May 21, 2018 – Day Six – Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Fussen

May 21, 2018 – Day Six – Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Fussen

Sad to bid adieu to to Rothenburg!  One last buffet breakfast, back upstairs to finish things up and haul of backpacks, and newly acquired goodies, to the car for the three-hour drive.  Along the way we see lots of houses with solar panels, solar farms, enormous windmills – and THE ALPS!

Each land has it's own speed limit.

 

Things move along quite well for the first couple of hours, until we need to leave the autobahn and head for Wieskircke to see the rococo creation.  The google directions take us to the wrong place, but a friendly couple who speak about as much English as Marilyn does German, set us straight and we find our way.  It involves a tour through Fussen which is quite a confusing little town.

Back on the road and we finally arrive, only to find that there is a Korean mass in progress and not photographs or sightseeing is allowed.  We walk around the grounds a bit, taking pictures of the meadow with yellow wildflowers and horses and chickens.  A small tourist town, of sorts, as been build around the enormous church, with souvenirs and food for sale.  There is even a German band playing and lots of people in traditional costumes.

Back inside the mass is nearly over and we sit down to observe the Korean priest and his forty some parishioners.  When he is finished it becomes obvious that this is a tour group!  They take group photos including their guide/busdriver!

Now it’s our turn to be tourists and to oh and ah at all the ornate decorations.  Among the more interesting is the painting on the ceiling which shows Christ sitting on a rainbow instead of the more tradition pose with him sitting on the throne to pass judgment.  There is also a statue of a pelican piercing her own breast to provide sustenance for her babies.  (I’ve seen this symbolism before – I hope I can remember where!)

The center of the altar piece is a statue of Christ when he had been chained and scourged.  It was considered too violent and was moved to a very small chapel near the entrance to the grounds.  It has now been restored.

This is the tiny chapel that housed the statue.

  

It’s fairly late in the afternoon and we have the traditional snack of three little sausages in a bun.  That should hold us ‘til dinner.  Marilyn stops to buy postcards for her grandkids, and asks about getting to the overlook for the castles.  We think we get directions.

This is where we got our sausages.

Our plan is to head back toward Fussen, stopping along the way at Marion-Brucke, to take pictures of mad King Ludwig’s castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein (the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle).  They say the view from this pedestrian bridge is magnificent.  We thought we’d be looking for a sign to Neuschwantstien, passed on the information we received;  but we got all the way back to Fussen without seeing one.   

Hope we get some better photos tomorrow!!

One of the larger streets in Fussen.

From the sublime to the rediculous!

By now we’re tired and frustrated and just want to find Hotel Ludwigs.  That’s a bit of a challenge, too, but eventually we pass through the world’s narrowest archway and find parking for the hotel.

Our receptionist speaks just enough English to get us our room key and tell us that parking will be 3.50 (Euros) and breakfast (8.50) is served between eight and ten in the morning.  We are on the next floor up (remember that the first floor is actually the second floor in Europe) and it is just large enough for two twin beds and a wardrobe.  Good thing we only have our backpacks!  The en suite, though, is very nice, modern fixtures, hot water, and a lovely shower.

We plug in all our electronics and go downstairs to have a bite.  We’ve been so vegetable-deprived that I order a salad with turkey (Salatplatte “Sissi”) and a small dark beer.  I can’t finish the salad!  It’s huge and quite good.  So’s the beer (Urbayrisch dunkel)

Guess who got the Evian!  And it was more expensive than my beer!

This candle on our table kept changing colors.

Real food!  No pork or potatoes!

 

Back upstairs we pore over the maps and create a game plan for tomorrow.  Then it’s time to blog and sleep.  (Can’t come soon enough!)