5 Jun 11 – Day 3 (Black Forest & Schaffhausen)

We went for breakfast about 7am and took about one hour to finish. Brought our luggage down about 8:30am to load into the coach, took some photos before setting off at 9am on a four hours journey to the Black Forest. Along the way, I saw quite a number of people either cycling or walking with hiking sticks along the countryside. Also saw bikers on the road and interestingly, they all wore full biker gears. Had a toilet break around 11:40am and paid 0.50 Euro to use the toilet.

Reached Titisee at 1:10pm and headed straight for lunch at 1:30pm where we paid 5 Euro to upgrade our lunch to pork knuckles and black forest cake, specialties of Germany. The pork knuckle was big but fortunately was tender enough to cut and eat. The black forest cake was different from our local ones, this one had more cream but fortunately again the cream was quite light coz they used fresh cream. Some of the waitresses in the restaurant wore traditional Bavarian costumes. After eating, we were given a small cup of ice wine to try and we could place order if we like it but I found it too expensive so didn’t buy any.

My lunch :

Went to the shop next door (belongs to the restaurant owner) called Drubba Shopping to look around while waiting for the cuckoo clock making demonstration which was held at the basement of the shop at 2:45pm. Mag commented that my face was very red and I explained to her that it happens every time I drink and that is why I never like to drink. The demonstration ended about 3pm and we were given only half an hour to walk the street. Bought some souvenirs, took some photos of the flower clock and the Titisee Lake and reached the coach at 3:30pm. Two middle-age couples were late for 15 minutes which caused us having the time for the next stop cut back by 15 minutes.

The cuckoo clock workshop

A cuckoo clock maker at work

Cuckoo Clock Making Demostration (P1) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CSbVYpL6yM

Cuckoo Clock Making Demostration (P2) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu99f3hMFMA

 Some photos of Titisee Lake and its town :

Titisee Lake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v98aiQqB3ug

Got to the Switzerland border at 4:30pm, reached Neuhausen am Rheinfall to see the Schaffhausen Rhine Falls (Europe’s largest waterfall) after 5pm and was told to report back by 6pm. So walked briskly to check out some shops and found out that almost all shops sell Swiss Army knives of various functions and prices were quite standard. Found the Swiss Railway watches too but almost all comes in leather straps only and things looked expensive so didn’t get anything. Saw the Wörth Castle (Schloss Wörth) but didn’t go in.

We walked quite far, almost a full circle to take photos and looked around. Saw some tourists taking boat rides to view the Rhine Falls from the downstream of the fall, some were even seen walking down the steps on the Rheinfallfelsen, a large rock.  Returned to the coach and headed to the airport hotel in Zurich for the night. Cecilia said it was difficult to get hotel rooms during the summer period and so we had to stay in Zurich instead.

Some photos of the Rhine Falls and its surroundings :

Rhine Fall with Laufen castle on the right

Wörth castle from afar

Got to the hotel, checked in and then went out to walk around the area as well as to look for food. As it was Sunday, shops were closed. Found a pizza take-away place and placed our orders for a Hawaiian pizza (32cm) and an eight-piece chicken nuggets. Bumped into our coach driver and he told us about another dine-in place for pizza. Walked the direction he had given and saw a convenient store next to the railway station and so we stopped there to get some snacks. Didn’t continue to the dine-in pizza place and we headed back to collect our food.

The food should have cost us CHF34.50 but we were charged only CHF32.50 and they even threw in a bottle of red wine. Carried our food back and passed by Cecilia and the driver, they were surprised with the free wine. Got back to the room, I went to take my shower, followed by Kim and Mag was having gastric attack. Finally settled down to eat and then headed for bed closed to 11pm.

Our dinner :

Thoughts: It looked kind of fun to cycle or trek around the countryside. The bikes in Germany were big and some had two wheels in front and one wheel at the back. The bikers looked so cool in their full biker gears.

3 & 4 Jun 11 – Day 1 & 2 (Munich & Fussen)

Left the house at 9pm and waited at the pickup point for Kim. Reached Changi Airport Terminal 1 about 9:30pm and Mag was already there with a small cabin bag and a Fila sport bag. Found the tour guide Cecilia and went to Row 2 to check-in our luggage. Kim’s luggage weighed about 15kg while Mag and mine weighed about 10.5kg each. After that, we went to Ruyi for some food. Kim and I had hot and sour seafood noodle soup while Mag had red bean soup with rice balls. After we were done, we walked around more and Mag bought some mini sausages to eat. She also bought a magazine and a small bottle of Tiger balm.

Checked-in about 11:50pm and waited at the designated gate. Boarded the plane at 12:55am and it took off around 1:10am. We were given light meals which consisted of pan-fried parrot fish with red pepper, mashed potato, blueberry cheesecake, dinner bun and orange juice around 2:50am. The plane landed at Colombo around 4:40am before taking off again to Dubai around 6am. Watched a little of the movie “Unknown” but was snoozing most of the time coz was simply too tired.

Landed in Dubai about 6am and by the time we gathered it was already 6:30am. Followed the tour guide to do security clearance and then it was F&E time till boarding at 8am. Walked a few rounds in airport, browsed some shops, looked at prices of gold before going to the toilet and boarded the plane at the stated time. The plane delayed close to an hour before finally taking off at 9:30am. It was terrible waiting for the plane to take off while inside the plane in Dubai coz of the glare and also the heat sipping into the plane (I was allocated the window seat).

Shortly after the plane took off, we were served breakfast which consisted of cold cut, croissant, bun, fruits, coffee etc. Slept for a while and then watched “The Resident”, rest a while and continued with “Season of the Witch”. Suddenly my left arm brushed against something rough and I was shocked to find a foot on my arm rest. Fortunately after a few minutes, the uncle put his foot down. About an hour later or so, lunch was served. Gosh, I was eating non-stop since boarded the plane.

A couple of pictures of the meals I ate during the journey

Finally the plane touched down in Munich around 1:10pm but we only gathered about 2pm coz our luggage came out late. We moved off from the airport at 2:30pm to go to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen. It took us about two over hours to reach the village of Hohenschwangau and which is dominated by car parks, restaurants, guesthouses, hotels and souvenir shops. By then it was 4:30pm so took some photos of the Hohenschwangau Castle (Schloss Hohenschwangau) and the Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein) from a distance. We walked around the village while waiting for Cecilia to get the tickets for the bus to go up to Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle was up on the mountain and while looking up, saw some people doing paragliding.

The village of Hohenschwangau

Neuschwanstein Castle from afar

Queued up for the shuttle bus and there were three members missing. Cecilia panicked and went to search for them and only to find them coming out from the toilet coz there was a very long queue. The three of them ended up behind the queue with some other people between us and them. The tour guide dare not moved the three forward to join the rest of us coz she was afraid that those in between would start scolding her.

It started drizzling while waiting for the bus and it got heavier. By the time the bus came for us to board, it was pouring. A lot of us had to squeeze into the bus coz it was the last bus for the day. The road was winding and when we got to the top, we alighted and headed for shelter to wait. None of us brought umbrella coz Cecilia told us there was no need to since it was sunny at the time we alighted from our coach. Waited for the rain to get smaller and Cecilia went to get us some ponchos. All members except Kim, Mag and me put on ponchos. The three of us walked briskly towards the castle and along the way took some photos.

Reached the castle and waited again for 6:35pm for the guided tour so in the meantime, we took more photos. Went to the ladies and when I came out I saw Kim bought a postcard with stamps on it but I didn’t have the time to get for myself. Soon the guided tour started and we were not allowed to take photos inside the castle. Couldn’t really hear what the guide was saying coz there were a lot of talking and the guide wasn’t loud enough. The tour ended about 7pm and since it was raining and there was no bus, we had to put on our ponchos and walked down. It was really taking a toll on me coz I have phobia of walking down slopes on rainy day. I kept thinking if I would slip on my pair of sneakers while walking down.

Some photos of Neuschwanstein Castle :

Finally reached the base, Cecilia was pissed with a few members coz they walked on down another path on their own when came to the intersection half way down the mountain. Headed to the restaurant at 8pm for dinner where we had vegetable clear soup and sausages. Sat with a family of three consisted of a mother and two daughters in their twenties. Dinner ended at 9pm and we checked into our hotel. The room only had the basic things, no kettle and the shower space was really small such that I had very little room to maneuver.

My dinner :

Thoughts: The bad weather and long flight made me very disappointed with the trip. Would have been good if we were given more time in the castle to explore.