Another long walk: Steinebach Hechendorf Seefeld Oberalting Meiling

The rain has abated! E and I went for a walk this sunny afternoon, fully intending to end up in Herrsching, but we changed plans in the middle, opting for open fields instead of wooded paths, and a loop walk instead of one-way + train.

As we headed out of Steinebach, we passed an architect's office with a pair of snowpeople outside. It hasn't snowed in Steinebach yet this winter, so we're guessing someone drove down to the Alps to pick up a carload of snow.

It is, however, finally below freezing. The hills were covered with hoarfrost.

Along Steinebacher Weg, heading toward Hechendorf, we saw this bucolic scene featuring Kloster Andechs on the middle-ground morraine and our friend the unfenced cow in the foreground meadow.

Our favorite lone-tree-on-a-hill, in sunlight instead of rain:

Proof that E was there. He took his hat off for this photo.

An underpass in Hechendorf:

I didn't take any photos up at Schloss Seefeld, but several of its galleries were open (on a Sunday!). E and I peeked inside one that was exhibiting intricate, bold necklaces made from copious quantities of silver, exotic feathers, and Bergkristalle ("mountain crystals," known as rock crystals in English--large pieces of remarkably clear quartz). The artist's mother was staffing the store, and she spoke enthusiastically with us about the art. Some of the pieces were displayed on MOOSE ANTLERS. I resisted saying "Wow!! European moose antlers!!" and launching into a discussion of moose, Elch, wapiti, and etymology (mainly because I couldn't remember the German word for "antlers"--Geweih).

Schloss Seefeld was the far point of our loop. Heading back through Seefeld, we came upon the village war memorials: WWI memorial (background), WWII memorial (middle ground), and "Over 60 years of peace 2008" marker (foreground).

Oberalting's St. Peter and Paul Church. The base of the tower dates back to the 15th century; the church was rebuilt and baroquified in the 17th century. The clock and sundial date from 1963.

We had seen multiple 3M signs on our walk, and decided to intentionally follow one. We were glad we did, because otherwise...

...Carly would not have been able to converse with the local chickens, who turned out to be cousins. (Conversing through the fence was a little weird.)

Signs indicate that a 3M factory indeed exists on the hill above Oberalting. E and I were intrigued that the three entrances are numbered 2, 1, and 3. (S says this is because the visitor entrance is the main entrance. We imagine verbal directions might be something like, "Please use entrance #1, the visitors' entrance. It's the second entrance on your right.")

Cars were zipping by us on the road to 3M, so we decided to skip finding the factory and instead cut through a field on a tractor path, hoping to rejoin a trail.

Some of the tractor tracks were filled with ice.

Our plan was foiled by an electric fence, so we turned back. The valley below us was illuminated with golden light.

We continued through the fields on a path that led us past a horse farm...

...over a bridge...

...through the fields...

Look! Up there on the hill! It's the 3M factory!

...to Meiling. This is St. Margarethe Church.

We were treated to some fabulous views as we headed up the road back to Steinebach. Every 50 meters or so, I'd say, "here E, hold my hat so I can take some pictures." E finally said, "you know, you take something like 300 photos every time we go for a walk, but you only keep, like, 10 of them. Why don't you just take those 10 and skip the rest?"

E kept saying the sky looked like a rainbow, and my camera agreed.

Regenbogen

Look! Sunlight!

Hooray! E and I trotted down the hill...in the rain...because seeing sunlight over there doesn't mean we have sunlight over here...and were treated to this:

The interwebs tell me this is called a supernumerary rainbow.

Dreilaender Giro

The reason we left Freiburg early Saturday was to drive to Nauders, Austria, so Stefan could ride the Dreilaender Giro on Sunday. He had been training for this race for months: he joined a cross fit class in January, upped his weekly mileage, biked up and down Mt. Mitchell a few times, and rode once from Durham to Mt. Airy. He's fit and firm, despite an old disc injury that necessitates pausing to stretch his back and legs several times a day; and he certainly wasn't going to let the common cold he picked up Friday stand in his way.

The only real threat was the weather. Last week, the forecasts for Nauders' Sunday weather ranged from steady rain to thunderstorms to sleet, with predicted high temps ranging from about 48-62^oF. Of course, the forecasts for Freiburg proved not to be terribly accurate, apart from the initial 98^oF day, so we shouldn't have worried too much. Nevertheless, after four hours of sunny driving on Saturday, we encountered increasing clouds and then pouring rain about 15 minutes outside of Nauders. It wasn't looking great for Sunday morning.

Saturday evening outside our pension: a pause in the rain.

It turned out that the weather couldn't have been better: clouds early Sunday morning yielded to warm sunshine. Stefan finished the race in a little more than nine hours--7 hours 46 minutes of actual biking, with stretch breaks interspersed to protect his back.

Testosterone Central, 6:25 a.m. Sunday

Stefan waiting with the rest of the jocks

The victorious biker

Now in its 20th year, the Dreilaender Giro is a loop that runs from Nauders over the Reschen pass into Italy, through Mals and Glurns to Prad and Trafoi, up over the Stilfser Joch/Stelvio pass, down into Switzerland, over Umbrail pass, down to Santa Maria Wal Muestair, to Ofen pass, to Zernez and Unterengadin, back into Austria at Martina, then to Norbertshoehe, and finally back to Nauders. The route is 168km long, with ~3,350m elevation gain.  

The highest pass in Italy, the Stilfser Joch is one of the most dramatic and demanding ascents in the Alps. Stefan took a photo near the top of the pass:

Sunshine and switchbacks

The road was built in 1820 to connect Austria to Lombardy, which then belonged to Austria. The road has 48 switchbacks. We drove up Monday morning to admire the view and Stefan's prowess, and this is what we saw:

Brrrr

Elias was thrilled with the snow, but we were all glad Stefan had sunshine yesterday.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Towns all over Germany know exactly how to drive away the bleakness of interminably gray late-autumn skies: they open festive Christmas markets decorated with thousands of teeny tiny little lights, where you can find Gluehwein and gifts to warm your body and soul against the chill.

Situated primarily around the Rathaus plaza, Freiburg's renowned Weihnachtsmarkt commenced on Monday and runs until December 23. And believe it or not, the clouds parted this week, and the sun is shining upon Baden-Wuerttemberg once more.

I'm usually pretty cynical about capitalism-centered longer-than-advent gearings up for Christmas, but I'm finding the market a pretty and fun place to nosh and gawk. Most of the stalls match one another in size and color, their dark brown stained wood exteriors adorned with stapled-on forest green pine branches. The lights--mostly small white bulbs, but also large, pointed German-Moravian Herrnhuter stars--do a lot to generate cheer after the sun sets (well before 17:00 these days). The goods sold are predominantly (though by no means exclusively) handmade crafts, including functional and decorative pottery, fancy feather-quill pens, brightly colored felted wools and textiles, elaborate cookie press molds, natural soaps, and baubles, toys, and kitchen items made from gorgeous woods. Some items are made on site: hand-dipped beeswax candles, blown glass ornaments, elegant little lathe-turned wooden tops. The food is affordable, and in addition to the satisfaction provided by the mere act of eating, there's also delight to be had watching a vendor make you your very own warm-applesauce-and-cinnamon-sugar-filled crepe hot off the griddle.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the market is that it turns Germany's natural order topsy turvy. So powerful is the urge to celebrate, so strong are the forces of Christmas commerce, that the impossible becomes possible: the market is not only open daily until 20:30, it's also open on SUNDAYS.

Alongside the market, the downtown Christmas scene has been providing some mild local dramas. Controversies have included how late into 2010 the outdoor ice-skating rink in Karlsplatz will remain open, given the unseasonably warm weather (the compromise: mid-January); and how it could possibly be that merchants on Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse--the snazziest shopping street in all of Freiburg--are too cheap and disorganized to hang decorations on Kajo Street, denying shoppers a treasured seasonal joy for the first time in 55 years (tsk!), while smaller stores in li'l old Herdern have found funds to hang red Herrnhuter stars over a good stretch of Habsburgerstrasse. Public shaming in the media is extremely effective in Germany: the Kajo merchants are putting lights up this weekend.