Romantikhotel Waxenstein Grainau

Again it was snowing when we woke up but again it wasn't sticking although it was still on the trees at the Alpine Zoo which we went to in the morning. This was Tara’s choice as usual. Greg's favourite was the brown bear which was lying with its head on its paws on a log, probably contemplating whether it was time to hibernate. My favourite was the lynx which was high up in a tree. By the ...

... amazing to see how close the Golden Roof came to being bombed during World War II by the Nazis. The Austrians had bricked it in to save it and some of these bricks were actually destroyed while the Roof and building were saved.

We then walked up the City Tower which was built in 1440 and had an incredible view over the city and the surrounding mountains. It had stopped snowing by this time and you could see a clear line above ...

Walked to the train station and did an expedition to the supermarket to spend our last Swiss Francs as we are back to Euros in Austria. Had a stopover in Zurich for a while and then caught the train to Innsbruck. Again this was a scenic trip over the mountains and it started snowing and was very deep as we got higher- just beautiful scenery. Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains, all of which had snow on them.

We checked into our hotel where we ...

... 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

... up the mountain to get a better look at the ski jump. The GPS took us to a viewpoint instead of to the actual jump, which is why I got a good picture of it. We then followed the signs to the ski jump, but the parking lot was swarming with people going to and from their tour buses and we decided we weren't in the mood for that kind of sightseeing.

We got on the highway and headed to a suburb of Innsbruck called Wattens where the Swarovski Crystal Worlds museum is located.

... 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.

... much about the other. The castle was picturesque. It was high on the hill side overlooking green mountains and plains. At the base of the mountain was a large clear crisp lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. After touring the castles, we toured the lake on a row boat. We basically had the lake to ourselves. Being in the middle of the large lake and being surrounded by the snow-capped mountains made us feel compared to our beautiful surroundings.

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.

Sadly, I dont remember much about Austria. Too bad because I have read so much about it lately as the music and art centre of Europe in the 1700s, I'd love to check that out.
I asked my dad recently if we had been there before. He said, 'oh yes, many times, we loved it'. Hmm, what a pity. I suppose it still counts because the images of scenery must be in my mind somewhere... curse this short memory of mine!