Thursday, July 18, 2013

Fussen, Germany





I've just gotten back from my first trip of the summer. Of course like the others it was short, but it was really a lot of fun and oddly relaxing considering that it involved running 42km.

Day 1: I took an airplane from Poland to Munich. (I booked the flight several months before so it was super cheap, otherwise I'd of had to take the train). Once in Munich I took the city train downtown to the main train station and from there caught a train to Fussen. By the time I arrived in Fussen it was around 11pm so I headed straight to my hotel and went to sleep.

Day 2: I woke up to a beautiful alpine morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the hills were alive with the sound of music...


I ate breakfast and then headed to get my packet for the marathon that was the next day. Once I had that all sorted out I decided to walk to the castles- Neuschwanstein and Hogenschwanu (I'm pretty sure I misspelled those but I really don't care right now). It took about thirty minutes to walk there but it was nice to be out in the country with the alpine cows and the views of the mountains.

I reached the castles and then realized that I should have booked tickets ahead of time to see them! I've seen them a million times as Fussen is very near Garmisch-Partenkierchen where my family used to go on vacation when I was younger and we lived a little closer. But, I still wanted to see them again! I ended up waiting in line for an hour and then couldn't get tickets to see the castles for at least another three hours.

While I was waiting I decided to go over to Tegelberg ski are where they have a summer lift that will take you near the top and then you can hike the rest of the way. I'm not sure if hiking was the best idea the day before a marathon, but the views were certainly spectacular. I also got some great schnitzel at the lodge up there!

Eventually I headed back to the castles and got to see inside. Somehow they don't seem quite as impressive as they did when I was a kid, but they're still pretty schnazzy.

Day 3: Race day. It was VERY HOT. The race started early but within the first hour the heat was unbearable. We were running near large lakes and all I wanted to do was throw myself in! I finished with a semi decent time, not my best, but I was more in it for the views anyways!

I slept the rest of the afternoon after the race and then in the evening went and got some more schnitzel for dinner (what can I say, I'm a schnitzel addict).



Day 4: I got up really early to take the first train to Munich so that I'd have time to stop downtown and have a look at the Glockenspiel (a really big, old clock). The last time I was there it wasn't working so I wanted to hear it chime!

The Glockenspiel 
Fussen