18 Sep - Berchtesgaden

Berchetesgaden is in Germany near Salzburg, Austria.
 Our friends did laundry all day.  We looked at the snowy Alps all around us.  We had a very large room--really 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen which we were not to use, dining area and living room/  This is the outside of the pension.

We visited a nearby Schnapps distillery which was nearby.  They make schnapps from gentian roots.  This is an old still.  After a short movie and a very brief tour, we sampled 8 different varieties.  Our friends bought so much to take home, the management gave us each a once ounce bottle.  Marie says, so what.  Walt says it was fantastic.

Here's the schnapps factory from the outside. "Enzian" means gentian.  Of course, the Grassl family claims they've been making schnapps since the Neanderthals dug the roots with sticks.  So who figured out that you could make liquor from roots?