Bad Rain, Good Struedel

Whitney and I took our holiday together in the Allgaeu mountains. The Allgaeu is a region of southwestern Bavaria and includes a small chunk of Baden-Wurtemberg. The bucolic countryside with ever alpine backdrop is immediately welcoming.

The famous mountain cheese that originates here (Allgaeur Bergkaese) is wickedly sharp tasting, somehow unlike anything I had tried in the states. It smells very strong, so strong that one best wear gloves to slice or serve.

On our first day, we had sunshine and brisk winds and here Whitney is doing her best Maria Van Trapp impression. If you like to walk, the endless rolling hills and farms of the Allgau Alps and walking culture make it a dreamland. I must add again that the layout of small towns and cafes offer the hiker an infinitum of plumcake and coffee options.


I had visited my parents in the small spa town of Oberstaufen, which is known as a "Kurort", last September. Kurort directly translates to "cure town", but the Kur must be expanded upon. Folks needing some for of wacky alpine crash diet due to too much Bavaria consumption come to punish their bodies for several weeks.

From what I could tell, if you are doing the Kur, you wake up to a hot towel wrap, followed by an all day hike with nothing to eat but four carrots and six grams of stinkycow cheese. Then, upon return to the hotel, half starved, sunburnt and dehydrated, they are allowed only to drink red wine. Needless to say, we didn't sign up for the Kur, but rather enjoyed fabulous breakfasts and walks and tried not to plan the wedding.

Day One was sunny, the hills were alive with cowsmell and the music of spring birds returning from their Italian holiday. Day Two we had a foot of snow. The cowsmell was erased and the birdsongs confused.

Braving the snowstorm for a beer, westepped into a public house called "Bubi's Bar", which wasn't at all what I expected.

Our last day was sunny and beautiful. We walked through the woods and on the snow to a cafe called "Bad Rain", where we had Struedel and a Cherry-Nut Torte for lunch, both outstanding.