What a place

Just making the entry at an Internet cafe at Berchtesgaden. So far the trip has been mind blowing. Tuesday evening, the Ferrottes asked if they can join us. I had got talking about the trip over the Indian dinner we went to on Saturday. Well, the dinner was just Tweedledum and me trying to act like mature adults and interact a little more with people. Had no idea it would lead to this amount of maturity. They asked if they could come along. We couldnt possibly say no and besides we thought it will be a good exercise for the two of us also, not to mention that it would help the budget.

Well, so far, it has been going great guns! I have to say I am amazed. We had just started from Fonty when the female ferrotte mentioned how the male ferrotte got to play his music for ten minutes on their previous holiday and it was so bad - he played something called Janis Joplin. Tweedle and I jumped with a yeah! Lets play joplin! And then between our three yeahs and the one Noooo! the babe started crying and all our energies got redirected. But he is an adorable babe - most travel friendly. Anyway to get back to the places.....After 5 hours of driving and No getting lost (almost no getting lost), we arrived at Strasbourg. Checked in, washed up, realised there is no train station close to the Etap, drove to the nearest P&R, parked, found the counter closed, bought costly tickets and headed to town. The night was a general reconnaissance and french dinner. Mine was good. For Tweedledum I had recommended Choucroute Alsacienne. I'm suprised his dirty looks didnt give me indigestion the next day. Anyway, Thursday was a proper tour of Strasbourg, boat ride included. First stop, the only sandstone cathedral with this dude of an astrological clock. Bah!! A cafe with chocolate cake and coffee/ riesling was a much better utilisation of time. Barrage Vauban, Petite France, Kugelhof - all lovely. When it was time to leave for the hotel, what do we find but all the loos in town locked. Tweedledum and I had to rush into a bar, use the loo and of course, down 2 bottles of beer. Honestly, the most refreshing beer I have had, perhaps because it was the first of the holiday.

Next day, thats yesterday - on to Berchtesgaden. German road side cafes are the best ever. What food! All of us relished our meal down to the last morsel. I had schnitzel with black dal, Tweedledum some form of beef, Female ferrotte Poulet Grillard and the male, well the male ferrotte is a vegetarian. All he gets is pasta. But he insisted that it was good. Our highway took us through the Black Forest. Can't even begin to describe the autumn colours on the mountains. On the way we stopped for fuel where a frenchman mistook us for Parisiens. It actually felt like meeting someone from home talking to him in french when all around there is only german, german and more german. Though in defense of the Germans, they do speak english. All of them. And their public loos are amazing. Very clean and after usage the seat rotates and gets cleaned. For a frequent user like me, it was miraculous. Anyway, we have taken two rooms in Pension Berganone in a place called Schonau am Konigsee.

And now today - ahhh! The day started with a walk to the Lake Konigsee. Everyone was convinced that it must be something like 2 kms - 4 is closer to it. Then there is a boat to get to a place called St Bartholoma. Silent mountians - orange, red, yellow and green leaves. The pictures are doing absolutely no justice to the beauty of the place. They are all taken from the boat. Once we got to the island, I completely forgot about a blog. We took a recon of the island and then thought we'll try a short trek. Boy o Boy o Boy! Short trek. It was closer to two hours. Tweedledum with his hurting foot, Male ferrotte with a baby and female ferrotte with...believe it or not, heels!! They insisted on going on and we did. It was gorgeous! Finally when they gave up close to the top, I just ran ahead and had a look at the glacier. Am so glad we went up to the top - it will be the best memory of the trip. I think I understand the meaning of the lines - 'They flash upon the inward eye and my heart dances....'.

The grande finale was coming down to find a cafe which catches its fish from the lake, steams and serves. Fisherie St Bartholoma. The two of us practically gobbled up our fish and bread with huge pitchers of beer! What is it with german beer - the taste is fabulous! Why couldn't Insead have been in Germany. Beer Courses is so much more up my alley....though I love my riesling too.

Anyway thats been the holiday till date. Now broken down we are all at an Internet cafe post which we'll search for dinner. Btw, yesterdays dinner was in a lovely restaurant in Schonau am Konigsee recommended by our landlady. Will post the name when I remember it.