10 October 2008

Autumn Hiking Excursions

I spent a lot of time hiking this week to make up for the lethargy of weeks past. The weather has been lousy here lately. Cloudy and rainy and cold up until this week. Earlier this week I went to Marienbrücke, which is behind Neuschwanstein. It's an iron bridge but it's really high and the wooden planks that line it all buckle. I'm not afraid of heights, but the flexible flooring made me a bit uneasy. Walking back, I guess I had a funny look on my face as I carefully selected my steps, because these guys gave me a knowing smile like they could tell I was wary.

I started walking up further, but ever since the Tegelberg I've been nervous about my knee. I need to get a walking stick or something, like a little old lady. Anyway, today I was going to try to walk to the Falkenstein ruin but I didn't quite make it. I knew there was a chance I would back out. It takes over an hour to walk to the trail near the Alatsee that leads to it, and then it's straight up. I didn't think the path would rise so quickly since the ruins are pretty far away, but it was rough. So after about 15 minutes I decided to turn around and do it another day. My legs were already worn out from the walk. In fact, they were still a little sore from the trek up to Marienbrücke. The whole walk took about 3 ½ hours today so that's not bad. Plus, I got to take some fall photos of the Alatsee.





View of Alpsee from Neuschwanstein

Marienbrücke (it's a long way down!)



Kobelweg (trail)




Alatsee




03 October 2008

Fall aka Herbst



Seeing the snowy peaks gave me a flashback. Back to when I first got here. It was strange. I actually gasped when I first noticed the snow; after the clouds from the morning rain cleared away. Just yesterday I took a photo of the changing trees. Look at the difference! I can't wait until it snows down here.

I started school last week, so it's back to the grind. I've started studying German a little more, too. I'm getting better, but I need a lot more practice. Not much else going on. My bicycle seat is broken so I haven't been riding at all. No comments on the fat butt that broke it. The weather hasn't been great so I haven't been getting out much. Just studying and working. I'm going to try to go to Croatia for Christmas since I won't be able to see my family in the US. It's really cheap to fly and I have relatives there, so hopefully I can find someone who will have me. I figure it's a great time to get back there and re-connect.


Yesterday

Today
Moon over Füssen

Fountain near the tourist center