Der Tegernsee - Day 15

Monday, April 12 was the beginning of my third week here in Munich and the beginning of our last week of our JYM group orientation.  We don't actually have that many orientation activities this week, mostly just individual academic advising with Hans Peter, the JYM program director, to determine which classes we should take at JYM and at LMU.  On Monday though, we had one of our last activities as a whole group.  In the morning, we met at JYM to learn about the Geschichte des Junior Year Movements - the history of the Junior Year Movement in Europe.  Apparently, Junior Year in Munich (JYM) was the first of several study abroad programs founded between the First and Second World Wars as a sort of study abroad program mixed with a Peace Corp-like purpose.  Students from the US came to study as well as to work in the recovering German economy.  The program was interrupted during World War Two, but since sometime in the 1950's, JYM has been present in Munich, even after the other Junior Year Movement programs in places such as Paris ended.  There are of course other study abroad programs in Germany, but JYM is the first and longest running program, as well as the only permanent program in Munich, which I think is pretty cool.  There was a lot more history stuffed into an hours worth of information from Hans Peter, but those are the highlights that I remember.

After a lunch break, we met up again with the whole group at the Hauptbahnhof to travel to Tegernsee, which is a town on a mountain lake in Upper Bavaria.  It was only about an hour or so away from Munich by train, and once we got to the beautiful little town, we headed from the Bahnhof straight up the mountain...and I do mean straight up!  It was quite the hike, but I made it!  So did most of the others, though a small group only went about half way up the mountain.  It was a little cold and a little cloudy, but that meant that there were no other tourists around.  I don't think I saw more than two or three other people on the mountain all day.  I took fewer pictures than I did a couple weeks ago when I hiked at Garmisch with some friends, partially because of the clouds, and also because I refused to be the slowest person in the group again, which meant I couldn't stop as often to take pictures.  But I successfully stayed in the front-middle part of the group, and still got some great pictures:

Before we started, Hans Peter pointed out where we were going...we made it all the way up there from all the way down at the bottom where all those buildings are.  The hike lasted maybe an hour and a half or two hours up, and a little less than that coming back down.  And all the while, we were huffing and puffing while Hans Peter smoked his pipe.

Our first couple views of the mountains surrounding the town:

Once we were up on the mountain, everything was so green:

The first part of the mountain was actually the steepest.  Once we got close to the top, it was "ridiculously easy," as Hans Peter said, to reach our goal, the restaurant that you can see in this picture:

The views from the top were breathtaking, even with the clouds:

We ate a snack and rested a bit at the top, and then headed back down and into town.  We then went to the Hofbraeuhaus for cake and drinks.  We also stopped to look around the church, which was conveniently located right next door (the monks make the beer, after all):

We didn't stay in Tegernsee much longer, and got back to Munich by 5:30 or so.  I went with a couple friends to get Doeners for dinner.  I've only ever had Doeners in Germany...they're a Turkish kabob sandwich thing, and even though it's Turkish food, the sandwich version was first made here in Germany by Turkish immigrants.  There's a Doener stand on almost every street, and they're yummy.  Several people in the JYM group seem almost obsessed with them...I don't think I'm at the point of obsession yet, but they are good.  We then attempted to watch Pirates of the Caribbean in my room, but ended up stopping halfway through because we were all falling asleep.  Maybe we'll finish it sooner or later, but we definitely earned a good night's sleep!