Many months ago we selected a self guided walk from the many on offer by the Australian company 'U- Tracks'. The walk we selected is named 'King Ludwig's Way' and it begins in the Bavarian town of Starnberg; about 28km south of Munich. The walk winds through forests, villages, besides and in some cases across lakes, to finish at the tourist town of Fussen, which hosts the twin castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau; the first one built by King Ludwig II. When we booked the walk there were very few walks still open in October, so our choices were limited. Doing this walk straight after the choir tour meant catching a train from Venice back to Munich only two days after we had caught the train from Munich to Venice with the choir.
So after a 5am rise in a Venetian thunderstorm, running around between ferry stations on the Grand Canal trying to find the right vaporetto to take us to Venice train station, some 7 hours later we arrive in the scenic town of Starnberg, our beautiful hotel room overlooking the picturesque Starnberger See. We stop for a coffee in a local cafe, then wander along the lakeside in the faded Autumn sunshine. In only two days the weather has suddenly turned cooler- mountain tops that were bare on the way to Venice three days earlier, are now topped with a thin layer of snow, and the breeze at Starnberg is decidedly crisper. The lakeside is dotted with beautiful cafes and restaurants and there are many people out walking, as today is October 3rd, a public holiday in Germany for German Unity Day. 
Starnberger See
Because of this, not all restaurants are open, but we manage to secure a table for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel.
Staying in hotels with breakfast included each day, one tends to make comparisons, and really impressive breakfasts (fruhstuck) stand out. In Starnberg the breakfast highlight is an orange juice machine with fresh oranges sitting in a metal crate on top, and when you put your glass underneath and pressed the button, the oranges are crushed and squeezed to make your drink, which tastes amazing! We leave our bags in the hotel foyer for collection, then stride out the door, following our directions for our first day of walking: 20km to Diessen. Within 15 minutes we are lost. I have given the map and instructions to David and blithely followed along, but he has missed one vital fork in the road, and as time goes on the distance we are off route grows bigger and bigger. We make a few attempts to go cross country to find the correct road, but none work, so finally we are forced to return almost to our hotel to follow the instructions again. This time we are successful, although there are gaps in the directions where we wander around looking for street signs and landmarks. At times we are given a compass direction, which is not very helpful as we have no sense of direction, particularly as it is cloudy and starting to drizzle, so we cannot even begin to locate the sun. The weather matches my mood this day; I am feeling quite down and a bit homesick, partly because I had not anticipated that the weather would be so miserable and cold. We walked part of the Camino in 2015 and it was full of fun and mostly sunshine; there were hundreds of others walking and we made lots of friends along the way. On today's route we see no one, other than locals walking their dogs. I feel we have miscalculated the season by booking this walk in early October; the weather is colder than an average winter's day in Melbourne and I don't really travel to experience wet and cold, particularly if it s a sunny spring back home. I did not think it would be this cold in Europe in early October, but I suppose one can never fully plan for the weather. On this first day we have a deadline, as we have to catch a ferry from Herrsching to Diessen and the ferry times are either 3.30pm or 5pm. I am determined to make the 3.30 ferry - I don't want to be sitting around in the cold rain for 90 minutes. It is only around 9 or 10 degrees today, which is bearable while walking, but as soon as you stop, the cold sets in. I am glad I bought a waterproof cover for my pack, and I have waterproof coat, overpants , umbrella and mostly waterproof walking boots. The walking instructions and map I carry in a plastic pocket, and I juggle these with my umbrella. Many of the directions involve 'turning left after the blue maypole'; the maypole has a strong tradition in Bavaria and features in every village we walk through. The 1st of May is Maypole day, when villagers dress in traditional Bavarian costumes, decorate the maypole and drink beer (of course) to celebrate spring.
The recommended lunch stop is at a village named Andechs, where there is a gastof at the top of a hill with a huge bistro and servery, and a vast number of people lining up to purchase a meal. Instead we opt to walk back down the hill and buy a couple of bread rolls and some fruit at a supermarket, and we sit on a seat outside the supermarket in the cold to eat our lunch.
View of Andechs
We climb the hill again and visit the church at the very top. Inside it is an authentic example of baroque/rococo. From here we walk down a steep wooded path and eventually reach the Herrsching jetty around 3.15pm - great timing. The lake is vast and beautiful, and lined with cafes and restaurants. On a sunny day the view would be simply stunning, but it is less so in the damp drizzle. The ferry crossing takes 25 minutes and the seats are all laid out around tables, restaurant style. We enjoy the warmth and the opportunity to remove our wet coats, while we eat a snack. On reaching Diessen on the other side we walk 5 minutes to our hotel and that night dine in a lovely local modern restaurant.
The second day of our walk is predicted to be 25.5km and to take 7 hours. Once again it is a cold 9 degrees and a steady drizzle dampens our walk. Around two hours in our instructions direct us to ford a shallow stream. In doing this my right foot slips on a rock and instantly I have a soaking wet boot and foot. There ends any hope of surviving this long second day without blisters; my feet are already challenged by large bunions which create very cramped toes. Walking large distances on consecutive days; now with wet feet makes it pretty impossible to avoid blisters. There are also a lot of directions to walk through fields of wet grass, so all in all, staying dry from the ankles down is impossible. We walk to the village of Wessobrun, which has a huge church decorated in rococo style and displays beautiful landscape paintings. After inspecting the church we sit in a bus shelter eating the bread rolls and fruit we bought that morning at the supermarket in Diessen, then head into a nearby gastof for a coffee. We then set off, walking for hours along forest tracks, beside farms, through villages, all the while following directions that are sometimes clear and precise, and other times vague and confusing, which results in time wasted while we re-read, look for landmarks and check on google maps. This is the first time I have used an overseas SIM card while overseas, and I am eternally thankful for this decision as it makes life so much easier to have data all the time.
Forest chapel
Bavarian forest
Finally we reach another gastof and church on the top of a hill. By now it is 5pm and we have been walking pretty much non-stop since 9am. The instructions tell us there is a clearly marked path down the side of the hill, between the church and the gastof. There is no sign, but we do see a gate, so we walk through that to follow a tiny path that twists and turns, descending steeply down a slippery, muddy path, past cows who each wear a huge bell, and turn to stare inquisitively as we pass.
Cyprus forest
Finally at 6pm we stagger into our gastof. My phone tells me I have walked 28km that day. I have never walked this far in one go before, and my body and most of all my feet, are feeling it. Fortunately there is a lovely restaurant on the same property, because neither of us can walk any further than a few steps and our host books us a table for 7pm.
Day three is only survivable because we have both taken anti inflammatories with our dinner, and because it is a mere 15km. I inspect the bottom of my feet and cover the large blisters that have formed in Compeed bandages. Our breakfast in the tiny gastof is left for us in the breakfast room by our friendly host Suzie, who pops in to tell us to take any extra rolls, fruit and meat to eat on the way. The day's walk actually turns out to be really hard, because it goes straight up to the top of a mountain, and then down the other side to reach the village of Rottenbuch. We walk beside a fast flowing river, then pass over the Lime Kiln bridge.
Crossing the Lime Kiln bridge
After this we climb straight up, along slippery, muddy tracks, through the forest, for at least an hour, climbing straight up thousands of stairs.
Steep climb to Rottenbuch
Finally we reach the top and perch on a damp wooden seat to eat our lunch. The next 30 minutes we spend wandering around in circles, trying to follow the obscure instructions to find the next part of the trail. Finally we come to a map overlooking a spectacular view of three villages laid out in the valley below, and we work out where Rottenbuch is. Once again, it's back to google maps to set a course to get ourselves to our destination, which we finally reach about 90 minutes later. That night our accommodation is a beautiful apartment above a lovely cafe. We have a coffee in the cafe, then I luxuriate in the very welcome bath in our apartment. Outside its still very cold and wet, so it is a relief that we don't have to venture out for dinner. Our host in the cafe goes through the menu with me, explaining how she can adjust dishes for my dairy allergy. So we dine in and both have a delicious meal of beef goulash with bread dumplings and salad. Beautiful, tasty, home cooked fare.
Day four I declare has to be a rest day. I cannot walk the 20km designated for that day as my feet feel shredded raw. We check out the bus timetable and work out that we can walk 2km to a bus stop, then catch the bus to Wieskirche; a UNESCO pilgrimage church built between 1746 and 1754 that is a famous tourist attraction. We arrive at the bus stop about 40 minutes before our bus will depart, and become increasingly cold, waiting in the icy wind. Our bus is due at 10.56am, and a bus with the same route number pulls in at 10.30am. Thinking our bus must be early, we try to board, to ask the driver if this is our bus. He studiously ignores us for a while, then when David works up the courage to ask 'Wieskirche?', he laughs very patronisingly and says, "Nein, Oberammergau!", and then ignores us. We recheck the timetable and realise that, confusingly, the same bus route number also goes to Oberammergau, another famous Bavarian destination. We also see buses to Garmische-Partenkirken; a well known ski resort where our daughter and her partner have skied in the past. Finally our bus arrives and we get to enjoy the view of the green countryside from a warmer and more elevated position inside the bus.
We arrive at Wieskirche and it is quite a busy tourist destination; unlike most of the other places we have walked to which have been very quiet. There are two restaurants, two souvenir shops, a large car park for tourist buses and even toilets! We inspect the inside of the church, which is very ornate and beautiful.
Wieskirche interior
Wieskirche exterior
There are posters advertising regular concerts in the church and it would be amazing to attend one in such beautiful surroundings and acoustics - but also extremely cold in the winter!
After wandering around the church and the tiny chapel 100m down the road, we go for a bit of a walk along King Ludwig's Way, toward Steingarden, which we would be walking if we were not having a rest day. It is very boggy and wet, despite the wooden planks that have been laid out, and much of the next stage is under water as far as we can see, so I am pleased not to have to endure my feet getting soaked again. We have lunch at one of the gastofs, which is very traditional and has very little food that I can eat. The Germans in the restaurant are drinking up their beer and wine, and eating their big plates of goulash or roast, eyeing as off suspiciously as in English we ask for a salad and coffee.
We catch the bus to Halblach, which is near the village of Trachgau, where we are staying that night. As the afternoon goes on, the clouds thin and it begins to fine up. By late afternoon there is not a cloud in the sky, and we have high hopes for our walk into Fussen tomorrow.
Trachgau church
Bavarian maypole
That night as we dine in a local restaurant I notice the most uttered word by the Germans is 'genau' (exactly!) This word just jumps out at me all night!
We wake the following morning to a lovely view of the snow capped mountains and commence our final leg of the walk to Fussen in the crisp morning air. Unfortunately our instructions are once again very unclear, and with the lack of detail on the map provided, it is difficult to work out where we are. Eventually we work out our position and decide to save time and km by walking beside the main road to Buching, from where we can walk along a pedestrian path beside Bannwaldsee to Fussen.
Walk to Fussen
Pumpkin harvest Buchingjpg
Suddenly we turn a corner and I see it in the distance; Neuschwanstein!
Neuschwanstein walk
Its only seeing it in reality like this that it finally sinks in that this castle is real! It seems such a bizarre thing to do ; to build a castle on the side of a mountain. But there it is! You can read all about it here.
We keep walking, enjoying the increasingly mild weather, as the clouds thin, the sun comes out, and it reaches a balmy 15 degrees! We walk through Schwangau, the village before Fussen and I actually start to feel warm for the first time in over a week! 
Street scene Schwangau
We continue along the walking and cycle path toward Fussen, stopping along the way at a lovely little vegan cafe for a coffee.
Eventually we arrive and check into the arty Hotel Sonne, right in the old town. We find a popular Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, where we toast each other on our successful completion of the 100km walk from Starnberg - a tougher walk than we anticipated. We spend the next day wandering around the old town of Fussen, with its quaint cobblestone streets, lovely shops and bakeries selling a novel Bavarian delight called schneeballen; a large round shortcrust pastry ball.
Historic buildings Fussen
Fussen streetscape
We are very pleased that U-Tracks booked us into Hotel Sonne for the final two nights of our trek. They provide a washing machine and dryer in the basement, free of charge, free return bus tickets to the castles, arty rooms decorated with pictures of Neuschwanstein and King Ludwig and an excellent breakfast, once more with a fresh orange juice machine plus I am given warm soy milk for my coffee. Bliss!
Our final day in Fussen we check out at 8.30, leave our luggage in the locker provided in the hotel basement and head to the castles. Fortunately it is not raining today, unlike yesterday which was a constant heavy drizzle. We meet a couple of young women from Melbourne on the bus, and once we arrive at the castles we walk up the steep path to Marienbridge, which is the spot for taking photos of the castle. When we arrive there however, the narrow bridge is over a very deep gorge, and is ten deep in tourists. These two facts make it impossible for me to venture past the very edge of the cliff; there are people out there jumping around and screaming and I am terrified. I can see and feel the boards of the bridge moving and creaking with the pressure of all this weight. Another woman ventures out tentatively, but screams at her children to go back to the cliff edge - such is her terror for their safety. I can totally relate to this.
Neuschwanstein from Marien Bridge
Marien Gorge
We walk down through the green and gold Autumn trees to the Neuschwanstein castle and wait for our guided tour to commence. The system is very well organised; like an oiled machine, tours begin every five minutes and the tour number and time is projected up on a screen over the entry gate. In we go and climb a couple of flights of stairs to the second floor where our tour guide begins her spiel. It is fascinating to learn that King Ludwig II built this castle on top of the ruins of a previous castle as a tribute to his love for all things medieval. He wanted to live in a medieval castle, with 19th century comforts, and each room is decorated according to a medieval legend; and the ones he chose were all of those embodied in the operas of Richard Wagner; Tristan and Isolde, Tannhauser, Parsifal and Lohengrin. King Ludwig II was a big fan of Wagner's work and he invited Wagner to settle in Bavaria, near Munich, and supported him financially. The rooms are all amazing, but not that big, as the overall width of the castle is built on quite a narrow rock. It is quite an amazing feat of engineering. The rooms are also very dark, with only small windows overlooking the amazing view of the valley below. When the castle was first built in the 19th century before electricity, the rooms must have been extremely dark!
View of Alpsee
S & D from castle
We do a tour of the museum of Bavarian kings, then head back to Fussen, pick up our bags from the hotel and catch the train back to Munich. That evening we have dinner with Johanna, a young woman whom we hosted on exchange for 8 weeks back in 2005. I can't believe it is 14 years since we have seen her, but she has changed little, and we have a lovely evening with her and her husband. Having checked out the weather in surrounding regions we have changed our plans and decided to head south, instead of east to Salzburg. Tomorrow we are catching a train to Florence, where is is a sunny 26 degrees. I can't wait to feel warm again!
This featured blog entry was written by suel1960 from the blog Europe 2019.
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