Carolyn and Mark's German Eclipse Adventure
Garching / Innsbruck

It was an uneventful flight. Sleeping was nearly impossible, despite efforts at earplugs and eye coverings. We both caught up on reading material we'd brought. Ten hours after leaving Washington's Dulles International airport, we landed safely in Munich.

After a breakfast at our hotel -- König Ludwig -- we went for a stroll through the platz in the center of Garching village. We found ample evidence of the upcoming eclipse on posters everywhere -- Sonnenfinsternis!

Store fronts had eclipse displays, with eclipse-related (and not-so-related) products everywhere. Germany, and most of Europe, was in the midst of Eclipse-mania!

Eclipse poster Carolyn at poster with
filter
Mark and Volker in
Innsbruck Carolyn and Volker in
Innsbruck

Friend Volker had met us at the airport with a nice Mercedes rental car. This was his vacation, and he had never toured Bavaria, so he was ready to go wherever we wanted to go. We were jetlagged, of course, but since it was only 10 in the morning, we decided to try to stay awake for the rest of the day.

Austria is only a short drive from Bavaria, so we hopped in the car and went "fahr'n, fahr'n, fahr'n auf der Autobahn" (Kraftwerk on the stereo, to Volker's chagrin) to Innsbruck -- about 2 hours south of Garching. It was our first trip to the Alps, and we felt right at home (felt a lot like Vail, Colorado, actually).

Innsbruck is a pleasant town to walk in, so we set off on a leisurely stroll through the centuries-old streets, admiring the architecture. It was a good time to get caught up with Volker, who we've known since the early 1980's. (You can read a brief bio here.). Over the years he has visited us many times in the U. S., and it was about time we toured his turf.