Fernpass, Austria - Osterreinen, Germany

Monday 21st June 1999

We were heading into Germany to see Neuschwanstein castle, the lasting monument of mad King Ludwig II. After leaving Austria we came into the small town of Füssen. We spent some time wandering around its old streets and admiring one of the best fountains I've seen. A brilliant creation of three metre high square poles with "rocks" balancing on top, rocking and spinning in the jet of water. Quite mesmerising.

In the late afternoon we decided to look for a campsite and took the tourist office advice to try a site on the side of the nearby lake and near the castle. This was our first introduction to summer camping European style. The place was jammed with only a couple of feet between vehicles and crowds of people. Altogether pretty uninviting and expensive to boot so we decided to look on. Free camping in the region was out of the question as it's so touristy that they've totally clamped down on any place you could stop. After a couple more rejects we headed over to the other side of the lake and found a great spot. Quiet, uncrowded, and with a fantastic view back across the lake to the castle. Perfect.

Today was Anita's birthday so having found a good place to stay we headed back into town to have dinner at the most traditional place we could find. Being a tourist area made it a little difficult to find the genuine article but we found a place that was pretty nice and all tucked in to some fine German specialities.