Last Epic German Road Trip Days 8 and 9: Munich, Neuschwanstein and Garmisch

Day 8 was mostly the long, long, drive from Freiburg to Munich. When we got to Munich it was chilly and a little bit raining, so we took no pictures. We wandered around the food vendors and got some treats (pickled things!) and managed to catch the Glockenspeil. We hadn't remembered it from our trip to Munich 17 or so years ago (imagine that). Our attention spans have definitely shortened, especially in the rain, but we did catch the "surprise" ending.

The next day we journeyed to the night's final destination - mountains - via Neuschwanstein castle.  I am very glad that we made the stop, and very glad we didn't bother with the tour of the inside of the castle. To be honest, we took more photos of the view of the mountains than the castle itself. It was a warm day and a nice hike from the parking lot to the castle itself. 

Then back in the car and down to the Eibsee. It was cloudy but we still decided to head up to the Zugspitze. When we got up, we went outside to see just how bad the visibility was. We took a joke family photo that looked like we were standing in front of a white sheet, although I will swear on my honor there are mountains behind us. The cable car back was full of skiers heading down for the day (we were on the second-to-last run).

Our hotel had an indoor pool, so the kids were thrilled to burn off some energy that way before we headed into town for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant that was apparently very busy, because the grouchy proprietor told me so while yelling at us because when he asked a question about an order everyone talked to me rather than him (because I'm the only German speaker, I'd have to first interpret what he said, then the reply). None of that was too bothersome, however, because ... mountains. So beautiful. We just couldn't stop staring. Frankfurt is very, very flat.

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 7: Triberg Falls and Freiberg

We went to the Black Forest to eat Black Forest cake and Black Forest ham. We really had no idea what we were doing during this part of the epic road trip, and it showed. We realized we would need to stop for lunch, and our friends found a town that was supposed to be particularly charming. The amazing reach of Google helped me find a place for lunch within that town ... but with my lack of a sense of direction (I call it my "sense of misdirection") it turns out the restaurant was at the edge of the town borders and nowhere near the charming town center. But it was, in fact, a farm and at least some of the meats and cheeses were produced on-site. So there was that. We were able to indulge our interests in Black Forest everything, which was good because we never ended up seeing them again.

After we fed, we headed to the Triberg Waterfalls. We would stop for photos, then walk farther up or down and realize there were even prettier views. After getting our energy out, it was time to head the last little bit up our destination for the evening, Freiberg. Where we ended up deciding we needed a break from German food and got Italian. Hence, no more Black Forest cake.

Felsenmeer

Felsenmeer means in German "Sea of Rocks."  Oh, yes. About an hour south of Frankfurt is an amazing boulder field, apparently formed by a volcanic experience a very long time ago. You can wander up a path alongside the boulder field, or venture through the field itself. Someone on Trip Advisor mentioned that if you go fast you can get up the field in half an hour. I can't even imagine the person who could do that. It took us closer to 1.5 hours with several important rest stops along the way. My physical fitness is not what it once was.

 You can see how big the boulders are compared to the people on them. This bridge is about halfway up.

Alex reads anywhere

At the top there was a restaurant where we provisioned, then at a little kiosk on the way back down we fortified (with cake). Tip: bienenstrich is a honey cake with a layer of cream in the middle and now I need to eat a whole lot of it in the little time we have left before leaving Germany.

I had figured on a couple of hours of climbing, but we ended up being out most of the day. We bouldered up, but ended up wandering through the woods on the path down. A few times I was convinced we had gotten horribly lost but somehow we did make it to the parking lot. As it turns out we were very lucky in getting there so early (didn't feel early but it was before lunch) because it was a complete zoo by the time we left around 3:30pm.