Looping Through Bavaria and the Tirol

I began this morning by swinging by the Neuschwanstein castle to see how crowded things were. It was a zoo (a lot like Disneyland), so I decided to wait until Monday (also a local holiday, but maybe it won't be quite as crowded) to see the castles.

Near the castles is a gondola and "adrenaline" park with a luge course and other fun things to do, so I went for a gondola ride. Some people take their hang gliders and para-sailing gear and only take the gondola one-way. Others hike down. I bought a round trip.

At the top, there was a lodge with a restaurant and a 360 degree view of the Schwangau valley. The flyers were setting up their gear and getting ready to jump. There were young people, of course, and I even saw a woman of about 70 take a jump. She was fearless!

I wandered around the top freely. No one attempted to keep the lookie-loos away from where the action was happening. For quite a while I just fired shot after shot of people jumping.

Finally I headed back down in the gondola and as we got about half-way down, the view opened up and I saw the Neuschwanstein castle from above. Cool because most of the pictures you see are from below. Once down, I had to try the luge course. It was an aluminum track and pretty easy. But it was fun. Maybe tomorrow I will try another harder one.

After that, I headed north toward a church Ed told me about having seen when he was in Bavaria. He said it was a huge, white thing that was all gilded and carved like frosting on a cake, and it was out in the middle of nowhere. Before I left, we looked it up and found it was called Wieskirche or Church in the Meadow. And that's just what it was.

After Wieskirche, I headed to Oberammergau with low expectations. Once every ten years they hold a "Passion Play" that is attended by millions. The town was expected to be mobbed, and indeed it was. I had hoped to be able to park and shop, as the town is known also for its woodcarving art. But there was not a parking place to be found and I drove around looking for a half-hour or so.

So I continued on toward the highest point in Germany - the Zugspitze! There are many gondolas and ski areas in the vicinity and I had heard that the cheapest and fastest way to the top was on the Austrian side, so that's where I went. It was an incredible ride and although it was warm and sunny at the bottom of the valley, it was cold, windy, snowy and foggy at the top! There was no view to speak of - at least no distant view. But it was fun anyway.

There are two "buildings" near the top - one on the Bavarian side and the other on the Tyrolean side. They are connected by a ramp that used to also serve as a border crossing station. Each side still displays its own identifying signage...

On the final descent, the valley looked so green next to the vertical snow-covered flank of the mountain!

Tomorrow I will try to beat the crowds to the castles and visit the town of Fussen...