Advertisement
Published: June 27th 2006
The King's Falls
Just behind the castle...Aumbach, It's not really one of those tourist hotspots, In fact, I would doubt that while Horse and I were there that there were any outsiders of Aumbach at all. It's not really that suprising but my Oma did tell me that a family in the Village actually did rent out rooms and at quite a good rate of 15euros a night, no doubt for that "authentic Bavarian Experience". I highly reccomend it to anyone but aslong as you have your own car or a motorbike or a rad little Vespa moped thingy so you can escape before your sanity escapes you. I think my Oma, herself could have made a fortune renting out the spare room of her house with meals and beer included of course. 50euros a night would have been sufficient for an even more authentic bavarian experience, with the added bonus of my Opa's drunken friends there til late at night, ready to chew the foreign enthusiast's ear for hours on end (at no extra charge)but maybe her age and patience arent up to the challenge ... oh well but an oppurtunity in the past went begging. This journal will be not just about my little idea
Exit Ritual
It was quite sad to leave Aumbach... but I was gonna come back so I got to be sad twice. but about my last 2 weeks, 2 weeks without Horse and I did a fair bit in those last 2 weeks, well one of the weeks I did and the other not quite as much but please read further now, as I expose Bavaria's Money quenching tourist death camps.
I honestly can't remember how I finished the last journal, like the exact day it ended so Ill just have to guess a little bit. I remember trying to organise an excursion into the alps, a 3 day trip that would finally let me unleash my European train travel fantasies. I was under added pressure to use my 'Eurail Pass' because I infact have 2 passes, one for Western Europe (incl. Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland) and one for the north, Scandinavia (incl. Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway) Both these passes had 'used by dates', 6 months from the initial purchase, so I had to 'start' using both of them before the latest possible start date expired, if you follow me? I had 2 passes and both are 2 month passes and both were bought in February and both expire in mid august, so I had to start
Fairytale Bridge
The Bridge which lead towards the Castle... my camera died shortly after. using one asap otherwise the other's time would eat into the other and I would be wasting or even further rushing my trip and seeing as though these rail passes are sacred and highly expensive I wouldnt want to waste any of it.
I had a phone number for the Jugendherbege (Youth Hostel in the german Language) in a small yet infamous town named Berchtesgaden, a town made aware of me by Julian back at home who advised me I should go when I come to Germany and hell, it looked too good to not go. I asked my Oma to ring because I didnt want to have to suffer the embarrassment of my lack of german verbal skills (im nothing without mime and hand movements) and she organised Wednesday nigth for me to sleep there and I was over the moon, I actually had a really good day all day. One of those days where just about everything falls into place. I wanted 2 nights at that hostel, though but the lady couldnt promise Thursday night but I decided to try my luck, anyway. I wanted to also check out a place called 'Schloss Neuschwanstein', a castle you
The Magical Castle
My 5km walk to lead to the awesome Shloss Neuschwanstein... its so magical, just look. have no doubt seen on TV sometime in your life, it looks like the Castle in Disney Land. I also can't do that crazy B thing that sounds like SS because im now using a Swiss Keboard and their variation of German doesnt include that cool B thing, it's so cool, too... I miss it already. So all was set, the next mornign I was to get up and get the ball rolling. I used my Eurail timetable to try and organise a slick passage from Regensburg, to the Castle and to Berchtesgaden to end the day. Luckily there was a direct train from Regensburg to München (which isnt even listed in the eurail timetable) and I didnt have to go through Nürnburg, which would have added an hour to my journey and screwed up all other connections, which in turn screws up all my plans and makes me angry. Its not too often that plans go right but it looked like this big adventure may just work. The way a eurail pass works is... you have a slip with a number of slots printed on there,they represent travelling days, you must use these travelling days up within the 2
Lake's End
Here the boat stops it's Journey and you can wander on your own. month period. In my case, my Pass is for 2 months (you can get shorter or more rushed passes too) and also includes 11 days of travel (as opposed to 15 max and 5 minimum) So before you get on the first train, you scribe in the date and you're set until 11:59pm that night and can travel as far as you like and on as many trains as you wish. In theory you could travel from Amsterdam to Prague in the Czech Republic, disecting Germany through the center and still have time to travel around on the local Czech trains until the next morning. So the opportunity is there for you to abuse the system and you paid for the pass, so it's your right. I think I used up over 100euros worth of train travel on my first day which paid for one 3rd of the total price, so if you ever come to europe without a rail pass ... well I feel sorry for you.
That last night before my adventure, I got pretty much no sleep, I was so excited to go on the trains again, such a nerd huh? Its like the same excitement
The Church's Viewpoint
When you leave the lakeside church youre greeted by this marvelous vista. I got when I was 3 or so and my Grandma would take me to Town for the day on local trains back home but now that train ride doesnt hold the same thrill. I was up about 6:30am because I had to catch the 8:44am train to München. The trains leave on the hour, all week and I had to be on a train from München to the town of Füssen at 10:51am. The train ride from Regensburg was bizzare and strangely emotional. I sat down, in the upstairs part, the RB (or Regional Bahn) trains in Germany are quite varied in how comfy and modern they are but this one was cool and clean and very modern. I packed really lightly, just my orange day bag and about 100kg of food my Oma packed for me (Breadrolls with various meats, chocolate, a chocolate cake, apples and of course water... oh and a flask of Jägermeister too) and this was good. As the train darted accross the farmlands towards München I started feeling layers of homesickness, not for Australia though... a little bit for my Oma and Opa's house but alot for the USA... crazy eh? All of a
Konigsee...
Best place on Earth? sudden I felt venerable out here in nature, I needed to see Highrise buildings and other things that made american cities what they were. US cities can be defined by their Skylines and European Cities can be defined by a miriad of other things, churches, tramways, their GIANT trainstations and of course all the European food and people that inhabit their respective cities. At this point though, I had only seen relatively small towns, not even a European city so to speak, unless you count our SUPER FUN time at Frankfurt airport (I think Frankfurt is the only city in Germany with highrise buildings, apart from Berlin but then again I really know not anything at all...) I started getting into the train journey stopping at small towns with Amusing names (Eggmule) and was enjoying a playlist of Pineapple Thief tracks, I selected about 75 mins worth, most from the 137 album and it proved to be quite the ticket to a nice ride accross Bavaria. The train glided along nicely and silently. Most trains in Europe, well the intercity ones run on Electricity, alot of the RB ones though are still diesal, but the link between München and Regensburg
The Fuhrer's Palace
The Eagle's Nest, cant blame the man for loving this place. seems to be kept nice and modern. In the US, the trains creak and crack and sway from side to side and the trains blasting horn blasts and blasts and blasts forever until you think it would just explode but it seems the Euro trains like to preserve a little serenity ont their pictueresque train journies and I must say I like it. I was getting kinda nervous, too... my first usage of my eurail pass (only 10 trips left after today!) and navigating european trainstations, they werent easy as Horse and I found out the other week (turns out Horse had an 'accident' in Frankfurt, too... can't wait to read the story, hint hint) The train eventually rolled into München and finally I could see a real european city and München was is one of the bigger and better ones. Sadly I didnt leave the station this time as I had a train to catch but what I did see of the surrounding residential areas and stuff was pretty cool. Civilisation at last. I found my train and it was waitng to go but in about 20 mins or so, so I thought id visit a WC (Water Closet)
What the Eagle Could see
This is the view from the peak of Hitler's Home... really really cool. ... however the one I found in the Trainstation required 1euro, I refuse to pay money to take a piss. No wonder our Danish friends back in LA liked to piss like animals against busses and trees. It's too expensive to release water in the designated areas. Im sure I could wait 2.5hours on the train. Most trains have a WC on each carriage but not this one. I munged ferociouly on an apple and sat down in the warmth watching the train slowly fill up... I was thinking to myself what the likelyhood of a RB like this one filling up at 11am on a Wednesday morning. After I got on board and sat down, the answer came to me... tourists of course and they all had their eurail passes and passports out ready to show the conductor and they also had their Neuschwanstein Pamphlets out, it was clear that I wasn't the only one heading to that particular place. This train was an older diesal train but it still felt comfortable, lacking airconditioning and a WC, however, the windows opened though and every seat had a pretty decent headrest that folded around your head and shit, pretty fancy
Munich Madness
A Typical Backstreet in Munich, too bad the weather was so shitty. I was joined by 2 mexican dudes, who sat accross from me, they were here for the worldcup to watch their team (who lost last nightand are out), they didnt say much, they passed in and out of sleep as the journey rolled on. I was blasting a local band from Münich called Colur Haze at the time, it was probably the best choice of music I could make and I really enjoyed it. After I ate some meat and bread, I took my headphones off and one of the mexican chaps said to me 'you're lucky to have those man' and pointed to my headphones. I asked why but then it became obvious... the endless amounts of asian girls, who had slept for an hour, were charged to max potential and were yapping away about god knows what. This got us talking a bit but they were from upper class mexico, I think, rich boys, not ones working in my Auntie's Mc'Donalds's for les than 7us dollars an hour. This showed in their attitude and lack of interest in what the scenery was doing outside. Such beauty, the kind of stuff you'll only see in Bavaria... millions of farms
Cross of Arberland
The church of christ atop the Mountain in Arber, complete with tourist heads near the bottom... and cows, at times the train slew threw endless fields with no road or form of life at all, just the Train, the tracks and the destination. In the distance you could slowly make out the shadows of some mountain ranges. These werent just any mountains, though, these were the ALPS, the ones you may have seen on Television or perhaps in Popular films, one of those being 'The Sound of Music'. For the more aware reader, you would correct me and say that the particular film mentioned was made in Austria and not Bavaria. However we're so close to the junction of Germany, Austria and Switzerland that the alps become a place on the Earth of their own. After 2.5 hours and after a weird smelly man got onboard and seemed to reek the whole carriage of Horse manure, the train stopped in the town of Füssen. I dumped my bags in a locker at the sation... mainly my food bag and my jacket I didnt need to bring in the first place because it was so damn hot. I sought after a WC and discovered (to my dismay) that it also cost money but this time only 30c... ONLY? but I gave in.
The first 2 legs were over, the trains connected and I made it to Füssen, now I had just over 3 hours to get to the castle and see what I had to see before I made it back to the Trainstation for my 16:05 train back to München. I stepped outside and walked towards the information place, the smug character behind the counter with his trendy pinkshirt and modern mohawk advised me that the castle was 5km walk "far too far to walk hahahaha" he told me and then informed me about the bus (which I had missed by 3 mins, getting change for the WC because I didnt have 30c in my wallet and by walking to the info center to find out when the bus goes, can you see my problem?) The bus went every hour.... seems pretty poor seeing as though how much of a crowed this place attracts. I decided to walk the 5km to the Castle, it was a beautiful sunny day, just a little too hot for jeans. Oh well. The walk was outstanding. the surrounding mountains with snow still perched on the top and the fields filled with daisies, it was straight out of the sound of music, just wonderful ... there were even cows in meadows accross the track, with their huge bells making crazy bell sounds with every step they made. It was really a walk that was too good to be true and of course it was. I found an excellent place to take a picture, a bridge (ill post that one on here because its real good) which goes accross the main river which flows through Füssen and then it went dead and froze my camera. I couldnt get the lens to go back down or anything. It was screwed. Luckily I had 'full spare batteries' so I put those in and screamed as nothing happened. The camera was well and trully dead. I could swear the batteries were full but I remember lending them to Horse a few days back but had he used all their power? couldnt be... I no longer cared about my trip, I had no camera, no ability to take pics for myself and to post here in my journals too. After the seemingly endless walk (I mean was I even walking the right way?) I made it to the tourist area, straight out of an American tourist scrap book. Fake Bavarian looking buildings selling stupid souveneirs at obscene prices. Im sure this place did a roaring trade though.They sold batteries though, kodak ones, 1 euro each... so I was happy and my camera worked again, thank the gods. I could see the castle way up on the Mountain, it warmed my heart. It looked marvelous up there and gave me enough inspiration to want to continue my quest to the top. I completed this walk, the first 3.3km in roughly 40 mins, the other 1.7km was up the garden path to the Castle's doors. Had I decided to wait for the bus, id still be waiting and this was as far as it went, anyway. I was good for time but not good enough to fork out euros for a guided tour or to be taken up by 'Horse and Cart' at some staggerinly high price. I decided to march to the top. The last 1.7km took me 40 mins and was the most agonising walk of all time.I didnt stop to get my breathe back, I just kept stomping up there. Overtaking countless other fatties, each on the verge of heart failure and I fellt kinda fit even though my skin felt like it was boiling and my face would have been so red but hey this kinda physical abuse was good, I was probably burning off kilo's of Schweinfleisch and that had to be a good thing. I reached the top and immediatley looked for a vendor to sell me water, like the idiot I was I didnt by one from the supermarket before and had to pay 2euros for 500ml, as opposed to 70c for 1.5L from a supermarket. I was desperate and practically inhaled every last droplet. The views from the top were pretty awesome but you know, there's only so many awesome views in Bavaria you can see before you know... it gets old. I walked to the castle touched it, took some pics... walked down a track to a rad waterfall and a chain link bridge accross he chasm uptop but I was now under an intense amount of pressure to get back to the trainstation. It took me little time to get to the botton of the hill and then after 40 mins walk I was back in Füssen, with pics I missed on the way to the castle now stored on my SD card. I had 25 mins to spare so I went to the supermarket and stocked up on water and had a quick look around the town itself. Your a-typical tourist sektor. Every overpriced cafè offering the same goodies. It was all too much for me, so I went back and waited for the train. Another different RB train, this one less comfortable than the last but with a FREE WC. Life is good sometimes. The train rattled towards München, this time I had to change over Trains in a different town halfway but unlike home where Trains don't connect and 'connecting' busses stick to their schedules instead of connecting, the euro traim system connects with ease and the transfer was only a minmal pain in the ass.
I made it back to the München Metropolis Trainstation with 10 mins to walk 17 platforms to my connecting train to Berchtesgaden, which was set to leave at 18:23. The train pulled in and this one was a 'real train', an IC, or InterCity, similar to the one Horse and I caught from Frankfurt to Regensburg, just not as modern or fast. I got on and was pretty much falling asleep. The scenery wasnt that much different from my last journey so I decided to do some reading instead. The train was comfortable and it was good not having to sit accross from random strangers... not that it's a huge deal but on the off chance that they want to have a chat ... and you dont ... makes the trip kinda annoying. A quick lesson in Geography... Füssen is in the south of Germany, as I mentioned, on the boarder of Austria and Switzerland and where I now was heading was the direct South East and literally the last town before crossing over into Austria. The train wasnt direct to Berchtesgaden due to track work being done. So I had to hop onto a bus in the town of Freilassing for the last hour... after 90 mins on the train from München. The confusion and poor signage was making me stress out but it all worked out okay and I was on target to reach Berchtesgaden by 9pm. Let's just hope the hostel takes in travellers after 9pm. The bus ride was pretty excellent. This time I was really in the alps, the mountains in the near vicintiy were refelcting the dying sunlight of the warm day creating vivid shadows accross the landscape. It was eerie but I stared out the window in awe. Eventually we made it into town, following the railroad all the way... I didnt see any construction hehe but hey the bus was okay I guess. I got dumped in town and there was probably about 45 mins left of any daylight at all but I didnt mind. The cool alpine air was very refreshing and the sound of the stream storming through the township was very calming indeed. I had no idea where to go though and walked around for 25 mins before deciding to ask the taxi company for directions, not ask for a cab but ask for directions. I got them and without further farting around I headed out of town, it was a 1km walk out of town and then up a steep mountain trail... I almost died walking up the trail. It's not what I needed for the last memories of a long ass day. I got to the top and saw the hostel, it was pretty huge.. like a giant barn or something. Looked alot more interesting than the American hostels I stayed in. I had to stand and wait 15 mins because all the staff were watching Germany play in the soccer match that night but it was okay I didnt mind too much. I got upstairs had a shower, introduced myself to my room mates and then... collapsed. I was very tired but just about everything went to plan today. I fell asleep pretty well content even though my trip to Füssen was very rushed.
The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn and ready to get into the Free Breakfast on offer at the hostel. What a feast it was... fresh bread rolls... meat.... cheese... jam... tea ... coffee and even cereal and hot chocolate and all for free and as much as you wanted. For 15euros a night it sure was great. The hostel inside was clean and modern, too... apart from the IRRITATING school children in the room next door, who were on holiday, everyhing was okay. I mean it wasnt party central but for an alpine retreat it served better than bad but quite good. After breakfast I went back to my room ready to back my bag for the day ahead. The 2 guys I were roomates with were; Ralf, a 35 year old software engineer from Cologne, in Germany's North West and Simon, a french Canadian from Quebec who had been working in Ireland for the last 8 months. We 3 made the journey back into town, talking and getting to know each other. Ralf's english was flawless and his knowledge about Europe's Train network will surely help me further as time goes on and Simon telling me he never spoke a word of English until he went to Ireland came as quite a shock to me but they were both cool guys. Our intention was to get to the 'Königsee', or for those unlearned 'King's Lake'. The King refered to was Ludwig but later Hitler who was master of this area and just about all else to boot. We bussed it there, a 4km trip. It was expensive for the trip there and busses once again only on the hour but after yesterday I was in no mood to walk that far again. Once we got to the Lakeside township, the tourist trade was only just beggining to fire up. It was only 9am and the Souveneir stalls and Bratwurst vendors were only just opening their doors. Sadly it was a public holiday on that day so the supermarkets were closed, so Im sure I would come crawling to them for water soon enough. After the streams of Tourist traps... even one selling JUST Yodelling cd's and Cassettes, I thought about buying a cd for my dad then decided against it in a hurry ... suddendly there it was the lake and oh my goodenss was it awesome. The Sight of a blue lake surrounded by mammoth snow covered mountains was so overwhelming, this certainly is the crowned jewell of Germany. It became immediatley evident why Adolf Hitler had his retreat here. I paid the 14euros for the boat ride.A 55 min boat trip to the other end of the lake and was treated to an all german tour guide, complete with jokes that would have sucked translated (and non translated, too, id care to wager) It wasnt about the tourguide though, it was about the scenic joy. I was underwhelmed yesterday and bored with German Scenery but this was it at it's highest peak. We were on the 2nd boat for the day and it was crowded with tourists already. I feared that nature at the end of the journey would be destroyed by the cackling of german retired men and women with their bizzare fashion sense and their 'alpine walking sticks' ... ones that professional hikers use but it seems here that if youre retired and want to look like youre making the most of it, you need to have these sticks. The flat surfaces and the fact that the biggest climb was over a stone, should not detour you. The boat stops halfway at an ancient church, I would come back here after, most of the tourists got off here which was good, there was a plethra of Souveneir stands here aswell. My friends and I ventured accross the Lake and I was greeted by more moving scenery, a cow paddock complete with a tiny wooden lodge on the edge of the water, the cows grazed the green grass and drank from the crystal clear water all below the clear blue sky and the shadows of the mountains surrounding this entire area. This place was really amazing, trust me. My 2 travel buddies wanted to go on a 20km hike, I politely declined for a number of reasons. I wished them goodluck and then headed along a shorter walk. Not many tourists, I got here early enough. Accross the crest of the track youre greeted by a smaller lake, pretty much an identical brother to the scenario behind me. It was awesome too.. I could have sat there for ages just taking it all in but time is money and I had other places to see in Berchtesgaden today. My stroll back was marred by at least 100 old men and women with their funny socks and sandles and their brilliant walking sticks. Im sure the journey ahead called for those sticks... but at least I beat the tourist crowd and for that I was very happy. After I feasted on Pig meat and checked out that church I mentioned earlier, I headed back to the mainland. I missed the bus and had to wait 35 mins for the next one back to town. The connecting bus to Obersalzburg, which also serves as the fabled documentation center ive been dying to see, didnt connect and I had to wait another 30 mins. So 9 mins bus travel and 65 mins of waiting. Just great. Time was disaapearing by now and the last admittance to Kelstein Haus (The Eagle's Nest) was at 4pm but that wouldnt do I needed to see Hitler's House AND the Nazi proganda museum, they were 2 of the biggest reasons I came to Germany... the bus came eventually and I paid another fare. 12 mins later we arrived at the ticket booth. 13 euros for another bus to take us up to the top. I missed that bus too and waited 30 mins for the next one. I knew I wasnt going to make it to the Museum and was getting very angry. The ride to the top was outrageous, the views and climbs were breathtaking. For those of you who have seen the TV show 'Band of Brothers' then you would know where this place is. Right on top of that Hill. Stunning. Worth 13 euros though? pretty steep, just like the bus ride har har. I got to the top and saw pretty much all of Bavaria from the 'Eagles Eyes' so to speak. A crystal clear day and there was so much to see and admire. Hitler's house itself was now a cafe selling traditional Bavarian food at engorged prices and of course the mandatory souveneir stand. I wandered around for an hour or so and then headed back down again. I got down at 16:45pm and the museum closed at 17:00 ... so I headed back to the bus, which THIS TIME was right there waiting FOR ME, as if to say sucked in to you pal. You missed out today. The rest of the night was uneventful and the next morning I was eurailing it back 'home' to my Grandparent's house. I was joined by Ralf for the trip to München, which at first I thought would be a burden but the night before we had some pretty intelligent and in depth conversations about all sorts of shit, so I started talking to him again and it was okay in the end.
Okay Im almost done here. I decided to spend a few hours in München seeing as though I couldnt get a Hostel there. It was a bit of a mistake though. The weather was so hot and after wearing myself thin over the last 2 days I couldnt really get into the whole wandering around a big city for hours deal. I saw a few things very famous im sure and meaningful from a war from centuries ago but I had no map and no information booklet so I just blindly snapped photos of things that looked nice and important I only managed 3 and a half hours and then I got lost. I was exhausted, so I tried to find a supermarket and some cheap water and then I would get on the train and return to Regensburg. Dont get me wrong, I liked Munich, I just didnt have the energy to go there and fully unravel all it's secrets. The parts I did see were very impressive, especially their 'green zone' which is a giant shopping mall, much like Rundle Mall back home but less shitty and filled with less bums and retards standing out the front of Borders all day. Not that I could see them through the crowds of Aussies and Englishman... you sometimes forget that the worldcup is on...
I was relieved to have another week back with the family, my Oma took me out a couple of times, once to a place called 'Arber' which was like a ski resort, very similar to Berchtesgaden (complete with retired people and their magic sticks) and it was an awesome day out. She needed a day away from my Opa and I needed a day out just with her, we had some nice talks with what little german I could come up with and what little English she had to go on but it was all understood in the end. Apart from that, I drank alot of beer and Jägermeister and ate more Schweinfleisch and spent alot of time reading or listening to music and it was just what I needed to prepare for what was going to happen. Another sad goodbye but a long journey was awaiting me. Probably another 4 months before I finally get home, it's kinda frightening. Im here in Switzerland now, im using their expensive internet against them haha but we will cover that next time.
Thanks for reading this long and mostly boring journal and I hope to bring you my swiss one asap 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.212s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0477s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jordan Bang
non-member comment
How the Bloody hell are you?
Hey Paul, My internet is finally almost working as well as dial-up can so I thought I would send you a quick hello. so, Hello. Not sure if you actually reading these comments or just using the blog as your own public diary but anyway.... It astounds me that you have the will power to write about your adventures when your exploring such amazing environments, but I guess you need to express the wonder somehow...just don’t over analyze and enjoy your self ok. Some amazing scenes here, the castle looks like something out of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (I now have an X-cube 360 by the way and a HI def LCD). Anyway, I would love to be there with you, slaying imaginary dragons and such. But I have to live with the mundane-ity ( :) ) of seaford Rise. Have a grim old time.