Day 35, 36, 37 Germany: Fussen

Forgot to mention that the Black Forest is home to the cuckoo clock, and we saw haps of different designs. They were everywhere.
Woke up this morning, opened the curtains and .... SNOW was falling. Looked like a fairy tale. The trees were white and the rooftops looked like it had snowed all night. We are experiencing a cold snap this week, with temperatures significantly below average for this time of year. Just what we wanted...3 degrees in the middle of Oct. We are expecting/hoping that things warm up a little as we head further south; though we do have the Alps to deal with before that. We hope that there isn’t too much snow as that will complicate things a little. However, today we braved the snow, (it snowed all day...only just eased off at 8.00pm) and caught the bus to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. They are very famous in Germany and I can see why. Despite the snow (which meant poor visibility in terms of seeing the whole castle ...as you can see by the photos), they were beautiful. We had to walk 15 minutes up stairs in the snow to the first castle Hohenschwangau. Little slippery at times, but we made it. After this we walked for 35 minutes straight up the mountain,(with no rest spots) while it was snowing quite hard to Neuschwanstein castle. (Rick maintains it wasn’t too steep...that word “too” being the key). As you can see by those photos we could hardly see anything, visibility was so bad. But, inside they were gorgeous. This is the castle they say Walt Disney used for inspiration for Disneyland...you can certainly see the similarities. Good leather shoes, merino wool layers and a Gortex coat (thank god for all Rick’s hiking gear) and we were warm and dry all day. Despite the snow (though it lost some of its romance as the day wore on) it was a good day...just a shame we did not see more of the external elements of the castles...though it was a bonus we saw how it looks in winter...which is stunning. Hoping the snow stops tonight, supposed to be sunny and back to normal temperatures over the next few days.
Second day in Fussen and we woke to brilliant sunshine. Decided we would drive back to the castles and do the walk again to see what we missed yesterday. Inwardly groaned, but it wasn’t that bad...knew what to expect and the views were certainly worth it. The castle is truly magnificent, with the snow capped mountains behind it and sun shining down...it did have a glow about it. (You know how I mentioned dogs the other day...well most of the dogs managed to walk up with their owners. But, one precious dog was in a little carrying crate and his Japanese mum and dad carried him all the way to the top. That is precious). Another walk around town and Rick headed off to the lake for a good long walk. We depart Germany tomorrow. What 2 things apart from fantastic scenery do I note about this country? It is inexpensive and PORK (snitzel, breaded, roast, chops, filet, sausage). You can have 5 choices for a main meal and they all involve PORK.