july 13th

today is the day we finally own the mountain outside our room. benjamin woke up at his normal hour, got breakfast and spent an hour or so writing emails. bruce slept as normal, waking about the same time benjamin was ready to get the day started. it didn't take long to decide that we're hiking riesenkopf today -- the second and higher cross that looks over flintsbach. it took about 5 minutes to get to penny markt, and after buying some meats, cheeses and bread for the hike, we rode our bikes to the bottom of the mountain and got started. it was clear that benjamin wanted to get there quickly, so, without many breaks at all, we hiked a 3-hour, 2500 foot hike in about 1.5 hours, going through 3 liters of water between us. of course, on our way, we passed the sign from our last hike and couldn't help acting like americans for a second or two:




we got to the top, wrote our names in yet another book below the cross, and relaxed with all the food we could eat. once we were finished, we took a couple pictures and made our very own world cup video:

for those interested, here's the view with a couple of important places in flintsbach labeled (click on the picture for a larger view).it took even less time to get back down the mountain (we're getting pretty good at iking by now), and so we were back home around 4 in the afternoon. bruce took a long shower while benjamin relaxed, then after benjamin's shower, the two played cribbage, drank spezi and relaxed. we wanted to try a new restaurant for dinner (one for which we had seen many signs the last few weeks), so we got on our bike around 6 and started out towards our new destination. it took about 10 minutes by bike, and as we were trying to look our bikes up, a strong-accented bayerish lady told us not to lock them there. she pointed around the corner, which we followed, locked our bikes and sat down. bruce put his feet up as usual, and within seconds, the bayerish lady told him not to put his feet on the chair (a folding chair, of all things). of course, by now, bruce was ready to leave and go back to our old-faithful, falkenstein, so we ordered a stein of beer each, drank them and left. we got to falkenstein, ordered another beer each (3 liters between us, to counteract the water we drank earlier), and had a nice relaxing dinner: benjamin ordered liver noodle soup again and a beef stew with fresh horseradish, bruce lamb cutlets with roasted potatoes and green beans. we made it back to our room around 10, in time for a good night's sleep before hana arrives tomorrow.