Wander & Nest

After taking our time to get to southern Germany, we finally made it for the main attraction and the reason we booked this whole trip in the first place – winter hiking and snow days with friends.

We stayed at a sort-of lodge, called Haus Hammer. I think these types of accommodations are very typical in Germany, but they were totally new to us! We had our own room with just a king bunk bed (yes, king bunk bed – it was super solid), small table, sink, and plenty of storage and hooks for clothes. No outside shoes inside though, you leave those at the entrance and trade them for your inside shoes when you come in. The bathrooms were shared with the rest of the floor, which wasn’t an issue at all. Then 2-3 families shared a kitchen block, which is a fully stocked and fully functional kitchen in a row of kitchens. And each family was assigned a dining table that we could arrange as we liked so we could eat meals with our friends. It was quite possibly the most family friendly accommodation we’ve ever seen, and that’s after living in New Zealand for 5 months! There were kids everywhere – running full tilt through the halls, climbing on the kitchen counters to “help” prep meals (Mara), playing with the massive train set and toy collection in the common spaces – really they all just got to do what they wanted and no one batted an eye.

We were only at Haus Hammer for dinners, sleep, and breakfast. And we spent the days outside in gorgeous snowy nature.

Day 1: Finding our snow hiking (and sledding) legs

Each day our winter adventure started with a short train or bus ride to our starting point. It’s amazing that everything is accessible by public transit! We started day 1 at the base of a somewhat steep, snow-covered, 2.5km long hill. We were met by dozens of sleds zooming down and quickly understood the assignment – grab a sled and walk up! Luckily the pace was very slow with many stops for the kiddos. Mara had never seen this much snow, let alone a sled, so she wasn’t as quick to jump on one as the other kids who were being pulled up the hill by their parents, but she eventually tried it out. This truly seems like the best form of transportation. We made it to the top and saw the destination hut – huts are restaurant/lodges and there are tons of them! This is also when we understood how these days go – hike to a hut, have lunch, play in the snow, maybe do some other activities, hike down. At the top we got to enjoy some actual sledding. It was my first time on a real sled like this (not just a plastic disc) and of course Mara’s too. She liked it, but didn’t want to go too fast… I get it Mara, same. After some sledding we had a real Bavarian lunch in the toasty warm hut, it was a delight.

After lunch we played in the snow a bit more. Mara was starting to get a little more apprehensive of the sled as the day went on, which was not great for what was coming. Sledding down the 2.5 km hill! It started great and we had some really great laughs, but then Mara started getting scared and wanted to be done. Wylie switched her to the backpack and continued on the sled with her on his back. She wasn’t super excited about it but we made it work and it was actually really fun for us adults.

We caught the bus back, made dinner, and rested up for day 2.

Day 2: Moments of joy between tantrums, and realizing our snow limits

There were no sleds on day 2, which was a relief for Mara, but not quite enough of a relief to make the first part of the day enjoyable for her. There was lots of crying during the first part of day 2. We hiked up a road first, so not much snow, which was easy for the adults, but not so fun for Mara in the hiking backpack. It felt like we were stopping every 2 minutes for new snacks or to adjust something for her. Luckily the scenery was incredible.

When we got up to the snow Mara started showing interest in walking and exploring a bit which was awesome! These were the really nice glimpses of joy between tantrums. A short distance (but long time) into our snow climb we turned a corner and our friends said “ok now this is where it gets a bit tricky”… not a good sign coming from experienced snow hikers! The climb ahead was steep, like really steep. It was actually just climbing under an out-of-service ski lift! I somehow managed to convince myself that we could go up, but down would be another story. We didn’t have spikes for our shoes and carrying Mara in the backpack down that would have been really dangerous. Plus, Wylie had been feeling sick all day (was it norovirus or too much heavy food, we’ll never know). So we decided to split with our friends, they continued up and we watched them in awe as Mara finally played in the snow!

We slowly made our way down letting Mara walk and take her sweet time with her many walking sticks.

We made it back to the little town, stopped for a late lunch, and met our friends at the bus stop to head back to Haus Hammer for the night.

Day 3: A little less climbing and a lot more snow

It was probably norovirus, because on day 3 I was not doing great. But I powered through and actually felt a lot better being outside compared to inside. Mara wasn’t obviously sick, but based on how cranky she had been over the past few days we realized that she may have been a little under the weather too. She was less fussy on day 3 than day 2 but still had a solid mid morning tantrum. In case you want to hear a toddler screaming because she dropped her snack, I’ve got you covered.

Despite the crying, the scenery was incredible. It snowed the night before so everything was perfectly dusted with fresh snow.

It was a pretty flat walk and easy to get to our destination hut at any point so it was mainly about taking in the views and enjoying the fresh snow. We brought sleds and Mara had a good time being pulled around but still didn’t want to slide down any hills too fast. I went down once but quickly realized that fast motion was not a great idea for how I was feeling so I watched the German kids live their best winter lives instead!

After lunch we went up to a little cabin to see red deer. They need a little more support during the winter months so everyday at 3pm a ranger puts out hay for them and they slowly make their way down to eat. We arrived at the viewing hut around 3:40 and there were tons of deer. You have to be extra quiet to not scare them away, it’s definitely not a petting zoo!

We took the bus back and had our last big multiple family dinner at Haus Hammer before heading in for the night.

Day 4: A lovely day in the stunning town of Schliersee

Our friends went home a day before we did, so we spent our last day exploring one of the small towns near Fischbachau. It was a nice break after 3 active days in the snow. We found an amazing playground on the lake with stunning views and lots of quack quacks. It felt like we were back in New Zealand. Then we took a gondola ride up to a hut for a nice lunch and even more spectacular views.

We finished the Fischbachau trip with an easy dinner back at Haus Hammer, packed up our outdoor gear, and rested up for our city and travel day.

Day 5: Munich, travel, and feeling at home back in Toulouse

We said goodbye to Haus Hammer and made our way to Munich, only about an hour by train. Luckily we were able to drop our bags near the Munich train station so we could enjoy the city much easier. Our flight wasn’t until 9pm so we had plenty of time to explore. We started at a very cool vegan coffee shop then found a great playground for Mara to run around. She made a friend and had a really good time!

We went for our last Bavarian lunch at a nice place near the train station. We were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was given that it was in a pretty touristy spot. We discovered the key to Bavarian restaurant meals is to order one salad and one heavier (regular) dish. The salads were always really delicious so it was a win-win!

Mara napped in the carrier after lunch while we walked around central Munich. It’s a really pretty city with its own unique feel.

Finally we made our way to the airport for our flight back to Toulouse. This was Mara’s 17th flight! That’s a lot of takeoffs and landings for her short 2.5 years! And it might have been the smoothest one yet. She even wore the seatbelt without much fuss (because we obviously bribed her with chocolate so she wanted to put her seatbelt on).

We got back to Toulouse after midnight and were really amazed that we had that relief to be home feeling. It’s only been a few weeks but clearly we’re settling in.