Week 59 - Munich and Lucerne
Other photos for Munich and Lucerne are posted here.
Our trip was nearing its end as we left St. Gilgen, Austria for two shorter stays in Munich, Germany and Lucerne, Switzerland. We were building our energy for the grand finale of our grand tour-- a 100 mile walk in the Swiss Alps.
Saturday, July 23 - St. Gilgen to Munich
We were up early to finish our final packing in our St. Gilgen apartment. Charley had spoken to Theo the caretaker, and we left behind food and some clothes that he will get to a needy family. We also doubled the size of the apartment library with a great supply of books and left behind the Rummikub game that we’ve enjoyed since Provence. Our luggage continues to shrink as we get closer to our Swiss walk.
We left the keys in the apartment and drove down to the village for breakfast. We’ve really enjoyed staying in St. Gilgen and definitely will come back here again. We picked a café for breakfast (juice, coffee, rolls, meat and cheese), had a leisurely meal and then one last look at the village. Charley and Kelly stopped in a drugstore looking for shampoo. While I waited outside the shop, a woman walked by with her little dog. The dog was trotting along carrying a rolled up newspaper in its mouth. The paper was about the size of the dog!
We took a different route to the autobahn (by Fuschl) and then headed toward Munich. This was the last journey of our 14-month trip that we made by car.
About an hour from Salzburg we exited the autobahn for a brief detour at Bad Aibling. My parents lived in this village when I was born, and I lived here for a few months when I was a baby. (I was actually born at a military hospital in Munich.) My dad was in the army, stationed in Bad Aibling, and my parents lived in the village—not on the base. I think they actually rented a room in a woman’s house—they were just 22 and 20 when I was born, so very young and having their first of many European experiences. We returned to the USA before I was a year old, but I grew up knowing about Bad Aibling and Bavaria and perhaps that is one reason I feel such a strong connection there.
