Rain

Fuessen presented itself in bad light, as it rained throughout the day. Supposed to be a beautiful ending of the Romantische Strasse, into Bavarian hills and lakes and medieval castles, only that the weather did not allow me to appreciate the beauty. The day turned out to be a test of my patience and stamina, as I walked some 21 kilometres in the rain with 5 kg on my shoulders, and a considerable part of the route being uphill. From the morning I just hoped that by the time I reach the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles, the weather would improve, and I urged myself forward with this false promise. What happened instead was that I had gotten completely drenched by midday, my passport and other documents all wet, and most importantly my camera had started to malfunction. Only positive I could draw from Fuessen was the Lech Falls.

Hohenschwangau Castle

Neuschwanstein castle (the Sleeping Beauty castle of Disneyland is modeled on this)

The Lech Falls

Diptarka provided me with extras when he arrived in the afternoon. For most of these trips he has proven to be equivalent to Hogwarts’ Room of Requirement, having exactly what one would need, no more no less. Together we went to Munich, to be met by the same depressing rain. After Karlplatz, and Marienplatz, wherever we went, it was completely deserted.

The BMW buildings (museum and showrooms) were suggestive of the fact that BMW could have done equally well if not better in the field of innovative/abstract architecture.

The Munich Olympic Arena (infamous for the terrorist attack on the Israeli contingent)

Nymphenburg Castle, huge but deserted

We also went to the Hirshgarten, and tasted some beer. (In Wikitravel website, at one place, it is called the largest beer garden in Europe, at another it is the largest in Germany , and at yet another place it is called the largest in Munich, as if they aren’t subsets of each other)

By the end of the day, I had walked some 30 kilometres odd, - a personal high, although I wasn’t any high, when I literally collapsed onto the bed at Runit’s place.