In the Alps

Thursday, we left Hallstatt in Austria and headed for Bavaria (Bayern) and the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Road). Our first stop was Bertschesgaden which is mostly known for its proximity to where Hitler had Eagle's Nest in nearby Kehlstein.  Putting that aside, however, this is a pretty little town and a perfect place to start driving west on the German Alpine Road which takes you through some very amazing scenery on winding mountain roads. My mistake was thinking that our beautiful sunny day would be followed by similar weather the next so I didn't take enough pictures of the clear, snow-capped mountains, lush green valleys and charming Bavarian houses.  I could write my own description of this breathtaking drive but there is already a good one at www.germany.travel/en/leisure-and-recreation/scenic-routes/german-alpine-road.html. 
It is well worth reading. As we were running out of time, we left the route early and took a shorter way to Fussen which took us back into Austria near Innsbruck and through Fernpass to Reutte (A) and Schwangau near Fussen. We had an amazing view of the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.  Both of our rooms at the Hotel Helmerhof have views of King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle (perhaps as famous in North America for being the model for the Fantasyland Castle in Disneyland as anything else) and the surrounding mountains.  Unfortunately, both were completely lost in the low cloud by Friday morning!  So, we walked the 3.9 km to Fussen in the drizzle, visited a friend at Optik-Niebler (and scored some Sekt - sparkling wine - as his business was celebrating its 65 anniversary), then parted.  Mena and Trevor took the bus to visit Neuschwanstein castle and I walked back to the hotel to get caught up on "my chores".  Today was glorious so we drove to Oberammergau of Passion Play fame and we got to see lots more of the German Alpine Road. On the way back, we drove back through some of Fernpass again and this time stopped at a Gasthaus with an amazing view of Zugspitze.  We had lunch sitting on the terrace in the sun.  I had my new favourite treat, Kaiserschmerrn, a crispy fried pancake cut up and served with apple sauce.  Yum yum!  Not a bad way to end our stay in the mountains before heading to Munich tomorrow.