Joana and I had been in Germany for more than two months, focusing non-stop on finding jobs and a place to live when we realized we hadn't really travelled anywhere yet. We decided to change that after I had a "work trip" to Milan and Joana had to travel to Munich for an interview. Taking advantage of the proximity to the mountains, I met up with her in Munich and took a 1.5 hour train the next day down to the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, near the Alps.

Deep in the south of Bavaria, the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen used to actually be two separate towns: Garmisch and (yes, you guessed it) Partenkirchen. The older of the two, Partenkirchen, traces its roots back to a Roman town named Partanum in the early first century. The two towns were forced to combine for the 1936 Winter Olympics and thus adopted the hyphenated name we know it by today. The two areas feel quite different - especially when you see Partenkirchen's historical Ludwigstraße, a beautiful cobblestone street surrounded by painted houses versus the 

of Garmisch. Regardless, the town is now a ski destination, and is surrounded on two sides by mountains - it's beautiful.

The mountain we decided to summit on our first day is called Wank. Honestly not sure where the name comes from, but it's a 5,840 ft tall mountain on the north-west side of the town, providing a fantastic view of the Alps and the Zugspitze (Germany's tallest mountain) which rise high above the town. 

The hike started in the town, taking approximately 20 minutes to get "up in the mountain". We had to walk through the previously-mentioned (and beautiful) Ludwigstraße and slowly left the "inner" part of the city. The farther we got out the more rural it quickly became, but the beautiful, painted, wooden houses kept going.

To be honest, there's nothing too surprising to say about the hike. It was beautiful, it was hard-but-not-too-hard: the ~3,700ft elevation happens in 4.5ish miles, but you're never that high up so the air is never an issue. Since the elevation 

 was so intense, we quickly got better-and-better views of the city. One of the best ones was once we reached an 

a peculiar German word that means "mountain pasture". How this word came to be, I have no idea, but we passed by many 

What I must admit I find fascinating is the differences in the definition of "hiking" in Germany vs the United States. For me at least, "real" hiking in the US is going out in the nature - the woods, a mountain, a forest - and hiking through trails. One 

"civilization" and escapes into nature, perhaps bringing lunch or even beers to enjoy at end of the trail or at the peak of a mountain. If it's an overnight hike, then it's backpacking - you bring a tent, sleeping gear, cooking equipment, and all the food you will need. It's tough work, but it's a fantastic experience.

In Germany, "hiking" seems very often intertwined with walking from hut to hut, or from 

or between towns, or in our case: to the 

at the top of the mountain, a restaurant with a fantastic view, beers, and food. Backpacking really isn't a thing, instead you stay in huts which also have food and drinks. Pretty darn lavish if you ask me, and quite different from the more "pure" hiking that I'm familiar with in the US.

Please don't get me wrong - I'm not being elitist or a hiking gatekeeper here, so I'm not saying one is better than the other. It's just fascinating the difference in "that was a great hike" means between the countries.

Anyway, after just a 1h 45m we were getting near the top of the hike. We could see the end of the 

, a cable car that you could take fro the bottom all the way to the top.

Like I said before, the hike was a great workout, but not too terrible. We were able to complete the ascent in 2h 15 minutes, taking a few breaks here and there for water, photos, and the view. Very few birds, unfortunately.

The area at the top of the mountain was quite developed, which isn't a surprise given the fact that there is a cable car that can bring anyone up to the top of the mountain in less than fifteen minutes.

You can see the Wankbahn Bergstation in the photo below, as well as the Wankhaus, the restaurant we had a beer and Kaiserscharrn at the top right of the photo, on the very tippy-top of Wank.

We spent some additional time exploring the area, and were surprised to find a herd of horses on a grass field. They were absolutely massive horses, and the contrast with the green grass and blue sky made a great photo. 

Having been listening non-stop to the History of Rome podcast, I still can't believe Hannibal crossed the Alps with tens of thousands of men, horses, and fifty or so 

Anyway, after the food and beers, we took the cable car back down and relaxed for the late afternoon before heading out to explore the town again, ending the day at Bavarian restaurant named Bräustüberl for dinner. Delish.

Hiking up Wank in Garmisch-Partenkirchen