Beautiful Bavaria has much to offer

Leavenworth is a city in Western Washington that successfully rebuilt itself from a dying ex-logging town into a thriving faux Bavarian tourist attraction—one that Lucy and I enjoy visiting at least once a year. But as a change of pace, last week we visited the real thing, a Bavarian village on the edge of the Alps in Southern Germany.

Taken from the resort above Schliersee,
which we reached by cable car.

How can I describe Schliersee, a village about the size of Leavenworth but 100 percent authentic Bavarian? I could say that Schliersee is about equal to Leavenworth x 4. The mountains are taller. More buildings are decorated with paintings of Bavarian themes. Roofs are of red tile instead of composite shingles. And, of course, all the signs are in German and everyone speaks German. I’m not saying that the people of Leavenworth have done a poor job of creating an imitation Bavarian village. Quite the contrary. It’s just that one can only go so far in blending the cultures of two regions, and being in an true Bavarian village is an experience that can’t be equaled.

Extreme Bavarian theme.

What did we like best about our week-long getaway? Our favorite experiences were taking a cable car above the city for a great view of the lake and village below, and then riding down on a kind of mini roller coaster with individual four-wheeled sleds in a winding chute. A lever allowed us to control our velocity. We also visited a living museum that shows how people in the Alps lived and worked in centuries past. At the Markus Wasmeier Open-Air Museum, we saw restored wooden buildings, traditional farm animals, costumed workers and craftsmen sealing barrels with hot resin for their still active brewery. We strolled through Schliersee and along the lake shore, visited two ski resorts and hiked to two waterfalls. We took a scenic ride in a small but very modern commuter train that runs up the valley to the farthest village in the valley, Bayrischzell.

We lodged in the classy Karma Bavaria, a hotel that has a partnership with Wyndham, so room costs were covered through our Worldmark membership. We visited the spa, sauna and weight room regularly, and Lucy and I competed in a friendly game of 9-pin bowling in the game room. Perhaps the best part is that we were able to combine our vacation with a visit from Lucy’s cousins, Eduard and Els Bonnist (brother and sister) who are second cousins once removed. Eduard and Els drove down from their homes in Amsterdam and also lodged in the Karma.

Will we come back again? Probably not. Our lives are already split between Gig Harbor and Montecarlo, and we don’t need the complication of adding another country. It’s enough of a challenge trying to develop and maintain friendships while living in two different countries, not to mention that we’re still learning Italian. In addition, the whole time we kept thinking how much Bavaria reminds us of our own beautiful Western Washington, with its snow-capped mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, hiking trails, and yes, even its own Bavarian village—which, by the way, will have an alpine roller coaster and climbing wall opening this summer. And we’ve already booked eight days in Leavenworth at our Worldmark condo with our family this June.