Last Day

Quiet day today...woke up to rain again, packed our bags and got in the car for the drive back to Munich. It was about a 2.5 hr drive, but the weather and road construction made the route really congested. We hit Munich at lunchtime, but took the time to check out the road to the airport.

We stopped for the one and only time this trip at a McDonald's, as a restroom break was called for, and Ainsley got to see the differences between the restaurants- she didn't miss the ice in her drink until I pointed it out, but had noticed the 0.2€ charge per ketchup package, and said the wrap was better here.

We then next headed to find the hotel- and promptly went to the wrong town - but right address. Took a minute to figure out what the problem was, but got to the hotel 20 minutes later. I took a nap, and Ainsley surfed, before we headed to get our last dinner.....

We're checked in for tomorrow, and all is on schedule.

Salzburg Day 2

Day started with a quick drive to the cable-car Untersberg, which takes you up to Geiereck mountain station. We ended up driving to station as it was a 1/3 of the time to get there - and was essentially a straight shot down the road from the hotel. The lift ticket was part of the pass. We wandered the alpine for about 45 min, before heading back down the cable car. The views were astounding...we even saw local wildlife.

Next, we headed to Schloss Hellbrunner. The main focus is the Trick Fountains - all powered by water pressure. The tour was well done, and we had fun watching the water works.

The Palace itself was next. 

The monks retreat at the top of the hill was the last stop of the Pass - we clocked in at 2:20. The house is now a local folk museum, with 3 stories of Austrian folk furnishings, household goods and traditional costume and customs.

We were quite happy with our pass- we got at least 70€ worth out of a 35€ cost for two days. The evening was spent back int the town, where we hit our known restaurant for dinner. 

Salzburg

Woke up this morning to sunshine - and a plan, so we could see the fortress and the cathedral palace. Started with breakfast, then we headed towards the Hohensalzburg Castle. No bus, as it was longer to wait for the bus for one stop than to just walk the 0.5 km. We caught the funicular from the bottom, and did the tour of the walls first. We were early enough, there were only 5 people on the car. The tour was an audioguide, but with an escort for most of it.

After, we went to the state rooms - so long you were there before 11, they were included. Quite impressive, especially considering their age. The State rooms area lead directly into the museum for the area.

After finishing at the Castle, we caught the funicular back down and headed to the DomQuarter- the residence of the prince bishops. The tour was again impressive - and the Residence connected to about 3 sets of museums, and the second floor of the Cathedral. It took about 2.5 hours to go through and listen to everything.

After, we went Mozarts birth house- had the things that were replicas in the residence. Once finished there, we had a break. Ainsley had seen a cafe on the corner at the Salzburg Museum the day before, so we headed there. 

At this point, it was about 4:35, and we knew that there were no museums we would see, but the pass included a boat tour - so we went to see about tickets. We could either pay 3€ and sit outside on the deck, or wait until 6PM. We paid :) and enjoyed the 45 min break - and the breeze.

Once off the boat, we picked up some drinks, chips, cheese and chocolate at the grocer at the square and caught the bus back to the hotel, where we had the fun of watching BBC's The Three Musketeers, and there were some BBC soaps after which Ainsley wasn't impressed with.

Bad Tolz

Wet! We drove from here to Salzburg.

No internet at beginning of night - will post photos and update tonight.

We spent the night at a smaller German town, Bad Tolz. Why there? It was 1/2 way between Newschwanstein and Salzburg. Ainsley had to help read the menu, as there was no English, except for the proprietor. The place was a family run affair, as the older gentlemen who was serving breakfast was clearly the dad of the proprietor. We had thought that maybe we'd see the town center, but the day started out wet (and never truly got better) so we decided to go straight to Salzburg.

We had already reserved a pensionne for the next nights, so we just headed there, arriving at about 1:30. There is a car park, so we checked in briefly with the proprietress to let her know who the car belonged to, and headed to town...well, we were supposed to, but in the rain got turned around, so I had us walk about 2km more than planned. I say it was just to improve our step counts for the day.

We had already looked into how we wanted to do Salzburg, and headed first to the Mozartzplaz Residence - and then walked to the hotel across the street to buy the Salzburg Pass- we knew we wanted the pass, but didn't realize they were only sold at hotels. Back across the square, and started our 48 hr pass at 2:35. After the Mozart Residence, we walked across to the old town and the Salzburg Museum for the second use of the day (most all museums closed at 5).

Wandered around the old town, and found a restaurant for dinner - I had a good roast pork and bread dumpling, while Ainsley had a turkey-snitzel and parsley infused potatoes. We got public transit with the pass so hoped the bus for the 3-stop ride back home. We didn't post then as upon getting into the hotel room, missed the little piece of paper that had the password on it.

Castles

15972 steps- But many of those were uphill or up steps - we saw Newschwanstein and Hosl....n castles today.  Tried to stay at the same place, but no luck - so off we went at just before 8 to get our tickets. Were in the line at 8:10 am, when the ticket counter opened at 8 - but as only two ticket sellers, we were not at the counter itself until 8:40. At 8:41 we had tickets in hand for the two castles, and for the museum. 

The first tour was at Hohenschwangau, for 10:55. Since we had time to kill, we went slowly up the steps, wandered the garden and fountains, then grabbed a soda from a vending machine. At that point, the time was at hand for the tour.  Ainsley said the castle felt homier than most castles - it was an awesome visit, she said. 

A quick WC pit stop, then down the mountain and up the other side - they gave a 45 - 50 min timeline, we had finished in 30. Ainsley was happy we had stopped climbing uphill. Again, had about 15 minutes to cool down before heading in for our tour. This castle was very princessy, according to Ainsley, and it was a real bummer that he didn't get to live in it longer considering how much attention he put into the design and decoration.

As the tour lets out at the base of the castle, at the path towards the bridge, we then headed over there next. The bridge was spongy as it is wood planked, and you could tell this really unnerved a lot of people as they wouldn't actually cross to the other side - most stayed in the first 20 feet, meaning there was a lot of unnecessary congestion. Ainsley also took control of the camera!

After, we made our way down. On the way up, we had noticed there was a seller of what we called 'donut holes on steroids' - about 2-3X the size, but a light cake-batter type. We had a treat walking down the rest of the way - and as they had just come out of the fryer, they were really hot!

The museum was interesting - telling the story of the Wittenberg family from the first duke, to the split in the line, it dying out and the resurgence of the other half of the family, along with the story of Ludwig II and some of the memorabilia that existed. The section on the family in the 20th century was interesting- I had not known that there were members of the royal family that had ended up in the concentration camps.

Once done, we headed to Bad Tolz for the night. Why here? It was halfway to Salzburg. Had a good dinner at the hotel.

Augsburg

Woke up this morning after the worst sleep yet - as we went more rural, there was no air conditioning. In the middle of the heat wave. Yesterday at Dachau it was at least 35, and overnight it did not drop below 25. We had a ceiling fan, but did not help much. We headed down for breakfast, at about our usual time, and picked a table- I did as usual when at breakfast, putting the room key down on the table while Ainsley and I went to get juice etc. As we did so, Ainsley noted that someone was taking our table. All I could do was walk up, without saying a word slide my room key from underneath the guys plate, give him a frown and go take another table.

We put our stuff in the car, and then went and wandered Augsburg, a smaller local but still a city. It had quite a few churches, and large pedestrian areas. 

We finished about 1ish, then drove to Fusen, about 1.5 hrs away. Checked into the hotel, and then went for a wander up to the lake, where Ainsley found a Berner. Walked back to the main square, and then into the old town of Fusen itself.

We finished the night having dinner at the hotel- one of the best meals I've had. Ainsley rated her burger an 11 out of 10. The meal I had was spinach & cream stuffed chicken with pan saluted onions and tomatoes on a bed of seasoned soft polenta. 

Tomorrow Neuschwainsein- if we can get another room here tomorrow night, we will do one castle and museum, leaving the other for Sunday - if we can't, we are likely to do both possibly skipping the museum, and start heading to Salzburg. Bonus - Ainsley is free there too!

Dachau

This morning we had the same spread of various fruit, bread, cheeses and meats as yesterday, and Ainsley found pancakes. A pack of our bags later, we walked to the opposite side of the train station, where Hertz was located. After securing the keys, it was then another 600m walk to where the parking garage was. Ainsley and Google Maps kept us on track, and 30 minutes later we were at Dachau.

Not a place for a lot of photos. We actually spent about 5 hours on the site. Half away through the museum, Ainsley had a bit of a surprise- she saw Mrs. Deam, her debate coach! The exchange group from the Ames high school had split up for the day, with some of them at Dachau, so it was a surprise for all. As we were at the end of the camp road, we were there for when the bell went off.

After, we had wienersnitchel and fries at the cafe on site as we were both hungry, and it was very tasty. Getting back into the car, the thermostat read 35C. We drove about an hour, to Augsburg where we have a very nice old hotel (wood paneling in the whole room!), and will visit the town in the morning ( as it will be much cooler the, before heading south to Schwangau and Newschweinstein castle.

LL- second time driving on the Autobahn, and I'm again driving a Ford!