The Quinn Family Excellent Adventure: June 2019

We did not have to wait too long after our first train. I had a chance to run to a nearby convenience store and grab a drink. We were in Germany, so cool. Our Airbnb host Claudia was kind enough to offer us a drive from the Fussen bus/train station so I needed to touch base with our journey. She was a bit concerned about the quantity of stuff we were carrying but I felt pretty good about that. We were a few times 3 and in small cars. The next train was soon along and it was a little bit smaller and slower. I liked that as the countryside blurs by too fast sometimes with the speedy trains. The approach to Fussen was getting more and more beautiful as time went on. My concern of finding or missing a bus was melted away when it was clear 2 buses were awaiting the arrival of our train. It was raining a bit as we walked to the buses. One was totally packed and the next had nobody on it. The driver confirmed the destination so we stashed our big bags below and in we went. The roads in this part of Germany are pretty slim. The driver was very cautious passing larger vehicles. There was no room on the sides for bikes sadly. The drive is pretty long from the train station and the rain was really coming down. Glad we had a drive.

Once at the station our host was looking for us thinking we arrived on the earlie bus. We found her, introduced ourselves and walked in the rain toward her fancy BMW sports car. It was tight and Michelle was squeezed down in the back but we made it. Out host blasted us through Fussen and onward to the 10 minute drive to Schwangau. We had only a few minutes to throw our stuff into our awesome room and Claudia had to split to pick her daughter up from school. We said no worries as she asked if she could complete the check in later. The apartment was super cute. Nice bathroom, huge kitchen, big living space with a nice table. The bedroom was massive and we had a balcony. After settling in a bit, Claudia returned with the conclusion of our training. Germany offers a free tourist card for buses. We just had to fill out a form for her. Lastly there was a small tax required to be paid. I think it was only 15 Euros. As out route here was kinda tricky, I was a bit concerned about the timing out. I told her about our Fussen train departure. Luckily it was leaving the Fussen train station we now knew. It was at 06:00 AM. Claudia knew right away that was not good as this sleepy part of Germany has a bus route that starts a little later than that. She also said taxi's are difficult to find and atrociously expensive. She immediately offered to drive us. I was amazed and reminded her that it was 06:00 AM. She said no worries. She can use her husbands vehicle and it will be no problem. I told her then we would pay and even though she indicated resistance, there was no way it would be pro bono. We had fun through this conversation using both the Pocketalk and her daughter with the translation

Soon we were left alone for a few days in our new home. Super hungry and with an empty fridge we headed out to see Schwangau. Very close to us is https://www.schlossbrauhaus.de/, a brewery and restaurant. Prices were not crazy and the servers chosen beer was wicked. They served fresh pretzels with some meals. Yum. I got the salad bar and soon discovered how this part of Germany likes their salad. Lot's of sauerkraut like items, not so much lettuce and lots of other veggies. I picked a few of their traditional sauces and yum yum a days worth of veggies in one go. Michelle got a Schnitzel thingy in a totally massive bun. Much of it remained after she ate. Next in line was groceries. Just down the street is what looks like a small convenience store. Many of these tiny places turn out to be long thin and massive once to get past the cash area. It's impressive how much stuff they jam into a small store. Armed with plenty of our favorite and random choices we headed home after a long day. Time to enjoy our first evening in Schwangau.

The rain we experienced earlier in the day seemed to not stop throughout the night. After a great sleep we decided to take the bus to Fussen. Our first task was to confirm the location of our meeting spot for our castle tour. Figuring out the bus was kinda difficult. Google had a mind of it's own. The bus stops we found had routes on them that seemed to be a little better. When we did finally get onto our first bus, the driver needed to confirm where we were heading. I think he thought we desired the Castle as most noobs are. We were not and with that settled, we soon stopped at a school which let in a bunch of children. One cute little girl immediately sat facing Michelle and start asking us questions in German. I fired up the pocketalk and we had a blast. She was 8 years old and really interested in just talking. I could have done that forever. What a little angel. Our stop was only a few minutes later. We learned then that taking the bus seemed silly as it was only a few minutes ride. It was only a few minutes walk to the location of our castle tour. With the location under our belts it was time to confidentally search out Fussen.

It was cool and rainy so the tourist traffic was a little low. We found the main touristy part of town and walked the wet streets. We found tradition snowball thingies and tucked away in this fancy part of town, a nice inexpensive Woolworth's. It's always nice to find a very reasonable place for stuff. A nice tiny wallet was a big score as my cash and card elastic band solution was concerning Kaitlyn. I also got some plastic storage containers for our inevitable food extra's. Michelle found some headphones that looked promising. This place was wicked and we would be back. After our little score we walked a little finding places to get photo's after the rain stopped. I could hear the roar of the river and needed to see it. It was way high with rapid like flows from the days past. From there a short random walk led us to a cool church Michelle wanted to see. Sweet. The rain started up again and a previously discovered restaurant offered healthy choices our of the rain. Yum. We wanted to walk home but the rain threat made us take no chances with the bus. Once again Google did not seem to help and only with a little bus stop schedule deciphering could we make it back.

Our next day was the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles tour. We needed to be at the Fussen tour starting point we learned of the previous day at like 9 AM. Google indicated a bus does depart at 8 AM. We had already walked to the intended stop and confirmed this on the schedule. Cool. We got to the stop early and saw no buses. None at all in any direction. Google indicated that day was Ascension Day https://www.thelocal.de/20190530/why-germans-use-holy-ascension-day-to-get-wholly-wasted and it could effect buses. Cool a holiday with no morning buses at least. I already had a plan B. It takes 30 minutes to walk to Fussen. Even if we left at 8:30 we would make it. We waited until 8:15 and pulled the plug on the bus. Luckily we say no buses as we walked away. This part of Schwangau is mostly farm country. Wide scapes of farm land in many directions. After about 1 KM we are introduced to a bunch of walkways and trails going all over the place. This was the way to get around. A majority of travelers rode pedal and hybrid bikes. Our walk took us past power station Wasserkraftwerk on the Lech river. The power of the water was shocking. As we got closer to Fussen the trails became more complex and more traveled. At the tour office we met the tour hosts wife, a very busy looking woman running a hostel. She indicated her husband would be soon with us and he was. We almost departed without another group but they arrived just as we were pulling out. Nice people from the US. A husband and wife team with their 2 adult kids. We learned they visited there 20 years ago getting married in the area. They thought it would be cool to bring to kids on the reuntion. Nice.

I sat up front with the driver and we talked about the awesomeness of being so close to many countries and the wicked availability of riding skiing and other outdoor activities anywhere. The reason we picked this tour company is they offered us a skip the line pass somehow. Normally tickets to the castle required advance booking which we did not have. Somehow after driving us to the tourist area at the base of the castle area, the driver hops out and soon magically has a bunch of tickets. Dunno how that works but hey we have tickets. Getting to the castle is the next trick. One method is by foot. Another a shuttle bus. A third by horse carriage. Walking was best. The horse price was nuts. The shuttle was crazy packed. It was a steepish steady climb along the beautiful forest edge all the while views of the castle got nicer and nicer. What makes the walk really nice is other foot traffic and avoiding the occasional horse carriage and poo. Once at the top of the climb the castle is super cool to see. We had about 45 minutes before our tour start time so a great chance to walk around the perimeter to see the base and surrounding area. The tour start times are very very obvious with signage and queues. We soon met our American friends and waited for our start time. We are all soon handed a translator device like a handset and let by a tour guide. Our guide simply warns us when to walk, when to stop and when to listen. The castle is crazy huge. We only see a small fraction of it. It's actually kind of disgusting how fancy rich this King was living in his own weird world. Apparently he grew up as a child in the Hohenschwangau castle below. He played as a child in the ruins of a previous castle that would eventually be the Neuschwanstein Castle. One of his wishes was no strangers were to be allowed once it was completed. He died before his was completed. Now it's visited by zillions of visitors. Karma is a bitch eh.

After our little tour we had plenty of time to walk around the perimeter. We had seen a bridge from the castle views and finding it was not hard. We were the last people to walk on freely. As we were leaving we noticed the line up was so large they had to implement the body counter for weight load. By then the crowds were getting icky big so I was glad to not be there anymore. We had no tickets to the Hohenschwangau castle but we could always walk to and around it for free. We chose a path that looked good enough. It seemed to have a steep warning but it was ok. In the wet it would have been crazy slippery. Soon we were back to our starting point and we chose to relax and eat our brought lunch while watching the crazy crowds moving about. The Hohenschwangau castle was super close and we saw quite a bit for free. Soon after that it was time to consider getting home. We could have taken the bus which I think we saw running. The distance from the base to our place was like 2 KM's an easy walk. The best part is the view. It's all green flat grasses for KM's. It bracketed by a beautiful snow covered mountain range. The roads are slow moving and walking trails are huge. Duh. Why would anyone who can walk take the bus around here? After a nice long walk we had plenty of time to relax for the rest of the day.

Our last day in Schwangau was really nice. Michelle wanted to stock up on headphones. I wanted to see what would be open at the train station at 06:00 AM. Woolworth's was a good place for headphones. We had time and knew a nice walk. This time to Fussen I chose a different path that took no driving roads but rather but the backside of Schwangau farming community. From there we discovered even more walking trails and even a large park. After scoring headphones and learning nothing is open before 06:00 AM we had time for our last lunch in town. We found a very inexpensive Lebanese type place that offered a "donner" in a box for a decent price. Salad, spices, chicken and fries all jammed into a box. It was not hard to find a comfy place in the nearest park to chill out in the shade. On the route home we rerouted slightly to discover and walk a little of Schwangau's Kurpark park. What a gift. With mountain views too. This place is super awesome. Back home we packed up what we could and prepared for our last night in Schwangau. Up at 04:30 AM or so to clean up and pack to await out drive to Fussen. I was a bit worried out ride was not going to show up but sure enough around 5:40 Claudia was there and with her husbands larger car. Whew. 10 minutes later we were at the station. Even Claudia did not know of this train thinking she was to drop us off for a bus. Nope, there was a train waiting with it's doors open and only a small number of passengers inside. It was time to pay Claudia the 15 Euros for the tourist tax she was required. I forwarded her another 30 Euros for her time. I insisted as it was super convenient for us as saved us a huge PIA and possible taxi fare. Our train departed shortly after hugging her goodbye and Michelle scored a beautiful picture of the local lake glistening with the rising sun. Off to Prague we go. Thanks Fussen/Schwangau. You were awesome.