Friday, 21 June 2013

June 16 & 17 - Oberstaufen, Germany

         Ahhh,  we had reached our Resort and were ready for a bit of relaxation.  There is a really nice pool and whirl pool here.  They also have a small bowling alley, pool table and ping pong table, basket ball court, and racket ball and a kiddie play area.   We have lived in the pool daily as the temperatures here have been very hot. 

          On Sunday the 16th we checked out our Resort and what was available to us.  There is a mandatory fee for local taxes to be paid (7.50 Euro's per person per day or about $10 a day Canadian)  This fee gives you a card that allows you to travel by bus into town and back for free as often as you wish and gives you discounts on booked tours and discounts in some shops and restaurants in town.  There are several ski resorts in the area that our card allows us to travel up on the gondola's at no cost, but we did not manage to have time to do this, plus I am a wuss about heights.  This Resort has laundry facilities but they are not free.  3 Euro's to wash and 2 Euro's to dry.  This was probably the hardest thing we came across - figuring out how to operate the washer.  Good thing a staff member came by and gave us a hand.   Around us are farmer's fields with crops and cattle.  I LOVE the cows as they all wear a collar with a big bell on them that clang as they graze and walk around.  You can hear their bells ring from a half a km away.  Our Resort is surround by hills and greenery, very beautiful.  We are in the foothills of the Alps about 10 km from the Austrian boarder and only an hour drive to the Switzerland boarder. 

          At dinner we went to the Resorts only Restaurant called "Mediterraneo".  We found the staff very amusing.  Especially our server who seemed to choose for you what you were wanting or were allowed to eat for dinner.  We asked for lasagne and a small personal size pizza, but he told us "No..no..pizza"  so we each got lasagne.  It was a huge serving and very delicious, so we later thought what he meant was that the pizza would of been too much.  I saw some people across from us with pizza and it was huge!  But the next night at supper, Neil asked for soup and again our server said "No..no..soup", so Neil asked for a pizza with bacon on it,  (you guessed it) our server said "what? Bacon?  No..no..bacon!"  How about olives I suggested, and our server said "Olives, yes ok".  We bought some groceries in town the next day and cooked for ourselves.  We still however laugh about our server and how the menu is merely a guideline for what might be available.  

          Monday the 17th we walked into the town of Oberstaufen.  The people here love their dogs and cats.  We saw a beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog (long hair) typical of the Swiss Alps.  Later we stopped at a travel agent office and purchased our tour tickets for us to go to Switzerland on Thursday and also bought our tickets for the train to travel back to Rome on Saturday.  Already sweating from the heat we stopped for ice cream.  Then we checked out a bit of the town and made our way to a local Market.  Here we bought some groceries and another suit case.  We realized we (or should I say "I") had bought too many gift items and souvenirs and needed another suitcase to get it all home.  One person, a fellow tourist, could relate and was surprised that we had not brought a spare suit case with us.  Oh well, live and learn.  Oberstaufen, is in Bavaria and is a truly beautiful place.  All the homes are Bavarian style with painted shutters and flower boxes lining the windows.  Germany is a very clean place from what we have seen.  They are big on recycling and care about the environment.

          Back at the Resort and heading for the swimming pool.  Ahhhhh.....



A lot of the homes are very large.


 

View from our Apt. window in the evening
showing one of the Gondola's lit up on the hill side.


 









Lobby at Resort


 

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