Date of visit: October 25, 2015 Weather: cloudy and sometimes sunny
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
目的地は、ガイドブック「地球の歩き方」がすすめていた、ドイツ南部の街「Garmisch-Partenkirchen」にあるドイツ3大崖っぷち絶景ポイントの一つ[highlight]「AlpspiX」[/highlight]。ちなみに本日この後もう一箇所行きます。なお、最後の一箇所は行きたかったのですが天候が悪い＆寒くて諦めました。（後日紹介します。）
Here is a brief introduction to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a town on the north side of the Alps.
まず名前が長いです。これは実はもともとガルミッシュとパルテンキルヒェンというのは別々の街だったのですが、第二次世界大戦前のこと、当時のドイツの某政府（名前伏せておきます）が、冬季オリンピックを開催させるために住民の反対を押し切って無理やり合併させたのだとか。それが長い名前の由来。
The Winter Olympics are held here, and it is a mecca for winter sports in Germany. I guess it is famous for Nordic ski jumps and so on. I think I could see the jumping platform when I was driving in the city.
また、音楽的な話題では、リヒャルト・シュトラウスが晩年をこの街で過ごしたようなので、名誉市民になっているようです。市内にはリヒャルト・シュトラウス博物館もあります。が、今回は訪れませんでした。これを書いている時に知りました…涙、ガイドブックには小さくしか書いてなくて気が付かなったです。
To AlpspiX
さて、ミュンヘン中央駅からGarmisch-Partenkirchenの街までは、アウトバーン経由で2時間弱といったところ。いや2時間もかかったかな？そして、市街地を通過して東側へ、「Garmisch Classics」なるエリアへと向かいます。まずはここにクルマを停めました。
ここにこの旅最初の断崖絶壁ポイント「AlpspiX」へと向かうロープウェイの駅があります。天気がちょっと心配な感じ。
But I’m going to climb up anyway. We bought a round trip ropeway ticket here.
It cost almost 30 euros, quite expensive.
Then you take the cable car to the observation deck AlpspiX. From the lower platform to the upper station « Station Osterfelderkopf », I think it took about 5 minutes to climb up. It’s quite close. The ropeway felt like one every 20 minutes or so. I’m sure they are somewhat aware of the timetable, but it seemed to depart when people had gathered to some extent. I feel like there was no particular timetable, but maybe I just missed it.
Station Osterfelderkopfの標高はおよそ2,000mなので、やはり下よりもずっと寒いです。厚着をしてきて大正解でした。早速、To AlpspiX向かいましょう。駅から徒歩1分–2分くらい、ひと坂を登る程度で着きます。入り口には、「こうやって作りました」的な案内板がありました。冷静にみると結構すごいかも。
ということで、最初の目的地へと無事到着。写真の撮り方がうまくないので、その怖さが全然伝わらないかも。結構怖いです。高所恐怖症の人はゼッタイ無理だと思います。
Even though I’m not afraid of heights, just walking here makes me pretty dizzy.
We also have a Vine video. Do you think it conveys more?
By the way, this is what it looks like when you look down from the top of AlpspiX. 1.000m gap.
It is scary to look directly down, but the view in front is easy to appreciate, beautiful and inspiring. It’s just a pity about the weather. You can see the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen below.
So, we easily fulfilled our first objective. After a quick admiration of the nearby mountains, we took the ropeway back down again in a hurry.
ちょうど駐車場へと戻る途中、ロープウェイ乗り場と駐車場の間にある踏切がカンカン鳴り出し、とてもローカルな電車が通過しました。バイエルン・ツークシュピッツェ鉄道です。なんとも素敵なほのぼの光景に感謝。
It’s nice to relax, but we’re impatient travelers, so we might as well choose a car.
Garmisch-Partenkirchenの街でランチ
We got hungry around here, so we decided to have lunch in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We went to the city center about 5 minutes east from Garmisch Classic, parked in the center of the city and looked for a restaurant.
Of course, it is convenient here too, TripAdvisor, as expected. The prepaid SIM of O2 which I bought in Munich also works well. By the way, I found out after I found the shop, Apple’s map seems to be doing well these days. Maybe I can use it more in abroad. Or, if you look carefully, the evaluation was quoted from TripAdvisor. In any case, I’ll keep it in mind.
さてさて、トリップアドバイザーを利用して、早速先生おすすめのZum Wildschutzというレストランに向かったのですが、やはり評判のせいなのかとても人気のようで入ることができませんでした。
ということで、次に選んだのがこのGasthaus zur Schranneというレストラン。
Perhaps because Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a tourist destination, there seems to be so many restaurants despite the small wait. I am sure it would have been interesting to stay there.
At the restaurant, we ordered some typical Bavarian dishes. It was a soup and a hearty meal of pork. Germans really like meat.
I’m so full.
Take the cable car to Tegelberg, view of Neuschwanstein Castle
Probably, we would have gone to the « Zugspitze » observatory after this. However, we didn’t stop there. We didn’t stop at Zugspitze because of the weather and we wanted to go to Neuschwanstein Castle.
1時間ほどで到着したのは、ノイシュバンシュタイン城、ではなく数キロ離れた「テーゲルベルク」へ。ここへ向かうロープウェイから良い角度でノイシュバンシュタイン城が眺められるということで行くことにしました。ここも「地球の歩き方」に載っていたおすすめ3大絶景ポイントのひとつ。ということで早速ロープウェイに乗りとりあえず上を目指します。
Definitely a good angle! However, it was difficult to take a good picture because of the unexpectedly large number of people, the crowded ropeway, and the fast speed of the ropeway. Moreover, it was backlit…. Still, I managed to take some pictures.
And that’s all I wanted to do, to be honest (laughs). Actually, if you take the ropeway up to the top, you can hike while looking at the mountain called Tegelberg, but unfortunately, it was covered with thick fog up there, so we couldn’t appreciate it very slowly.
After that, we took the cable car back down again and took another picture of Neuschwanstein Castle from near the parking lot.
This is the end of Neuschwanstein Castle sightseeing. Yes, I won’t go to the castle. It’s crowded and it’s already evening. We didn’t plan to go there originally. Actually, according to my parents who went to the castle directly on this day, it was so crowded that they had to wait for 4 hours to get inside. I was surprised at the popularity of the castle as always.
Drive through the Bavarian foliage to Liechtenstein
I finished my sightseeing today, so I decided to go to the place where I stayed today. The Principality of Liechtenstein. It is a little more than two hours away from Neuschwanstein Castle. The time was dusk, and we drove through the Bavarian autumn leaves to Liechtenstein.
