Garmish-Partenkirchen is a lovely little town in Bavaria (southern Germany), at the foot of the Zugspitz. The Zugspitz is the highest mountain in Germany, in the German Alps. We were there in July, and boy was it windy, wet, and cold. Not at all like the weather back home in Huntsville, Alabama. But in spite of the weather, we had a wonderful time.

Here/s a funny Bavaria story. We had just had dinner in a lovely little village in southern Germany, and were looking over the trinkets in a little shop in the town. Like most of the *souvenir* shops we saw, this one sold a variety of liquors, liqueurs, wines, and beers. A lady with a British accent went up to the proprietor and asked if he had any peppermint schnapps. The proprietor, with dignity but also with righteous indignation, told the lady *This is Bavaria. The Germans drink peppermint schnapps. Bavarians do not drink peppermint schnapps.* It was kind of like going to a local diner in Alabama thirty years ago at breakfast time and asking for a bagel. You might have gotten a response like *This is Alabama. Maybe Yankees eat bagels, but we eat biscuits and gravy for breakfast down here!*

Of course, now bagels are ubiquitous in Alabama. And so it goes.