Today we head inland from Seattle, and travelled a couple of hours through the Washington Alps to visit Leavenworth – a piece of Bavaria in the USA. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but the whole day was just amazing.
I have already fallen in love with Seattle and Washington State but what a treat we had in store. We had already established that we would try to go to Leavenworth when we were planning our trip, but after having a conversation with our Vet who is originally from Seattle; it was a dead set certainty. He had explained that the road up to there via “Stevens Pass” and “Mount Index” was just beautiful and highly recommended. That was good enough for us.
Heading out of Seattle it became apparent early on that the scenery would be breathtaking. It was fairly evident that the Alps still had plenty of snow on them, and despite the fact that I swore on the 2014 trip that I never wanted to ever see snow again, found myself excited that we might be going to see a little bit up close again. The snow in New York and Washington D.C was dirty and often dangerous. The snow on these Alps was a very bright white and simply stunning. As we started our climb through the mountains, we found that every bend in the road was prettier than the one before. It was quite a steep and winding road which would normally scare the baageeeeezus out of me however the scenery was just so beautiful it proved to be an awesome distraction. There were never ending rivers and streams that were overflowing from the Spring thaw. Random waterfalls appeared along the side of the roadside where the melting snow (at lower levels) had nowhere else to run.
What I wasn’t prepared for, was the very thick snow that was still blanketing the ski-fields through “Stevens Pass”. It turned an already beautiful country side into a Winter Wonderland. We pulled in to a car park opposite the ski resort, just to have a little bit of a walk around in the snow. There was nothing dirty or dangerous about this. It was light and powdery and an amazingly brilliant white. The Bear threw a few snowballs and I ate a bit of snow (yes I am a weirdo) and we set off again towards Leavenworth.
Wow…what a surprise. I have not ever been to Germany, but this is exactly what I have always pictured in my head. This was a small town nestled between the mountains that was made up of little Bavarian buildings and chalets. The snow capped mountains that surrounded the small community completed the Winter Wonderland. Amazingly the on street parking was free which seriously astounded me. The stores through the main street where all for tourists benefit however I assume that is the whole purpose of this town. A shop keeper that we spoke to said that the council require each building to comply with specific requirements to maintain this Bavarian appearance and they are not allowed to alter from this at all.
I was interested to see that there were still Christmas trees and Christmas decorations displayed. I was curious as to whether this was a requirement also. I didn’t ask though because I didn’t want to spoil what we were seeing. I was afraid that if we knew that the Christmas adornments were compulsory that it would have spoiled things. Just for a little while I could pretend that we were experiencing a white Christmas.
We checked out all of the menus so that we could try to decide where to eat. Of course, most of the menus were of German cuisine although there were some typical yankie meals on there also. The Bear was looking in particular for some place that had “Schweinshaxe” (Pigs Knuckle) on their menu. He didn’t want one, however figured if they had it on their menu, they were the real deal. King Ludwigs restaurant served this dish so this is where we ate. The Bear had a schnitzel and I had some goulash, both which were served with pickled red cabbage and Spaetzle (German pasta) all of which was absolutely delicious. Well most of it was. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pickled red cabbage. When I was putting it in my mouth, it was taking my breath away – a bit like when you inhale when smelling vinegar.
I was interested to see that there were still Christmas trees and Christmas decorations displayed. I was curious as to whether this was a requirement also. I didn’t ask though because I didn’t want to spoil what we were seeing. I was afraid that if we knew that the Christmas adornments were compulsory that it would have spoiled things. Just for a little while I could pretend that we were experiencing a white Christmas.
We checked out all of the menus so that we could try to decide where to eat. Of course, most of the menus were of German cuisine although there were some typical yankie meals on there also. The Bear was looking in particular for some place that had “Schweinshaxe” (Pigs Knuckle) on their menu. He didn’t want one, however figured if they had it on their menu, they were the real deal. King Ludwigs restaurant served this dish so this is where we ate. The Bear had a schnitzel and I had some goulash, both which were served with pickled red cabbage and Spaetzle (German pasta) all of which was absolutely delicious. Well most of it was. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pickled red cabbage. When I was putting it in my mouth, it was taking my breath away – a bit like when you inhale when smelling vinegar.
We had a browse through the stores on the way back to the car. They were not particularly cheap but we were not there to shop. It was just delightful looking before making our way back to Seattle. We always like to pick up a fridge magnet from places that we go to (although this is becoming a bit ridiculous. After 5 trips, we need a bigger fridge!) and a Christmas decoration if possible. That was definitely not an issue in Leavenworth.
As I said this is only a short entry. The day was too precious to wreck it with rubbish. I will write my usual baloney tomorrow.
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