Starnberg See

Starnberg See, or Lake Starnberg, is a slender, very long lake that makes its way from the edge of Starnberg city center south toward Austria and the Alps. It’s part of a group of lakes in this area that are known for their beauty, boating and bathing. Lake Starnberg is quite large, large enough that on it lay many different Bavarian towns, all of them linked by a lakeside “ring” road as well as water taxis or cruise boats that transport locals and tourists from one town to the other. Lake Starnberg was the summer playplace for Mad King Ludwig, who many of you know because of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle he built in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. King Ludwig actually lived out his final days on Lake Starnberg before drowning mysteriously near here. Apparently, there’s a floating grave marking the site. There is also a walking path that connects Starnberg to Neuschwanstein Castle, called King Ludwig’s Way, that traces the path of his greatest achievement to the place of his death. Walking the entire path takes days, and I intend to do it one section at a time.

I write about Starnberg See because that is where I’m sitting right now. After eating dinner in my apartment, I hopped on my bike and road the 5-7 minutes it takes to get here. The lake has a promenade with coffee shops, restaurants and many benches on which to sit and watch the world go by. There’s also a swimming beach and the main boat dock for the cruise boats that stop here many times each day. In the distance, through the hazy clouds, I can see the Alps. It is, I can tell you, quite a beautiful site. I’ve heard that it’s quite easy to bike around the lake, as it’s ringed by bike trails and a small, relatively quiet road. I plan to do that as well. The route is something like 50 kilometers so it would make for a nice weekend ride.

Updates… Yesterday, Monday, I began my day at a second hand store near the Starnberg North train station, the station closest to my house. This store reminds me of the Goodwills we have in Minnesota, only it was smaller had higher quality things. I was in need of tons of things for my apartment, and this place did not disappoint. A nice woman, the only woman in the place who spoke English, took me around and helped me find some good stuff. By the time I was done I had a wardrobe (no closets in my pace), a bed frame, a coffee table, a pull-out sofa, two lamps, a three-piece patio set, a washing machine and… a bread knife and a free umbrella! All of that, including the delivery fee, cost me 600 euros. Not too shabby, especially factoring in how easy the whole process was. I walked out of there a happy man!

Then today, after a morning run in my neighborhood, the furniture got delivered and moved into my house. The fee I paid for that service was 15 euros. Crazy. So fortunate to have found all that stuff and then to have it delivered the following day. The next step – later – was assembly.

For lunch today I met a future EAL (English as an Additional Language) colleague – Maiike - for lunch. Actually, we met outside the church. I’ve been told by people who know, that Germans are prompt. Not a huge surprise. Most of us know this. The German trains always run on time, right? But, in my quest to be on time, I rolled in on my bicycle at the exact moment the loud church bells rang to signal noon. How’s that for promptness? Must be my German blood. She and I then walked to the lake and had a small lunch, lakeside, as tour boats came in and people strolled the promenade. It was nice. Nice because of the atmosphere, but nice also because I was able to learn a lot more about the school, the EAL department, and what I might expect heading into the year.

My afternoon involved a trip to the hardware store for tools, then a couple hours of assembling my bed and wardrobe. Kind of fun, actually. Pretty rewarding, even though of course I did something wrong with the wardrobe and had to take it apart before putting it together again. Hey, there were no directions! This is used stuff, remember?! A wies beer on my patio, sitting on my new patio furniture, a phone call with Tricia and my friend Maureen (who’s lived in Germany and has lots of fun stories to share), a bike ride to the lake, then here I am. Tomorrow I’ll go back to the second hand store for ceiling light fixtures (yes, Germans take their light fixtures with them when they move! Arghh!), a trip to school to take care of some business, more organizing of the apartment, then hopefully some time for exploring. As they say here in Bavaria for goodbye - Tschüs!