Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a quiet mountain resort town on the Bavarian border

I’m just trying to picture like a Ford Excursion driving down this “two lane” road. LOL

Narrow road parallel to the tracks, seen from Mittenwaldbahn train window, Germany

This next picture is probably the best one I took in the entire day. It’s just serene. Our train was passing through this rolling green field and there’s just the right amount of mist and those little hay sheds add intrigue to the scene and it’s just ya I really like this photo.

Small cottages and sheds dotting rolling green landscape, seen from Mittenwaldbahn train window, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

I started seeing locals as we got closer to town, like this bike rider.

Man riding bicycle alongside Mittenwaldbahn, as seen from train near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

I believe this is the third picture so far of my train curving to the left as seen from the window. I always wait for the train to go into a turn so you can see it in the photo, because I like to emphasize the fact that yes I was on this very train and yes this is what I saw out the window.

I normally just press the lens up to the glass of the window so there’s no glare, and you don’t really get the same feel when you can’t tell that I’m on a train.

Grassy landscape seen from Mittenwaldbahn train window, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

We were just about to pull into the station at this point. Here is a family walking their dog as we roll past.

Family walking their dog alongside the Mittenwaldbahn, as seen from train pulling into Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

OK this thing is awesome. A small locomotive with a relatively fuckheug snowplow on the front that looks like it could really fuck shit up. Just imagine running into a cow at full speed!

Fierce red snow plow locomotive, parked on siding at Garmisch-Partenkirchen station, Germany

And we finally made it to my hotel room. It was a fantastic hotel for the price; my room was only about $100 a night I think and it was at least a 4 star hotel. I highly recommend it, and it’s called Reindl’s Partenkirchener Hof. It’s within walking distance of the train station, too.

My hotel room at Reindl's Partenkirchener Hof, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

And here’s the beautiful view from my balcony. I really needed to take a break so I laid down with my computer for a half hour or so, but I made it my mission for the day to walk through town and hike up that mountain you see in the distance. Just like in Innsbruck the day before, I always make a goal of climbing up high so I can take an expansive panorama of the place I’m visiting.

View from my hotel room balcony at Reindl's Partenkirchener Hof, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

I started walking towards the center of town.

Group of kids walking past bahnhofstraße street sign, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

There’s a nice pedestrian walking street called Chamonixstraße.

Walking down Chamonixstraße, the main pedestrian street in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Garmisch officially had the most elaborate and prolific murals I think of any town I went to, so much so that you don’t bat an eye when you see something like this.

Mural on side of building, Chamonixstraße, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

This mural was my favorite.

Colorful christian mural on side of building, Garmisch-Partenkirchen town square, Germany

Here the road widens up a bit and would be what I consider the town square. I like how the guy on the bike is staring right at me when I took this photo.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen town square, Germany

I walked through the town center and continued in a direction that would lead me towards the mountain. Here is a nice mural and church steeple behind it.

Church with mural painted on the side, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

And the Apotek. Most European countries force you to buy your prescription drugs at a state owned pharmacy, and they are called some variation of the word “Apotek” (in Swedish) or in this case Apotheke. I sort of made it a tradition to start taking pictures of the Apotek in every town I visited, to compare the architecture between different cities and countries. This sure doesn’t look like your neighborhood CVS pharmacy, I’ll tell ya that.

Apotheke pharmacy, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

There is an alpine river with teal colored water that snakes through Garmisch, and here I’m crossing over it on a covered bridge.

Crossing a covered bridge over teal river, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

I began walking down random residential streets, ever mindful of the ominous storm clouds hanging over the mountain I planned to climb. I love the pretty garden these people have in their front yard.

House along suburban street, Garmisch-Partenkirchen

I found myself walking down a street called Am Feldkreuz, which turns out to be the perfect trail gateway for starting your hike up the mountain.

Looking down Am Feldkreuz street, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

The house at the end of the block had this crazy Jesus-being-crucified statue thing that I thought was a little out of place. Although according to one of my German friends, Bavaria is like the Texas of Germany so I guess that makes sense. Still pretty nonetheless.

Jesus crucifiction display in front of residential house, Am Feldkreuz street, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

This following panorama shows the beginning of trail I found. At this point I didn’t know if it was wise to actually start hiking up the mountain on account of the clouds hovering above it, but I decided that since it wasn’t raining yet I would give it a shot and hope for the best. I prayed for the Jesus statue to watch over me and protect my trail from the rain (lol), and then moved on.

Panorama of the trailhead located at Husarenweg and Am Feldkreuz, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany