Day 12 in Fussen, Zugspritze

Day 12 in Fussen, Zugspitze

We met for breakfast at the older section of the hotel and had another wonderful breakfast.  This is a very nice hotel that clearly caters to Americans.  After breakfast, I wandered across the street to a store that the receptionist said might have yarn and knitting needles, but it was just a grocery store.  She later said they might have those supplies at Woolsworths, but I’ll have to look there tomorrow.  We started on our way to the Zugspitze not really knowing where we were going.  That’s never stopped us before and it didn’t this time either.  We stopped at a petrol station to ask where we were at the time so we could figure out how to get to the Zugspitze by going to the Austrian side.  We also had to buy a sticker for the windshield that would allow us to drive on the Austrian interstate system.  (We had spoken with a fella who did not get one of those and had to pay a large fine.)  After that petrol station inquiry, Sue knew just where we were going and she directed me just fine.  Naturally, Austria looked just like Germany.  As we neared the mountain, we stopped for information again (They have great Information buildings available to tourists) and got precise directions.  We found the cable car just fine, bought our tickets, and up we went to the highest place in Germany, 9700 feet high.  The cable car was wonderful until we reached some point and it started rocking back and forth, but it stabilized pretty soon.  The building at the top was partly in Germany and partly in Austria.  There were a couple of large decks where you could gaze at the scenery and it was beautiful scenery to see.  At many areas, mountain peaks were sticking up through the clouds and that was my favorite part.  I found the building to be difficult to navigate and at one point I was in a glass sided elevator going up to the gift shop and then again going back down to the cable car level.  Needless to say, I was staring at the elevator buttons, not the beautiful view out the windows.  I am afraid of heights but I was trying to control it.  I did quite well except when I was on the top decks and I kept wanting to ask someone to hold my hand – I resisted the impulse, barely.  The bravest person in our group is definitely Sue who stood on a glass floor to have her photo made!!!!  Brave or Dumb, I’m not totally sure.  (More about that topic later.)

After spending time at the top, we boarded the cable car for the ride to the bottom and this time the cable car was almost empty and that was much better than the very crowded car ride to the top.  We shopped a little at the souvenir shop before getting in the van and leaving for Germany again.  We saw wonderful valleys, hillsides, rivers, mountains covered in snow and had a wonderful ride. 

We knew we had to go through the city of Garmish to get to the other places we wanted to visit but we had an adventure on the way.  Our road was right beside a beautiful rushing creek that had to have very cold water in it.  Paula dared any of us to wade in that water and she’d pay five Euro to see it happen.  Of course, she knew that none of us would do that.  HA!!!! Sue immediately said ‘I’ll do it!’  So I pulled over beside the creek and they got out.  Paula was shocked and refused to let Sue take off her socks and shoes and required that she just put her hand into the freezing water.  So now we have photos of Sue with her hand underwater and she is a little bit richer than she had been.  Paula learned a lesson and won’t be daring Sue to do anything again. 

We tried to find Mittenwald, but the signs seemed to turn into a bicycle path and the others wouldn’t let me drive the van on that path – I just know I could have made it!!!!  Oh well, turns out we didn’t really have time for it anyway.  We then headed for Ettal on the way to Oberammeragua.  We stopped for lunch in Ettal and had the meal that Sarah had been waiting for the whole trip – Farmer’s Toast which consisted of ham, pineapple and cheese on toast and smothered with melted cheese.  She had made it sound so good that several of us also had that for lunch.  I had fried sausages and mashed potatoes and that was also very good.  While there, we saw their beautiful church and I found a critter to bring home.  Every trip, I decide which animal is most often seen on that trip and this time that animal is definitely a dog.  So, I found Ettal, that’s what I named him and I know just how original that is considering we were in the town of that name.  He’s a cute little black and white puppy.  He fits really nicely on the dash of the car.  Actually we helped their economy fairly nicely today. 

Then we headed on to Oberammeragua and found many souvenir shops and wood carving places.  The first shop we entered was very glad to see how much money we spent and then we went on to many other shops and spent very generously.  I had let the others out of the car to go find a parking spot because there were only about 40 minutes until closing time.  Later, I went back to get the car and saw a wonderful sight so I hurried back to get the girls to take them to see it.  We couldn’t really get back to the exact spot but a man lowered a barrier so we could turn around and as I turned around, there it was.  That man put the barrier back up across the street and here came the herd of cows walking up the street on their way home for the night.  Their udders were full and I suppose that was someone’s next task.  The two cow-herders were riding bicycles.  It was a wonderful experience and again, these cows had bells ringing as they walked.  I videoed it and hope to put it on facebook at some point. 

After this excitement, we decided to continue looking for the building where the world famous Passion Play happens every ten years.  On our way, we saw an open shop across from a cemetery, so naturally we parked and got busy again.  I went through the cemetery and took photos – another well tended and beautiful cemetery.  The saddest headstone I saw had three photos of three brothers, in uniforms, who had all died between 1943 and 1945.  Their parents were also buried there after their sons were. I then went across the street to see the souvenir shop and there he was – Ober, Ettal’s bigger brother and he was waiting on me to pick him up!!  So, of course I did.  He fits perfectly between the front seats and helps us figure out where to go. (Okay, it’s awfully juvenile, but I don’t care – I enjoy it and plan to continue to do so.)  I have been buying small pins from the different places we’ve visited and those pins are now on the ribbons around the dogs’ necks.  After enriching those people, we drove around and finally found the Passion Play building.  It is quite impressive.  If you don’t know the story of the beginning of the Passion Play in Oberammagua, look it up on the internet – it’s unique. 

After finishing there, we headed back to Fussen.   Since it was almost dark we planned to move right along to home, for the night.  However, we only made it a couple of miles before a beautiful church on a hillside made us stop to take photos.  Across the little lane from the church was a steep hillside with goats grazing.  All of a sudden, three little goats scampered right up the hill toward the adults before turning around and running back down the hill.  A few seconds later, they ran back up – it was hilarious to watch them frolicking on that hillside.  They were having a really good time.  We watched until they stopped – they must have been tired – and onward we drove.  We did not stop again until we reached our hotel and unloaded the car.  That was a task because we had much more ‘stuff’ when we returned than when we left this morning.  We went to dinner at the ‘Chili’ restaurant in the hotel and we all had different kinds of pizzas.  The food was quite good, but not as good as the previous night’s food, in my opinion. 

Everyone is tired and will probably have an early night as we have another day of excitement tomorrow.  We have reservations at Neuschanstein at 11 so we have to be there at 10, so we will have a fairly early breakfast.  None of us are looking forward to the 300 steps inside the castle, but we are going to try.  After we see the castle, we will be going to a special church at Wieskirche and then spending the rest of the day walking and shopping around Fussen.  We hope it will be a less tiring day than today.  After dinner, we will have to somehow pack up all our ‘stuff’ and prepare for driving to Appenzell the next morning.

We are still all having fun, but it seems that we are slowing down because we sure do work awfully hard on vacation!!!!!