Last day in Füssen

Today was our last full day under the castles in Füssen. In the morning we did the nearby summer bobsled-luge run (a long metal slide banked like a bobsled run would be with winter ice, but with a wheeled sled, instead). It was a lot of fun. Joshua rode with me (video clip below) and everyone else rode alone. A stick in the middle of the sled was the only control. You pulled up to apply the brake or pushed it all the way down to freefall down the chute. You built up quite a bit of speed if you never brake and going around the corners was a bit of a thrill. This wasn’t as advanced a course as some others in this part of the country (it’s a popular activity), but I thought it was challenging enough for our first attempt. The last thing we want to have to do is find an ER on vacation.

Then we came back to our cottage to have lunch and figure out what to do for the afternoon. It was a hot day. I wanted to go hiking somewhere and I could tell the others really didn’t. So we came up with a compromise, and a rare occasion when the family splits up while on vacation. They dropped me off at the foot of the castle and drove into town to see the city museum (oddly enough, featuring a show of Italian artifacts). I got to hike the same path I saw a few days ago, but this time I got to go farther up, along the mountainside, to a very high vantage point above the castle and take another photo of the castle (tpo photo above) and of the mountains in the distance (bottom photo above). The path was beautiful, winding through pine forests with a rushing stream nearby. But it was also rough and steep. I was pretty exhausted by the time I made it to the top. The photo-op was worth it, though. It may well be a “mad” king’s silly fantasy castle, but it has a fine profile.

After our last homemade dinner here we drove into town again to walk around the old center and window-shop, stop by the cash machine again, and look for wifi. It has been fun doing these blog entries and hoping someone is out there reading them. But it has been a little time consuming (taking about an hour to put together each one) and a little expensive buying wifi service (maybe $30 worth so far, with three weeks to go). I hope there is more access to free wifi later on. Meanwhile, continue reading. Comments are always appreciated, either here on the blog site, via Facebook, or via email.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” and Salzburg, Austria. “The hills are alive….with the sound of music….”