Winter hike in Grafrath

Thursday, 11th of January

The “Teufelstein”

• Lot’s of snow, snow, snow – at -6 to 10 degrees (Celsius).
• So we decide to go on a winter hike to the Ammersee: We start planning it with Fritz and at first we think, well, it won’t be that long. As soon as we set the route on Komoot, we realize: It’s 18.5km after all…

• However, even though all the path is covered by snow and ice, we reach the legendary “Teufelstein” (Devil’s Stone) faster than expected. There is a legend around this famous stone that goes as follows:

The Rasso church in Grafrath was a thorn in the devil's side. Therfore, the devil looked for a large stone in the Alps to smash the church to pieces. He heaved it onto his shoulders and set off on the long journey to Grafrath. But even a devil can work up a sweat under such a heavy load. So it came that shortly before reaching his destination, he looked for a place to rest. And while doing this, the devil lost his way and could no longer find the right path. 

Exhausted he sat by the wayside with his rock and was very relieved when a lady came along. "Dearest lady, can you help me?" the devil asked her in his sweetest voice: "I'm looking for the Rasso church in the village of Grafrath." The lady looked at him suspiciously. The devil, she thought, surely wanted nothing good in Grafrath and certainly not near the church. And why did he have such a large boulder with him? 

So she made a quick decision and said boldly: "Grafrath?! You've come to the wrong place." She showed him the huge pile of old, worn-in shoes she had with her: "I've just come from there and I've already walked through a hole in all these shoes!" The devil got angry and great despair gripped him. So he took the boulder and threw it on the ground with such force that it is still there today and until today bears the name "Teufelstein".

• Matthäus and I briefly ponder the legend and its meaning and why the woman had a pile of old shoes with her, but soon give up the idea and instead enjoy the fantastic winter landscape that stretches along the hiking trail.

• We reach the village of Inning am Ammersee, where there is an acute danger of slipping due to the ice that has formed on the paths around the Ammersee.
• We walk along the Ammersee for a while, which looks very beautiful with the fog hanging over the lake.

• We see people skating on the frozen fields around the villages Eching and Kottgeisering.
• There is also snow on the trees everywhere. From time to time we take a break and enjoy the warm tea we have brought with us.

• When we get home, we treat ourselves to a warm black tea, really British with milk =) in front of the blazing fire in the fireplace – a really nice winter’s day!

Friday, 12th of January

West Side Story and Spirit!!

• Today we watch West Side Story in Munich. Great music, great dancing, not so great plot.
• We get home around midnight and I still have some energy left, so I ask Matthäus: “Shall we try out the new Spirit Island?” And to my great surprise, Matthäus says: “Ok”

• Spirit is played late into the night with the new expansion and we manage to loose spectacularly (partly due to tiredness and perhaps because I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult and England on level 3 will be easy cheesy lemon squeezy – turns out: it’s absolutely not)

Sunday, 14th of Januray

Wonderful winter day in Grafrath

• Sleeping until lunch =)
• Cozy breakfast with cappuchino (njam njam) and a moment of gratitude (blissfull indeed) as I sit outside in the sun and write =) wow.