From: Rainer
Subject: Rainer's Europe Trip 1998 -- part 19
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 03:56:26 EDT

Monday, 10/12 -- part 19

Most of us were awake around 0400 today.  Don't know why.  Monika got up
and dialed in.  Several of her on-line friends and even a class mate
were on, too.  She spent the next 3 hours in her element.

Vera and I had planned to do another load of laundry early this morning.
The nearby laundromat was closed on Sundays and was supposed to open at
0700.  We were there five minutes early and the place was still dark.
The woman did open the shop just a few minutes later than advertised.
We were pleased that she could do the laundry by 1000, freeing us from
the chore.

Monday brunch at the Holiday Inn was much less crowded.  Vera and I
continued eating by ourselves since Monika was still internet chatting.
We brought her back breakfast -- but by that time she'd fallen asleep.
Vera took a nap, too, and I wrote on the journal a bit and mostly looked
out the window.  I picked up the laundry, we repacked, paid the bill and
headed back to the Marienplatz with it's now open shops.  We visited a
jewelry store, Wieland Schmuck, that Dietrich and I had discovered
independently during our last respective visits to Munich.  A couple of
more pictures, a brochure with the Wieland stamp on it, and on to
shopping.  Monika ended up with a very nice cape in the Bavarian style.
In the smaller towns of Bavaria, many people still where the traditional
clothing, or Tracht, reflecting the conservative nature of the region.

There was a bit of an issue with the ATM.  Two of the three machines
that I found wouldn't give me any money.  The store where be bought the
cape didn't take Visa yet -- it was new and the machine wasn't working.

We headed back to the car, just as it started to pour rain.  We headed
out of town down the Alpenstrasse on the way to Mittenwald, our next
destination.  It rained all the way to Mittenwald.  The fall colors and
the glimpses of mountains that appeared as the clouds broke and reformed
were splendid nonetheless.  The short drive was covered in a long time
since we stopped for lots of pictures.  We had lunch in a small town
whose name I can't remember.  Monika fell asleep in the back seat -- the
short night finally catching up with her.

Mittenwald is a beautiful little town.  The streets are narrow, the
houses are painted with traditional Bavarian themes, and the mountains
are very, very close to everything.  We drove around looking at the
hotels.  The first place was looked nice from the outside, but was
rather dark inside.  The earringed man behind the desk mumbled terribly
and was difficult to understand.  They did have a room and let us look
at it.  You had to take an elevator and then still climb stairs.  The
room was small and dark and not very exciting.  We returned the key and
thanked the man and left.  Driving a little further we found the Hotel
Rieger.  The rooms were large and bright and had a view of the nearby
mountains.

We unpacked and headed out to walk up and down the little streets whose
shops and houses were decorated with Bavarian paintings.  A little
stream ran down the center of the cobble stone street.  All of the shops
were closing -- it was 1800.  We found some that we wanted to revisit in
the morning.  I couldn't stop taking pictures of the mountains as they
rose to dramatically above the little streets and houses.  They tops
were lightly dusted with snow.

We bought a bottle of Heidelberry wine (don't know what that translates
to) from Monika's Laedchen (little shop) since the minibar didn't have
any red wine and since we wanted a business card with Monika's name on
it.  The wine wasn't very good.  It had a screw cap and it wasn't very
expensive.  We went back to the hotel and had our normal happy hour.
The menu for the restaurant at the hotel looked like a good one.  So,
when we were ready for dinner we walked down the two flights of stairs
and followed our noses -- the kitchen smells permeated the halls.
Tonight, however, was Bavarian Buffet night, and it was quite busy.
It's not what we had in mind and the price suggested that we try our
luck elsewhere.  So, down the long hall and back up the two flights of
stairs to the room to get our coats and car key.  Then back down again
to the car.  It was dark now.  Luckily the menus of most restaurants are
posted outside and lit up.  So we drove around the dark streets stopping
at these beacons to discover what was available within.  We almost
missed the small corner that's the Karwendel Stuebl.  It had about 5 or
6 tables, one of which was occupied.  The waitress was friendly and
chatty and interested in what I translated for Vera and Monika.  She
mentioned that their are quite a few American customers and she can't
explain everything on the menu.  She reminded Monika of her second grade
teacher.  The food was great.  We had a good time.  We took a picture.
The waitress took a picture.  We told her how much we liked it and she
went back to a cabinet and returned with a hand-carved Edleweiss that
she gave to Vera.  We also got some business card from her to give to
all our friends that come to Mittenwald.

It is unexpected finds like this little inn in this little town that
makes me feel great.  This is what I expected our trip to be like.
We're more than half way through it now and it's finally making sense.
The pace has slowed.  The scenery is breathtaking.  We're all getting
along.  Life, in this part of the world, is good.  I wish it could be
that way for everyone.