, which seemed strange. I'm used to there always being a pickup game or two going on. Royer Pool was empty (not just of people, of water too,) so I"m assuming repairs are being done.

This pool is where the science and sport of swimming as we know it today were invented.

Next to HPER is the fine arts museum, which apparently is closed for a while due to more renovation work.

From there I walked next to the 'new' global/international something or other building, which did not exist when I was a student at IU. Given my life now, maybe I should've had a major along those lines? I also walked through the arboretum, which is a lovely green space on a campus full of green spaces. I still find it hard to believe a sports stadium used to be there.

After meeting back up with Dad we drove to another side of town to visit a coffee shop I love. Needmore Coffee is owned by a friend, who does all the roasting herself. She sources her beans from ethical, organic farms in Central America. Someone complained to me once that the place is expensive, and my answers were that you pay the same amount at Starbucks, and this is a local business. The only way you get cheaper coffee drinks is to make them yourself at home. I will always support a local business, even more so when I know the owner!

Dad and I went home for a few hours, I'm sure he did something productive with the time. I'm pretty sure I took a nap, or browsed social media sites. That night we went to dinner at Janko's, a steak place in town. I've loved it for years; they aren't fancy, but the steaks are great. Dessert was at an ice cream place. No, I did not need dessert, but it's soooo hard to resist.

On the way home we stopped by the gridiron (football,) stadium because the lighting was fantastic and I noticed I would be able to take a photo without any cars or people in the photo. I grew up going to games at this stadium, and though the team hasn't been very good for years, it still brings back heaps of good memories.

The next morning I had breakfast with my old boss KGB at a local place called the Village Deli. They're known for the ridiculous size of their pancakes, and generally having good breakfast food. It's always good to have a catchup with KGB, and to hear what the latest plans are for Rec Sports at IU.

The Village Deli is close to campus, so that's where I walked next. I figured it was early enough in the morning to find that spot in the Union and hope no one was there. I was right, I was the only one, so I took my photo and left.

From there I walked to the office of another old boss and dropped by for a chat. Another good catchup, and this one wasn't even expected!

I walked to the law school to check out their library, as libraries can often be really photogenic. For some reason I thought there was a specific reading room there, but either I didn't find it or it isn't there. Oh well. Not surprisingly, the law library was super quiet.

On the way home I passed the observatory, which always strikes me as really small. How does anyone see anything at night? It's the same height or shorter than other buildings all around.

I walked home, which had me dripping with sweat pretty much the entire way. It wasn't far, at least not by my standards, I just wish I hadn't felt like I was in a sauna the whole time. I walked on the wrong side of one road nearly the entire way because that side had shade, and the proper side didn't. I had no desire to pass out just because I was on the right side of the road for pedestrians.

That night I met up with a couple twins who were also high school classmates. Non stop laughing and smiling for the next several hours. I swam with Julie and had gym class with Jennifer. I'd just missed my 20^th high school reunion, I guess this was a mini reunion of sorts. Jennifer also brought some amazing chocolate, I could've eaten my weight of the chocolate, yum.

We went to a local microbrewery and had fried pickles, which were amazing. There is definitely an art to getting the right ratio of breading to pickle. Too much breading and they're no good. We also had huge burgers, yum. The beers the girls drank smelled good. Our dessert (after the pre meal dessert I'd already had) was from a food truck. Yum! I can't wait until the Chocolate Moose opens again.

The next day was a day trip to West Baden Springs Hotel with Dad. 

Sunday morning we went to church. This was the service where the church officially decommissioned the organ, which we've had for decades. I'm glad I was lucky enough to appreciate the amazing music and musicians with my church.

Who knows if it was originally commissioned or not, but it brought a lot of amazing music into the church for years.

That evening I went to the house of my high school swim coach for dinner. Her husband was there, as well as three other coaches/former bosses of mine. It was great to see everyone, and to hear the stories they all have to tell. They've all been in swimming in the area for a long time, so they know all the gossip, old and new. They were all big influences in my life, whether they'll admit it or not.

The next day I went with Dad to the monthly meeting of the Press Club. It was interesting to meet some of the other attendees, most of whom are older/retired. After lunch we walked through campus to get to the library parking lot, and took a picture of Hoagy Carmichael at a piano on the way. The song 'Stardust' is fairly well known, as is Hoagy, but not as many people know he is from Indiana.

That afternoon and evening I went to Mom's flat, and hung out with her for several hours. After dinner she drove me back to Dad's house.

The next day my sister and I did a road trip to Columbus, Indiana.

Wednesday, 26 July was a day of stress relief. My passport was delivered, with a Russian work visa inside. Getting the passport back meant two things: I was going to Russia, and I was going to Cuba with the tickets I'd already booked. (I was afraid the passport wouldn't come back on time and I'd be forced to postpone/cancel Cuba.)

I'd made plans to meet up with a couple more friends that afternoon. We're the same age, but they went to a different high school, not too far from mine. I hadn't seen Katie and Krista in five years, I think. We met up at 1500, and I managed to do a whole lot of nothing earlier in the day. More good conversation, and I really wish we could see each other more often.

Krista drove me to Mom's flat, she and I went shopping then out to dinner. Mom isn't very good at sitting around and chatting, though she is good at sitting by herself. When she and I hang out I've discovered it's a good idea to be doing something.

Thursday was my last day in Bloomington. I started the day by meeting with a financial advisor, which was surprisingly interesting. Then I met up for coffee with the man who has what sounds like an ideal job to me: planning travel for IU alumni. Totally awesome.

From there I walked up the street and met up for lunch with another of my high school classmates. I don't think I'd seen Mahala since high school, so this was pretty awesome. Who knew the Trojan Horse has such good key lime cheesecake? I definitely could've eaten more. Another really good catchup, and we definitely won't wait another 20 years to do it again.

After getting home from lunch I borrowed Dad's car to do a couple last minute errands, then packed up all my stuff. Dad drove me up to Indianapolis, and checked me into a hotel. Almost across the street was a nice place to have dinner. The reason for the hotel was the timing of my first flight the next morning: at 0525.

After dinner Dad drove back to Bloomington and I tried to get some sleep. It didn't really work, but it never does when I have something really really early in the morning.

Bloomington, I will always come back as long as I know people living there.  

usa: colorado: colorado springs

When I'd been looking at flights to and from Colorado Springs, the way back was going to be heaps cheaper if I left on Tuesday instead of Sunday or Monday. Since I knew Layna lived in Colorado Springs I asked her if I could stay with her those two nights. She was at most of the reunion in the house, leaving only occasionally to take care of her kids.

After saying goodbye to everyone after brunch, I drove to the Garden of the Gods. I'd visited the area once before, with another gapper, and I was happy to return. It's free, has a number of walking and hiking areas, and is really photogenic.

The way the rocks come out of the ground is just stunning.

Finding parking was a bit of a hassle, but it happened soon enough. I walked a number of the trails, climbed a bunch of rocks, and generally enjoyed myself. I was surprised at the number of people who were there but seemed afraid of heights. It's not a high place, but why come here if you don't want to climb even a little?

After a couple hours, I drove to Layna's flat. She'd left a sign on the front door telling me where she was, so I walked and found her.

It was nice to finally meet her kids, as I'd seen a few photos over the years. It was also nice to finally meet her boyfriend, who I'd been hearing about for even longer.

Since Layna and I did our tour of Asia together, we had even more to catch up on. Despite having talked for the whole weekend already, we still had plenty to say. I love Garmischers.

The next morning I got moving slowly, so did everyone else in the flat. Layna drove the kids to school a bit later than normal, but these things happen.

Then she and I figured out a plan for the day. I wanted to hang out with her, and I wanted to see something new in the city. One of my travel apps told me about the US Olympic Training Center, which wasn't far away. There was also a cemetery listed, as well as a lake, and just walking through downtown Old Colorado City.

The training center offers tours every half hour, and if you're paying with a credit or debit card, it has to be a Visa. I'm pretty sure Visa is one of their sponsors, otherwise they'd take more cards.

The tour started with a 15 minute video about several athletes, their typical day, and a basic description of what they have available at the training center. After the video we left the visitors building and started walking through the campus.

We got to see the weight room, which is huge, of course. We got to see one of the physical therapy rooms, which had a couple anti gravity treadmills. Somehow those get rid of 80% of the feel of gravity, so athletes who are injured can continue running while healing at the same time. Amazing.

We got to see the wrestling area, which is actually the home of USA Wrestling. We got to see the pool, though many of the swimmers were away in Budapest, at the world competition. We got to see the indoor shooting range and the gymnasium in which a gymnastics competition had just been held. We got to see the front of the building in which the dining hall is located, which is not the kitchen.

We also got to see part of the kitchen where the science of food takes place. It doesn't always come to mind first, but for an athlete to perform their best they have to be taking in the best food.

Each athlete has a different diet, based on how they need to perform best in their sport. The food available varies a lot around the world, so if someone is preparing to compete internationally, they're probably going to be eating some of what is available in that location. That way their bodies will already be used to the difference, and won't react badly.

After the tour we were 'released' and everyone wandered through the rest of the visitors center. There is a gift shop, with all kinds of Team USA clothing (and other gear,) available.

I might have bought something if it had just said USA, but all of it said Team USA, and I feel like that is something that has to be earned, not just bought. There is also a media room, with a series of screens going around the room that show various Olympic athletes through the years. Its fun to see how many you recognize, and to note the changes in fashion. If you've paid attention to the Olympics over the years, you get chills when you see some of the iconic photos again. Amazing performances by amazing people. 

Out front I took photos of the statues in the garden, just because I could. 

After seeing everything we could, Layna and I drove around the city a bit. We drove through the cemetery, which felt pretty big to me. There were definitely different sections, I think some of them were military. Layna showed me the house in which she'd lived previously, it was right near a lake.

We drove through downtown Old Colorado City, then walked the main street. It's full of shops and restaurants, and is generally cute.

At some point one of us looked at a watch and realized it was time to pick up the kids.

Since we were driving my car they had quite a surprise when they came out of the school building. From there we went out to dinner at a pizza place. It's the kind of place where the staff are all wearing old school dresses and uniforms, and the arcade is relatively cheap. A nice fun evening.

I went to bed early that night, but didn't get any sleep. Amazingly enough, I was productive enough to pack everything the night before flying! My alarm went off at 0330, and I drove my car to a petrol station at 0345. Layna met me with her van after getting coffee, and she followed me to the care hire place.

I left my car there and dropped the keys in the box, then Layna took me to the airport.

Amazingly, both my flights were on time. Yay!!

It is always good to spend time with a Garmischer, anywhere and everywhere. It's even better when it's in a cool city.

the States: colorado: colorado springs

The drive from Crested Butte to Colorado Springs was just as beautiful in reverse. Maybe even more so because I didn't have to worry about rain or low clouds. It took a little longer to get to my destination in Colorado Springs because there was construction on one part of the highway, and I couldn't go around.

This next part of my travels was another reason I'd come to the States this summer: a full on Garmisch-Partenkirchen reunion with one set of friends. (Between Crested Butte and Colorado Springs I was in Colorado for about a week. I used the hashtag #garmischappreciationweek for all the photos of the week.)

A couple friends had taken it upon themselves to choose a weekend, choose a place, and choose accomodation. The rest of us simply sent in the money, and figured out how to get to Colorado Springs.

The rental house was huge, and absolutely perfect. It was on the edge of town, and had no close neighbors. I was one of the first to arrive, I got to pick my bed. Not too long after I arrived, others started showing up. Soooo many hugs and smiles and general happiness.

It's hard to describe the friendships that started in GaP. Back then we were all young and somewhat naive. We traveled together, partied together, worked and lived together. People from Garmisch are the last ones who saw me drink a beer. (I figured out near the end of my time there that I'm allergic.) Back then we all lived in the same building, so you never had to go far to find someone to hang out with. Of course, this also means everyone knew everything about everyone else, there were very few secrets.

Some of us hadn't seen each other since we lived in GaP, and yet it felt like no time had passed at all. We've all sortof grown up, and even though I hadn't seen these folks much since, I'd still trust them with everything.

The first few hours were filled with greetings as new people arrived, and general catching up. It had been 14 years since some of us saw each other, there was a lot to talk about. Lots of laughter, dancing, etc...

At some point meals were discussed, and it was decided that the professional chefs in the group (3 out of the 15 people were professional chefs, how awesome is that?) would be cooking dinner that night, and everyone would chip in for the food.

Since I love grocery shopping, I went with two of them. I don't know if you've ever shopped with people who know food, it's fun. They had all kinds of ideas, and were ready to buy out the entire store, hee hee. For each item we had to remember that there would be 15 people, so we needed more than it seemed. One carton of cream cheese wasn't going to be enough, nor was one bag of chips. Megan was almost exactly right about the total cost at checkout, even though she hadn't been writing prices down as we went along. Eric and I were totally impressed.

Since this was a reunion of people who can drink, we also had to go to the liquor store. Colorado has strange laws about alcohol; you can't buy it at a grocery store, you have to go to a liquor store. That part of the trip didn't take nearly as long as the food part.

The rest of the afternoon and evening continued with hanging out, catching up, making new memories, etc... Groups of people talking changed around, everyone moved around from time to time, life was good. At some point all three cooks started preparing dinner.

Since this was a real house, and there was a real dining table, it was set properly. It was neat to sit down to a family dinner all at once. The food was set up family style in the kitchen, we all served ourselves. Again, the conversation never stopped, with lots of laughter throughout the evening.

I suppose it sounds like nothing much happened that day, but it was amazing to see all those people after so long.

There was soooo much catching up to do, with all of them. I think I finally went to bed around midnight, but I don't really know.

The next morning some people were up earlier than others. Courtney actually went to work out! She was the only one of us that motivated, the rest of us felt pretty good about getting up before noon. Even though we were all awake early enough, it took a while for everyone to get showered and dressed and ready to go.

Just as everyone was ready to go somewhere, we looked at the clock and realized it was lunch. We had lunch food in the house, and that seemed like a much better idea (since it had already been paid for) than going out to a restaurant.

Two cars worth of people finally got out the door after noon sometime.

The destination for the day was the chapel on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy. (USAFA.) I'd seen it before, but it is really eye catching, and we all needed to get out of the house for a bit. The drive to the academy was easy, and the two cars were let in after quick checks of our drivers licenses.

We parked and walked through a platz like area (which I'm sure serves some purpose but I have no idea what it is) to get to the chapel. On the platz there are a couple memorials as well as some model airplanes.

I'm not terribly good at describing how things look, I'm hoping my photos will do the talking for me. The shape of the chapel is basically a giant triangle. It is divided into two levels; the top level has the Protestant Chapel, while the lower level has areas for Catholics, Buddhists, and Jews.

 The Protestant part of things is what usually gets all the attention, for several reasons. One, because it is the biggest, and the most cadets attending services here. Two, the interior is quite unique, it isn't like your average Protestant church. The stained glass lets in light and colour, and the whole thing is really geometric.

The bottom level is also beautiful but doesn't get as much attention. The Catholic chapel has walls of stained glass as well, I loved the colour and warmth. The Jewish and Buddhist areas are smaller, but still very nice. As far as I could tell, they didn't want visitors tromping through the Jewish and Buddhist areas, though the Protestant and Catholic areas are open.

After checking out the chapels we looked at the surrounding areas. I pointed out the dorms in which the cadets live, each of them for four years. We could see cadets rushing around with big trunks, maybe they were moving in before the start of the new year? We probably should've visited the visitors center and asked someone.

We could see dark storm clouds rolling in pretty fast, so we decided it was time to go. No one wanted to go back to the house just yet, so someone looked up a microbrewery close by, and that was our next stop. I went with raspberry lemonade, the rest of them went with something alcoholic. From the moment we'd all laid eyes on each other the day before, conversation had yet to stop.

After that we drove back to the house. It was early evening, so the cooks came together and figured out a plan for dinner that night.

The original plan had been to go out to a restaurant, but everyone had really enjoyed the family meal the night before and preferred to stay in. Plus, we had plenty of food left, no one wanted to waste it.

For the next few hours people hung out again, some in the hot tub, some in the living room, etc... At some point the cooks did their thing again, and put together another amazing meal. Eating as a group again was just as awesome.

Not long after dinner we gathered outside around the natural gas fire. Layna had prepared about 100 trivia questions about our time in Garmisch.

Some of the questions were about specific things that had happened, others were about the town itself, and still others asked for stories about our experiences.

We played in teams, which made it all really entertaining. Funny to find out who remembered what, and who had forgotten what. Heaps of laughter, and we all learned a bit as well.

In addition to the trivia questions Layna had put together a slide show of old photos. Watching all of those was hysterical. We were all really glad again that social media didn't exist when we lived in GaP. Or maybe we would've left our phones at home, who knows.

I don't know what the people who live there now do when they go out.

I finally went to bed around 0100, I think I was one of the earliest. How do people stay up so late?

The next morning we all got moving a bit faster than the day before, but not by much. We didn't have to officially check out until 1600, but everyone was ready to go long before that.

To get our deposit back we had to clean up of course, strip the beds, wash the dishes, that sort of thing. Since nearly all of us had spent at least a few minutes in housekeeping or waitstaff while in GaP this was easy enough to do.

Around 1215 everyone gathered out front for one last group photo. I love having a tripod.

Most of us went from there to brunch at a restaurant where Erik knows the owner, though some split off and drove back to Denver. Basically it was another hour and some for us to hang out with each other.

After that, it really was over. I'm soooo glad this weekend was planned, and happened. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 14 years to get together again!

indiana: kokomo

After all the transit time of the past several days, it was really nice to sit and relax. Kelley's parents are fantastic, and they've always made me feel at home each time I've been able to visit. As soon as Kelley said she and Jon would be in Kokomo that weekend I was happy to join them.

I arrived mid afternoon July 3^rd. To get there I had to drive from Chicago, which was easy enough. (Thank goodness I wrote down the directions from google maps instead of just hoping my phone would keep the map.)

Since I knew ahead of time that I'd be in Kokomo over this weekend, I had scheduled an HIV test needed for the application for my Russian work visa. I did this, which only took 20 minutes, then drove to Chez McCoy.

It felt like coming home, in that I parked the car, walked in with my bags, and immediately took them up to 'my' room. I love that house.

We didn't do much for the rest of the day, which felt great. I was able to pick a book off the shelf and read for a while, and after dinner we all watched tv for a little while. I ended up falling asleep in front of the tv and had to drag myself up to bed in the middle of the night after waking up on the sofa. Hee hee.

The next morning was a lovely slow wakeup, though my first wakeup was really early in the morning. Stupid jet lag.

It was July 4^th, a major holiday, and I completely forgot. I've never been big on holidays, so this was fine with me when I remembered the next day. We did nothing to celebrate, though I did eat a couple cupcakes with red, white, and blue frosting.

Around noon we drove to a place called Wilson Farms, which sells homemade food, including a lot of Amish baked goods.

There was plenty I wanted to buy in that store, but somehow I held back and only got a few items. I'm a sucker for anything pie.

On the way back to the house I saw another place with pie, so we stopped there as well. Lisa's Pie Shop is apparently famous for pie in a jar. Who knew? Not me, so of course I had to try. This being Indiana, also on display were the many ribbons won at various competitions for their pies.

That night I fell asleep in front of the tv again. I'm also blaming the early falling asleep on jet lag.

The morning of the 5^th, Kelley dropped her phone on the kitchen floor a few minutes before we were supposed to head out the door to meet some friends for breakfast. The screen stayed on the phone, but it was shattered. (A beautiful spiderweb sort of shattered, but this was not the time to appreciate beauty.) She figured out she was able to make calls and text, but not much more than that. At that point we knew we'd have to leave Kokomo not long after brunch in order to get back to Chicago and get to an Apple store.

We met up with Anita and Chris and had a wonderful catchup. I first met them on the trip to Ireland, and we've stayed friends ever since. They are part of the Flat Ryan project as well, so when I pulled my Ryan out of my purse and put it next to theirs we all laughed. I'm sure the waitress was wondering a bit when she looked at the table and saw two large printouts of Ryan Gosling's face.

We ate at a local chain, which is what I always prefer when going out to eat. Why support a national or international company that already has plenty of money when you can support local?

It was fun to hear Anita and Kelley talk about people they knew in the Kokomo community, and to hear more of the local goings on.
We went back home and packed up and got on the road soon enough. The drive back to Chicago was easy for me, since I wasn't driving. I dozed off, even though I tried not to do so. Kelley took pity on me and stopped at Fair Oaks so I could have another of their shakes. Yum. That's always a good way to start or end a trip to Indiana.  

germany: garmisch-partenkirchen

Instead of taking the train, I took a bus from Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The bus was only 6 euros, whch is hard to beat. Since it was leaving early in the morning I hoped that meant it would depart on time. It left about 10 minutes late, but that wasn't a big deal.

A little over an hour and a half later I arrived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I lived there from 2001-2004, and while it has changed in many ways there is something about the place that I'll always love. I will always want to return, as long as I know people still living there.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is one of the few places in the world where I would be willing to buy property if I could afford it. It really is that beautiful, and means that much to me. 

I was picked up at the train station, and taken to where I was staying for the next 6 days. My host had to go to work, so I laid down to relax for a bit. (An overnight bus, plus an early morning bus basically meant I hadn't had much sleep in the past two nights.) I ended up falling asleep and staying that way until almost noon, and I have to admit it felt amazing. Plus the weather outside wasn't great, so I didn't care.

My host works for the military resort in town, so I had access to some American goodies I hadn't seen in a while.
Corn Chex and other cereals in particular. I also got to watch a couple news channels, including CNN and BBC. I'm used to hearing news through podcasts, and reading it online, so this was nice. At the same time, it was odd to see commercials, as those aren't put into episodes you stream later on. 

I didn't do anything useful for the rest of the day. My host came home from work and found me just where I had been hours earlier, dozing on the couch. Eventually I got cleaned up and we went out for dinner with a stop for ice cream on the way home.

The next morning I'd arranged to meet up with a friend for a hike, so I had to get moving. We met up at 0815 (I was supposed to be there at 0800, whoops,) because I much prefer to hike earlier in the day. The hike we'd chosen was through the Hollentalklamm (Hollental Gorge in English) and into the valley behind the gorge.

If we'd been so inclined there was a 15 kilometer long trail, but I was hesitant to commit to an eight hour (or more) hike.

The entire hike was gorgeous. The trailhead starts next to a little chapel, and goes through woods. The trail is next to a river coming off a glacier, so the water is a beautiful gray blue sort of colour. I was taking heaps of photos right from the start.

Of course I wanted to take a few photos of the two of us, which Tom was okay with doing. The first one was good; the second one would've been good too, except that I didn't set up the tripod in a stable place. As I was getting to my spot, the camera tipped over and went into the water.

Big oooops. I raced over and plucked it out of the water, knowing it was probably the end of the camera. I tried turning it off and on again, but it didn't work. I was pretty sure the camera was dead, but I still had hope for the photos already on the memory card, so I pulled that out, along with the battery.

I was disappointed to lose the camera, but in the back of my mind I knew I had a newer, better camera waiting for me when I got to the States. Plus the lens on this one had a couple scratches that sometimes showed up as light spots in my photos, which already drove me nuts. I had my iphone too, so it wasn't as if I would've been without a camera for the rest of the month.

The rest of the hike was awesome. Even though I've gone through the gorge previously, I still loved every minute, and more than once asked myself why I'd left Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There is so much natural beauty in the area.
Going through the gorge was rather chilly, as we got dripped on a fair amount. The trail through the gorge itself was carved through the mountain, and of course there is drippage.

Coming out of the gorge was amazing. The rock walls slowly widen up into the bowl at the end of a valley. I got to see rushing glacier water too. As we followed the trail we saw the last bit of snow left in the valley, which had somehow survived all the way until the middle of June!

I figured out a way to prop up my phone to have a picture of us with the snow too.

Toward the end of the valley we saw a small altar/chapel, which seems totally normal to me in a German speaking country. Plenty of people would argue that God created all the beauty we can see. 

I'm sure we could've found a trail leading up the 'walls' at the end of the valley, but I wasn't that keen. Or maybe I was 'satisfied' with everything I'd seen already. I did see a few people up higher, I wonder how far they were going.

We circled around and came to a stop for a break at the Hollentalangerhutte. Tom told me it was pretty new, having only been there a couple years or so, but they were doing plenty of business.
We hadn't seen all those people on the trail (thank goodness,) so maybe they came through the gorge, ate, and went back.

Lunch was good, the portions were bigger than I expected, and we were both happy.

Going back was just as awesome. The sun was coming from the other direction now, so we could see the gorge itself a bit better. Since we were both hot from hiking the cold water dripping on us in the gorge felt pretty good.

Everything was fantastic until about 100 meters from the end of the trail when I slipped and fell for no good reason. There was nothing for me to trip over, I just lost my footing and fell. I landed on my hands, and I knew immediately it would hurt and that it would be one of those bruises that didn't show. Go figure.

After we got back to the trailhead Tom called my host who came to pick me up. When I got back to the house I got cleaned up and relaxed for a while, before we went out to an Indian place for dinner. I'm pretty sure this restaurant didn't exist when I lived in GaP, but I wish it had. The food was properly spicy, and had the right flavour.

The next morning I eventually got up and went out into town. It was good weather again so I had no excuses to stay inside. My first 'sight' was the Marientplatz area of town. Garmish-Partenkirchen is absolutely beautiful, no matter where you are in town. Well, that's not quite true, some of the new developments aren't so good looking, but that's not where I was walking around.

I walked along a pedestrian street, taking more than a few moments to enjoy the beauty of the place. I window shopped a bit, some of those stores haven't changed in decades. I seriously considered how early was too early for ice cream, hee hee.

Eventually I made my way to a river that runs through one side of town, the Loisach river. Since it starts at a glacier on the mountain, it is the same gray blue color I'd seen the day before. Absolutely gorgeous. Since there had been enough rain recently, the river was high enough to be seen. When the spring and summer are dry, it ends up looking more like a creek with lots of rocks.

I took a few photos near a covered bridge everyone always finds rather picturesque.

From there I walked back into the center of town, and followed a street out to another edge of town. The town area of GaP (the letters used on the license plates registered locally,) really isn't very big, and the town population is only 30,000 or so. I think. It is sortof shaped like a flat triangle, and the only time you're in town for longer is when you go from one specfic corner of the triangle to the other, and that doesn't happen often.

This next edge of town is also a bunch of farmers' fields. We all loved the little hay shacks you see throughout the fields as well as the rolls of hay. At this time of year there aren't so many rolls of hay, but the background of the mountains behind the hay shacks is pretty much the definition of beautiful.
There are amazing sunsets in this area as well, but I have yet to do a sunset hike to capture the light properly.

I would my way along paths through the fields to my next sight, the Partnachklamm. (Partnach Gorge, in English.) Way back when I lived in GaP (2001-2004) this was the very first 'sight' I got to see. There is a cafe/biergarden near the entrance, but I don't think I've ever stopped there. The entry fee is now 5 euros, which strikes me as a lot, but oh well.

Just like the Hollentalklamm there is a pathway built into the gorge for tourists, and you occasionally feel water dripping on you. Sometimes the pathway gets rather wet, depending on all sorts of things. In other words, don't show up in high heels or clothes that need to stay dry.

This gorge is just as narrow, at times you almost feel as though you can reach out and touch the other side. (You can't, don't try.) The water running through the gorge is just as beautiful, and is rather cold.

After coming out of the other side of the klamm I kept following the river for a while. Not too far from the klamm there is a spot on the river bank where people have set up a bunch of stone cairns, or at least mini piles of stones. As this is an area full of hiking, it was easy to follow a trail for a while, and turn around when I needed to do so. I wanted to keep going, but I realized I didn't have enough water with me, considering the heat and sun and how much I was sweating.

I went back through the klamm, getting dripped on all over again.

My next sight was the ski stadium. It was originally built for the 1936 winter Olympics, and is still in use today. You can see all the way to the top of the ski jumps (one for women, one for men) and they look pretty good. Since I was there in June the ground in the stadium was being used for football (soccer) practice. The stadium isn't huge, it's basically a horseshoe shape at the bottom of the hill. As always, I liked the big, Germanic style statues. Sometimes I'm amazed they are still there, given the history of the time in which they were built.

I eventually went home, completely covered in sweat. Since I'd been in Europe for two or three weeks already I was used to the heat, but it was still rough. I had only brought a liter of water with me, I'd drunk all of it. June in GaP isn't usually this hot, so I wasn't the only one suffering. As hot as it was, I'll take this weather over rainy/cold/cloudy any day. (Plus it was just like the weather I'd already had for the first half of the month in other cities.)

We had dinner that night at a cafe near the Kurpark in town. It was fun to hear the stories of what the place used to be like, as it had changed drastically even before I got to town, and has continued to change since then.

The next day it took me a while to get moving again, oh well. I started my day with a bowl of Corn Chex, then stopped at a bakery in town to pick up snacks for the day. I headed toward the building where I used to live, as the trailhead I wanted is behind that building.

The Kramer is pretty much directly behind where I used to live. When I lived in that building the trailhead was a five minute walk from the gate! I've only climbed the full mountain once, but the bottom half of the hike is something I've done several times and always enjoyed. It is another of my first memories from living in town.

Getting to what we called the halfway house (which is really called St Martin's Hutte,) doesn't take long, only about 45 minutes. Back in the days when I could/did drink, it was the perfect place to have a bier and look out at the city.

Just past the hutte, (or is it just before?) is the war memorial. The memorial is in a small field on the mountain, almost on the edge. There are little plaques memorializing those who lost their lives in battle all around the building, and is hauntingly beautiful. There area always flowers around, and the view of the valley is breathtaking.

From there I went back down the trail a bit, until I caught the turnoff to another trail. I followed this one across the mountain, it's a flat trail until I got to the Pflegersee, a lake. It's a tiny little lake, with a cafe built on one side. Really picturesque, with another, steeper mountain behind it.

I didn't go up the mountain, but instead followed the road going behind the cafe. It led to more trails, which I followed for a little while. I found a couple man made waterfalls, which were still beautiful despite being man made.

I know I hadn't been out all that long at this point, but I turned around anywho, because clouds were rolling in fast. I walked back down the hill following various trails until I got to town, and walked home. During this bit of the walk it started to rain, but it wasn't all that bad. I found out later that the other side of town had been drenched.

When I got home I showered, then went back out to meet up with someone. A few months previously someone had posted online that they wanted to work on taking photos of people (I guess they're called 'lifestyle' photos, or something along those lines,) so I volunteered. I was thrilled when I figured out this woman lived in Garmisch, so we set up a date for the photos.

Since I had to walk about 30 minutes about an hour after the rain ended, it was like walking through a sauna, but the photos were totally worth it. The lighting was great, as was the background. Heck, with that background I would have been willing to take those photos out in the rain.

As we were leaving the area I saw a friend of mine in a car, which was perfect. I've known Jill since I worked in GaP, and though we'd wanted to meet up while I was in town we had yet to set a date. This was perfect. I went with her to another area of town where she picked up her dog. While we were there (it was at the softball fields on base,) I got to say hello to a couple more people I know. GaP is a small town, you'll probably run into people you know while you visit, as long as people you know still live there.

Jill drove me home, and we agreed to meet for dinner about 30 minutes later. It was perfect. My host joined us, and I spent the next couple hours laughing. They've both been in town for a long time, and have heaps of stories to tell. There have been a lot of characters in GaP, and I think these two have known and remembered them all.

The next morning another friend, Christoph picked me up mid morning. When I lived in Garmisch he was my next door neighbor. He has a new baby, only 6 weeks old! Christoph drove us to the Pflegersee, we had a nice drink at the cafe on the lake. The baby slept through the whole thing, but it was still neat to see Christoph as a dad.

Christoph drove me to a cafe in town, one all of us gappers know and love: Mukkefuck. (Both Us are pronounced with the long U sound.) It has always been known for big salads and sandwiches, and has a lovely biergarden out back. I met my friend Donna there, she was also one of the first people I met in Garmisch. We had a great lunch, and catch up. I only wish we'd had more time.

After lunch I found the bus stop in the middle of town, and got lucky with my timing. I only had to wait about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive. It only runs once an hour to where I was going, and if I'd just missed it I think I would've changed my mind.

I was on the bus for about an hour, getting off at the end of the route, the Eibsee. This is the lake at the bottom of the tallest mountain in Germany. It's deep in the middle, and the water is clear. There are beaches all around the lake, but they're very rocky. It's a great place to hang out with friends, rent rowboats and paddleboats, etc... There are a couple hotels on the lake, though of course I've never stayed in one.

I walked around to one of the beaches, stripped down to my bikini and laid out for the next 90 minutes. It was quiet, the scenery was great, and life was good.

I took the bus back to the center of Garmisch, and walked home, stopping to buy postcards and a magnet on the way.

That night I'd made arrangements for dinner with more friends, at another old haunt of any ex-gapper: Zirbel. Jamie and Helmut are both people I knew from almost the very beginning of moving to Garmisch, it was great to hang out with them again. Jamie arrived not too long after I did, so between her and Helmut and my host, they could've told stories all night long.

The next morning I was awake early again, but didn't get moving until lunchtime. I had my breakfast of Corn Chex, and stopped at another bakery to get snacks again. This time I wanted to do a hike I'd never done before: going up the Wank, another major mountain in town.

There are numerous trails to get up the mountain, and I was never entirely sure where I was on the mountain.

Some of the trails are really challenging, others are more like an uphill walk. But basically if you just aim up, you'll get there. The trails are mostly exposed, which I could feel almost from the start. (The entire time I was kicking myself for not having gotten started early in the morning, which I much prefer anywho.)

I got to see cows grazing, and heaps of views of the city and valley. I also witnessed something I've never seen before: a mountain rescue of sorts. As I was going up the trail I saw a lady sitting and holding her ankle, I assume she'd falled and/or twisted something.

I could hear a helicopter but didn't think much of it at first. Then I realized the helicopter was hovering, and that a couple people were descending a rope from the helicopter. This was the mountain health service, the people you call when you get hurt on the mountain! From the way they behaved, it wasn't a major injury, but I was glad to see her being taken care of.

I kept going, slowly but surely to the top.

As with many mountains in the area, there is a cafe/hut at the top, it would be a great place to have a drink or snack. I was happy with the snacks I'd bought at the bakery before hiking up.

Also, as with many mountains in the area, there is a cross marking the top of the mountain. This cross happened to have Jesus on there, so I only took a picture of it, not with it.

Normally I would've hiked right back down the mountain, but the sun and heat had gotten to me, and I wasn't feeling so good anymore. Thankfully, there was a cable car, which felt amazing at that point. A lot of visitors take the ride up and down, but that seemed like cheating to me.

When I got back home I wasn't feeling good at all. Even though I'd eaten while hiking, and drunk plenty of water, I had sweated out all the nutrients my body needed. I should've brought more food with me on the hike.

My host gave me some Pedialyte, which tasted awful. I also got some snacks with salt and protein. Between the two of them I was able to think normally again. (When I get that way my head hurts to think and it is hard to answer questions, even the easy ones.)

That was my last night in town, we had dinner at another random restaurant. Side note: there are something like 250 restaurants in Garmisch, a town of 30,000 people. There is always a new place to try, or an old haunt to go back to.

The next morning I was awake early because I had to be. My host drove me to the train station, where I boarded my train at 0630. I will definitely come back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.