Lederhosen and Schneeballen
Waking after a terrific nights sleep in a comfy quiet room, we were served breakfast of meat, cheese and eggs. This was a little foreign to our stomachs but we ate a little just to be polite. We headed directly north from Landeck across the Fernpass towards Fussen. At the top we once again stopped and enjoyed coffee and apple crumble for morning tea.
The Austrian Alps are very different from the Swiss Alps and I never get bored riding through them, as they are just as spectacular, with fabulous views around every corner. The roads are well maintained and the traffic is very light and very well behaved. Every day we pass hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles, all of them waving or nodding in acknowledgment (respect?). This is not a common practice in Australia and by the end of the day I begin to feel like the nodding dog on the back shelf of a car.
We arrived in Fussen before lunch and checked in to LA House Hostel. Lahdo greeted us warmly and when he discovered that I was a web designer he excitedly started offering me hundreds of euros if I would make him a website. Much as I would love to help him out, I do not need the money nor the hassle nor time taken away from my travels. We will probably stay in Fussen for a few more days so I may leave Lahdo with some advice rather than actual work.
We set off to explore the town and instead of tasting some traditional German food for lunch, we opted for Chinese instead. Fussen is a charming little town with cobbled streets and painted buildings, although it lacks the homeliness and charm of Amalfi. We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around the shops and then took a short scooter ride up the mountain to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.
Hohenschwangau was where King Ludwig II was born and Neuschwanstein is the one he built in his supposed madness. They sit on either side of a valley facing each other. Hohenschwangau, which is completely covered by scaffolding and hessian, is where you are forced to park your car. You have three choices to get up the hill to Neuschwanstein: you can pay five euros for a slow horse and buggy ride; you can get a bus to the lookout above Neuschwanstein and walk down (not recommended for the lame and elderly) or you can spend 45 minutes to an hour trudging slowly up the hill after the horses.
It was close to 6pm when we arrived and there were still a few tourists about. Ignoring the no cars sign (we are not a car) we drove all the way to the top of Neuschwanstein avoiding the piles of fly ridden horse poo along the road. This also entailed closing our visors so as not to inhale or digest the thousands of nasty black bugs that were flying into our faces. The BOSS had a brief look at the top of the fairytale castle and we sussed out a plan of action to avoid the tourist attack tomorrow.
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