Hiking Differences: GERMANY VS. USA

Hey everyone! Dana here. And Stefan.
And today we are in Germany, hiking in the Alps and talking about some of the differences
that we've noticed in hiking in Germany and the U.S.
Okay, so where have we been hiking?
In Germany we have been hiking in the Alps mostly.
Uh, yeah, we went to the Bavarian Forest, but not really hiking, I would say.
Yeah, that was more like walking. - More like walking.
And in the U.S., we have been hiking in the Rocky Mountains.
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
And in the Glacier National Park.
And in Yellowstone National Park. - So a lot of national parks.
Lot of national parks.
And that brings us to the first topic probably. - Yeah.
That in the U.S. I have noticed that most of the hiking trails are either a national park
or a state park or county park.
And here in Germany I don't know if there are any parks, just the Bavarian National Forest.
Uh, it's a national park.
But here where we are right now, it's not a park. It's upheld by a "Verein" probably. - A club. - Yeah.
And, um, you had to pay a parking fee, but sometimes you don't even have to do that.
There is a Verein, a club, that is called the Alpen Verein here in Germany and, yeah,
they upkeep stuff and you can be a member, and yeah.
I would say this is one of my favorite view points along the way.
So this is not the first time that we've been on this hike.
I think we've been on it two times before.
Once just me and Stefan and one time with my parents.
And it's just so beautiful with the water such an amazing color.
And the green grass and the red roofs. And of course the Alps. I just love it so much. It's amazing.
We also saw something that's different in Germany and the U.S.
So we saw a gondola pass overhead.
And that is something that I've never seen as far as hiking goes in the U.S.
Here in Germany we already bought our tickets.
So we're going to hike up to the top and then we already have our tickets, take the gondola
all the way back down to the parking area.
Whereas I've never seen that as a possibility in the U.S.
And another difference is: when I was first hiking here in Germany, I was really shocked
to get up to the top and then see people people up there in really nice clothing. And I was like, wow!
Did they hike up the mountain in those clothes?
No, I figured it out.
Some people take the gondola, they get all dressed up and they take the gondola up to
the top, and they hang out up there for a little bit.
And then they take the gondola back down.
So actually no hiking involved. It's just a nice outing.
Another big difference between the U.S. and Germany is wildlife.
In the U.S. the wildlife is actually wild.
We have seen bisons. We have seen bears. Um, not while hiking.
We saw the bear while going to a hike and we stayed in the car until the bear disappeared.
But the bison we saw it...
The bison was laying on the trail, and we couldn't continue because it was laying on
the trail, and it didn't want to move.
And it's pretty heavy and, you don't mess with them. - No. You just go back.
Yeah, you go back.
And yeah, um, you can see wolves if you're lucky.
Huge elks and moose. - Yeah.
And yeah, you have occasionally here a deer or something in Germany.
Or there are wild lynx.
But you don't really see the lynx.
It's a different experience when you go hiking and there's a sign saying: watch out, you
might see bears, you need to make noise, you need to carry bear spray.
Like, it feels like a different level of hiking. - Definitely.
Is there something that is the same in both countries? - Yeah, I just noticed something.
And that is that when you're hiking in both Germany and the U.S. and you walk past people,
it's pretty much customary to say hello or in Germany "hallo," "guten Morgen."
Here in Bavaria you'll hear - Servus. - "servus," yeah. So in both countries it's like that.
If you come hiking here, get your "guten Morgen" ready. - Yeah.
And if you go to the U.S., "hello," but yeah. - Morning? - Morning, yeah. Morning, hello. - Hi. - Yeah.
What did you say?
I said that I think if Stefan had gone along- uh, if Stefan had gone alone, he would be
up at the top a long time ago. But I mean we're filming. So we're stopping and talking and filming.
And okay fine, I'm a little slow.
Okay, so, we've come to the end of our hike.
And how do we know that?
Because there is a hut up there. - Yeah. - "Almhütte."
And usually you get something to drink up there.
Sometimes you get even food up there.
And if you're really lucky, you can sleep there. - Oh, okay.
And that's something that I was super shocked when I first saw it.
Because I have never seen that in the U.S.
That you hike up the mountain and then up at the top of the mountain is a hut. - Yeah, a hut.
I was really shocked.
So yeah, this hut here is a full restaurant.
You can hike up to the top of the mountain. I just think it's really amazing.
Once you get up here you can have potato dumplings and schnitzel and lots of different drinks,
hot and cold.
And so, yeah, that is just something that I really don't think I've ever seen in the U.S.
And lots of respect because someone had to bring all that stuff up here.
So our question for you is: Do you also like to go hiking?
And what are some other ways that you like to get out there and enjoy the nature on these
beautiful days?
Please let us know in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching.
We really hope that you enjoyed this video.
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Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
In the comments below. - Comments.
I have to get the camera.
I'm eating an apple and Stefan's filming me, but he also has his apple like...
Fly. - Deutsche Alpen Verein. - Deutsche Alpe Verein. Alpen. - Alpen.
We just came upon a sign, so it looks like the trail is kept up by the Deutsche Alpen Verein.
It says you're in bear count...county? - You're in bear country. - You're in bear country. - Yeah.
In Germany we have most been...most been? - Mostly been.
But I'm just saying, hiking in general is the perfect place for us to film together
because there's places for me to step up onto, - That's true. - and then you can stand down.
So it works. - That's true. - Now we look like we're the same height.
Hey everyone, Dana here! And Stefan.
And today we are hiking in the Alps and talking a little abou...a little bit.
Videos are right above Dana.
Right above there.

Hiking Differences: GERMANY VS. USA

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