Garmisch-Partenkirchen – My Winter Wonderland!
Hi there,
As you all know I simply love Christmas markets. Last year, Dresden and Erfurt were on my itinerary and I enjoyed the pre-Christmassy atmosphere there a lot. This year I decided to visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a nice and quite famous place in Bavaria. It has 26,102 inhabitants but it isn’t a town, it’s a municipality. It is also a place with a healthy climate. A lot of tourists visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen every year. It is famous for its “Neujahrsspringen” within the scope of the famous Four Hills Tournement. Places to visit around Garmisch-Partenkirchen are:
v Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Germany with 2,962 m)
v Partnachklamm (a beautiful gorge with a romantic course of a river)
v Alpspitze and observation deck fixed at a height of approximately 2,080 metres that allows breathtaking views
v The Olympic Ski stadium with the new Olympic jump - unfortunately this was closed at that time I was there
My time in Garmisch was limited, that is why I decided to check out three attractions and here is my report of the journey.
As you all know I simply love Christmas markets. Last year, Dresden and Erfurt were on my itinerary and I enjoyed the pre-Christmassy atmosphere there a lot. This year I decided to visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a nice and quite famous place in Bavaria. It has 26,102 inhabitants but it isn’t a town, it’s a municipality. It is also a place with a healthy climate. A lot of tourists visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen every year. It is famous for its “Neujahrsspringen” within the scope of the famous Four Hills Tournement. Places to visit around Garmisch-Partenkirchen are:
v Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Germany with 2,962 m)
v Partnachklamm (a beautiful gorge with a romantic course of a river)
v Alpspitze and observation deck fixed at a height of approximately 2,080 metres that allows breathtaking views
v The Olympic Ski stadium with the new Olympic jump - unfortunately this was closed at that time I was there
My time in Garmisch was limited, that is why I decided to check out three attractions and here is my report of the journey.
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After a good night’s sleep I decided to start
with my first sightseeing tour. The hotel reception’s recommendation was to go
to the Zugspitze today. The weather forecast predicted a visibility of up to
180 km up there (2,962 m). Wow! To get that high, I had to get on the
Zugspitzbahn. A nice trip of about one hour with a difference in
altitude of approximately 1,800 m from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Zuspitzplatt.
I enjoyed the spectacular view during that train journey.
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When I arrived at Zugspitzplatt the view gave me
enough strength to enjoy the lovely snow and sunshine.
To get to the top of the mountain, I had to use another cable car and then there it was: The golden cross. If I say so myself, I was extremely courageous in entering this lookout point!
The way down from this wonderful place went a lot
quicker than the way up. It was a cable car that brought me back to
Garmisch-Partenkirchen and what I noticed in that cable car was that the
tourists visiting the Zugspitze really come from all over the world. People
from all over the world travel here – a very international place!
As you could understand, my night’s sleep was very deep after such a thrilling trip. The next morning I woke up and thought about what to do next. Right – Christmas markets. I had not visited any of the Christmas markets in Garmisch and the surroundings. Since I had a rental car I decided to go to Innsbruck, the fifth biggest city in Austria after Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg. It has 124,579 inhabitants and a very rich musical and cultural diversity, not forgetting the Christmas market! In Austria they are called Christkindlmärkte and in Innsbruck there are even two of them: Innsbrucker Bergweihnacht and Christkindelmarkt.
As you could understand, my night’s sleep was very deep after such a thrilling trip. The next morning I woke up and thought about what to do next. Right – Christmas markets. I had not visited any of the Christmas markets in Garmisch and the surroundings. Since I had a rental car I decided to go to Innsbruck, the fifth biggest city in Austria after Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg. It has 124,579 inhabitants and a very rich musical and cultural diversity, not forgetting the Christmas market! In Austria they are called Christkindlmärkte and in Innsbruck there are even two of them: Innsbrucker Bergweihnacht and Christkindelmarkt.
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At first I thought I might have to visit any market because the streets were so crowded, then I thought I would not make it to the Christmas market because of the nice food at the “Speckeria” (could I resist?), then I thought I was hi-jacked by some headless joker but eventually I was saved by the Christkind (Christ Child) and it showed me the way to the Christkindlmarkt. |
This whole tour made me very hungry and I decided to have some potato on a spit – delicious. Then I checked out the Märchenstraße Innsbruck where I met some dreadful giants and some lovely fairies and of course the “Goldenes Dacherl”. It was a very enjoyable day in a crowded but beautiful town. |
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The third and last day of my trip to
Garmisch-Partenkirchen started with a copious breakfast in the hotel. After
that I needed some fresh air and decided to visit the “Partnachklamm”. Klamm
means a gorge and this one is 700 m long and 80 m deep and every year about
200,000 people visit it. To get there I preferred to walk. I enjoyed
this spectacular place with its 5 metres long icicles and its river bed that is
wonderful to look at but of course too cold to swim in. On my way
back to the hotel I decided to take a horse-drawn carriage.
The next day I went back to Gütersloh on an ICE
train doing 250 km per hour. I was asleep nearly the whole time, it was warm
and cosy on the train.
I hope you liked my little report about my trip to Bavaria.
I hope you liked my little report about my trip to Bavaria.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Jeffrey
Jeffrey
A Black Forest school trip
With the sun on my back and a long journey behind us I was ready for ‘Der Schwarzwald’, the land of cuckoo clocks, Black Forest gateau and trees, trees and trees. The Black Forest is in the German state of Baden-Wüttemberg and a little birdy living in the tree tops told me that the Black Forest itself is shaped like a table from above, kind of rectangle shaped and is around 160 kilometers long and about 60 kilometers wide. A big table! But the forest isn’t only a forest and isn’t flat like a tabletop. There
are many villages and even towns like Baden-Baden, Freiberg-Freiburg – sorry just kidding, that’s Freiburg and Calw. |
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Here’s a selfie of me outside my cabin.
I love the smell of the pines and fir trees and wood carving here is something you can call a ‘traditional cottage industry’. The tourists that come here from all over the world like buying cuckoo clocks, made in the Black Forest since the 18th century. |
These clocks are so cool, all different sizes and prices but they all have one thing in common. Weird birds spring out every so often screaming at the top of their voices ‘cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo’. Now I don’t mind a conversation with my fellow birds but come on, if you’ve got one word in your dictionary guys a conversation’s going to be a bit limited! You can find lots of my ‘cuckoo friends’ in a very old and famous university town called Freiburg, one of the towns I mentioned. I arrived on market day and headed for one of my favourite food stalls on ‘Münsterplatz’ selling Bratwurst .
Looking up at the blue sky I saw the beautiful tower of the Freiburg Minster. There’s been a church here since around the year 1120 and the cathedral has 16 bells, one called the ‘Hosanna’ bell which weighs nearly 3,300 kilograms. That’s a lot of Bratwurst!
Even after my ‘Bratwurst’ I still had a little corner in my tummy for something else to eat but something sweeter. The famous Black Forest gateau was calling out to me but before I could find one I discovered a dream and what a dream. It stared at me from the shop window, the most tasty chocolate cake in history and it was gone, gobbled up in flash. Before I left this wonderful town I couldn’t resist having a quick dip and wash in a one of the many ‘Bächle’ or flowing gutters that run throughout its centre.
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They were once used to provide water to fight fires and feed livestock. Luckily this isn’t the Middle Ages anymore because anyone caught cleaning their dirty feet in this clean water would have had their wings clipped or even worse! After making friends with two beautiful horses that regularly pull a beer cart around the town just like in the old days, I said goodbye to Freiburg.
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Because the Black Forest isn’t too far from France it didn’t take me too long to flutter over the mighty Rhine to the French city of Strasbourg, the capital and main city of the Alsace region in France. This city is really into European Union institutions such as the official seat of the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights and the European Vulture Appreciation Society.
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Wow, does that last one really exist? Well no, but it should. Anyhow, I decided not to hang around and find out because I was on a mission to discover this city, and what a city! Its centre, the ‘Grande Île’ was classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and you don’t have to ask this vulture why, just go there and see for yourself. Right in front of me stood the red looking Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. This was the tallest building 300 years ago and is still the sixth tallest church in the world but I ignored the more than 330 stairs up to the top. I just can’t understand people - why climb when you can fly. Inside I made friends with a dog, a dog carved into stone which seemed to be waiting for someone long gone. As you can see, it's a church packed full of interest.
Now, apart from great shops in this city there are also some yummy eating places. I flew straight for ‘Flam’s’ which didn’t disappoint this vulture. It’s a big restaurant with a long list of ‘Flammkuchen’or in French ‘tarte flambée to choose from .This is food from this region, a kind of baked flat
bread with mega tasty toppings. After this really cool meal I skipped all the
way to the ‘Petite France’.
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This is an area of town that’s really kicking. Fantstically old half- timbered buidings of pure beauty. I was blown away by this city and its people.
After all that culture and window shopping I needed some other kind of fun and I couldn’t think of any better place nearby then a theme park called Europa-Park which will be 40 years old in 2015. Its divided up into European country themes and is so popular that it has millions of visitors a year and can take up to 50,000 visitors a day! You can slip, slide, splash, get soaked and roller coaster yourself all day long at this place - and I did..
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I loved the animals made from squashes and even took a selfie, 'photo bombed' by some kind of spook in the background .
Please let me know, on my comment page, if you have been to the Black Forest and any of the places I visited. It would be cool to hear about your adventures too.
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Revius Lyceum school in return visit to JKG
After we were guests last November in Holland, Dutch students from the Revius Lyceum School in Doorn visited us. We were very excited to see them again and we greeted them warmly. For one school week, the year nines and elevens of the Janusz Korczak school each had 29 Dutch guest students. This was a good opportunity for practicing English on a daily basis. The first thing for the Year elevens was getting to know each other. On Tuesday the two day project ‘Create your own world on Mars’ started. Mixed groups of students had to think about politics, school systems, a financial system and other important aspects for their country on Mars. It was a very interesting project and a lot of groups used unicorns in their countries.
After a little bit of free time in the afternoon, we all went bowling in the evening. We all had lots of fun but for me all the bowling balls were just a bit too heavy……
On Wednesday we all got on our way to Oberhausen in the morning. There we visited ‘CentrO’ a big shopping centre and also the spy museum ‘Top Secret’ with a guided tour, in English of course. We had an insight in to the history of spying during the past and now. In the museum, covering 2,000 square metres, the students were able to explore everything about the interesting world of spying. The highlight of the day for many was the laser labyrinth. Here you could try to get through the labyrinth without hitting a laser beam. I really liked it because everytime I went through it, I got a high score.
On Thursday the Mars project ended and was presented. Fantastic imaginary worlds were created, some so wonderful I could see imagine myself at home there! In the afternoon we all tried different sports in and outside the gym. These included volleyball, basketball, baseball and football and although we all had a cool time, it was very exhausting because it was very hot outside. In the evening there was a party in the school where we all had a lot of fun. We all danced a lot and a dancing teacher supported us and showed us how to dance to some ‘in’ songs. When the song “Atemlos” from Helene Fischer was played everybody from Germany sang along. I have to say that our personal DJ was very excellent and made everybody dance – yes even me.
On Thursday the Mars project ended and was presented. Fantastic imaginary worlds were created, some so wonderful I could see imagine myself at home there! In the afternoon we all tried different sports in and outside the gym. These included volleyball, basketball, baseball and football and although we all had a cool time, it was very exhausting because it was very hot outside. In the evening there was a party in the school where we all had a lot of fun. We all danced a lot and a dancing teacher supported us and showed us how to dance to some ‘in’ songs. When the song “Atemlos” from Helene Fischer was played everybody from Germany sang along. I have to say that our personal DJ was very excellent and made everybody dance – yes even me.
On Friday morning before the Dutch students went home, we (120 people plus me) all met in the Café & Bar Celona in town for breakfast and then we had some time for some more retail therapy. At one o'clock we all said our goodbyes. Many students told me, especially those from year nine who won’t have another opportunity to take part in the exchange again, that they were very sad because the exchange had ended. The Year elevens will visit Doorn in September.
The Dutch exchange is great fun and provides so many new opportunities and experiences for all the students involved. But most of all it provides me, Jeffrey, with the greatest advantage of all, to eat again in a Dutch pancake house – yummy yummy in Jeffrey’s tummy!
The Dutch exchange is great fun and provides so many new opportunities and experiences for all the students involved. But most of all it provides me, Jeffrey, with the greatest advantage of all, to eat again in a Dutch pancake house – yummy yummy in Jeffrey’s tummy!
Jeffrey meets VIPs in Berlin
Yet another report from your good-old jet-setting Jeffrey!
Last week, I was invited to come along to meet and greet the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel – can you believe it? Me, Jeffrey the vulture with Frau Dr. Merkel? In Berlin?
I have advanced to quite a wanted little vulture, I have to say. I am an It-vulture now, as they say.
We were going to see her with a crowd of people from all over Germany who had met and discussed European policy issues in the so called Bürgerdialog which was held last year in several cities all over Germany. A few had been chosen to come to Berlin in order to discuss their views and suggestions for a better Europe with the chancellor.
Last week, I was invited to come along to meet and greet the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel – can you believe it? Me, Jeffrey the vulture with Frau Dr. Merkel? In Berlin?
I have advanced to quite a wanted little vulture, I have to say. I am an It-vulture now, as they say.
We were going to see her with a crowd of people from all over Germany who had met and discussed European policy issues in the so called Bürgerdialog which was held last year in several cities all over Germany. A few had been chosen to come to Berlin in order to discuss their views and suggestions for a better Europe with the chancellor.
Topics were: integration, the economy and social aspects as well as global questions and the theory and ideas behind this grand project called “Europe”.
I can tell you, this was a very interesting event and I enjoyed listening to the lively discussions. I was especially proud to go there, because I joined a group of students from the Reckenberg Berufskolleg in Wiedenbrück who were able to go because of one of the moms from JKG was able to take them. Europe is their future, you know. Especially the younger ones amongst us should have a right not only to articulate hopes and fears but also be listened to and heard. After all, it is their future we’re talking about.
Copyright: Bertelsmann Stiftung/Fotograf S.Pfütze
It was not Frau Dr. Merkel who we had the discussion with due to the current events in the Ukraine - she had been called to an urgent conference. Therefore, the chief of the Bundeskanzleramt , Herr Altmeier, represented her.
Honestly, even though I did not get to meet the chancellor, I was very happy to get to listen to Herr Altmeier instead. I think he spoke like a true European and has got much experience in the subject and he had some important ideas about how to improve issues on a local and national level and I listened very carefully to me too.
Honestly, even though I did not get to meet the chancellor, I was very happy to get to listen to Herr Altmeier instead. I think he spoke like a true European and has got much experience in the subject and he had some important ideas about how to improve issues on a local and national level and I listened very carefully to me too.
After that, I even met Prof. Dr. Rita Süßmuth, the former Bundestagspräsidentin! I told her everything about my visit to the US embassy last year and about the state of the Parliamentary Partnership Program. She was so pleased to hear about the alumni association as she was amongst the people involved initiating the wonderful exchange program between the U.S.A. and Germany.
But:
Did you know that even though the chancellor is a very very important person, Germany has some other very notable people;
Here’s the rollcall:
• Bundespräsident
• Bundestagspräsident
• Bundesratspräsident
• Kanzler(in)
Therefore, meeting the ex-Bundestagspräsident, was quite grand for me.
Did you know that even though the chancellor is a very very important person, Germany has some other very notable people;
Here’s the rollcall:
• Bundespräsident
• Bundestagspräsident
• Bundesratspräsident
• Kanzler(in)
Therefore, meeting the ex-Bundestagspräsident, was quite grand for me.
Of course, I took another tour of the City, saw the Brandenburg Gate, went to the Bundestag. If you visit Berlin this is the tip of the iceberg. If you are interested in Germany’s capital please read my adventure from 2013.
My next report might be from something very unique, too: I’ll be speed-dating politicians who are running for office in the coming local elections!
My Journey to the Schools Table Tennis Championships
On 5th February I was taken by the children to the local schools table tennis championship and it was a fantastic experience for all. I had never seen so many coloured tables in a huge gym and all of them had a cute net in the middle! The players ran around the tables so fast that I had to take a closer look.
My glided flight onto one of the tables (well we vultures are graceful) was very dangerous anyway because a ball kept being hit to and fro and over the net by the children.
Watching the game behind the net was the best thing and the correct way according to everyone there.
Watching the game behind the net was the best thing and the correct way according to everyone there.
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Of course there was still a lot more to see. There was even a ‘normal’ table without that net thing where the adults registered their teams. This was the area of the competetition organizer – a very important and serious place indeed!
At the beginning of the competition all the teams gathered together and a man with a microphone welcomed us all and introduced the teams and all the children involved. |
Of course our school teams were very excited and it was so cool seeing our girls and boys. I had to fly here and there so many times so that I could see all four of our teams playing.
As I flew around the gym, I kept seeing stands with so many milk products. As you can imagine I’m no fan of milk being a special kind of vulture, but the children were very pleased. I know now, too, why this championship is called the "Milk cup"
At the end I had to fly up to the most popular place in the gym, the victory rostrum and you’ll never guess what, the girls and boys of our Year 6 actually took the first place and won the competition! The Year 5’s were also really pleased because they managed third place although with competitions there are always winners and losers and looking back at my vulture roots I understand how that works and hurts! But everyone who took part left with a feeling that taking part is all that counts and even though some were disappointed, it was still fun!
What a day this was and I learned so much. Perhaps I might be lucky enough to report from the German National Championships in Düsseldorf – we’ll see.
Do you have a favourite sport? Does your country or state have a national sport? Please let me know and leave me a comment too!
Do you have a favourite sport? Does your country or state have a national sport? Please let me know and leave me a comment too!