BERCHTESGADEN

I got back back from holiday a couple of days ago and have spent the last couple of days processing washing and getting back on track with my various obligations and the like. We and I say we, because there was two of us on this jolly. That we had someone to look after the cats who if you are a regular reader of this blog number five and without whom we would have been well and truly stuffed. So first of all I must thank R for doing such a wonderful job of doing the cat sitting and ensuring the felines were well cared for.

Our holiday consisted of getting up really early, not that we actually got much sleep, piling into a taxi and heading off to Heathrow airport where we did the inevitable and got on a plane. Both of us had long planned and long wanted to go to Berchtesgarden in Germany, partly to see the mountains and that kind of thing and mainly to visit the site of the Austrian painters house on the Oversalzburg. Happily our house was situated on the same hill as the Berghof and for that matter “The Eagles nest.” All we had to do was walk. We did a lot of walking, up hill and down vale, through the woods and alpine bogs and then through someone’s back garden where we found another bog. Too say it was a test of stamina, endurance and friendship would be an understatement. Our dress for this adventure on the first night was not entirely appropriate, sandals and crocks do not go well with steep arduous and or boggy terrain. We had fuck all water, were hopelessly lost and our large pack of local supermarket shopping grew heavier by the minute,. It came to the point where we had to dig deep and search within ourselves with what to do next. The bag grew heavier, the insects bit and I thought about the ticks and other bogs feasting on our blood and those beasties watching us in the woods waiting to eat us when we collapsed.

Needless to say we got home and took some photos along the way, we also went swimming in a local lake. ( not on the same day) There will photos coming online later but right now I need the loo and a cup of tea.

The weather was lovely, we got tons of exercise(too much perhaps) and ate pretty well though with all the exercise we were never actually that hungry. Next time we will remember to adjust our wardrobes to match the conditions and take more pairs of shorts and other light weight clothing and oh yes decent foot wear