After a great breakfast I was on my way on a short 12km trip to Füssen, on the Austrian-German border. Today marks the end of my autumn journey where I have walked ca. 600km in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Germany. Five countries on one trip, I don’t think that I ever walked in more than two countries on one trip before.
The past couple of days it has been wonderful to see so many people, in their October festival outfits – dirndl’s and lederhosen. The ladies at the hotel were no exception. It’s great that these types of traditions don’t go lost.
Today is only a half day, as I need to catch a train just after 12 o’clock. Checking the route yesterday, I saw that one of the paths leading to Germany’s highest castle ruin, Falkenstein, was blocked. From the description I read, I couldn’t work out whether it was the path I was supposed to walk, so I decided not to take any chances and took another route.
After a climb out of town, past the swimming baths, I walked in the valley, with mountains when I looked south and flat countryside when I looked north. There are several larger lakes in this part of Germany and I could see WeisserSee in the distance. My route didn’t take me past the lake, and I was soon climbing again, this time through forest. I missed a couple of turns along small tree root paths, before reaching the path I had originally planned.
I passed today’s highest point at 1.012m before starting my descent, likewise in a forest. I ended up on a road with many parked cars. The road led me to another alpine lake, AlatSee with its turquoise coloured water. A wedding was about to take place next to the lake, so I didn’t hang around.
From the lake it was a 4km downhill walk into Füssen and the station. A lot of people were cycling or walking in the opposite direction towards the lake.
I made it to the station with 20 minutes to spare, bought a ticket online and boarded the train – the first of three to get to the airport. An American couple sat across the aisle, and we had a pleasant chat about everything from Trump to Danish taxes and much more.
I shared the second train into the centre of Munich with October festival dressed males and females – all ready for a good party. As the 3rd train passed through the centre of Munich the stations were packed with people on their way or leaving the festival.
I arrived at the airport in plenty of time, dropped off my bag and had a beer at the October festival stand just outside the airport entrance. My plane departed and arrived on time in Copenhagen, and I was soon home in the comfort of my own bed and without earplugs.