a little spot of climbing...

So far Munich's highlight has been without a doubt the climbing mecca we made our way to - with Cari at the wheel we did have a few mishaps involving me map reading in german (whoever thought this a good idea), attempting a very illegal U turn and hitting an angry German man's car while he watched (the german accent he employed was particularly memorable). I was pretty glad it wasn't me driving I must admit, always easier to criticise from the passenger seat. After making it to the wall though it was worth it - even those of you who don't climb would be impressed by the multi-facetated selection of options - you can climb outside, inside, holds, fake walls, bouldering AND a children's play wall thing (a personal favourite!) AND to top it all off the cafe upstairs sells pretzels and coffee! A perfect evening in my eyes.


Clearly not climbed out the next day we decided to hit the German alps and attempt some sport climbing. Conditions were not exactly perfect but as this was our only chance we went for it so took the gondola up the mountain. Despite our positive attitude as the gondola went further up the hill the scenery in front instead of looking like the closing scenes from The Sound of Music got whiter and whiter until the gondola seemed to be heading to nowhere. Getting to the top, the Alps were sort of seeable so we started on a wee taster walk; let me tell you though the cows in the Alps actually wear dumbells round their necks and the sheep have floppy ears so I was smitten with the Alps anyway! Despite leaving the guidebook in the car we did manage to find what looked like bolts and hence using the guessing game gave some of the bolted sport routes a go. Everything in the Alps seems to be very quaint and stereotypical, even the routes have cute wee signs at the bottom. However, the incoming mist and heavy levels of dew on the ground did defeat us slightly but hey technically we climbed in the Alps.

The gondola to nowhere; quaint signage; misty crags; cows; and a floppy sheep.

And of course the best thing about doing any form of exercise is the reward at the end. At the bottom of the gondola, almost as if it were a mirage, was a perfectly quaint German cafe that was able to serve hot chocolate, pretzels, spargel soup (white asparagus soup, my new favourite meal) complete with whipped cream on top (wasn't feeling this so much) and of course apple strudel. A very successful alpine trip I say.

Apple Studel ;-)