Hiking in the Alps

After a good night sleep and a rich breakfast, we took our gear and started on our first adventure, hiking. Let me tell you that I never went hiking before, hence we choose an easy trail for beginners, so I thought.

Fully motivated we went up and up and the hiking got steeper and higher and soon I found myself out of breath. Dear God, what was I thinking, if this is an easy trail for beginners, what would be like a medium one, Am I so unfit?

After too many breaks and pauses my hiking partner pushed and motivated me all the way up to the top. Even I was laughing about myself but at this point in time it wasn't funny.

By the time we reached the top we found out that we were hiking a moderately difficult trail. Something went wrong or we incorrectly read the map. We hiked from Ettal, so from the valley to the summit the altitude difference was roughly 850 meters. It was not a hiking trail for dummies.

The view however from the summit made up for all the sweat and pain. We thoroughly enjoyed lunch together and after recharging our batteries, we made our way down, this time we took the cable car. The ride took approximately 10 minutes and again we soaked in the view and could relax all the way down to Oberammagau.

Finally on Vacation

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had to change our plans for our holiday this year. Originally, we were meant to go to the US later this year, but it looks like another trip to the south of Germany. We are going to Ettal. After traveling almost 700 km we finally arrived at our destination and we were quite hungry. After checking in we went for a walk exploring the neighbourhood and found a cosy restaurant to kick off our well-deserved vacation.

One of the attractions of the town just opposite the hotel we are staying lays the monastery of Ettal, very impressive building. And when you look a bit closer you can see me wearing a winter jacket at the end of August which is very unusual, but it was a very cold summer day down here in the mountains. We were lucky that the rain stopped. I hope the weather will get better and the sun will take over in the coming days as we have lots of plans, outdoor activities like hiking and eventually going for a swim in one of the many lakes up here in the mountains.

Family Fun Day

At the end of the summer school holidays my brother and kids always pay me a visit. Today my parents decided to not just drop them off but to stay a bit longer. As I was still working in the home office everybody was outside enjoying the sun and the warm weather.

There is nothing better than going for a dip if you feel hot. As I was working, I still heard the joy and the laughter in the back yard and so the picture was taken, capturing a beautiful moment of my whole family spending quality time together in the swimming pool.

Later on, after I finished work, I joined them in the pool, we had some ice cream and to finish off a brilliant family day we had a BBQ. Mum was worried we would not have enough food but there was plenty of food and selection for everyone.

The following day we drove my brother, niece and nephew to the Berlin main train station and they travelled back to Switzerland as the first school day was only one weekend away.

Weekend – Breakfast at the Pool

To have a great start to the weekend we decided to have breakfast at the swimming pool. Working so hard throughout the pandemic and staying at home on weekends, we can finally enjoy the fruits of all our efforts as we were busy upgrading and enhancing the back yard. 

Folks, we are on the home stretch of the summer project 2020. So, from now on we will enjoy more often breakfast outside and it feels like a holiday already.