Our 2006 European Vacation

The 2006 holiday for Stephen and Jane.

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Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Oberstdorf

Some 25 years ago we came as a family to Oberstdorf in Southern Germany. We left the UK with Kate quite sick but after 2 weeks in the clear mountain air she was hiking all day with no problems. We are pleased to say the air is still as clear, the walking trails are still here and well marked and the town has grown such that we do not recognise it.
We plan about 4 days here now we have found a walking map with the trails well marked so that we know what we are trying to attempt when we set out each day. Yesterday, day one, we chose a 20k hike up a gentle valley. Even after all the walking we have done over the last few months 20k seems to be our comfortable limit for one day. We find we are exhausted at the end but can recover enough to set off again the next day. Further than this and we need more recovery time.
All this exercise means that we seem to eat constantly. This is great now but will need some serious will power after the trip to get back to normal. Yesterday we had to walk back through town to the camp site and passed a great fruit shop. I wanted to buy it all but settled for a punnet of the biggest raspberries that tasted as if they had just been picked. Today I hope they have blackcurrants. This will be my reward if we manage today's hike, not so far but more of a climb.