So I finally left Munich today, and took the train to the southern border town of Mittenwald. The town is maybe only a mile or less from the border with Austria, but is a beautiful town reminiscent of Swiss chalets, yodeling and annoying Ricola commercials. I didn’t do anything except wander around and get some gelato as it was somewhat late when I arrived, it was quite memorable just walking through, the town is famous for its violins, and boy does it show. It is also a very very very Catholic town, with crucifixes all over, some even just standing up on posts on the roadside. Many of the buildings also have large Christianity themed paintings of Christ, the saints, doves, cherubs etc. decorated on them.

While down here I will have to avoid Krampus, the opposite of Santa Claus. Krampus is the Christmas demon who punishes naughty children in Bavarian folklore.

Story of the day: It was getting pretty dark and the temperature was dropping fairly significantly, so I headed back to my hotel, and in one of the streets I saw a large dog shivering very heavily (it was fairly windy as well) in the cold and he approached me for help and attention. There was no ID tag or contact info but his eyes were focused on a door of a house nearby, and figuring out what it meant I walked up to the door and rang the bell, a moment later a person came to the door and thanked me profusely as the dog jetted inside. A true story!

It is also October 3rd, the Tag Der Deutche Einheit (day of German unity), the celebration of the reunification of East and West Germany. The dates had to be changed slightly from the day the wall came down, as it was also the same date as a major Nazi offensive in WW2. It is a national holiday, but there are no real events, days and work days carry on as normal.