Happinger Hof Rosenheim

... cool view of the brick walls and timbered supports, kind of like walking through a Macaulay book. Some of the castle has been turned into a museum (half of the signs translated into English!) and cafe. While the locals ate their cake and coffee, all the Americans grabbed lunch, almost every option involving meat in tube form. How can you go wrong?

Followed the trails around the island, little chapels and farm ...

... mountain with a nice warm sun and good long range visibility.

All the walking I've done around cities in Europe the last 3 weeks was probably good training for today, but the steep sections and rocky parts tested my muscles and endurance and I was keen formany rests along the way, but Stef seemed intent on beating the suggested time it takes to hike up, overtake anyone we saw up ahead of us and also not let anyone else pass us ...

... little more than one street. The castle looming above is well-preserved and evocative, and really worth a visit. There's a panoramic glass lift to get you up there if you're too idle to walk. The prison tower holds historical exhibitions and details of the erstwhile prisoners and ancient torture methods, including a shocking engraving showing some poor unfortunate being tied ...

... all of it but enjoyed what I could.

We lunched on snack bars and fruit after another big climb then did more challenging singletrack descents. I get a bit of vertigo on some of the trails where there's a steep drop to the side.

I was now on my 6th day of riding and when Keith asked whether I was up to another big climb to sample yet more singletrack descending ...

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Back up for another run at Flying Gangster without falling off, but by now the weather was closing in and it looked as though I was pushing my luck to try another run.

On the way home, we stopped off and did some shopping. We stayed in and cooked Krapfern, slow-roast tomatoes and roast sausage, which was excellent, and yoghurt for dessert, all locally-produced except the toms.

... technical singletrack which was much more of a challenge for me and I had to work on shifting my balance on the bike, keeping the weight much further back, and trying to take a more balanced approach to braking, as I was heavily favouring the back brake (to such an extent that the rear tyre showed significantly more wear at the end of the week). Mountaintop lunch was a "Strammel Max" (ham, eggs ...

... for days after all! Our tour guide freaked us out slightly by telling us he had something special to tell us, then not telling us what it was. Had we won a prize? Had our holiday been cancelled? Would we have no accommodation? We had to wait till halfway to Kitzbuehel to find out. It was that there was a triathlon going on right around our hotel so we might not be able to get to the Welcome meeting the next morning as the road was going to be closed ...

... and a half tour. We were in a group with about 40 Americans on a tour. The guide was very good, and the castle was magnificent. Much nicer and more opulent than Versailles. Never finished and hardly lived in, but just amazingly over the top. Grabbed a lovely sache torte from the cafe. Ignored the horse and carriages, and walked back down the mountain, and caught the bus back to Fussen.

Back to our hostel to pick up the gear, then lunch at Nordsee say before catching the ...

... is famous for the castle built there by Bavaria's fairytale King Ludwig II. The New Castle's park and gardens are designed to follow the pattern of those at Versailles. The renovated water features and seven fountains invite the visitor to stay and rest a while. It's just a pity the weather didn't help much.

... saw the most delightful parade! All the vehicles were decorated with flowers, from horse drawn wagons to cars, trucks, even the fire engines. The parade stepped off with the town band, playing that wonderful Bavarian music. We just stood on the side of the street with the rest of the people to watch the parade. It was a great experience, and one that we just happened upon! The festival with music, food…the works…was going on in town afterward ...