Our European Adventure: Road Trip to Garmisch

The snow covered trail we took through Austria

Bavarian Alps

On Tuesday, February 19th Ryan and I took a 5 hour, overnight road trip. Garmisch is a small village located on the border of Germany and Austria. I know you are all wondering why would they go here? Ryan has a couple of work projects that will be starting in Garmisch and needed to meet the people he will be working with.

Snowy peaks of Bavarian Alps

So... now for a little history. The German town Garmisch-Partenkirchen has a population of about 26,000 and its main industry is tourism. The independent towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen were forcibly brought together in 1935, under Hitler's orders to host the 1936 Winter Olympics. In preparation an Olympic ice stadium was built in Garmisch and a ski stadium was built in its sister village Partenkirchen (both stadiums are used today). During our stay we were able to visit the ski stadium and watch some kids practicing ski jumping.

Four different heights of ski jumps

Ski jump used by German Olympians

One of the kids just finished a jump

Our drive to Garmisch took us into Austria and on a beautiful, scenic tour of the Bavarian Alps. We arrived around noon on Tuesday and after some lunch we checked into our Bed & Breakfast. We spent the rest of the day with friends, touring the ski stadium, eating, and shopping. After some breakfast on Wednesday, February 20th Ryan set out to conduct his business. We then spent the afternoon shopping and exploring another nearby German village. We had a great time exploring this little ski town and our only regret was we didn't come prepared to ski! I guess we will be making future trips! :-)