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We have been so, so fortunate to have spent the last week and a half staying at a house in Germany with some friends of mum and dads, Eva and Christof. We intended on staying for about 3 days but have been so welcomed and so incredibly spoilt that 10 days later they still haven't gotten rid of us!! If they are too nice we may never leave!! It's so fantastic, we have our own huge bedroom and bathroom, access to the kitchen, and gourmet home cooked meals!
We have used Eva and Chris' place as a base to explore more of Bavaria (they live about 60km from Munich). After our first night there, Eva and Chris drove us down to the fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein. It was our first time in a car on the autobahn and was very fun. I'd like to hire a car just so I can drive that fast too!! Way better than being limited to 110km/hr (or thereabouts). As has been our luck with German weather, we arrived at Neuschwanstein to rain. We walked up the steep hill to the castle and Marian Bridge but unfortunately the low cloud and rain blocked most of the view. But inside the castle was something else!! It was just beautiful. My favourite room was actually a corridor that had been made into the inside of a cave, with stalactites and rock! Very bizarre, but amazing.
And after the hard walk up the hill to the castle it was time to re-energize, so off we went to a monastry famous for its brewery. There we enjoyed delicious dark beer and my first schweinhaxe, a big crispy pork knuckle. Delicious! And whilst sitting outside the German weather turned itself on for us again with a sudden, massive hailstorm! We thought we were ok as we were under cover, but next thing they opened the outdoor roof and we got pounded with hail...a mad dash inside and we quickly warmed up again over beers.
We also spent another day exploring Augsburg, the city very close to Eva and Chris'. It is the second oldest city in Germany and we spent the day climbing the clocktower (over 200 steps up - nearly killed me!) and visiting a Roman museum and a palace. We also visited the Augsburg cathedral, which is home to the worlds oldest stained glass, made by monks in 1065!
Another day was spent going back to Munich. As it was yet again pouring, we decided to visit the palace as it is indoors. What a great choice! There was a treasury there chockers full of amazing jewels and artifacts. I have never before seen sooooo many massive diamonds!! So beautiful and definitely a jewellery collection to aspire to!!
Next it was off to Lindau, an absolutely beautiful island town in Lake Constance, a massive lake that borders with Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was just gorgeous, and even better was the hot sun, finally making an appearance! We had a lovely day wandering the seaside, having beers in the sun and watching the bustle of activity as people prepared for a big yahat race that was starting that evening.
The next day the sun was out again, so we caught 3 buses and a train to get back to the Neuschwenstein castle to explore the surrounding area. Oh man, what an amazing day. Overlooking Neuschwenstein is a very high bridge over a waterfall. We hiked down the steep mountian to the base of the waterfall. It was incredible! Everything was so lush and green, the river stones perfect white, and the water the clearest I've ever seen!! The water was icy cold, having come from the melting snow on the alps, and we filled our water bottle for a very refreshing drink. We followed the river along a path, past waterfall after waterfall. At one stage the path was a platform bolted to the side of a cliff, with the rushing river below us. At the end of that path we followed another through the forest and past some farms to the base of Tegelburg mountain. We caught the cable car to the top, which was soooo high up (a little scary on the way up for someone who doesn't really like heights). The view from the top was just incredible! On one side we were surrounded by snow covered alps, the other side dropped straight down to green farm lands and lakes. I felt on top of the world up there! And on hiking a bit further up the mountain, what did we come across but a group of nuns. It was so like The Sound of Music that I had "the hills are alive..." singing in my head for hours to come. We had wanted to hike from the top of the mountain back to Neuschwenstein castle, but having to coordinate getting 3 buses and a train back to Eva and Chris' meant that sadly, we didn't have time. So instead we sat at the top for a while and watched person after person jump off the mountain and paraglide to the bottom. It looked like soooo much fun! We then got the cablecar down again in time to make all of our public transport connections.
On arriving back at Eva and Chris' house I was ready for bed. We'd only gotten 4 hours sleep the night before (we spent a lot of time at Eva and Chris' staying up late drinking and talking with them), I had caught a cold and felt sick, plus we had hiked all day. But Eva had wanted to take us to her favourite club, so after a short kip, we were back out again. Being sick, I planned on going for an hour. At 4am we finally left! The club was quite alternative, and the music was heavy at first. But it just got better and better as the night went on - Nirvana, Pearl Jam - it was like high school again. Eva introduced me to 2 fantastic new drinks that night. The first was half wheat beer, half coke. The other was shots of a tequila liquor. Tasted just like tequila but much smoother and a bit sweeter. A shot was followed by a slice of orange sprinkled with cinnamon. We had many that night. Despite protesting "no more!" I was told that it was an offence not to be drunk in Bavaria! So what was I to do but drink and dance all night!! Needless to day, the next day I did not get out of bed until 4pm!
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Cathi Hey Alli, are you leading our friends astray with late night clubbing????