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Today we drive to Freiburg, our biggest drive to date, four and a half hours across the bottom of Germany to arrive in the Black Forest in time for an afternoon tea of Black Forest Gateaux.
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I know, you are looking at those mountains and thinking the Zugspitze would be clear today…so was Rosie!
First up though, 45 mins from Garmisch-Partinkirchen and en route to Freiburg is the most popular tourist destination in Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle. Built by King Ludwig on the site of a medieval ruined fortress in 1868, placed high above his fathers own castle, in an area he knew so well Ludwig started to build a castle that would never be finished. It was his monument to the culture and kingship of the Middle Ages which he was into for that moment and wanted to replicate. Designed in a medieval style but equipped with the latest technology of the day it is a central symbol of German idealism…and a symbol of the nations expenditure made by a crazy king.
OK, Rosie and The Operator didnt want to tour the inside of the castle…apparently from online reviews it was a very hurried tour and alot of the rooms were not able to be accessed because they were being renovated. But, Rosie had to take a photo…so, how to get to the main viewing bridge, the Marianbruke, which is on private land that you cannot access yourself with a car…..without having to buy a ticket.
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By putting the name of the castle into Navman The Operator was guided to the small town of Fussen. High up on the hill was a Castle…is that it said The Operator? Well I will be darned said Rosie…I think it is…I will take a pic anyway, for some reason Rosie thought you couldnt see it from the road…you can.
Rosie still wanted to get the money shot of the famous castle from the famous bridge. Now did we mention we were there at sparrow fart. You betcha, we pulled into the village carpark just after 8.15, there was already a dude in a high vis vest there to take our 5euros for parking. There were only a couple of other cars in the park though, it was pretty quiet. We walked through the town which was really just cafes, pubs and souvenir stands, past the enormous ticket house….still relatively empty, and went and stood in line for the bus that would take us to the Marianbruke. You can still get a nice shot of the castle from the village like the one below.
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If you wanted to tour the castle you have to book in advance and get a timed ticket…they were booking 4 days in advance, if you got there early there may be some times left on the day if you hadn’t booked. There is a couple of ways of getting up to the castle, you can walk for free, a steep walkway not suitable for the disabled, about 20 mins. You can catch a horse and cart for about 3euros each way, you have to wait until the cart is full before it goes and they press them in! Or you can catch the bus like us, up a winding private road that takes you to the Marianbridge viewing site, from there you can walk to the castle, which is a good 700 mteres of steep path, this costs 1.80 euros each.
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Rosie and The Operator wait for the bus, we dont have to wait long we are at the front of the line….along with an early busload of Japanase tourists. We all jam in and we off on a wildly fast bus ride up the steep single lane road to the bridge.
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We get off the bus and scuttled for the bridge while the tour group are gathering themselves…we stand on the rickety wooden bridge and we are alone to savour the view…. for 3 mins…..no one else would have got that one on one time for the rest of the day! It was breathtakingly beautiful, the bridge is located above a deep gorge ravine and looks down onto the side of the castle. The morning light was playing on the village in the distance and the sky looked beautiful. it was a perfect vista. This is what all the fuss is about.
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We got our money shots and we were out of there cause BOOM all of a sudden the people were flooding in and the bridge was crammed with people jostling and elbowing. Rosie and The Operator were feeling very smug indeed as we were the only ones it seemed without tickets to visit the castle as we were the only ones on the bus back to the village. As we got off the bus and headed home…the que at the bus stop would have been about 3 bus fulls long already. Done and dusted, glad we did it, it was worth it, we will never be back again…. of course you have to do it.
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Oh, and we made sure we got a selfie for our selfie collection….
On we drove….and drove….and drove….we got detoured off the motorway because it was being rebuilt….we drove in the countryside for ages…it was getting hotter and hotter….it was the end of a long weekend and the traffic was getting thicker and thicker…and slower and slower….we were caught in a huge snarl up and Rosie needed the toilet….hot and bothered with another hour added to our original time we arrived in Freiburg.
Rosie had booked us into the old town…through the town gates the Navman sent us, we, (notice Rosie is shouldering the blame too) took a wrong turn, The Operator is trying to compensate by turning up the next road….there are only tram tracks on it and pedestrians…lots of them…people have stopped and are looking at us…old men are shaking their heads and waving their arms at us…Rosie is screaming at The Operator that we are in a pedestrian zone and a tram is coming head on to us. The Operator does a six point u turn cause people wont get out of our way, the tram driver is shaking his head and gesturing to us…Rosies face is flushed with shame and my stomach is in my mouth…The Operator is as cool as a cucumber and dosnt know what all the fuss is about, anyone can make a mistake…..we are still debating what the no entry signs look like.
Ten mins later we are sitting in the main square under a shady umbrella and Rosie is tucking into her first piece (of many) Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte – Black Forest Gateaux. Man that cake tasted good and The Operator certainly deserved his beer.
Tomorrow Rosie and The Operator will show you around the town of Freiburg, we have certainly found a beautiful wee gem of a place……
