The Shwits

Hiking in Lenggries: A Day Trip from Munich

It’s official. Our beautiful summer has come and gone. Luckily, we took advantage of our last hot, summer-like day and headed to the mountains!

We don’t have a car, so I’m always looking for train-accessible hikes. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Lenggries has a lot of options! I also didn’t realize Lenggries had a cable car and that I chose a hike that would essentially follow the cable car’s path. 🤦‍♀️

See the line in the trees for the cable car? Yeah, we’re walking up that.

Our original plan was a circular hike to Brauneck, then back to Lenggries. However, our plans changed a bit once we realized there was a cable car. We indeed took the trail up to Brauneck, which was marked as “expert” on Komoot (the trail app) since it required “excellent fitness and sure-footedness.” The sure-footedness wasn’t an issue; the path itself was wide and unobstructed. However, we quickly understood why they recommended “excellent fitness.” We walked uphill for over two hours. The views on the way up were nice, at least!

Once we made it to Brauneck, we realized we should have just started here. Forget the 2+-hour walk up, which was much less exciting than the views and other trail possibilities available from the summit. Here, there were two restaurants and at least 10 other trails, all of which were listed on a board that told you what trials (and other foot huts) were open that day and the approximate walking time. It was also a very popular paragliding spot, and it was really fun to watch them take off!

Most (smart) people took the cable car up, then branched out. So, we changed plans. We decided to take the cable car down, which gave us time to explore some, starting from Brauneck.

Lunch with a view! Like most places, you can bring your own food provided you buy a drink.

Views into the higher Alps from Brauneck.

And, lucky us, there were some cute cute cows. Which, of course, I had to take a picture of, and Shane had to take a picture of me taking a picture of the cows.

After lunch and an Apfelschorle (a sparkling apple juice, very refreshing!), we started our trek to Latschenkopf, which was an out-and-back hike of about an hour each way. While the path to Brauneck was more of a dirt road, the path to Latschenkopf was more trail-like, and I liked it!

All in all, it was another successful day! Want to do this yourself? Here are the details.

Practical Info

How to get there: Easy – by train! There is a regional train from Munich to Lenggries every 30 minutes. Bonus: this route qualifies for the Bayern Ticket, so it only costs €39 euros for 2 people (if you don’t have the Deutschland ticket) and gets you all-day access to local and regional transport.

Distance from Munich: ~1.5 hours by train.

Hike Direction: Take a left out of the train station and follow signs to the Brauneck Bergbahn (cable car). Once you’re in the area, you’ll see the typical yellow hiking signposts. We followed “Weg 9” to Brauneck.

Difficulty: The walk up to Brauneck was hard. It’s not a challenging path, but be prepared to walk uphill for at least 2 hours. The walk to Latschenkopf was moderate. The path required more sure-footedness, but the elevation gains weren’t bad.

Time: Depends on what you do. We walked about 14.5 km (9 miles) in ~5 hours total, not including the stop for lunch.

Tip: Bring cash for any purchases at the huts, and take the Bergbahn (€28 euros/pp; cards accepted) if you want to maximize your time up top, which I recommend!

Rating: ✅ Highly Recommended!

Our next big adventure is our first Oktoberfest! I’m excited to show off our full tracht. 😁

Until then, tschüss!

Whitney

Schliersee to Tegernsee: A Day Hike from Munich

Did you know that there are more than 400 lakes in Bavaria?! I didn’t either until I just Googled it, but now we both know. A while back, we saw two of those lakes in one day, thanks to a hike on der Prinzenweg, a path that runs from the Schliersee to the Tegernsee.

As mentioned, the hike starts at the Schliersee, which is a relatively small lake about an hour south of Munich by train. Since we started using the Deutschlandticket, which gives us access to all local and regional transportation, I’ve been on a mission to put that ticket to use. This hike was great for that since you start and end at each lake’s Bahnhof (train station). Step off the train and head right toward the lake for your first nice view!

If you’re facing the lake, the path towards Tegernsee follows the lake to the right. There are several ways to get there, but all are marked on the typical yellow signposts. Our first point of interest was the Kreuzbergalm with a spectacular view and a hut, which made for a nice lunch spot. This is definitely the uphill portion of the hike, but nothing was too steep… until the last bit before the hut (of course).

We packed a lunch, but food was available at the hut. As were beers and radlers, natürlich.

Our next point of interest was the Gindelalmschneid, which was our summit for this hike at ~1335 m (~4380 feet). From here, we had a 180 degree view down into the valley, which was beautiful. There is another hut here as well, but the walk from the Kreuzbergalm wasn’t that far (definitely less than an hour), so we didn’t stop again.

From this point on, it’s downhill, baby! Which was actually pretty terrible by the end. The walk down is quite steep, at least steep enough to make your toes hurt from being shoved into the front of your shoes for 3 or so kilometers.

Eventually, though, you’ll be rewarded with a view of the Tegernsee! Followed by more downhill walking to get to the lake. 🤦‍♀️

As I mentioned before, the hike ends at the train station, so hopping on a train to head back is easy. However, if you want to be a proper German hiker, you can continue down to the lake for a celebratory beer next to the water. We went on a Sunday, so not much was open. Luckily, the Seehouse Cafe (next to the swimming area!) is open every day, so we kicked off our shoes (literally) and enjoyed the view!

Practical Info

How to get there: Easy – by train! There is a regional DB train from Munich to Schliersee and from Tegnersee back to Munich. Bonus: this route qualifies for the Bayern Ticket, so it only costs €39 euros for 2 people (if you don’t have the Deutschland ticket) and gets you all-day access to local and regional transport.

Distance from Munich: ~1 hour by train each way.

Hike Direction: From the train station at Schliersee, take a right and head towards the lake. Then, follow the yellow signs for Tegnersee.

Difficulty: Moderate. It’s not a challenging path, but the elevation gain and loss can be challenging.

Time: The hike is ~15 km (~9 miles), so it took us ~5 hours including a generous stop for lunch.

Tip: Bring cash for any purchases at the huts.

Rating: ✅ Highly Recommended!

All in all, it was a great day and a challenging (but not too challenging) hike! If you’re looking for a nice day-trip from Munich, I’d definitely recommend this.

Until the next adventure.

Tschüss,

Whitney

The Eras Tour!

Dear Reader,

It’s been a long time coming to get to the Eras Tour. Literally, it was over a year. After not being selected for any presale codes for the US shows (which essentially guarantees you weren’t getting tickets), I was THRILLED when she announced her European tour, Munich was on the list, and I managed to get a presale code! Never in my Wildest Dreams did I think the tickets would still sell out before I could get into the shop. By the time I made it through the queue, only VIP general admission floor seats were available for the most money I’ve ever paid for a concert ticket in my life. I wasn’t going to do it. I couldn’t pay that much money; I’d be down bad crying at the gym. But, Shane saw the future. If Taylor came to Munich and I wasn’t going? Then, darling, I’d be a nightmare dressed like a daydream. So, I bought them.

and I don’t know how it gets better than this!

To give some perspective on our location, the venue posted this picture on Instagram, and you can see us! That’s us in the red circle! So, don’t blame me, Tay made me crazy!

This was actually my third Taylor concert. My sister and I first saw her in Nashville during the Red tour, then Shane and I went to Amsterdam during the 1989 tour. Little side note, my sister and I paid $200 per ticket during the Red tour to be in the pit, where we could literally touch the stage. 🤯 Never again will that happen.

Anyway, we missed the Reputation tour (the biggest regret of our lives) and vowed never to miss another one! So, originally, we bought three tickets for my sister, her best pal, and myself. However, someone had to go and eff up the timeline with a baby (her words, not mine!), so we ended up selling one ticket (in less than an hour, btw), and Shane and I took the other two.

I had made a purposeful decision to avoid watching as much as possible about the show on the internet, and I never streamed the Eras Tour movie for the same reason. We paid a lot of money for those tickets, and I wanted to be surprised!

As you can imagine, the night was sparkling! I only teared up twice, during Marjorie (you should just go listen to that song if you don’t know it) and Betty (RIP Meatball, iykyk). I also literally jumped for joy during the acoustic set surprise songs (Fresh Out the Slammer + You Are In Love mashup and Ivy + Call It What You Want). Ivy is one of my all-time favorites, but one I never expected to hear live. Regardless of your level of Taylor-crazy, it’s impossible to go to her show and not have a good time. You don’t need to know the songs to enjoy the performances and soak up the crowd’s energy!

Also, the crowd was wild. The stadium itself held 74,000, but an estimated 40,000 people also flocked to the surrounding park and Olympiaberg, a hill that overlooks the stadium, to listen (pictures of it are here). It was incredible!

And although my sister couldn’t come, my cousin made sure that she was with us in spirit! They had an Eras Tour movie viewing party with Cleo, costumes included. 🥰

So, all in all. Do I regret that VIP ticket purchase? Definitely not.

Long live the magic we made!

Tschüss,

Whitney

I’m In My Auntie Era! and Other Home-related Things

Yep, I’m an auntie now!

Little Miss Cleo Katherine Sipes was born on June 19th, and I’d like to send a big shout out to my sister for her convienent timing (😜). We literally landed in Charlotte and went straight to the hospital to meet hours-old Cleo! Funny story, Cleo’s middle name, Katherine, is my middle name, but it wasn’t until hours later that I actually put two-and-two together… Cleo’s middle name was my middle name on purpose! 🤦‍♀️ 🥰 I blame it on the jet lag and the overwhelmingness of my sister having her first baby.

This trip, most of our time was spent with family, but we were able to sneak in some visits with friends and some time at the lake. We were also home for the Fourth of July for the first time in I don’t know how long, which was fun!

Mostly, I was topping up my supply of Sis Bear (i.e., Sis + Terr Bear) snuggles.

Cleo was pretty upset about us leaving this time, but I am so grateful that we were able to spend the first three weeks of her life together. Terry and my Sis have been so cute as new parents. We always knew Terry was a natural with babies, but my Sis has never been the any ‘ole baby-loving type. (And, I can say that because we’re the same! “That’s a baby!” as my grandfather would say.) I say that to emphasize what a privilege it was for me to watch her transformation into a mom over those first few weeks. ♥️

Love you, family!

Tschüss,

Whitney

Heidelberg, Germany + 10 Years Abroad!

I vividly remember a conversation Shane and I had after a few years of living in the Netherlands, during which we talked about how cool it would be to say we had lived abroad for a decade. Well, as of May, we’ve met that benchmark! We’ve officially spent a decade living abroad!

To celebrate, we spent the weekend in Heidelberg, Germany, which has been on my “to-visit” list for a while.

Heidelberg is a cuteee city northwest of Munich, anywhere from 3 to 5 hours by train, depending on whether you spring for the high-speed trains or not. For us, it ended up being 7 hours on the way there because (of course) we missed a connecting train by literal minutes thanks to a delay and had to wait an hour for the next one. However, we were rewarded when we arrived with some welcome champagne and a room with a view. Thanks to my sis for working those Marriott shifts at 8 months pregnant so we could still use her family discount! 😜

View over the Neckar River from our room at the Marriott, Heidelberg.

We were lucky to have beautiful spring weather that weekend, so we spent the morning touring the Heidelberg Castle. You can visit the grounds for free, but entry into the castle walls, which includes the courtyard, barrel center, and apothecary museum, is €9. To get there, you can walk up the hill from the old town, or you can take the funicular, which is also included in the ticket price.

Free guided tours of the grounds are available twice a day in English, which we fully intended to do, but we arrived at the castle earlier than anticipated and didn’t feel like waiting around. Alternatively, we did a free audio tour via the Baden-Württemberg monument app. Download it on your phone before you arrive, bring your own headphones, and then you’re good to go!

The powder tower, destroyed in the 9 Years War between 1688–1697.

For me, the craziest part about visiting the castle was the barrel room, home to the “Great Barrel.”

Now, that’s a great barrel! This is actually the third iteration of the barrel. The first held a measly 130,000 liters of wine, the second, 200,000. The final version holds 220,000 liters of wine and (no joke) has a platform on top, which they expected was once used as a dance floor. 😆 All that wine, I imagine people were ready to dance!

After the castle and a little meandering through the old town, we headed for the Philosophenweg (Philosophers Way), a path on the opposite side of the river with great views over the old town and castle. Heidelberg is home to the oldest university in Germany, founded in 1386 (🤯). The path supposedly got its name in the early 1800s, as the professors and philosophers from the university liked to walk the path while they discussed whatever professors and philosophers discussed in the 1800s.

To get there, follow the Alte Brüke (the Old Bridge) across the river. The path up starts essentially immediately across the street. Be prepared because it’s maybe 10 to 15 minutes of walking up cobblestone stairs to reach the actual path. (We saw people trying to carry up strollers. Do not recommend.) Our calves were sore the next day (ha), but the views at the top were lovely! We went mid-afternoon with full sun, which I wouldn’t recommend. It was very hot. However, a walk in the morning or during golden hour would have been really nice (and made for better pictures!).

View over the Nacker River toward the castle from the Philosophers Way.

We spent the rest of our time enjoying the cafe culture. It’s hard to beat people-watching in a busy square with an Aperol Spritz in hand!

It’s honestly mind-blowing to think we’ve been living outside the United States for 10 years, and it’s interesting to think about the people we were when we first moved. On a light note, we landed in the Netherlands wearing sports t-shirts (check the airport picture at the beginning). Now, I would never wear a sports t-shirt in public in Europe on a day-to-day basis! (Don’t be offended Americans; it just ain’t a thing here.)

On a more serious note, living abroad shows you other ways of life. It may sound obvious, but all we had ever known before moving was life in the US; you did x, y, and z because that’s just how it’s done! Living in other places forces you to be flexible and, often times, throw out your expectations. Never did I expect my bike to be my primary mode of transportation (in Groningen and Munich), to live in a city where electricity and running water were optional (in Tena), or to currently have four bins to sort my trash (compost, paper, plastic/cans, & everything else, FYI). Nor did I ever expect to use the word bin (thanks, Lucie!).

Yes, there are downsides to living abroad; being away from friends and family is tough, and dealing with residency can be daunting. But, I can honestly say, I don’t regret a second of it, and I’m excited to see where life takes us in the next 10 years!

Until the next one…

Tschüss,

Whitney

London, 2024

This year is flying by! I know it’s cliche, but that’s how it feels! At least that’s my excuse for why it’s been over a month since we traveled to London to visit family, and I’ve yet to write about it.

Quick life update before we get started; I got a job! I started mid-April (just after this trip) as a part-time lab tech at LMU Munich, in the same department as Shane (a different lab, though). So, for the foreseeable future, I’ll be working with Cuckoos (yes, the bird)! I never expected to work in an evolutionary biology department, given that I’ve been in the biotech/pharmaceutical realm until Ecuador. But, so far, so good! And, there was no German language requirement, which is great. We’ve started learning German again (we’ve been re-inspired), but there’s a huge difference between day-to-day German and working-level German!

So, anyway. Back to London!

My aunt and uncle spend every April in London. They introduced us to the city back in 2016 and have since managed to instill their love (especially my Aunt Ann’s love!) of the city in us. This trip was particularly special because we overlapped with my cousin and her family. So, we had a mini-family reunion!

This trip, since we’ve all been to London before, we didn’t go to any of the typical sites, like the Tower of London, for example. We did, however, have a cousin afternoon out and went on a historic pub tour. As one might expect, the architecture and history lessons became progressively shorter as the tour progressed. 😆

We also spent the day in Greenwich, which was an easy boat trip down the River Thames. I feel silly even writing this, but in case you’re like me and never put two-and-two together, Greenwich is home to the prime meridian. And all those time zones? For example, we’re in Greenwich Mean Time +1/+2 (GMT+1/+2; winter/summer) in Munich. They originate in THIS Greenwich.

To stand on the prime meridian, you need to visit the observatory, which was really interesting. The museum explains how the prime meridian was established and how time and time zones were united internationally. It also sits on a hill, so the view over Greenwich was quite lovely.

Plus, it’s fun to say that we’ve been to the equator and the prime meridian!

Greenwich is also home to the Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship from the 1870s that carried tea and was once the fastest ship in the world. You can (obviously) tour the ship.

We had three full days in London, so we also fit in a proper English breakfast (twice) and visited the transportation museum (way cooler than it sounds!), the Borough Market (and had dinner at Roast, deeeelicious!), and The Lookout (address: 8 Bischopgate). We stumbled upon The Lookout after seeing the line for the Sky Garden. This place was also free and considerably less crowded if you’re looking for a nice viewpoint!

London is such a great city, made even better by spending time there with family! Although, I do have one bone to pick with London…

What’s with the ice cream truck hate?

See you next April (I hope), London!

Tschüss,

Whitney

Hiking Hoher Kranzberg, Mittenwald, Germany

I don’t know about spring anywhere else, but spring in Munich has been crazy. We’ve had snow, beautiful 22 C° (72 F°) days, hail, rain, and everything in between. Luckily, we had some nice weather over Easter weekend, so we set off for the mountains for the first time since we’ve been back!

Mittenwald is a really cute village, about 1 hour and 45 minutes by train from Munich. We’ve been to Mittenwald once before to visit the gorge. So, since we were a bit familiar with the area, we decided it would be a good reintroduction into train-accessible day hikes.

Our goal was Hoher Kranzberg, and there are several ways to get there. We opted for this route (in German, use Google translate), which started at the chairlift (from the train station, follow signs for the Kranzberg-Sessellift). Already, the view over Mittenwald was fantastic.

In terms of the path, the route is easy. It’s well sign-posted, and the path is wide and easy to follow. I think I even read that it was “stroller accessible,” but I’m going to call bulls*t on that unless you’re REALLY fit because the first hour of the hike to the Hoher Kranzburg was up. And, some parts felt straight up, like walking bent over on my tip toes straight up. The view was worth it, though!

From the top, there are several options for returning to Mittenwald. We opted for the route via the Lautersee, which was downhill the entire way. And, to our delight, we found a restaurant that was open on Easter Sunday! I mean, did you even hike in Germany if you didn’t stop for a beer along the way? The answer to that question is a resounding no.

After a beer and a walk around the lake, we headed back to Mittenwald to catch the train back to Munich! We caught the ~9 am train to Mittenwald and the ~5 pm train home, making it an easy day trip.

Until our next hiking adventure…

Tshüss,

Whitney

The European Shwits are Back!

Fun fact.

We’ve technically been in this new apartment in Germany for roughly two months, and it was only yesterday that we figured out how to register and pay for electricity. 🤦‍♀️ Good news, we can backdate it. 😆

I say technically back in Germany because we arrived from Ecuador and almost immediately left for the United States. We had about ten days in Germany to get into and set up our new apartment, and then we flew home for Christmas.

Those first few days after we arrived were roughhh… We landed on December 13th. We got the keys to the apartment and went to a Christmas party for Shane’s lab on the 14th. Then, we moved all our stuff in on the 15th. Truth be told, we don’t have much stuff. We also don’t have a car. So, we had to rent a moving van to bring what felt like entirely too much crap from our storage unit to the new apartment. Did I mention the apartment is on the top floor?

On top of that, we don’t have much stuff! So, we were off to Ikea and other stops for, oh, ya know, a bed to sleep in! It was a busy few days… all the while speaking Spanish to the Germans and getting really strange looks. ha.

Plus side, we reinstated our annual Christmas market visit. 😁

Then, on Christmas Day we were off to the US!

Spoiler alert. Traveling on Christmas was not as magical as the movies make it seem, to our disappointment! Maybe it was just the Munich airport, or we happened to end up in the wrong terminals, but they weren’t decorated, there was no holiday music, and people were generally grumpy (in hindsight, it makes sense). Doesn’t matter. The flights were cheap, and we spent a wonderful month at home with family and friends!

Shane’s been back to work for nearly a month now, and we’re readjusting to life in Germany. Leaving Ecuador, we were both concerned that Germany would feel a bit boring or that we wouldn’t enjoy being there. At this point, I think it’s safe to say we feel completely neutral about it. I’ve talked about this before, but in Ecuador, I feel like I had daily moments of “I love this country” or something to that effect. So far, I haven’t hated being back, but I also haven’t been over-the-top happy to be back. Just somewhere in the middle.

Honestly, it feels like we lived two separate lives, which I guess, in a way, we did. Imagine an avatar in the Sims game, where you can just pick them up and place them where you want. This is how I feel. Someone picked me up and placed me in Ecuador, where we created this new life based on a new culture, new rules, and new experiences. Consequently, you become a slightly different version of yourself–an Ecuadorian version.

Shane said he was Daniel, said with a Spanish accent, for example (which is actually true; he generally went by his first name, Daniel, instead of Shane, which was hard to pronounce for a lot of people. “Buenos dias Shaun-ey!“).

Now, my avatar has been picked up and placed back in Germany, where I’m back to the European version of me. We moved back to the same city, same neighborhood, and same job (for Shane). Did Ecuador even exist?!

Ok, obviously, it did, and that’s dramatic, but hopefully you see my point.

Whitney (como Whitney Houston!) y Daniel de Tena, Ecuador.

We’ve had a few reverse culture shocks, I’d say. First, the daylight. We were so accustomed to our 12-hour light-dark cycle that I could immediately tell what time it was based on the light when I woke up. When we arrived in Germany, the sunrise was at 8 am and sunset at 4:20 pm. It was a shock when I woke up that first morning at 7:30 am, assumed it was 5:30 am, and quickly found out it was two hours later than I thought!

Also, so many people smoke! I mean, there are cigarette dispensers at the bus stops. I completely forgot about this. And the water is so hard, and the air is so dry! Coming from the jungle, I think my body went into panic mode the first week, with all the moisture sucked out of my skin. Because of the hardness of the water, we’ve bought filters for the shower and the washing machine, which brings me to my next shock—the immediate availability of everything! I mean, I bought a TV for our apartment online and picked it up two hours later, and we’ve ordered from Amazon with next-day delivery more than I’d prefer.

I think our biggest reverse culture shock, though, is how outside of society we feel now that we’re back and don’t speak German. Finally, in Spanish, we could understand random conversations in the street and confidently manage nearly any interaction; we were living life in Spanish. Here, we don’t say more than “good morning” or “hello” to our neighbors because we can’t. We can both read enough German to navigate signs and basic necessities, but I couldn’t form a full sentence to order at a restaurant, for example (smiling, nodding, and pointing is a life-saver). You inherently feel more isolated when you don’t speak the language, which is something I forgot after spending 2+ years building my Spanish capacity. On the other hand, we only have a year, maybe a bit more, in Germany before we’re off to who knows where, and I know the effort it takes for me to properly learn a language. I’m just not sure I have it in me for such a temporary period.

There have been some fun things about being back in Germany, however! It’s been enjoyable putting the apartment together. I can genuinely say that I like our apartment, especially compared to our basement apartment with no kitchen and no windows to the outside world. We were super excited about buying rugs and a vacuum cleaner (is that called getting old?). And, after 12 years together, we finally bought our first couch! 😆

We’re also getting back into running, which, quite frankly, was boring in Tena because the only good place to run was laps in the park. Our apartment is essentially next to the large city park with trails and a river, and Munich is known for its green space, which makes running interesting! I also can’t complain about the availability of ingredients and the selection at the grocery stores, which has made cooking fun again (however, black beans are weirdly hard to find). Honestly, I really can’t complain.

Anyway, that’s our little life update. We’ve mostly just been re-setting our routines and readjusting to European life. Soon, we’ll be making a quick trip to the Netherlands to visit friends and pick up the last of our things. So, until then…

Tschüss,