Lake Konigsee

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No chance of using public transport today. Far too frustrating.

Kisbee out of the garage and absolutely insisted we went for a ride.

Glorious weather again though thunderstorm forecast for later so we put the macs in sacs in just in case. Have been doing that for 12 years and only ever needed to use them twice.



Off to Lake Konigsee. Followed a road sign instead of Tomtom and went the long way round to Berchtesgaden. As we went past the bus station Bob suggested we could stop off and hang around for an hour but I said Please, No.



Not far to the lake and a lovely ride along a road with green meadows backed by lovely alpine chalets with the mountains soaring above them.

We were surprised, a slight understatement, when we got to the lake to find that there is no road round it. Of course once we saw the water we could see why as the cliffs rise up sheer on either side so even walking paths are not along the water’s edge as we had expected. The guide book does say it is like a Norwegian fjord but we hadn’t realised why.



As all traffic stops here the car park was enormous and pretty well filled with cars. We noted that, as we’ve seen in many spots like this in Germany, there is parking provided for motorhomes. No height barriers here !

We parked Kisbee and went down to the water’s edge. We didn’t go directly as the approach to the lake from the carpark is lined with shops. This is a tourist trap, no doubt about it and the number of tourists there with us certainly justified their existence. As it happened we made use of the shops and bought a rather nice ornamental piece of amethyst from one of several mineral stone shops and also a cap for Bob. His normal ‘sunhat’ is an Australian bush-hat which doesn’t fit in the scooter box so he needed a new cloth hat which folds up. New hat has a slight Germanic look to it but at least it hasn’t got “Konigsee” or “Germany” plastered across the front. .



We set off walking along a path to the left of the lake, behind lots of boat houses and that’s when we realised the path didn’t follow the water’s edge but rose up. Only a little bit of the water is visible from the top end of the lake as it takes a bend so is hidden by the cliffs on either side.

We saw a sign for a café and decided coffee was called for. No point calling at 11.am though as for some inexplicable reason the café didn’t open until 11.30. Back the way we had come as the path continued uphill and it was a bit too hot for strenuous walking.



Back at the boat houses we decided to go for a row. Well Bob rowed and I sat at the back and watched. Not been in a rowing boat for years and it was very pleasant on the water and for me, very relaxing. Bob’s shoulders may say differently later !

The views from the lake to the mountains are spectacular and we could see the Eaglle's Nest, where we went yesterday, from several points. Hard to believe we went most of the way up that soaring point by bus.





We had an hour on the water then walked past the queues for the ‘trip boats’ which go right down the lake until we found a beer garden and an inviting menu. Bob had Bavarian sausage and potato salad. I had potato pancakes and apple sauce. All gut..



We could see another accessible part of the lake to the right so back to Kisbee where Bob found a road leading to it. This was the area where people swim and if I’d had my things I would have been straight in. As it was I had to content myself with a paddle in the deliciously cool water.



We had thought to carry on to somewhere else but decided to go straight back in case the promised storm arrived early. Stopped in town for a very necessary cooling ice cream cone and then at Edeka, I really rate this supermarket chain, the Waitrose of German supermarkets, for a few bits then back for a bit of relaxation. That = snoozes, it was exceedingly hot and sticky. Rain came as we were halfway through our dinner but it only lasted 20 minutes and has cleared the air nicely.



Off to Austria tomorrow for a few days and the campsite has a pool (the only thing missing on this otherwise excellent site).

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Comments

[E R Deasey]

Melissa
Wanted to follow your blog and asked for the link which she had used previously but lost. She is interested in your Austrian amble. Still melting, sister R XXXX