Day 4 - Zugspitze

Zugspitze

Saturday was a nice clear day which is what we had been waiting for. The highest peak in Germany is called the Zugspitze and is in Garmisch. It is almost 3 km high. There are several ski slopes all over the mountain and there is an observation deck, restaurant and weather center at the very top. You can get to the very top via a cog rail train or a cable car. We chose to ride the cable car up (an 11 minute ride) which gives a fabulous view but is a little scary. The cable car goes up on an incline until you get about halfway up to the top and then it’s almost like an elevator going straight up the cable. The view is incredible and as you start to rise up above the other mountain peaks and look down on them below you there aren’t words to describe the feeling. When we got to the top we walked around on the observation decks, where it was -9 degrees without the windchill! You can see for miles into Germany, Austria and, I believe on a clear enough day, to Italy.

We ate lunch at the restaurant on top of the Zugspitze and had a booth right next to the window with Alps peaks all around. After lunch we took the train back down the mountain instead of the cable car. We thought it would be a different view and we were right, most of the 45 minute ride back down is underground! Lol. We didn’t see too much on the ride down. Next we drove over to Partenkirchen to the Olympic Skistadion. The ski portion of the Olympics were held here back in the 1936 and it is still used for many large ski competitions. When we were done there we headed back to the hotel to relax and let Colin run around for a bit before we went to dinner.