Fussen to Augsburg

Day 40 – Fussen – Landsburgh am Lech, 75kms

Today was a “wildlife” day.  We woke to see our resident swan, who had set up his bed on a towel which had been left at the “beach” next to our camping area.  He didn’t join us for breakfast or join the swimmers, so expect whoever owned the towel would have a battle to retrieve it!

We saw a few more squirrels, a little snake (about 30cms long) and Phill was nearly taken out by a deer!  Those travelling behind were waiting to pick up the pieces, although all was well.

In Schongau the local marketplace was being set up celebrate the remembrance of the bad old days of burning witches at the stake. This happened approx 500 years ago, but hey, anything for a festival or celebration.  A fellow, who we assumed was the local media man bailed us up for a photo and took details of our trip.  We await any further publicity.

Phill was in a local fellow’s good books when he fixed the chain which had broken at the bottom of a rather nasty climb.  The guy wanted to know if he worked in a bike shop! 

Landsberg is a beautiful, relatively modern town – we had a wander around the “old” part of the city.  The town hall was built in 1719 and the parish church in the 15^th century.  We climbed to the top of one of the city gateways which was dated 1425 – this gave us a fantastic view of the town and surrounding area. We also visited a former Jesuit College church, which we all thought was completely over the top with its frescos and a gold painted altar.  No portion of the church was left undecorated.

We then rode about 4kms to the camp near a nature park, where we managed to cook dinner and head to bed just before more thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

Day 41, Landsberg am Lech – Augsburg, 57kms

Despite threatening rain we managed to remain dry today, after heavy rain during the night.

We again proved what a novelty Australian cyclists in Germany are, when, we stopped just outside Augsburg for morning tea in a bakery.  We had our coffee and cake next to an older fellow and his wife who were very interested in Australia.  He knew about Vegemite, so Phill went and got his tube of Vegemite from his pannier.  All of the staff had a taste and turned their noses up.  He then wanted to know about the Australian song “It’s a long way to Tipperary”.  When we said that was in Ireland, and sung by the British his memory was jogged and he came up with “Waltzing Matilda”, so we had an impromptu sing song in the bakery, much to everyone’s delight.  The daughter of the owner had good English, so the discussion then turned to the high quality of German bread!

Augsburg is quite a large city, who’s main street which is being dug up and relaid - we have noticed other towns in the same state, so weren’t wondering whether there is a German “stimulus” package happening!  The majority of the town was destroyed during WWII, a lot of the buildings dated back to the early 1500’s and have been rebuilt since the war.

Mozart’s dad was born here and Rudolph Diesel (of engine fame) was also born here.  We visited the residence of banker Liebert bon Liebenhofen which houses Germany’s most famous baroque gallery.  The banquet hall in the house would take three weeks to dust before the guests arrived.  We visited numerous other attractions in the city, then headed out to the campground.

Steve and Phill have decided they want a red Porsche after seeing one hoon up and down the Autobahn, we spotted one as we were crossing a bridge over the top of the autobahn. Quite fun to stand on the overpass and watch the cars speed along.