As it happened, we felt obliged to stop and make this solitary tree famous...
Passing no small amount of time at "the tree" the next place that just had to be stopped at was Landsberg am Lech.
Apart from the Bayertor...
Which is the old city gate...
The town is very ornate and detailed - it definitely belongs on the romantic route! This place must be stunning in summer.
The great, grey-green, greasy... river Lech was all set about with ice and snow and swans and forts and was just too pretty to pass by.
A random stranger providing a dot of color in a stark scene...
The swans, ducks etc... looking one way up the river...
And then looking the other way towards the tower in mid-frame
PPaw and Amma, in deep conversation... or is Amber eating snow...?
This is the scene on the walkway - there will be a snow-fight here soon!
Bugz and Saz self-portraiting...
Sisters? Bugz and the rasta Cat
The clan minus Mandy who is holed up in the van keeping warm - it really is cold out there!
The Mutterturm - the tower in the centre of one of the above shots...
Just as we had we loaded up all the peeps into the van, the first cries of hunger came forth from the kids. Earlier than the big people would have liked, but they were relentless! We threw everything edible we had at them, (figuratively speaking) and no sooner had they hoovered up the lot, more cries issued forth... after 15 minutes of the "I'm starving, going to die soon, my tummy hurts..." chorus in 4.0 surround sound, we made for this little beauty of a stop for lunch.
Perched high up on a hillside directly overlooking the river, this place (who's name is long forgotten) is a must do - the food is good, but the view is even better.
Have a look here to see where it is.
They have a small playground for the bambinos who have now forgotten about being hungry and want to get very cold and wet in the snow...
We had window seats overlooking the river and a couple of bird feeders.
Even the birds have a table with a view...
A great many photos of birdies were taken, and just in case you're interested - this is what a braking budgerigar looks like...
Nosh is happening...
The road into Schwangau... nearly there
Theeeeere, in the misty distance is Neuschwanstein perched upon a hill...
We got to our hotel in Hohenschwangau around dusk, not late in the evening you understand, the sun is still setting at 16:30... so there wasn't a lot that we could do - except that is, make good on a promise to build a snowman with the kids. There certainly was enough of it around, but it was of the non cohesive sort, that, do what you may, won't make a snowball, let alone a snowman.
Ingenuity lead Pierre to dig a cylinder out of some of the ploughed snow, which had been standing long enough to solidify, with a snow shovel and adapt it to look (vaguely) like a snowman's body. This, with a head similarly hewn and shaped, and with liberal artistic license, passed off as the completed body. Various sticks were broken off a nearby shrub to form facial features and hey presto... a snowman is born.
Frosteee the snowman, had an impressionistic flair...
Did I mention that it's cold?
Hayley and I on a mission, managed to get some nice nite-time shots of the castles all lit up.
We got some good photos, and all it cost was 2 fingers lost to frostbite.
Neuschwanstein by night...
I thought I said it was cold!!
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