Gasthof Hanselewirt Schwangau

... drowning in the lake near Munich is still a bit of a myth in Germany. It was a 45 minute walk uphill, but for 6 Euros we could take a horse drawn carriage-we jumped at the chance. It was a memorable ride and only the second time we had taken one-the first being right after we were married! It wasn't a private ride but the tourists who shared the ride with us also shared in our giggles at the constant ******* of the horses :)
Füssen, Bavaria, Germany armajor7

... we discover means ‘no vacancies’ once Duncan has driven down a 3 mile single track road and has to once again negotiate a three point turn with no power steering. Thankfully we find space at nearby Bannwald See, only a couple of kilometres further away. It is packed but we manage to find a level pitch with some grass outside (motorhome heaven)

In the evening after dinner we take our wine down to the jetty that juts out into Bannwald ...

... we transferred and got on our other uncomfortable train for another four hours. We were sitting in another EuroTrip style compartment and the seats across from each other laid out flat to make one little bed for two people. Meri and Katie took advantage, but the rest of us couldn't because of the stranger in the cabin with us. He was a surgeon that very nicely (douche) told us to shut up, it was 4 a.m. So we shut up.

Got to Venice at 8:30 a.m. More updates soon!

... too.
The rest of the tour took us to Linderhof castle and Neuschwanstein castle. What magical looking places they were. Neuschwanstein is the castle Walt Disney uses the sillohette of at the start of his movies. Anyway, after the trip it was back to Munich for a day or so and then on the plane home.

... tour of Hohenschwangau was at 10:15 am. That gave us 30 minutes to go to the bathroom and hike up to the entrance. Well, using the bathroom took so long that we ended up hurrying up the road (again, thought I may have to give Mom CPR). Made it up top with about 10 minutes to spare though. The views of the snowcapped Alps, ice blue lake and Neuschwanstein in a veil of clouds and fog were just amazing! The lake would be a ...

... walking around, I stumbled upon this old boathouse. I sat down on the dock and watched a couple of ducks float by as I tried to take everything in. This was one of those rare occasions where you get so lost in what you are seeing that you kind of forget where you are. Staring at the lake and the mountains was so amazing that it almost seemed unreal...as if I wasn't actually there. It took a slip and fall with a near plunge into the lake to reassure me that ...

... for a while. I visited St. Michael's church and the cathedral (again). St. Michael's has a Baroque interior - there are lots of those, since the Baroque architecture in this area came as a result of and received impetus from the Counter Reformation. In contrast to the north and east, southern Germany (Bavaria) remained catholic and wanted to show it. A lot of the artwork and architecture is inspired by Italy. Finally I made my way to Marienplatz and took the elevator to the ...

Another work conference for my parents brought us to Oberammergau for a week. We stayed in the cutest little wooden cottage - like the whole thing ceiling to floor and including flowering window boxes was made out of wood! Totally picturesque like you've read about in Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Aromatic town bakery. Absolutely enchanting.

... gorgeous and the views of it and from it are breathtaking.



After our tour we drove to Kempten and stayed at the Peterhof downtown. This was our first room with a tv...all German stations, of course!

... napkins.


We toured Linderhof, one of crazy King Ludwig's castles. It's the only one that was finished before he died. Even though it wasn't sunny, Rick made some gorgeous pictures.