Yes, previously, there were no minorities anywhere, in Regensburg or Eichstatt. But now there were and as our trip progressed, there will be more and more foreign tourists in Bavaria. We apparently went to low tourist areas first

But alot smaller

Partnach Gorge and Garmisch

Partnach Gorge, with wife

After lunch we went to check out the Gorge. That's the Partnach Gorge, very near to the old Olympic Ski Stadium used in the 1936 Olympics. Cost to enter the gorge: € 2! Heck yeah! But it was a 3k walk from the car to the START of the gorge. Not cool!

The gorge reminded me a lot of the Samarian Gorge on the island of Crete. Majestic views of soaring rock walls carved from thousands of years of wear from the river. But in this case there were hundreds of people there, and we were forced to walk, very slowly, though cramped paths and short, dark tunnels. It was also drizzling the entire time. But all and all in was pretty neat. Once we reached the end, we had to turn around and fight the crowds back to the start.

Lin-Wei was not done hiking yet, though I had had more than enough, but I let her talk me into going for a bit more. Our gorge literature claimed that there might be places to eat along the trail, but we really didn't see anything. We climbed high above the gorge, and we did get to walk down the steepest road in the history of the world. We even had to walk sideways for a bit to keep from flying down the hill too fast.

Where have you gone, Eddie the Eagle?

Once we reached the bottom and began our fun 3k hike back to the car we got stuck behind some guys staggering back to the parking lot themselves. Looked like they'd had a much more relaxing and intoxicating afternoon than I had had.

We toured the stadium a bit, and headed back to town. I think we looked for sushi but came up empty. But the town had changed. We had only seen white tourists in the town when we got there the day before, but now it had exploded in Asians. They were bursting out of the seams. Lin-Wei felt a little less out of place.

That's a fine bank, indeed

After a little internet and dinner I talked Lin-Wei into checking out the local casino. Actually, it was called the Spielbank and I had seen in a tourist guide that it was a casino but from the outside it looked like it could be a bank. I kept telling her that I needed some Euros form the ATM, and maybe this Spielbank had one...but as soon as we entered she knew something was up.

I asked what kind of poker they offered, and was told that they played Bavarian Stud; they didn't offer Hold 'Em there. I'd also have to wear a jacket. So we just threw a few euros into the machines, and then called it a night.
Death on the Wank

Copyright (c) The Sticklers 2006