Fussen to Konstanz

Our room in Fussen was horrible. A tiny room at Ludwig’s Hotel had two twins and mine was under the window at a fire escape with a window ledge jutting into my sleeping space. I like to sleep on my side so having this bed was my choice. I kept getting tangled in the curtains until I pushed them well onto the ledge but the bed was very uncomfortable. By comparison, the bathroom was wonderful! Newly renovated and almost as big as the bedroom.

The door is immediately to the right of this photo.

The breakfast buffet was similar to all others but still delicious.  Now to checkout and get on the road. Luckily, with these stops we don’t carry in anything but our day packs/purses and a backpack so maneuvering the stairwells isn’t too bad. Reaching the car, we find we are blocked in with someone directly behind us. Back up the two flights of stairs with a photo of the car because the reservation/waitress girl speaks no English. She looks at the photo and immediately sends word to get it moved.

The lot was big enough to have six cars parked at an angle on one side of this 30’ square area and then concrete garages for 4 cars on the other. We had parked in the only available spot which was directly ahead of us as we entered this “parking” area. Now we had to figure a way to turn around to exit forward since the arch entrance was JUST big enough with our rear view mirrors pulled in. OK.

We can’t hit a car parked on the angle, we can’t hit the concrete garage entrances, and we can’t hit the cars parked IN these open garages to turn around. With Melodie outside and watching the front and/or back of the car, I completed a 7 POINT TURN! Remember those 3 point turns you practiced in driver’s ed? This one was twice the fun especially with a stick shift!  ;-)

NOW we’re going to find the castles and take the bus up to Marienbrucke for a view of Neuschwanstein.  With better directions, we follow the signs to Hohenschwangau where the ticket booth and parking areas are located. Since we forgot to make reservations for tickets online TWO DAYS before we planned to visit, we couldn’t get in and the queues are horrendous with a 2-3 hour wait to enter after purchasing on site!  They have all kinds of requirements for tickets because 10,000 visitors go through the castles each day. You can make your reservation on line to avoid the lines but it had to be two days before arrival and also BEFORE 1500. So a Tuesday ticket would have to be bought before 3:00 on Sunday! You can select your time for entry but they will give you the next best option if your time isn’t available. Then you have to arrive 90 minutes before your reservation time or they cancel your reservation and give it to someone else.

Since we couldn’t take photos inside the castles anyway, we opt for the view from Marienbrucket (Mary’s Bridge) and take the bus up and back for 3 euro instead of the steep 90 minute walk up.  These flatlanders from Florida living 7’ BELOW SEA LEVEL aren’t doing a hike like that!  And the views did not disappoint! 

On to Konstanz and more views of the countryside. Checking the road maps, we decided to avoid the yellow road signifiers. These are federal roads (usually two lane) so we go out of our way to go north on A7 then back A96 to keep to the Autobahn and speeds of 90-100 mph for traveling. Road construction abounds in Germany during the summer and the end result will be wonderful for tourists and locals alike but you can come to a complete standstill in some sections. And I’ve never seen so many trucks on the road. Everyone is required to drive in the right lane unless you are actively passing another vehicle. And boy do some of these guys come up on your bumper quickly when you are doing 100 mps and they are doing 130+mph! You really have to be IN THE MOMENT when driving the autobahn because your decisions must be made quickly at those speeds! We stopped at one of the rest areas that had gas, a 7-11 type market, parking and toilets. When I tried to flush, this is what I got...

I tried a couple more times before I realized that the push button was on the wall BEHIND THE TOILET!

We proceed directly to Unteruhldingen and the Pile Dwellings. These were discovered in a swampy area which preserved the remnants and moved to this location on Lake Constance. These inhabitants were on the cusp of moving the Stone Age into the Bronze with their discoveries of copper and tin.

Going back to Meersburg, we caught the ferry over to Konstanz and decided to head straight to Mainau Island of flowers and butterflies before some of the exhibits closed. 

Legend has it that the Swedes plundered the island
during the 30 years war (1618-1648) and tried to
take this cross but only got it this far and had to
leave it. No other info could be found.

Arriving after 5pm, we got in for half price and enjoyed our walk through the gardens. The butterfly garden was stupendous (and hot) but the variety of these little guys was well worth the heat.

 

wings open but the same as the next one down with wings closed

wings closed but same butterfly as the one above

a future butterfly

Closer to being a butterfly than the caterpillar

It was getting late so we decided to eat dinner in Mainau and then find our hotel for the night. We shared a meal of 5 different kinds of local fish and, of course, a wine spritzer. Tobias was our waiter and very personable. He couldn’t translate all the kinds of fish we would get but assured us we would enjoy them. And so we did!

I'm not much of a fish eater since I have a fear of choking
on fish bones but I took my time and found 4 bones
in the few pieces I ate. Melodie found 1. I always
remember choking in Ireland on my first fish and chips
meal and then asking for a piece of white bread to clear the bone. The Irish were amazed when it worked.

Now to find our hotel, Gasthaus Centro, near the train station on Bahnhofplatz. Looks pretty straight forward but now it is 9pm and the street signs are small and, of course, in German! We drive around and see Bahnhofstrasse and think it is it! But it appears to be small and probably a pedestrian street and not for cars. So we drive around the “block” (probably a ¼ mile each side of this square “block”) to find an entrance and end up back where we started. I pull off the road to check out the area and see BAHNHOFPLATZ one street over from Bahnhofstrasse (probably 30 yards).  We had been on Bahnhofplatz all along during our search but no signs for the hotel were to be seen. Finally I make yet ANOTHER U-turn (they will have to forgive me because I’ll put up with THEM in Florida when they visit) and park on the side of the road. I never know if this is a legal place to park so I leave Melodie in the car to plead ignorance in case a Polizei shows up and I go to find directions.

There’s a hotel right there where I park but decided that would be gauche so I go to the McDonald’s right next door. The two men at the cash registers were great! After asking if they spoke English (which is always my intro statement) I show them my  printed reservation and ask if they can give me directions. “Of course we can! It’s right upstairs!” What?!!! Seems the McD’s moved in on the ground floor and the entrance to the Gasthaus Centro was moved around the corner. Checkout the picture for the GREAT BIG SIGN showing their location. Quizzing them about parking, they assured me a parking garage right around the corner too.

Look closely! The sign is the little arrow at the top of the section of the building.
Now look at the small white ledge under the windows.  THAT'S another sign stating
Gasthaus Centro with arrows to help. Now make it 10pm in the dark with limited
street lights and tell me you're going to find this place. Oh! And the entrance
sign is at the far end of the building after the last arched window.

So we park, calm ourselves down after this hour of driving around searching for this place and head for the hotel. LOCKED! Yes, they close the reservation desk at 10pm and it is now 10:02. We ring multiple times and no one answers the speaker, unlocks the door or comes down to open it. A group of young people approach and open the door to the hotel. We explain our predicament and ask if we can follow them in. We do and someone comes to the desk after we ring the bell. I dump my frustrations on her and she explains that she had sent an email with all the directions to get in just hours before. Well, we don’t get email on our phones or anywhere when we’re on the road.  Word to the wise: make these arrangements the day before if you plan on arriving late for checkin. Nighty, night!