Kochelsee & Walchensee

R & I went hiking around the town of Kochel am See with 4 other friends today. Located about 60km south of Munich it is a picturesque town surrounded by several mountains (known as "voralps" or Pre-Alps) and home to two lakes - the Kochelsee & Walchensee. We left around 9:30am and after a 45 minute drive reached the parking lot of the Herzogstand gondola ride at Walchensee. Considering that one of friends had a knee injury, we decided to take the gondola up the mountain. After a brief stop at the restaurant to refill our bodies with some fuel, we proceeded to do the 45 minute hike up Mt. Herzogstand.

See the hut on the top?


View on the hike up
While the hike up was very scenic by itself , the panaromic view from the top of the 1700m high mountain was quite breathtaking. One could see the Kochelsee on one side of the mountains and the Walchensee on the other side. One thing I am beginning to realize in my stay in Europe is that the camera does not do any justice to the natural beauty of the place. It is just a teaser of what the location has to offer!

Walchensee


Kochelsee

To the left you can see the Heimgarten. Herzogstand & Heimgarten are seprated by approximately 5kms. There is a hiking trail between the two but certain parts of the trail are supposed to be very narrow with steep drops on either side. Unfortunately we were not able to try it out today but I hope to do it sometime in the near future. I have heard the view from Heimgarten is well worth the hike.

The trail between Herzogstand & Heimgarten


A close-up of the trail, do you see the people?

Oktoberfest Parade

This morning R & I went to the Oktoberfest Parade with a few other friends. The parade started just a few blocks from our apartment! Unfortunately it was a pretty cold day :-(. I also forgot to bring my camera, so I will post the pictures after I get a copy of it from my friends.

If you have not heard already, Oktoberfest (also referred to as "die Wiesn" basically is a huge beer drinking party held here in Munich every year. It ends on the first weekend of October. A brief historical background: the first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race.

Now, if you are wondering why it is called the Oktoberfest if it happens in September - This why...
In the following years after 1810, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September. By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents. Historically, the last Oktoberfest weekend was in October and this tradition continues into present times.

Coming back to the parade happens every year at the 1st Wiesn sunday. This is the official prelude to the opening of the Oktoberfest and involves about 1,000 participants. The parade is headed by the Münchner Kindl--the little Munich city's coat of arms. The mayor arrives in a festive coach followed by civic dignitaries and horse-drawn brewer's carts (there are six big breweries in Munich) decorated with flowers. This colorful ceremony with elaborate floats, beer bands and men, women and children wearing traditional costumes (lederhosen and dirndls) dates back to 1887. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that Austria & Switzerland participate in the parade as well.


Lowenbrau

Spatenbrau

Hacker-Pschorr Brau

Paulaner

Hofbrau

Augustinerbrau
You can read more about the big breweries here and about Oktoberfest in general here.
Lowenbrau

Garda & Drive Back

On the 11th, R & I took a trip along lake Garda or as the Italians call it "Lago di Garda". It was very scenic and we wanted to visit some of the wineries along the region but unfortunately most of them were closed being a sunday. Since we did not stop much, we did not take many pictures and we also we forgot to take pictures as we were driving :-( But, some of the towns we visited along the way were Moniga, Desenzano del Garda, Sirmione (the most beautiful, its a peninsula, literally a narrow strip of land, just a street in some places with water on either side) and Pescheria.

At Desenzano

That was followed by a safari ride at the wild animal park close to Verona. It was the closest I have come to an African Safari. It was quite exciting to look at lions and giraffes with nothing else but the safety of my car (??).















We wrapped up our sight seeing activities for the day with a stop at Valpolicella a well known winery to the east of Verona. I have to admit that I did not understand any of the wine making process that was explained in detail in Italian! Though we have visited quite a few vineyards and wineries in the state of New York & California, the set up here was so different that all I was able to was take a few pictures. :-(


While our drive to Verona on friday night was through the picturesque town of Innsbrook in Austria we were not able to see much as it had gotten dark by then. The way back to Munich was a different route however but was no less scenic. We drove back now via Villach & Salzburg in Austria.

Verona Part 2

After a brief nap, the second half of the day was continued at CastelVecchio (or The old Castle). It was commissioned in 1354 by the Scaligeri warlord Cangrande II to serve the dual role of residential palace and military stronghold. The castle now serves as a museum displaying the artifacts of Scaligeri dynasty.

CastelVecchio

Entrance to Museo CastelVecchio

Fortress CastelVecchio

Another view of the fortress CastelVecchio

The walls of the castle was covered with decorative paintings and motifs.

View from Ponte Scaligeri the bridge from CastelVecchio

The next stop was at the Teatro Romano and Museo Archeologico. This Roman amphitheater was build in the first century during the reign of emperor Augustus. And, as you can see in the picture is used to this day for holding open air concerts and plays. Unfortunately, I was not feeling too well that night or else we would have a caught a concert that night.


View of Roman Amphitheater

The Roman Amphitheater

Courtyard in the archeological museum

The pillars seen near the Roam amphitheater

Inside the Archeological museum. In the Roman days, small peices of tiles were assembled together to form murals and were commonly laid on the floor.

We wrapped up the sight seeing for the evening at the famous Giardino Giusti gardens. This multi-tiered garden date back to the 16th century and even has a tiny labyrinth. There were two wedding parties at the garden when we visited them. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit the Castel S. Pietro as they were closed for renovation.

Giardino Giusti Gardens, Verona

The beautiful symmetrical layouts were seen all over the garden

In the distance is the Castel Pietro - A view from Lamberti tower

Verona Part 1

Verona lies right smack between the two more famous cities of Italy - Milan & Venice. Verona's claim to fame is through the city's well known lovers Romeo & Juliet immortalized by Shakespeare. Though there are markers indicating the houses of Romeo & Juliet, historians have not been able to say for sure if the lovers did ever really exist outside of the famous author's imagination. Infact, I read that it is widely believed that Shakespeare never even set foot to Italy!

Anyway, coming to my story - R had a business meeting near Venice on the 12th and so we decided it might be a good idea to spend the weekend in Italy. Taking into account that it was a last minute plan and our not so vast budget for the trip we decided that Verona would be a better choice. It was a really nice & relaxing weekend in Verona & Lake Garda.

Also, thankfully an Italian girl in my German class who happened to be from Verona, gave me a very comprehensive list of the "Must See" places in the area. First on the list was the "Arena", a Roman Colliseum that is used to date as a concert hall. Infact the following there was going to be a pop concert. Built in AD 100, the elliptical colliseum in Verona is considered to be one of the best preserved Roman amphitheater in the world and the best known in Italy after Rome's and has a seating capacity of over 22,000! The outer wall of the arena was destroyed by an earthquake in the 12th century. The arena sits by the well known Piazza Bra (Piazza basically means "Public Square").

The arena - rennovations being done on the exterior

Inside the arena, stage set for a pop concert - what acontrast to the gladiatorial events of the Roman days

The only peice of the outer wall still in existence after the earthquake

A close-up of the outer wall

The pathway before entering the arena - imagine gladiators lined up here ready to enter

Exit stairways of the areana used in the Roman days, now just a rubble

'Palazzo Barbieri', the Town Hall finished in 1883

Our next stop was Piazza Della Erbe (ofcourse we got sidetracked on Via Mazzini looking at all the gorgeous designer stores on the way, Dolce & Gabana, Gucci, Armani - to name a few.) Piazza Erbe is a bustling marketplace and sits on the former site of the Roman Forum where chariot races once took place. It is also quite close to some of the attractions of the town namely "Casa di Giulietta" or Julliet' house and the Piazza dei Signori containing the Arche Scaligeri (Scaligeri tombs) and the Lamberti tower.

Piazza Erbe

The 'Palazzo Mafei' is a 1668 work. On the top of it you can see the six pagan divinities sculptures (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Apollo, Hercules and Minerva). The winged lion is a symbol of the Veneto rulers of Venice. Though an independent state, Verona eventually suurendered to the rulers of Venice.

Arche Scaligeri - The tombs of the Scaligeri clan

Piazza dei Signori -You can see here Dante’s Sculpture and, behind, the ‘Loggia del Consiglio’ building.

Juliet's house - the balcony from which she is said to have first laid her eyes on Romeo.