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Day Nine: An Ambitious One IndeedWe set alarm this morning, which we have not had to do much at all on our trip, set for 7:00am and out by 8:00.Caught a taxi into town and had some coffee before doing a bit of last minute shopping in Bavaria.Then off to pick up the car, which proved to be very frustrating as there is only one car rental place in Berchtesgaden and apparently they had only one car to offer.Not the car we ordered or paid for, we paid for something German with a GPS and instead we got a FIAT with no GPS.Karl was furious as he predicted (and was correct, that it was going to be very difficult to navigate small German roads without it).So (many German sentences begin with "so"), off we went and I called an audible - Neueschwanstein in Schwangau.So we headed out and got turned around going too far into Austria, oops, turn around and ditch the "yahoo maps like" directions and use the interstate map.I would detail the trip to Schwangau but it would bore many, will sum it up.Beautiful country roads, interrupted by slow moving farm equipment, small towns with confusing signage, majestic beauty offset by a few periods of stress, German drivers and Autobahn madness.While cruising along at 150 km per hour (90 mph) we were often passed by large Mercedes who must have been traveling 250 km per hour (do the math), quite a sight to behold.One thing Karl will add is that driving in Germany is a much more "common sense" experience where speeds are only limited by circumstance, and the speed limit signs are digital and can be changed based on road conditions.I could go on for hours on the issues of driving in Germany, but suffice it to say, they have it figured out infinitely better than the Americans do.
Neueschanstein was, however, well worth the trip.Like most ideas Cindy has, this idea (audible) required a lot of work, courage and money, but it was worth it in the end.We will share pictures when internet access is available.We decided that the steep walk was the way to go, and given Karl's concern for time, we hoofed it fast.Still not sure if the walk was as challenging as the steps to the Victory tower in Berlin.The best part was the Marienbrucke which literally takes your breadth away both because of the sheer beauty and because you are standing about 300-400 feet above the rocky waterfall on some wooden planks (which shake) and steel made in 1860s.It is fantastic (even with the tourists).From there it was only another short (3.5 hour) drive to Ebersteinburg (try finding it on a map!) where we promptly got lost again and ended up in Baden-Baden and arrived at our hotel at about 9:30 at night?2 hours late.Germans don't deal well with being late! Thanks for the help getting there, Oma, what would we do without cell phones - oh yeah, that GPS locator would have been helpful.
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