In the last 10 years, travel within Europe has become so much easier because of the Schengen Treaty. It's the reason you no longer need to pull out identification at many border crossings within Europe. It's also the reason you feel like a leper when you fly to the UK from continental Europe: after clearing security, you must go through passport control and then you are quarantined in a separate glass bubble. At least, that's the deal at the smaller airports which do not deal with a lot of out-of-Schengen flights. At the hub airports like Frankfurt, you hardly notice the post-security passport barrier because there are so many flights going to points unknown. There you notice the *third* hurdle, the flying to the U.S. additional security. Once, back in January, I was flying (literally and figuratively) through Frankfurt, and as I was sprinting to get my next plane, I was subject to the U.S.-style security because the airport was in hyper-secure mode. If the flight I was connecting to hadn't been late, I would have missed it. Another time, in Stuttgart on my way to the U.K.-bound bubble, I made a cranky comment that you'd think the U.K. wasn't part of the E.U., at which point the very serious-looking man from the Bundesgrenzschutz (how's that for a German word, eh... one word, made up of words for federal, border and protection, in that order) made a snarky remark about the U.K.'s opinion of itself...
But leaving airport sprinting, snarky officials and similar drama aside, the best thing about Schengen? See that picture? Of the apple strudel and the ice cream? 
That was taken in Sulzberg, Austria, after a day of hiking on the German side of the border. With no more border controls, it is entirely feasible to just pop over to another country for really good apple strudel. And that's what international treaties come down to for me: the ability to eat apple strudel in Austria without any hassles.
Eating is something I've done plenty of this past week. See, when I am in Wangen, two particularly dangerous for moderation factors combine: all the things that I love and cannot regularly eat here (like the special mountain cheeses, Rita's potato salad, Leberkäs, the plethora of "little bread", chanterelle mushrooms and and and...) are available, and then there are celebrations of all sorts where the tables groan with all of this. And I will happily park myself in the middle of it and eat it all, and then I will complain about being too full.
Seriously, I can write a blog entry that is supposed to be about a hike in the Allgäu, and ends up being all about food. But then, the hike sort of was all about food. Let me back up and tell you all about it, ok?
On Friday morning, I was eating breakfast (bread! cheese! chanterelles, fried in butter!) with a lovely aunt when the door buzzer went. 
Christel looked at me, looked at the clock, and went to answer to the intercom. Walter and Anka announced themselves, and Christel - about as ready to start the day as I was, as in, neither one of us showered, though Christel *had* gone for a nordic walking tour while I puttered around in my pajamas - asked me if *I* remembered making plans. Nope, but within about two minutes, Walter and Anka were enthusiastically talking of stomping through the hills, something about conquering Hoher Häderich (which Christel noted was considered difficult) and did we want to come. And we did, as did another aunt, Mary, who chose that day to break in new boots (an idea I thought nuts, but she managed to do it blister-free).
So, to Oberstaufen we went, to catch the bus (the roads up in the higher parts of the Allgäu are gated - you have to have special permission, meaning live there, work there, or be renting a room there - to drive on them. For the rest of us, it's the bus. This makes perfect sense - the roads are tiny and narrow and there is noplace to park except at the Alp dwellings). And we missed the bus. But that was ok with me, because it's only a half hour walk from Steibis to the top of the Imbergkamm.
The Imbergkamm is not that high, as far as the northern limestone alps go. At 4281 feet, it doesn't have any alpine - but it's a nice ridge hike. And that's what we did. Well, ok, first we stopped at the inn at the top for some snacks... But then, then we started hiking along the ridge. We chose a very gentle route, one that would keep us just south of the crest for most of the way. When we were almost at the Austrian border, we turned sharply south and crossed a peaty area to start ascending toward the next ridge, which contains the mountains I love the best because I can identify them on the horizon, they are the scenic backdrop to Wangen - 
the Hochgrat, the Rindalphorn, the Selekopf, the Falken. Collectively, they're called the Hochgratgruppe (because the Hochgrat, at just over 6000 feet, is its biggest mountain - and it has alpine). Years ago, I did a ridge hike starting at the Falken and coming down at east of the Hochgrat, but that was a long summer's day with some very fit cousins... not this day. After crossing our bog, we stopped at another inn for lunch! And then, we were next to the bus stop.
That's one of the cool things about the Allgäuer Alps (which are the largest mountain group in the northern limestone Alps, and whose really tall mountains - the 8000 footers - are all in the Austrian part), there are roads to the isolated Alps. Even though you're not actually allowed to *drive* on the roads, their being gated makes sense because otherwise this whole area would be clogged with cars full of people doing the oooooh look thing, but during the snow-free season. But the bus - the same one that we missed on the way there - runs from Steibis to the base of the Hochhäderich. Our lunch stop was near the end of the bus line.
And after lunch, we realized that we'd just missed the bus *again*, and there wouldn't be another one for an hour, so I agitated that we continue to hike to the end of the bus line. And we did. And we even resisted the temptation to eat some more when we got there (truth be told, we were still too full from our lunch. After all, we even ate cake!)
But our temptation- resisting only went so far: when we got back to the car, Christel started telling us of this terrace in Sulzberg with a fantastic view and the world's best apple strudel. And, though Sulzberg is in Austria, thanks to Schengen, that's exactly what we did. A most satisfying end to the day (and a good last day in the country).
I've been back in Ontario since the weekend, and the general Novemberness of it is depressing me. I know it's still October, but it feels very much like November: overcast skies, piles of decaying leaves, rain, cold, and gloomy. Much as I love living in a place with defined seasons, I dislike this time of year. It is worse, even, then the March-April mud season, because then at least the days are getting longer and the sun shines more frequently. There hasn't been a sunny day - or part of a day, even - this week.
Posted by Johanna at October 27, 2005 09:26 AM