The most beautiful day, part 3 (Day 4)

Once on the other side of the gate, the path through the snow was apparent, so we started walking. I have to give credit for this hike to my travelmates Gary and Tanya, without whom I would not have summoned the nerve to disobey a Danger Sign. We had seen people on the bridge earlier, but still...

As we trudged up the slippery path, I was struck by the quietness and the beauty of the way. This was why I had come to Germany at Christmas. And it was from this point forward that I started enjoying the season, not just the sights and sounds.

We stopped at a few points along the way; there were some different views of the castle, the valley and Hohenschwangau castle. The path continued up to a road, where we climbed around another gate, encountered a group walking on the road, and continued on the more cleared path.

It was after about five minutes that Gary realized we were going the wrong way. Good thing, because I would have walked all the way to the valley on that road. At the top of the hill, we saw the path we should have continued on - it also had a big Danger sign and gate in front of it. I don't know how we missed it.

This path was cleared save a coating of snow and free of the ice slicks on the other trail. We came around the corner to the bridge, walked onto it and were greeted by the family from Singapore.

"What took you so long, did you get lost?" they said. Haha. Very funny. I guess they had seen us climb the wall and decided to go after us.

This view was literally perfect. It seemed very unreal to be standing in a place where photographs are often taken of what was a finalist for the new seven wonders of the world.




The sound of rushing water came from below, so I had to take this shot looking down.



The journey back was less eventful but still beautiful. We started down the mountain, pausing at the stand selling snowballs (fried bread coated in powdered sugar) and gluwein. At the bottom of the hill, we looked around the town a little before boarding the bus to Oberamergau.

I'm tempted to do a part 4 on this, but I think this day has been long enough :) The trip to the town with the painted buildings took about 45 minutes, and you all must see it. It is famous for its performance every 10 years of the passion play, thanks for being spared from the plague hundreds of years ago. Its shops have beautiful hand-made items that I should have purchased more of. I was getting tired, and we were soon back on the road to Munich.

What a beautiful day.