Landhotel Goldener Pflug Frasdorf

... are tucked away here and there. We saw two horses rolling around in the dirt. The island started off as a monestary site first, also a museum, though all in German. From what I gathered something very important happened there after WWII. Had to read up later to find out that that's where Germany's constitution was created. Would have been interesting, but I couldn't understand the signs, must learn more German! A ...

... and drinks after the hike. Unfortunately Stef and I were so tired from the hike it was an early night.

Awesome catching up with Stef and Julia and so lucky to get Stef's expert local tour of Rosenheim, Kufstein and Wendelstein mountain.

Sunday I got back to Munich in time to do the 1pm walking tour of the city. Legs were not quite up to it after yesterday's hike, but last opportunity so pushed through and glad I did ...

... of courtyards and buildings, and eventually a steep tunnel leading down to the courtyard below.

At 12:00 the Heldenorgel or Heroes' Organ pipes up and swells the courtyard below with its tunes.

I didn't see much to recommend more than a day's visit but we were glad to have stopped off here.

We wandered along the river back to the van to head off to Munich.

... 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 ...

... lunch but I went back up and used the Flying Gangster trail as my post-lunch challenge. It didn't disappoint! It's a freeride trail, with some very steep, fast sections, jumps, drops and big berms, but there's nothing you can't roll over if you're a beginner-level freerider or more used to XC, like me.

On my first run, I fell off after a bit of the trail that was covered with wood ended ...

Another lovely farm-fresh breakfast. We had bought 2-day lift passes for Skiwelt so spent a second consecutive day there. Katie used the lifts and went walking along the top from above Scheffau toward Ellmau then down the funicular railway there.

Keith and I took the lift up from Scheffau. A lovely, blue, sunny day. The nature of the riding took a significant step up today. We practiced ...

... the hotel wouldn't be able to give us a lift into town. Okay, we thought, but would we be able to book the glacier trip? I resolved there and then to find our own way into town. How hard could it be?

Anyway, they taxied us out to our hotel after dropping the Kitzbuehel contingent as our hotel was out by the lake. First impressions - very beautiful setting and they gave us a room with an enormous balcony - even though we hadn't paid extra for ...

... I decided to head that way that they had turned most of the palace into office space available for rent by the public. So I puttered around a bit more that side of the river, saw where Mozart lived as an adult, and then headed back across the river. As I crossed, I saw a river cruise that was about to sail, so I bought a ticket and queued to board. We had some nice views of the town on both sides of the river and the castle up on the hill. More than anything ...

... Eastern Europe. We tried to stop at the American consulate a few times but never when they were open. We found the perfect opportunity on the train to Munich. We had a 30 minute stop to change trains at Sankt Margrethen on the Swiss-Austrian border. We got off the train and walked a few hundred feet to cross the border into Hoescht. Switzerland isn't part of Shengan space so the borders aren't completely open. The border guard tried to wave us into Austria but we said we ...

... go. I felt thrilled and disappointed at the same time…thrilled because of what I had just seen and felt, disappointed because I had to leave. Thank goodness for my memories… I’ll carry this with me for as long as I live.

(BevNote: While Paul was walking around the Flower Garden, I was simply enjoying the scenery, as the clouds came and went. There was a very small chapel, not too far from where I was sitting, but I did not go in ...