Going to GaPa – a stay in Garmisch Partenkirchen

It never ceases to amaze me how many people look at you strangely when you tell them you are skiing near Munich (I think most English people automatically think France or Austria when you mention such a trip!) but, as Garmisch Partenkirchen isn’t all that far from Munich (90km to be precise, but when there’s not much to stop you putting your foot down on the autobahn…), and happens to be at the foot of Germany’s tallest Mountain (at almost 3,000 metres), it’s makes a great base for a two centre trip with a few days skiing and some time spent in one of my favourite cities…   We drove through France, Belgium and Holland before stopping off in Trier and making our way down to Bavaria…

Known to the locals as GaPa, you might actually have heard of Garmisch Partenkirchen in your school history lessons as it was home to the Winter Olympics of 1936.     Garmisch and Partenkirchen existed alongside each other as independent villages until they were lumped together for that very occasion…  You get the impression that some people think Garmisch is a little more modern perhaps, whilst Partenkirchen remains a little more traditional, but traditional picturesque streets with painted buildings are pretty easy to find in both places.

Gapa is a place that’s very familiar to us – we stayed there a couple of times as Munich residents, and visited for “mountain fix” day trips often (once almost being arrested for the pleasure!!), but as we left any kind of ski trip organising to the last minute given the building site that is our house currently, we lucked in with an apartment in Partenkirchen which meant we could pop to our other “home” for a quick visit too…

You don’t just have to come here for the skiing you know, it has a lot to offer besides.  Other than visiting the vast Olympic stadium with infamous ski jump, Partnach Gorge is just up the road, picturesque Oberammergau – home to the famous Passion Play is nearby, as is what has to be the most beautiful lake I have yet to lay eyes on – Eibsee – as stunning as it is in Winter as it is on Summer (there were people skating across it when I was admiring it from from the cable car the other day)…

As English half term was slightly before Fasching (Karneval) in these parts you could really sense the gathering excitement.  At night we would watch out of the window as the musicians would practice in their traditional wooden masks (some of which are probably hundreds of years old).  I guess it could actually be quite scary if you knew nothing about this and bumped into a few of them on your way home after a few at the Gasthof….

By the way, if you would like to learn more about the Fasching/Karneval in these parts, and the ancient traditions associated with the casting out of bad spirits after the winter months, and welcoming the good spirits for a productive spring, look no further than this wonderful post from Fotoeins…

 

At this time of year you can also spot the local Schafflertanzers.  This part of Bavaria was also hit by the plague, and this traditional dance was created to tempt people back out of their houses after the danger had passed (look out for the little statue in the tiny square by the Drei Mohren too!).   The tiny and picturesque yellow church of St Sebastian is dedicated to the locals that died from the Plague – just in case you’re wondering.

And whilst my gang taught the tiny one to conquer skiing, I was more than happy to wander Partenkirchen’s colourful streets, admiring the magnificent backdrop and investigating the array of independent shops.

If you are visiting don’t walk past the Werdenfels Museum either, it’s beautiful inside and packed to the rafters with exhibits of what life was once like in this part of Bavaria (no pictures allowed sadly.  Sometimes I secretly like that as it means I tend to concentrate more on looking at stuff rather than thinking about a good angle!)…

When I was joined by my smallest partner in crime, we explored that little bit further (he’s very into stairs at the moment) before inevitably ending up in the amazing chocolate shop which we had to pop in to oh at least 15 times to admire their vast chocolate Eiffel Tower (and taste a sample or three!).

 

Talking of food, if you are self catering here Angela Caveleri’s deli is a great place to start for a huge selection of Italian delicacies as well as amazing coffee and wine.  There’s a traditional cheese shop at the very end of the high street, as well as a bakers, fish mongers (quite rare in this part of the world) a roasted chicken shop, and a butchers.  You can find a typical supermarket a short drive away.   We ate out at an old favourite of ours La Baita, which still proved to be good, but was packed solid so remember to book.  We also had a good meal at Drei Mohren.

We loved our sojourn back to Garmisch Partenkirchen, this colourful combination of two villages was somewhere stored firmly in our family memory bank anyway, but will now also be forever remembered as the place the Three Year Old learned to ski, and I also got to have a bit of peace while he did that…