20 Garmish Partenkirchen

Saturday 2nd
Upped sticks again, we had played with the idea that we would go to Magny Cours in France for the last round of the World Super Bikes, but it was over 900 kilometers away and we felt that it was too much for one day. Plus we couldn't face the look on Leon’s face after the day before, when we'd driven over 500 k.  So we had a look at the map and decided we would have another couple of days in Germany with more curry wurst and found a lovely little campsite just outside Garmisch Partenkirkchen.  A couple of hours later there we were in beautiful sunshine, mountains in front and behind our Lizzie and loads of space for Leon to explore. I think we are forgiven.

En-route, our first sight of the Alps

Ray setting up

The view in the other direction

Leon being taken for a walk

We went into the town, which is really beautiful.  It is like stepping back in time and guess what, they were having their own Oktober Fest.  We obviously had to join in and there we were eating Wurst and drinking beer, singing along to a German Folk band and having the time of our lives.  I must say at this time, they really do know how to enjoy life, and the number of people who have taken the time to dress up in the German National costume, is amazing.  It was the same at Munich, all the girls in their costumes which are mostly checked dresses over lacy tops which manage to enhance the bosom, and aprons, all varying lengths, and the guys in lederhosen.... I'll leave it there.
Back to the town, all the buildings are beautifully painted and all the shops look far more enticing with their displays.  We loved every minute, but we are a little bit biased.

Pig head.....!

That box is actually a musical instrument !

We returned back to Lizzie with a view of coming back out in the evening, (see piccy of beautiful sunset) but we were shattered and ended up having an early night. As it turned out, that was a really good idea, especially when I discovered what Ray had in store for me the next day.

Sunday 3rd

Woke up to beautiful sunshine and warmth, lovely, and a cup of tea in bed, should have got suspicious then.....only joking, I'm very lucky in that it is a daily treat from my husband. (It's a costly treat I have to tell you in the long term). 
We had seen that on the mountain in front of our Lizzie, were a couple of platforms that came out of the mountain and were hanging over the cliff.  It is called The AlpspiX Viewing Platform, and is two platforms, one above the other, that cross each other in mid air and poke out above the cliff 25 feet, over an abyss. We drove to the bottom of the the Zugspitze mountain and bought one way tickets on the cable car.  Ray thought it would be great to walk down, I agreed, god some days I don't know what I'm thinking.
The journey up was fantastic and we could see Lizzie in the valley below.  We are used to going up in cable cars, but normally everything is white. (Skiing, for those that didn't get that).

Lizzy is thr big white van in the centre above the road

At the top curry wurst, pomme frits (fat sausage and chips, with curry sauce)  and water later,(yes I know it really was water) we set off to go to the platform.

We should have chosen this route down.

I can only speak for myself here, I was fine as I stepped out onto it but when the kids started rocking it I felt very scared. I could look down through the grill I was standing on and I could see the rocks down below, in my head I knew I was safe, but my body was screaming get off. I would be brilliant in a disaster movie.

(Ray) My take on it was: I, despite my dubious past, cannot stand heights. To stand out on a wobbly platform full of screaming kids was my nemesis. We needed to take some more photos, so I decided it would be a good idea to send Karen back out so I could take the photos, whilst I was on terra firma. I'm not as daft as I make out!

With bellies full and shattered nerves recovering, we decided to make a move for the bottom. I looked at the very confusing wall map for routes back down and guessed that it would take 2-3 hours to get back down. We set off and the path started very steep, so much so that every step was slow and deliberate. We thought quite incorrectly that it would level out somewhat. It went down and down and down and seemed to go on forever.

Ray remebered the keys this time. These are Stinkhorns.

We had one stop and a restaurant for a beer about half way, but bloody hell it was hard. My humungous legs were knackered, I could only guess how Karen felt, her knee gave up at about 3/4 distance and she gained some huge blisters on her big toes. However, despite the fact that her problems slowed her down, she kept her dogged determination up and struggled on to the end. About 5 hours after setting off, we arrived at Wallace and Karen said she had never been so pleased to see a motorcycle.
5 minutes later, helmets on, I threw my leg over the bike and almost fell straight off, much to the amusement of a group of passing Germans. We then drove back to Lizzy and collapsed with only enough energy to drink beer whilst writing this blog.
Tomorrow, we are off to Italy via Austria, so its pack up time with Wallace on his trailer and all the other bits sorted and off to bed to try to gain some use of our legs for the 250km drive in the morning.