Yesterday was our second day in Fussen... our first full day.
After a local breakfast we took what should have been about an hour drive to Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany and part of the Alps mountain range. Unfortunately, it ended up taking over 2 hours because of bad traffic on the only road leading that direction.. apparently as a result of a medieval festival along the route.
Once we got to the base of the mountain, we boarded the cable tram for the ascent to about 10,000 feet. It was an impressive ride, feeling almost vertical in several stretches. It was a cloudy day, and although that made for picturesque images from below with the mountain tops peeking through, it wasn't the best for viewing from the top. For the adventurous at the top there was an option to leave the "safety area" of the observation platform and venture on to the rock face and use the cables and handholds cut in the rock to ascend the final few meters to the rocky point summit. If it weren't damp from the clouds, Spence and I might have tried it...
We took the "cog wheel" train back down.. a longer ride, much of which was thru tunnels carved in the mountainside. Although not the best weather, and a longer than expected drive, it was still a nice afternoon. The route between the mountain and our bed & breakfast actually looped down in to Austria... so we stopped at a restaurant in a small Austrian town for dinner on the way back. Once we got back we took a self guided walking tour of the area around Fussen in the evening.
Today we headed out early to get our tickets for a tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle, about 15 minutes from Fussen. This is the castle that Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle after. Built by Crazy King Ludwig II, it was only partially completed on the interior before he started inhabiting it, and then less than 6 months later he died. The parts that were completed were amazing, however. Because the castle, is so "young" at less than 150 years old, it looks practically brand new as compared to some of the ones that are 1000-1200 years old or more in the region. Between that, and the similarity you can't help but notice to Disney's version, it almost felt surreal. Between the castle, and the view of it form Mary's Bridge over the waterfall gorge behind the castle, it was definitely worth the 30 minute steep uphill walk to get there. Because no picture taking is allowed inside the castle I only had a few pictures to post of today.
This afternoon was lunch at a little old-world "food court", and then shopping (and maybe a nap for one of us...). Tonight we had our final dinner in Europe, a wonderful little Italian place we found off the beaten path... Italian food is very popular in Germany, and we seem to do that as we leave each city. A little more shopping afterward, and then back to the hotel.
Tomorrow morning we head off to the Munich airport (about 90 minutes away... hopefully) to catch our early afternoon flight, so there probably won't be much to report or post pictures of.
It's been a great 2 weeks and a wonderful experience, especially the international convention. Although it's hard to believe it' almost over, it also feels like we've packed a ton in to the time we've been here, and it will be nice to get back home.
Signing off from Deutschland...
-Steve