Tourist-Free Zone

Michael Frankel
Aug 26, 2017 · 4 min read

I cherish the peace and quiet of our little farm village in Lower Bavaria. Being close to the hubbub in Munich — a much sought-after tourist mecca — makes me appreciate the solitude all the more. Across the lake formed by a flood control dam, I see sheep grazing. Behind me are farm fields and along the shore are occasional horse riders giving their mounts a drink or dog walkers throwing twigs into the lake for their pets to fetch. In the lake are occasional small-boat sailors, hardy swimmers in the chilly Alpine waters, and lots of ducks and gulls from a nearby bird sanctuary. Next to the blanket and Howda seats is the bicycle that carried me to this peaceful scene in a half-hour hill-climbing ride along farm fields and the Rott (river).

Northern Europe has a short summer season — sometimes referred to as a “Green Winter.” Many of some five-hundred million Europeans cram their vacations into a two- month period climaxing in August when everything comes to a standstill while sunbathers flock to the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, Alpine climbers head for the hills, and bikers and walkers tour the countryside. Northern Europeans are drawn southward along precious few roadways, train tracks, and most importantly, three tunnels through the Alps to get to the beaches and seas. Autobahns clog to a standstill making unlimited speed rules a distant mirage.

I have friends in Northern Sweden where much of the year is spent with the sun rising late in the morning and setting in the early afternoon. It is not hard to imagine their urge to head south come summertime.

Beach-going has stayed relatively simple with blankets, towels, and a Frisbee or ball. But shore-side boardwalk attractions lined with restaurants, drinking establishments, and attractions like rides and slides or casinos have increased the tourist draw. Similarly, the Alpine trails have become more accessible with steel guide wires and railings and a proliferation of Alms that provide food and shelter. Older generations can more safely use the trails and the younger set have opportunities for mountain biking with the added advantage of electric bikes. Accessibility and business opportunities have dramatically increased the tourism explosion along with a more affluent population.

In warm and sunny cities there has always been plenty for tourists to see and do. But the unchecked proliferation of business opportunities from musical events, fairs, guided tours, rickshaw bike rides from one site to another, sidewalk cafés, beer gardens in park lands . . . all combine in massive tourism congestion.

There has been backlash from areas that have lost their charm with hords of tourists. One of the most bizarre complaints has come from cows leisurely grazing in the Alps and annoyed with hikers trying to pet them and their dogs barking at them. A more serious problem has emerged from cruise ships disgorging thousands of tourists to wander a small waterfront town and then leave for dinner and drinks aboard the ship.

My village has a Christmas market and summer festivals with a beer-tent atmosphere and music of various nationalities including American light-rock. It draws tourists from neighboring villages. But for the most part, events consist of watching corn grow followed by huge farm machines harvesting the crop. In between is the opportunity to slowly follow a small fifty-year-old tractor pulling a manure-spreading trailer along an impassable two-lane road. I am definitely in the slow lane of a tourist-free zone and loving every minute.

There is a lot of time to think. For example, how long does it take for a drop of water to reach the lake from the nearby Alpine snow melt? How long will it take that drop to head downstream into the Inn and Danube rivers on its way to the Black Sea? From there the drop will pass through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to the Aegean Sea. At the western end of the Mediterranean, it will pass through the Straits of Gibraltar into the clockwise gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean, crossing to the Caribbean Sea with the easterly trade winds circling the Gulf of Mexico. Finally it will reach my winter nesting grounds in Florida.

A lot of events to think about while enjoying the lake in the river.

Postmuenster Lake in the Rott

Snowbird from Bavaria

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    Michael Frankel

    Written by

    A snowbird from Bavaria

    Snowbird from Bavaria

    Migrations between a small farming village in Bavaria and a Gulf of Mexico port on the west coast of Florida — the Sunshine State

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