July 17
We got up and we had a chocolate breakfast.
Yesterday we went to the white castle (Neuschansenstein) and today we are going to the yellow castle (Hohenschewegen). At 9:00, we got on the bus. It took us 15 min to get to the castle. The king’s son did not like to share the castle with his dad, so he built his own castle, but he died before it was finished. Today we went to the king’s castle.
We went on a 3 km hike around the lake. It was the most beautiful hike around the lake.
The lake was called Alpensee. Both Castles overlooked the lake. The lake was a beautiful turquoise colour. I loved how you could see the fish swimming under the fallen trees in the water. We could see ducks – my dad called them Grebes fishing for the small minnows in the water. The ducks were black, brown and white.
We had a delicious lunch of fries and sausages and giant pretzels!
We came home on the bus and went for a great swim and some ice cream! Today was an awesome day!
July 18
What a huge day of driving. We drove from where we were staying just outside of Fussen all the way to Berchesgaden. We found the most beautiful campsite. It is called Campingplatz Alleweglhen. It is sitting in the bottom of the valley. All around us are mountains. We can just barely see the last bit of last years snow in the tops of the mountains.
Where we are camping there is a playcentre and its perfect to be able to play. The campsite is very large but the tents are really squished together, there are a lot of people here. The best part is the swimming pool, it is a really lovely, it is clean and from the pool you have a view of the mountains.
My brothers and I spent a lot of time here! The boys are getting much better at swimming! My dad made an amazing dinner of spaghetti with pesto and bacon wrapped sausages! It was delicious!!
July 19
Today we woke up and had to walk down the hill (about 1.5 km) to the bus stop and caught the 840 bus into Berchesgaden. From the bus station we changed busses and got on the 838 bus up to visit Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s nest).
The bus ride was long but it was amazing. We went up the side of the mountain, twisting and turning around the corners. We had to go through 5 tunnels to get the top. My brothers and I always hold our breath while we go through the tunnels! Once you get to the bus drop off you have to walk in this long cold tunnel that went underneath the mountain directly underneath the Eagle nest.
It lead to a golden Elevator. We took the elevator to the top – it was very squishy – they filled the elevator until there was no more room – I was excited by the elevator ride. Kehlsteinhaus or Eagle’s nest was built in 1937/1938 for Adolf Hitler.
The near by town of Obersalzburg was a second headquarters for the Nazi party and this was a retreat house for him. It was a huge feat of engineering. They were able to install anti-aircaraft guns around the property to shoot down enemy aircraft. The house is used as a restaurant now.
After we got to the top we went for a hike and the pathway was made smooth by many people walking over the rocks. The rocks were made of limestone and over many years they were smoothed out – I tried to collect one, but the were tighly jammed into the ground. The path was very windy and twisty, there was huge boulders in the way so we hand to wind our way around them. It was very steep and often there was a railing that was either wood or metal.
We finally got to a high mountain valley that had some left over dirty old snow from last year. We had fun sliding down the snow pile. Dad made snow balls and tried to hit us with it! We came down from the mountain and stopped at a restaurant, I had a beautiful plate of spaghetti – it’s my favourite. My dad had lamb stew and my mom and brothers had schnitzel mit pommes frites. We came back to the campsite and had a swim! What a great day!!
July 20
Our final day in Germany was a beautiful one. We took the bus into the town of Berchesgaden and then took another bus down to the Konigsee (King's lake).
It is a beautiful mountain lake where the water is an intense turquoise blue. We took a boat cruise up the lake to the Monastery and chapel of St. Bartholoma ( St. Bartholomew's). The first church was built on this site in 1134. Today's church was built in the 1600's.
We hiked around the area and my dad dreamed of hiking up to the tops of the mountains! We learned that the lake is 8km long, 1 km wide and 200 m deep! There are trout, pike and tonnes of minnows in the lake! My favourite part of today was the amazing boat ride, our captain stopped the boat mid way and played the trumpet, it echoed off the walls and made beautiful music!
Germany has been an amazing country. The landscapes have been beautiful. I really enjoyed listening to people speak German. The main difference between Canada and Germany is that there are so many castles, and I really liked visiting the castles and learning about the history and the architecture.
Good bye Germany!! Danke shen!
Tia and Mari
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