Tegelberg Triumph - Upward & Forward

We were not going to leave Fussen without getting a front view of the castle, period. After several unfavourable responses at the info centres, one guy suggested that we take the Schutzengelweg track on Tegelberg towards Rohrkopfhutte and after 1/2 hour or so "you will not miss it". He was right and we were very glad indeed.  

Pumped and in the mood for a good hike, we descended and decided to take another route - Gelbe Wand Klettersteig. 2 3/4 hours to the summit didn't sound bad at all and for a moment, somewhat ambitious. The track also appeared as a dotted line in our german map - sounded exciting!

So we pushed forward. After about an hour and half of walking and stepping, we were out of the woods and it was time for a juncture. Although no ordinary one. 

Having walked a fair-way up, trekking down would be too rough and certainly bad for the knees. But seeing what lay ahead of us, that should have been an easy decision! Determined to find out whether this really was the only way and whether what we saw was the only toughest bit - maybe upwards was indeed the way to go. 

With that curiosity, we crossed our first ever fixed rope section and after that, there was no looking back (or down). For 4 full hours. 

Not for the faint-hearted! Hence we opted to walk-under instead  ;)

What about signage on the way up?!

Fruits of our labour

Certainly calls for a beer

Easier, less fun way down

Schwangau Romance

Assimilating the fairy-tale grandeur of Schloss Neuschwanstein meant taking a shot of every facade of this castle and hoping not to find a distressed damsel incarcerated in a tower. Wagner-loving King Ludwig II had certainly epitomised Romanesque splendour in this magnificent structure. Disney could not resist!

The best views were from Marienne bridge but we were determined to get a shot of the front facade that was selling on all the postcards - but learnt from the Fussen info centre that it can only be taken from mid-air! That sounded ridiculous so we visited the less-visited Schwangau info centre and found that while it was true, there was also a trek on Mt. Tegelberg that would give us close to what we wanted to capture. Below is what we saw - splendid indeed!

We ended the day in a pleasantly old-fashioned bavarian restaurant but saving the shots for our food post!

      

 

Hunt for Street Art in Berlin

Art imitates life on the streets of Berlin. 

We set out to capture any interesting graffiti that we could find in the city that has become the international epicentre for street art. The suburbs of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain were where we focussed our hunt, mainly on the streets of:

• Oranienstraße
• Krosseren Straße
• Adalbertstraße
• Reichenbergerstraße
• Rosenthaler Straße

Ended up at the East Side Gallery on Mühlenstraße. What a crowning finale!