It was a wonderfully snowy weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The two towns were joined in preparation for the 1936 Winter Olympics and now have bragging rights as the unofficial capitol of the German Alps.

Does it get any better than this?!

We also took some time off the slopes to see what else Garmisch had to offer. Severalski-jumpers were practicing off the old Olympic equipment, so we watched them take several leaps through the morning snow fall.

From the Olympic Stadium, Partnachklamm Gorge was a half hour walk, but worth the huffing. Until the early 1900s, the river was used to transport logs but was eventually shut down due to dangerous conditions and frequent deaths. Now, the 300ft. gorge is a National Monument and year-round tourist destination.

Dozens of waterfalls cascade to the tiny river below, but they were all completely frozen, creating an amazing visual delight of snow and ice.

Liv survived her first trip to the Hundepension. Traditional kennels as we think of them in the United States don’t really exist in Germany. So, a Hundepension is basically a person’s home and the dogs stay in the house as if they lived there. The woman doesn’t speak English, and asked if Liv understood German. I was like, come on lady, we are barely making it through a conversation ourselves in German. Fluency for humans first, then dogs!

Besides smelling like a barking cigarette when we picked her up, she didn’t seem any worse for wear. And now she even talks back in German!