Four weeks later and we are still in Germany. We have seen some beautiful countryside, architecture, castles, palaces, gardens and cities. We have walked, cycled and climbed. All in all our trip is going along very nicely.

Today was a very slow start, our legs were a tad tired from yesterday’s mammoth excursion. We finally got going at lunchtime, as we had totally exhausted our food supplies DB had some tic tacs and I had 2 rice cakes for breakfast. We headed in to Lindau for a little explore and some lunch. We walked through the old town and saw the Town Hall, a church, a spotted roof and some lovely cobble stone streets. We then ventured out to the harbour with its Bavarian Lion and lighthouse marking its entrance.

After this 2.5 hour walk, we started on our drive to Fusson. Our accommodation was yet to be confirmed but we knew that was where we were to be tonight. It was a lovely scenic drive and the mountains/alps were picturesque and enormous as we approached Fusson.

We arrive at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles at 5pm. The traffic going out as we went in was banked back for a couple of kilometres. Apparently they receive 6,000 visitors daily in the summer, 1.4 million a year. It was very much a majority of Asian tourists which we haven’t seen a lot. It was still very busy when we arrived but the car park was quite empty. We started the climb up to the largest and most impressive castle we have seen so far the Neuschwanstein Schloss. It was a formidable sight. You really can’t fathom its size from the pictures. Apparently the tour inside is also amazing which we may do at some stage whilst we are here. We then walked to the bridge which was a fantastic viewpoint. After many photos and watching the sun set a little we headed back down, on the way seeing the smaller castle Hohenschwangau from a distance. When we got to the car about 6.45pm our accommodation still wasn’t confirmed so we went about booking something else. We found a nice little apartment on the lake about 15 mins away. Will let you know what the view is like tomorrow as it was dark when we arrived.

A bit of a quiet day but still managed to see some amazing things. At least our cycle legs have had a chance to rest a little even though we walked for over 5 hours.

A little information for the history buffs.
Neuschwanstein Castle was built between 1869 and 1886 under King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was built on the ruins of “Vorder- und Hinterhohenschwangau” in the style of a medieval castle.

Hohenschwangau Castle was mentioned the first time in records of the 12th century and was one of the summer residences for the bavarian royal family. From 1832 until 1836 Crown prince Maximilian of Bavaria let the ruin of Schwanstein Castle be rebuilt in neo-gothic style.

Wow, what a day!

We started out early as our plan was to ride 40km around the bottom section of Lake Konstanz  from Germany, through Austria to Switzerland and catch the ferry home to Germany. That plan was change when the girl at the Tourist Info told us the ferry from Rorschach to Wasserberg didn’t operate today. The only ferry running today was from Romanshorn to Friedrichshafen. This would add about 40km on to our ride whether we rode the return trip or went the longer distance and caught the ferry. I thought we should just go for it as it had been planned and if we can walk for over 6 hrs surely we could ride for that long. It was a beautiful day although only 9′, so off we went.

The ride went along the lake, through farms, beside railway tracks and along the roadways. We rode through apple orchards, vineyards, cabbage and strawberry patches. Past sunflowers, cows, sheep and alpacas. We stopped for lunch in Austria at about the 32km mark at a cafe on the lake. We had a lovely ham and mushroom pizza. It was really yummy. After lunch we continued on, we still had about 32km before we reached the ferry. We just kept on plodding along. When we reached Rorschach we both decided it would have been nice to be stopping there but unless someone invented a transporter machine we had to keep on going. It was a very pleasant ride until the wind started howling against us, but by the time we reached Romanshorn our legs were feeling the 64 km we had ridden.

Now we just had to wait 40 mins for the ferry for the 50 min trip across the lake to Friedrichschafen. We had a coke and a cup of tea on the ride to boost our energy. We then rode the last leg home. Not to disappoint anyone, we did another mega day and arrived back at the bike shop in the dark. Our total round trip was 98km minus the 13km on the ferry meant our ride was a little 85km. Not a bad days effort for a couple of grannies.

As it was 7.30pm and we still had a 2km walk home we thought it best to get dinner on the way home. We found a lovely little Italian Restaurant and refuelled on pasta and risotto. It was very nice. A big day out.

After a lovely couple of days in Christiane’s attic apartment we headed on our way. Before we left we thought we should have a quick look around. The cemetery behind our house was lovely, the gravestones were mostly of black granite and were very ornate with little religious statues and adorned with bright flowers. DB talking about the statues said. Look at the nice little bubba. I said. That’s Jesus. I then had a look in the church next door as we had listened to its bell ring many times over the few days. It was very pretty inside. All towns have a church in them and in this area they have all looked pretty much the same on the outside.

I then had a German lesson with lady in the bakery as it was time I embraced their language. So I learnt how to ask for a Bread roll and chocolate biscuit. Zwei Kaiser Semme and Eins Schoko-Hilda. I entertained the ladies and they said “Super” to me with a thumbs up.

So on to our next destination via a short loop walk. We enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive through the Black Forest with one hairpin turn after another. Quite amazing the number of turns and how silly the motorcyclists were, leaning over on to our side of the road, even around blind corners. The roads we followed today were a biker’s heaven.

We enjoyed a lovely walk through the gorge from Schattenmühle via Räuberschlössle, Gündelwangen and Lotenbachklamm. It was very much like our walks at home. It was about 9km and took longer than the hour described in the book.

DB has trouble pronouncing German words so makes them up as we go. He has kept me entertained for the whole time we have been here.

Yesterday’s make up word was Simon’s World for Simonswald (pronounced simmonsvald)
Today’s was Rissole for Räuberschlössle.

After our walk we enjoyed another picturesque drive to Lake Konstanz, our new home for the next couple of days. How we would survive without GPS I do not know. DB took one wrong turn on the highway which took us 10 mins in the wrong direction followed by a traffic jam for 10 mins. All of this done in good humour, we finally made our destination about 30 mins later.

Today was to be an easy tourist day. No hiking, just taking it easy.

So we headed of to Baden-Baden, about an hours drive on the most scenic roads. The initial start was again windy, narrow and fun. DB’s request for the day was to make the road one way and stop the rain so he can go fast. I would probably have to go to sleep then as fast on the highway is enough for me. Anyway his request was denied so I didn’t have to worry.

We listened to Pop station on the radio which played all English songs. Seems really strange to be listening to the radio in a country where you can’t speak the language but be able to sing all the songs.

We saw many people hiking along the road today going to many different trails. Most of them older than us and even more lots older than us. Apparently the Germans retire and go wandering to stay fit.

Once we got onto the wider, scenic road there were motorbikes and Ferraris everywhere. One motorbike sign said “sturzgefahr” which means “risk of falling”. The road was very smooth but the motor cyclists hang over the middle line quite often.

My tour guide is tired and getting annoyed at technology inadequacies which are increasing his planning time.

We are on a rapid fire tour today. Caught the train to Mt Merkur instead of walking the 4km each way. Cost 2€ pp, each way (within the guide’s budget).  Legs recovering from yesterday. From the top there was a panoramic view of Baden-Baden. We climbed 137 stairs in the observation tower for free (very unusual) to an even better view but it was so cold and windy up there it was a quick visit.

We then drove to Altes Schloss, a ruined castle. DB’s comment. “There is some serious money to be made here if someone wants to mow the lawns. Another freebie yippee!”

Learnt some more words today.
kein trinkwasser means no drinking water. This was at a little fountain I had thought about having a drink from.

The town of Baden-Baden is renowned for its Spas which are frequented by the rich and famous. The best according to Tripadvisor is supposedly Friedrichsbad. Costs here are €25 for 3 hrs for a bath, €37 for 3.5 hrs with soap and brush. We didn’t go in today.

We then walked through town to Lichtentaler Allee which is a 2.3-kilometre road through a park area. In the 19th century it was a promenade known for the famous visitors to the sophisticated spa town, which was then called the “summer capital of Europe”.

I said: It was a romantic walk
DB said: next to a stormwater drain

After our walk through the park beside the drain, we headed home for an early night. We finally made it home for once before the sunset.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw my first squirrel last night as we arrived here. Ran across the road. It was very small and very fast. Dave saw one the other day as well.

Well today was to be an easy day so we started out slow. Took our time getting up and ready. This area has over 23,000 km of hiking trails. How to choose one is absolutely impossible, so we are going with the one in the book. The plan was to drive to Simonswald and catch a bus to Gütenbach (6.5km time 24mins) and then walk back via the forest. It was supposed to be an easy downhill walk and about 7.5km. Well as usual that wasn’t quite the way it turned out. It was about an hours drive to the start to the bus along very narrow winding roads and the scenery was very Austrian, very vivid green grass and dark pine trees.

The bus trip was going to be interesting just getting our tickets but I practised the pronunciation from Google translate and that went over quite well. We arrived at Gütenbach at about 1pm and had some lunch in the bus shelter then headed on our way. Today we were following the green and yellow diamond track. Our initial track was up, so much for downhill all the way, it went up and up and up. We came across a signpost that needed translating “Durchgang verboten wald ar beiten” which meant “Passage prohibited forest acres work”. Lucky we didn’t have to go that way. As we walked the signpost read 9km to Simonswald, then we walked for some more and it read 9.5km, then some more and it said 9km. It just didn’t seem to be getting any closer. After about 2 hours we came across what looked like a little house but appeared to be a cafe. we decided to go in for refreshments (our usual wake me up cola light). When we went inside it was like we were interrupting a German family lunch, it was so warm in there and the smell was amazing like home cooked soup. DB would have like one of the sausages and noodles one of the girls was having. We felt very out of place but enjoyed the experience. We only stayed for about 10 minutes and were on our way as we still had 9km to go. So much for a 2 hour walk. We still had at least 2 hours to go so we thought. DB indicated maybe he should have checked the elevation of the walk, he just assumed it was all down hill, he said this as we started to climb up yet again. We followed single file tracks most of the day, some times easier than others, past mossy trees and rocks covered with different moss, fungi (my favourite) and ferns and lots of pine trees. The weather was quite poor with quite heavy rain at times. Most normal people would have stayed home today, but not us. There was an adventure to be had. Luckily we were only out in the rain in the open spaces but most of the time we were sheltered by the pine trees foliage. By the way I love my jacket, keeps me warm and dry and with a hat to stop the rain on my glasses it was a very pleasant walk. We passed many piles of timber all stacked like it belonged to someone but was just along the track nowhere near any houses. The timber was covered with rubber lined taups. I just don’t understand who it belongs to. We had some luck today, we saw some deer, giant snails without their homes, goats, sheep and cows. So a good DB day. We also passed through a snail forest with painted snails and wood carved beaver, rabbits and a mushroom. When we got to the 6km mark we had the same problem as the 9km mark, we came across a 6km mark about 3 or 4 times after walking at least another 10 minutes each time. Needless to say our 7.5 km walk was a lot longer than we thought. We just kept on walking and the time kept rolling on. The scenery was very beautiful and even as we saw the homes in the valley they were very lovely as well. Besides the tough uphill parts it was a very pleasant walk. We finally made it to the end at 6.15pm, so 4 hrs 43 mins and 16km. our moving time was 3 hrs 12 mins but with the stop at the cafe, taking pictures and the occasional rest after a hard climb it added an hour and a half.

After the walk we had planned to go to Triberg to see the world’s largest cuckoo clock. To go or not to go. As per usual we went, always trying to cram the most into every day. Probably the wrong decision this time as it was a 40min drive there and we couldn’t find the clock and it was dark. Oh well, maybe we will learn from that one, but probably not. We then had over an hours drive back to out house along narrow winding roads in the wet and dark. Not much fun for David. We arrived home at 9pm, time to cook dinner and rest. hehehe. I thought I would be home at about 6pm tonight. It’s now after 10 and we have just finished dinner. It is still raining, maybe we will rest tomorrow, but only time will tell.

A little cuckoo information.
Why is it that a kuku calls out of the Black Forest Clock, and not another song bird?
The kuku is a Black Forest Bird and needs for his call only two tones. These two tones are copied inside the clock with two air blown whistles.

Well we were exhausted from a huge day yesterday. Finally hitting the sack last night at midnight. I had a lovely birthday. So as the weather was inclement we were slow to get organised and unfortunately had to cancel our planned hike as with the rain it would have been too tricky and we thought it might be dangerous as well. So it was time to drive to our next destination about a 4 hour drive. A small town in the middle of the black forest called Bad Peterstal-Griesbach. It was a lovely drive once we got off the motorway. DB changed his course just to get off the motorway sooner as it takes enormous amounts of concentration and is very tiring as the speeds are phenomenal.

As in most small towns the language barrier and use of credit card is usually a problem. I had little issues in the small supermarket because I didn’t weigh the veggies and put a sticker on them, this happened in France but we had stopped looking for this as we hadn’t had to do it so far this holiday. The lady was quite pleasant about it and decided it was easier to go do it herself than try to explain it. We had a little giggle about it with her.

Our first home cooked meal since we left Benny. It is so lovely to just have a basic stir fry and stay in rather than find somewhere for dinner and translate the entire menu.

I am now lying in bed listening to the hymns from the church service next door. Might go to mass one day whilst I am here.

It is nice to be resting as we have had a very tiring few days. The plans are to have a couple of days here to rest a little and recover from our hectic schedule so far. I don’t know how DB does all the driving because every time we have a long drive to do I jut can’t keep my eyes open.

We packed up early and went to head out and explore Quedlinburg but were stopped down the stairs by the owner sshooshhhing us and scooting us back up the stairs, we had no idea why but she seemed very agitated. We think she was undergoing an inspection but we really had no idea as she only speaks German. She closed the door to the downstairs and we stayed in our room. After 45mins when she hadn’t come back to tell us we could leave DB went down the stairs again. He came across the daughter who was removing a sign and tape across the door. He tried to find out by using Google translate what was happening but she just said we could leave now. We spoke to another guest once we got out who said it was an unscheduled safety inspection and she turned them away until tomorrow. This doesn’t explain the taped door and notice on the stairs.

TRANSLATION of the note left on the stairs of our accommodation this morning.
“DANGER –  This Constructional plant is officially sealed. Do Not Enter Germass 136 of the Criminal Code shall be punished with imprisonment up to 1 year or a fine, who ablost damaged the employer’s seal or renders unrecognizable, which is close sets to things to monopolize, business to close or to designate, or whoever caused by such a seal makes closing completely or partly ineffective Note The offense of breach of seal is also satisfied if the system is used or worked on her without causing damaged the seal, is superseded or covered”

Anyway, we were out so we just had a giggle and went on our way to explore the town. It was a very quaint town of cobbled streets, colourful buildings, churches and castles. After a few hours of exploring and an gelato, we headed back to the car to drive to our next destination. This changed from this morning as we were due to head to Bamburg which we think would be the same as here but bigger, so we decided to head straight to Koblenz (a long 4hrs drive and over 400km) and the Rhine Valley in the hope of heading out to nature tomorrow or the next day. It is time to leave the city behind for a day or two.

We had one of our nicest dinners tonight at Lahnterrazze. A recommended Italian Restaurant. It was also one of our cheapest meals. Mains – Pasta and Risotto only 7 euro & 7.5 euro. Dinner was had for only 19.50 euro.

Today we are leaving Berlin but before we do we will head out for a short Broadbent tour of murals (art on buildings) on our way to the East Berlin Gallery – which is a 1km stretch of the Berlin Wall. On the east side of the wall there is continuous street art unfortunately it was fenced in, which affected some of our pics, and on the west side was graphic pictures and stories of refugees who have survived their war stricken countries. We really have no idea how lucky we are to live in a free country not a war zone. The murals on the way were very good and covered some entire buildings.

Packed up and ready to go on our next adventure. We are heading to south east Germany over the next couple of days. First stop Quedlinburg, a little town near the Harz National Park. But first a stop at the Sanssouci Park which was enormous. Its history begins prior to 1744.

Following a myriad of pathways through the gardens are some amazing palaces – Sanssouci Palace with it’s tiered terraces, fountain and statues. There were so many statues on every pillar throughout the garden. Then we walked to Neues Palace (the front of the palace had 50 windows over two levels) and then the Orangeries Palace with its own botanic garden. It took us over 2 hours to take a brisk walk through some of the grounds. DB said it would be great to play hide and seek but you would need to play on bikes and I would need a compass so I didn’t get lost as the paths went off from each point in sometimes 8 different direction.

Then off we go to our new destination Quedlinburg.

We arrived in Quedlinburg and encountered a few language challenges. There was no-one at our accommodation, just a phone number to call. When we called it went to voicemail in deutsche which I did not understand, so we asked a guy who came out of there to call them, which he did. They then came and spoke no English, only took cash which we did not have enough of, so DB went looking for a bank while I tried to pass time with the 4 or 5 deutsche words I know. Was challenging. DB couldn’t find a bank that took our card so I left and found one to use our EFTPOS card. Lucky we had that one as well.Once checked in we headed out for dinner to a local pub. Also no English, lucky menu had english description. I have spoken the most Deutsche today than I had in the last 3 weeks. No internet tonight so I will get an early sleep.