Kochel

The drive to Kochel was a pretty one. We had borrowed a friend's GPS system and oh, what a difference it made! No more stressing about how to read the map, wondering if we should've taken that last turn, or hearing how no, we're not going to stop to ask for directions! Thanks to this digital wonder, we were able to just plunk in the names of the pretty towns that Klaus suggested driving through and then enjoy somebody telling us exactly where to go. The gadget even tells Stefan to mind the speed if he's over the limit. Nice!

Once in Kochel, we set up in Frank's apartment. He's at the end of a little lane that overlooks the lake. His place is in one side of an old Bavarian style house, up a flight of wooden stairs, and with all windows looking into the middle of the trees - treehouse-esque. Very peaceful. Frank was due to come down the mountain that night for 2 nights. Sunday night we all went out to a local biergarten and enjoyed various forms of schnitzel for dinner.

Monday it was pouring rain. Frank had to go to a funeral for an old colleague from his former job, so Stefan and I made use of the 'Frommer's 25 Best Loved Driving Tours in Germany' book my aunt Esther had given me over the holidays. Frank lives right where two tours converged, so we picked our favorite towns, plugged them in the GPS and off we went. Many of the towns have painted frescoes on the buildings depicting old town trades, fairy tales, biblical scenes, or faux architectural grandeur.We went to Mittenwald to see the violin building museum, but of course it was closed on Mondays. My family missed seeing this back in 1991, so I was bummed to miss it yet again. They say 3 times a charm, so maybe the next time! We stopped in an old cafe to warm up and have a snack. I was pleasantly surprised to find they had topfen strudel, which is my favorite and usually only available in Austria. I guess since we were so close to the border it was more a regional thing as opposed to national food. The warm vanilla sauce was a nice touch. The first time I ever had enjoyed this treat was at the Konditorei in Davis, CA.We paid 3 euro to take a private road alongside the Isar River as we headed back to Kochel. That was definitely worth it! So pretty and off the beaten track. We decided to be adventurous at one point and default from the GPS and drive towards what looked like a pretty area. We drove into Austria without knowing it! Time was pushing us to turn around, so we said farewell to Austria and went back to Kochel, Frank, and his treat of taking us to a fantastic Chinese restaurant in Bad Tölz. This was a fueling up of sorts for the adventures that would come on Tuesday morning.