A trip to Bavaria - 1988

Travelogue #2

A Visit to Bavaria 1988

#1 – The Week Before – Who’s going

I was a twenty-year-old Specialist in the U.S. Army stationed in Muenster, Germany back in 1988. There were 10,000 Brits and 200 Americans in Muenster. Now, out of these 200 Americans, twenty were females, so it was no surprise to me (or Mary Duck) that we became friends. She was twenty-three, single, and an American solider just like me. We had a lot in common. We loved to laugh, drink, and party, but the only thing was she was LIEUTANTANT Mary Duck – an officer, and I was SPECIALIST Steph Cardin – very lower enlisted and usually in the U.S. Army the two rarely mixed on a personal level.

Mary was a hoot. She was a good two or three inches taller than me with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She was pretty easy going, just like me. I was average height, average brown curly hair, well, I was average. We liked to have fun together. She had a little bit more going on than me at the time we took this trip. Aside from the fact she loved to tease the HELL out of me, she had a running car and mine had just recently blown up. (for the last time – it blew a piston). She’d already seen more of Germany than I had – the furthest south I ever went was Frankfurt. (Well, I went to an American facility near the French border but that doesn’t count for this travelogue! Hahaha!) Anyway, Mary came up with this fun idea and I knew I’d never have a chance like this again.

In late Sept. 1988, Mary suggested we take a week off and go to Garmish and Berchtesgaden. Both towns are on the southern most tip of Germany and were U.S. Military resort towns.

She said: “Steph, I’ll put in my request to go on vacation this week, you put in your request next week. Major Carrazna will never put two and two together and realize we’re going together.”

“Okay,” I said.

It was her idea, yet she was more worried than me! But come Oct 2nd, 1988, Major Carrazna, our company commander (who would have frowned on LT and Specialist hanging out) was clueless. With signed leave papers in hand, we popped into Mary’s American made Buick and started our eight-hour drive to Berchtesgaden.



#2 – The Drive

Well it took three hours down Autobahns 1 & 45 to get to Frankfurt. We refilled and stopped by the American PX to buy some new cassette tapes. One was Peter Cetera (the guy from Chicago). I can’t remember the other one – it was a dud. Trust me though, it was late 80’s stuff.

The autobahn from Nuremberg to Munich was gorgeous with steep hills on each side. On them were wine grapes. We were surprised to learn the grapes could grow in Germany’s climate.

After blowing an hour getting lost in Munich, we made it to Berchtesgaden at nine at night. The last part was some pretty steep hills and we were so overdosed on Peter Cetera we were singing the songs like giddy little school girls. Finally the moment arrived and we got our hotel. It was one of those American recreation hotels. Gosh, it’s been fifteen years so I can’t remember the name but it was “General Something.” We checked in and passed out.



#3 – Time for Some Tours

The hotels were built shortly after World War II for U.S. Soldiers to come and have some fun that were stationed in Germany. They were a good size, off white and a dark roof. They had a dining area so you could eat there if you wanted. Each room was much like a western hotel, two beds, a small bath, TV. They were very nice hotels. They also had a Rec desk, which sold tours, so on our first day we signed up to go see the Salt Mines.

When we got there they made us dress up in white pants, black shirts, and we put these funky pads on our kidneys to keep them warm. Then we took a slide and went into an underground cavern – which by the way, was cold. Mary was a knockout in her garb. Sadly, it did nothing for me. I still looked average. We took a little raft across an underground lake. The ceiling had those hanging ice looking rocks. Then we spied some bunches of white rock.

“That’s the salt?” Mary asked, pointing to the white stuff.

“Cool…” I muttered. It didn’t take much to impress me. It’s not like I was a world traveler at the time. But then, I only got two pictures of us at the salt mine. I couldn’t be too impressed.

In the afternoon, we took the bus up to the Eagle’s Nest. We rode a big double decker bus and the tour guide kept saying how they got these special brakes since it was so steep. Mary and I realized they weren’t kidding. We saw a couple of people actually turn green as we took a couple of steep hairpin curves up the hill. Then they made us get out 500 meters from the top and walk the rest of the way up!

After huffing and puffing like two out of shape old men, we got to the top.

“Well, at least it’s a gorgeous view,” I said.
“Let’s get a beer,” huffed Mary.

Good idea. Mary always had good ideas.

We went inside the Eagle’s Nest building and got us some beer. If I remember correctly, one of Hitler’s flunkies (Bormann) built this house on top of a lonely steep hill for a 50th year old birthday present for Hitler. Also, if memory serves, American forces got to the Eagle’s Nest first. I have a couple of more pictures from here than I do the Salt Mines but they’re mostly of the view, which is gorgeous.




#4 – Salzburg, Austria

The next day we took an all day tour to Salzburg.

“What’s so special about this place?” I asked Mary, as we rode on the bus.
“Duh…The Sound of Music,” said Mary, like I was a dunce.
“The…what?”
“The Sound of Music. It’s a movie with Julie Andrews. Haven’t you ever seen it?” Mary acted like I was playing dumb with her!
“No!”
She howled so loud the rest of the bus glared at us.

Salzburg was gorgeous. I have a lot of pictures of Salzburg. I immediately fell in love with it – and the Mozart Krugel. Mozart Krugel was chocolate candy with a pistachio middle. Melt in your mouth good. I bought two boxes to take home.

The tour was wicked. We saw the old Monastery up on the hill, which was in the movie. In downtown Salzburg we walked by the church with three arches and water fountain. Mary teased me by throwing water on me from the fountain.

“Julie Andrews did this in the movie!” She laughed.

The Sound of Music was going to be the next movie I watched!

We visited the Mirabell gardens where the kids sang “Do-Re-Mi”. After I watched the movie what impressed me was the fact Salzburg had changed little since filming in 1964 – 24 years later. It still retained the rustic beauty of a quaint Austrian town. If anything, my trip to Salzburg opened up my eyes to appreciate the cultural things in life.



#5 – Off to Garmish

Mary and I went to visit Lake Kongisee near Berchtesgaden before driving off to Garmish Wednesday afternoon. Kongisee was gorgeous. It was a glacial lake and surrounded by high hills and mountains on three sides. Its only accessible point was a small little pier on one side. Mary and I got on the boat and we were off. We went to the middle of the lake and the captain blew his bugle. I’d never heart an echo quite like that. It was loud, crisp, and clear. After a couple of times it faded away.

Then we went to a small peninsula on the lake. There was this classical Bavarian church called St. Barthomule’s Church. It was small with white walls and bright red round spires in the front and back. The pictures I gook here would have made great postcards. Mary took a picture of me standing on the rock pebble beach near the pier, looking into the lake, and the water is totally glazed over.

That afternoon on the way to Garmish (which was two hours away) Mary goes: “All the American hotels in Garmish were booked, Steph.”

“We don’t have a place to stay?”
“We’ll sleep in the car in one of the hotel’s parking lots.”
“Okay. I’m flexible.”

Really, what choice did I have? I’d slept in a lot worse places. A bivwac tent. The front seat of a British Bedford. Up against a tree. Mary’s car was definitely a step up.

We got there just in time to take the tour to Linderhof Castle. Linderhof was the only castle King Ludwig II actually finished building. He also built Neuschwanstein, the castle Walt Disney modeled his amusement park after.

Linderhof was white, small, and had a very Rococo feel to it. There were lots of furniture, paintings, and even a grotto fit for a king. When you walked inside two peacock statues greeted you. (It was royalty thing – peacocks represented royalty) The view from his bedroom consisted of water cascading down a long staircase which fell into a classical fountain of Neptune rising out of the water. I have a lot of pictures of Linderhof – not of the inside, of the outside, but for being a small castle, it was beautiful.

A little further down on the ground we came across a Moorish teahouse that had been imported form Turkey. Mary and I started cracking stupid jokes like “Oh, I guess he came here to smoke his dope and sip his tea” We laughed and giggled and caught the attention of five American guys – five SINGLE American guys who were basically doing what Mary and I were doing and flying by the seat of our pants. We became fast friends and they offered to let us sleep on the floor of their room. They even had sleeping bags for us! Of course Mary and I said yes!

We got back to the hotel named the “General Patten” and fit right in. I was in lust with a guy named Steve. Tall, dark haired, handsome – we flirted shamelessly with each other. But when it came time to sleep, Mary and I slept in the sleeping bags crammed against the wall next to the toilet. Hey – it beat sleeping in her car!



#6 Neuschwanstein

King Ludwig II was a nut. He was fascinated with building castles. I dunno…some call him a romantic and some call him a nut. I think he was engaged at one point as a young man but the engagement fell through and he never married. From the pictures I saw, he was tall, dark hair, well built, very handsome. He lived in the late 1800’s and was one of the last kings of Bavaria. Anyway, he built his castles (3 in all, a 4th planned) and almost bankrupted Bavaria to do it.

Neuschwanstein was built on a hill across Ludwig’s childhood home. It was tall with a lot of towers, doors, and balconies. To get to the main gate you walked up a small steep hill. You could take a horse and buggy for a fee, but I felt bad for the horses and so did Mary and the guys.

When we finally got to the courtyard, I had issues trying not to let my mouth drop in pure awe like the tourist I was. The main facade was tall – over three stories – and beautifully sculpted. It was mainly white with red dragons painted above the balcony. On the sides of the façade were bright yellow sand gold towers with dark green spires. The view from the courtyard was of a beautiful green gorge with a wooden bridge spanning a wide gap.

Inside we walked along a wooden balcony and came to the throne room on the third floor. The walls were painted with scenes from the Bible – sadly the only thing missing was the throne. We guessed he ran out of money. The castle had central heating – impressive considering it was 1880 something. What they would do though is use the heat/fire from the kitchen’s stoves and pump that into the vents of the castle. Smart for the time if you ask me. His bedroom was comprised of hand-sculpted scenes from Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde”. The kitchen was absolutely modern – with stoves and huge refrigerators. Yes – they had refrigerators in 1880 something but I think you had to be a king to have the ones he had.

The guys had us in stitches the entire time. They were such sweeties, letting us use their sleeping bags. Mary and I really appreciated their generosity.



#7 – Innsbruck, Austria

Our last day in Garmish, Friday, we took an all day trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Innsbruck was a big town but it wasn’t very modern looking in my humble opinion. There were a lot of streetcars and trolleys. We visited the two Olympic torches and took a walking tour of downtown. There was an old, apartment styled building with an old trellis. Above that was a balcony and above that was a golden thatched roof. It was said many a newly married couple went there for good luck.

In the downtown area was a square palace where the famous Austrian queen, Maria-Theresa lived. The palace was painted in white and gold with evenly spaced windows on the second and third floors. Across from this 1700’s palace was a non-descript building reminiscent of bland soviet style architecture. I was really impressed with the peek of Austrian history Innsbruck provided.

#8 – What Fun!

I really had a great time. I’d been in Muenster for 22 months and never went on a vacation quite like this. I felt free – it was exhilarating for a 20 year old. I enjoyed the taste of real freedom the trip offered.

After note: I created this log looking back at the pictures I’d taken at the time. Sadly, they are the only thing left of my 15-year memories. I also had a couple of notes in the margin to go by. I remember I wanted to see Europe when I was 18 and this trip gave me a real taste of the Europe I wanted to see.