Lenggries

Tuesday Lenggries

A great day. Checked out early and cloaked our bags. Walked to the station and took the bus to Hohenschwangau where the castle ticket centre is. Spent most of the day in the company of a teacher from Leongatha was also trying to work out the bus. Redeemed our tickets we had previously booked. There were no buses running to the castle, supposedly because it was too wet, so we decided to walk the 30 minutes up the hill. Had a chance to look around before our hour and a half tour. We were in a group with about 40 Americans on a tour. The guide was very good, and the castle was magnificent. Much nicer and more opulent than Versailles. Never finished and hardly lived in, but just amazingly over the top. Grabbed a lovely sache torte from the cafe. Ignored the horse and carriages, and walked back down the mountain, and caught the bus back to Fussen.

Back to our hostel to pick up the gear, then lunch at Nordsee say before catching the afternoon train to Munich. A short break for coffee, then on a local train to Lenggries. There waiting to meet us was Anna (grandma) and Andrea (one of the four children -- who had a good grasp of English and acted as interpreter all night). From there it got rather confusing. We met George, George junior, his wife Anna Lisa, their son George junior junior who had a hot date, Andrea Junior and Franziska. We didn't meet Anna Lisa the daughter, or Martin (thank God for a unique name). Went back to our lodgings across the road from George and Anna's farm, dropped our stuff, and walked across the road to tea. A look at the cows which are actually housed inside for five months of the year. The cow barn is actually the ground floor of the family house. The first floor is occupied by George and Anna, and the top floor which used to be the guest quarters are now lived in by George junior and Anna Lisa. Had a nice meal, made decent conversation thanks to Andrea, listened to some piano accordion thanks to Andrea junior. Looked at lots of photos and made a real mess of working out who was related to who.

After exhausting most topics we made an exit back across the road, and used our space and facilities. Shame it was only for one night. I was a freak show of the night -- all evening they would look at me and shake their heads -- and lament that I wouldn't drink beer. I even had a bottle and opener put in front of me in case I changed my mind.