Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, from across the Alpsee. Schwangau, Germany. (Click to enlarge.)

Weekend Fun

Yesterday we drove down to Füssen for a hike. On the way, we bought the most delicious fresh strawberries at a roadside stand. The berries were great, but the best part was the stand itself. I'll put a picture at the end of this entry.

The hike was great, too. We had beautiful weather -- sunny and in the 80s. We walked up to Neuschwanstein and then on to the Marienbrücke (a bridge over a waterfall up above the castle that gives a great view). That's where I took the second picture, below. Then we hiked along a trail around a small lake nearby (the Alpsee), from where I took the picture of Hohenschwangau (the yellow castle). After we finished the hike, Marty jumped in the lake for a swim!

It took about three hours to do all that. Then we drove over to Oberammergau, a little town I first visited a few weeks ago when a friend came to stay. When I was there before, I had the BEST ice cream I'd had since arriving in Germany. Seriously! So we went there and had ice cream yesterday afternoon. (It wasn't far out of our way, but the place is definitely worth a detour.) I had zwei Kugeln (two scoops), one stracciatella (like chocolate chip, kinda) and one amarena (and I don't even know how to describe that stuff, but I think it has cherries in it). Oh, my goodness. It was heavenly. If you are ever in Oberammergau, do not miss the Eis Cafe Paradiso. I'm completely serious, y'all. (Marty agreed that it was great.)

And that was our day! Today Marty went rollerblading at the Olympic park (you may remember that the 1972 Olympics were held in Munich) and tonight we're going to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I'm in the mood for a hamburger...

Click on the pictures to see a larger version: