The last two days in Bodenmais were overshadowed by my mom who came down with the flu, followed by her partner, coming down with the flu / Covid and ending up at the hospital! It was very stressful to help them through all this anxiety, fear, pain and emotional distress, but everything calmed down today and now we are sitting in the highspeed train (220 km/h) to the airport from where we’ll start our next adventure: Valencia, Spain!

Today we had a special day to celebrate and, why not celebrate in the spa? We chose the “beer-brewer spa day“ that is a relaxation and sauna day with shower, steam shower, light and aromatherapy, hops-oil bath in a whirlpool, that relaxes body & soul. It even includes 2 Adam Bräu beer, a backmassage and a foot & calf massage. Relaxing on a waterbed, Salz-body peeling, etc. We had a 4-hour super time there – ready to take a nap!

We feel so relaxed and well taken care off – I could just get used to this!❤️!

Thursday morning Tom picked me up for an eight K hike!

The trailhead! this area hosted the world cross country skiing championships a few years ago!

Beautiful forest and a nice road(s) for the trail!

The „Grosser Arber“ (the „big Arber“) is the highest mountain in the Bavarian Forest, 1455 meters high and close to the „Kleiner Arber“ (the „little Arber“), which is 2.5 km away. This area is a beautiful skiing resort in winter and a popular hiking destination in the fall.

Up on top of the hill Ted happened to watch a video production – lucky guy!

After the gondola adventure we drove to the Arberlake restaurant where Ted ordered an Arber Burger

Back at the hotel we spent several hours at the pool / hot tub / sauna to practice for tomorrow 🥳

Joska is another fun glass place to visit! My visible impaired mom is enjoying all those bright bold glass sculptures that, when the sunlight reflects, have a very intense glow!

If it’s up to me, I can get used to this very easily! We have a great time here despite almost all of us being handicapped more or less, permanently or temporarily. My mom sleeps a lot, she catches up on all those hours she has trouble with at home. Ted, the only un-handicapped” in our little party of four, goes hiking and I swim. 58 laps today and my knee is happy! I also get all kinds of spa treatments, some are more helpful for the knee (Breiß-Dorn massage, foot reflexology), some a little less (facial and I wonder why?). Whatever it is, I can get used to this, wouldn’t you?

Tuesday, after our walk around town, we went on a brewery tour here at Adam Bräu. The hotel we’re staying at is called Adam Bräu, so is the brewery and the adjacent restaurant. The beer is only produced for those three venues and not sold anywhere else and – it is tasty! YES, tasty!

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Yesterday my sister Petra with husband Erwin came for a visit and we went to the „Glasvillage Weinfurtner“ in Arnsdorf, 10km away from Bodenmais. We were overwhelmed by everything! The size (it is literally a village!) the beauty, the endless diversity of glass, everything was a stimulation of the senses!

https://www.weinfurtner.de/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=website

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And today? I had the whole spa to myself! Luckily I’m only 58, so I swam 58 laps, relaxed in the whirlpool, sauna, shower, OMG! It is 10.30am and I’m ready for a nap!

In the meantime Ted is going on a hike with a group that’s organized by the village. You can tell them the evening before and they come pick you up and guide you to one of those many hikes around the area here. There are beautiful mountains around us, ~4000 ft high, with waterfalls, lakes, caves, mines, etc. photos will be posted in the next blog!

Yesterday, Ted went on a hike with Petra & Erwin to a waterfall. They had fun together, enjoyed the scenery and deserved a hearty lunch!

It is cold. Very cold! But when the sun comes out everything is fine 🤩