Fussen and the Black Forest

Passing out of Italy into Austria, we climbed up above the snowline for the last time. It was also our final chance to really appreciate the surprising low down torque of the turbo diesel engine in the little VW Polo – perfect for climbing out of hairpins.

  

We had lunch on the banks of a swiftly flowing river full of melted snow and kayakers. Nearby was a modern covered bridge which we explored as it had a very interesting wood/steel composite structure.

Crossing into Germany at Fussen, we came across mad king Ludwig’s fairytale creation - Schloss Neuschwanstein. We outpaced about 10,000 Chinese tourists on our trek up to the spectacular suspension bridge above the castle which afforded a classic view.

Our destination for the night was Freising, just outside Munich. We spent a pleasant beer and bulldust evening with Matt, our West Virginian colleague from our Munich days. Next morning we stopped for fuel on the autobahn just out of Augsburg. The café there had the distinction of serving the crappiest coffee of our whole trip. The “B500” or Schwarzwaldhochstrasse between Freudenstadt and Baden-Baden is renowned as the oldest and best motorcycling road in Germany, 64 kms with 100 bends, many of them hairpins and an excellent hotmix bitumen surface. Unfortunately, vast tracts were wasted with 70 km/h speed limits. At least we were rewarded with spectacular views over the Black Forest and the sister range of the Vosges across the Rhine in France.

  

As we headed west towards home in Luxembourg, things were quieter than usual in the car as we were both aware that our little adventure was coming to an end.

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