Obernach, the Oasis of Joy

It is official! Munich has been ranked the #1 city in the world, as reported by the International Herald Tribune (June 21, 2007). I have had my suspicions, and they are clearly well founded. According to the article (reproduced in full below, but with references since I do not want to be sued), “work-life balance seems to be the city’s mantra.”

Forty-five minutes away from the city center (München Hofbahnhof, where exasperated eyebrows and pursed lips mark the faces of office-workers during rush hour), peoples’ faces become more tender. Move further, towards the lakes that almost gently caress the Austrian border and you will either forget that heaven is a post-life location, or think that you are simply, dead).

As we drove along the road, and I was about to doze off from dizziness, a majestic turquoise lake emerged from between the shadows of those ramrod-straight trees that comprised the forest embracing the winding mountain road. It twinkled shyly, and then rose to crescendo of shimmering sparks. The dawn breeze incited the initially calm water to shake ever so frequently, and those ripples created the sort of magnifying effect that would send you into a trance if you were not careful.

We had a nice home – in Germany, they are called Pensions. Comfortable rooms, nice folks, good company, fantastic dinners (I had a HUGE pig’s thigh, enveloped in brown sauce-like stew; a fascinating Bavarian-style kaiserschwamm, which was shredded pancakes with applesauce and raisins, fried to a crisp perfection; red wine) and breakfasts (Pâté, a large selection of cheeses, freshly baked Brotchen – a miniature bun, very delicious!, homemade marmalade, hazelnut paste).

And the best thing is: 20 meters away, you have that fantastic shimmering turquoise lake. Slip into your flip-flops (as I did), and you can take a 2-hour walk that would bring you through seas of meadows filled with fragrant wildflowers, lined by gigantic mountains that would catch the late afternoon light that shrouded the sky, clouds, and entire atmosphere with an unearthly golden light) and you would eventually reach a dark forest (I call it the Black Forest) that had a nice, though rather dangerous, path that would bring you back home. Of course, I was a complete idiot and went on this trek with flip flops. As idiotic as I was when I did the hike (800 meters, vertically!) in dress shoes. Sigh.

If I had a choice, I would live in Munich.