September Holiday: 26.09.2021

September 26 was not only a Sunday, but also the most important general election in Germany. Of course, us being away from home, we had already cast our votes beforehand by mail, and did not really think about politics until we looked up the news in the evening.

The weather forecast was for rain and a thunderstorm in the afternoon, and so we wisely decided not to climb up high that day. You definitely do not want to be on a narrow, rocky, slippery path in the rain, on an exposed mountain slope amidst lightning and thunder.

Also, yesterday's strenuous hike made me want to do something a little less tiring, and so we settled for a walk to Unterjoch, the village next to Oberjoch but located somewhat lower.

For the first part, we walked the same path along the beck that we had been on a few days earlier, but in the other direction. I have mentioned this before on my blog, but I really like walking a familiar path in the opposite direction; it is amazing what details you notice and how different it can feel when you do that.

Before reaching Unterjoch itself, we came past the small chapel that we'd already seen on our previous walk there but did not go inside. This time, there were no other people visiting the chapel, and so we could have a look.

Unterjoch is a picturesque village with a community garden and a church at its centre. We did not stop to explore it much, though, but chose a path that leads around a mound and winds back towards Oberjoch.

Did I say I wanted to do something less strenuous that day? Well, most of the way back was slowly but steadily uphill, and because a) we felt we had not yet walked enough that day and b) the forecast rain and thunderstorm weren't here yet, we took the cable car from the bottom of Oberjoch to halfway up the mountain and walked back down to our hotel from there.

At the hotel, we enjoyed coffee and cake before retreating to our room to rest and read until it was time to get changed for dinner. Have I mentioned that our hotel was serving organic food and drinks only? I particularly liked the wine that accompanied the main course that night, and the waiter kindly let me take an empty bottle to our room so that I could take a picture of the label for further reference.

During the night, the forecast rain did arrive, but we were comfortably tucked in at our room by then, well fed and watered (or wined!).