Bavaria, Germany

Germany was lovely, but arriving was a nightmare. The bus from Amsterdam ended up taking 15 hours as we were stopped and boarded by what looked like combat-geared German military...twice—firstly at the border itself in the dead of night, and then a few hours later, despite being well into the German countryside. Amongst a few others I had my bags trawled through extensively, everything including deodorant opened and inspected, with sniffer dogs rummaging through everyone's belongings while we were questioned. It was the worst wake-up ever, courtesy of the angry armed German woman barking orders in completely comical caricatured fashion, who I am convinced is the German doppelgänger of Saga Noren from the Danish series The Bridge. Anyway... finally after a good couple hours our passports were returned and we were let back on the bus. There were a couple of Serbian travellers who were escorted away—no idea what happened to them, or what shallow roadside grave they ended up in...

Arriving in Munich we went straight for an ein mas of dark ale, and a kings feast of a boars leg at the overly touristy Hofbräuhaus (founded in 1589), spending the afternoon at different beer gardens in the beautiful spring weather, ducking in and out of general stores enjoying the insanely cheap off-sale beer prices as well as a complete lack of public drinking restrictions. We crashed at the hostel bar and drank very enthusiastically after the Russian gave a very honest and negative review of their house ale, which somehow left us drinking for free for the rest of the night, guinea pigs for the attractive bartenders creating all sorts of strange concoctions. Still not sure how that happened, but my recollection is rather fuzzy.

We next set off for a scenic train ride through the countryside toward Füssen in the southwest of Bavaria, arriving at Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for Disney's recognisable Sleeping Beauty Castle. After a short climb to the castle itself, there was a great walk around to a canyon bridge overlooking the fortress with the best view. Füssen stood out on it's own and was just as scenic, with the mineral rich Lech River coloured an intense milky-turquoise from the limestone running off the nearby Alps making for a nice sunset setting.

The stay was short and sweet, but I'll be forever nervous should I cross German borders again to explore the many other great spots.