Schwangau

Schwangau | September 4, 2020

COVID is impacting the world. Some countries are on lock down. It is difficult to plan trips. We wanted to go to Italy, but it would cost $2000 just for plane fare and hotel. We decided to do a cheaper trip and stay in Germany. Germany is not a red zone yet, so we decided to stay here and do our staycation.

Michelle found a hotel near the German/Austria border in an area known as Schwangau. Without doing much research, I think it means swan or something like that. I seen so many pictures of swans while we were there.

We stayed at the Guesthouse Elisabeth. It was a bit pricey about € 180 per night or about $200. The Bed & Breakfast is run by this nice old German couple. They couldn't speak much English, so we tried to communicate using what little German and what little English they knew. They were so nice and thanked us again and again each day we were there.

The drive to Bavaria from Otterberg took 6 hours. We took two 30 minute breaks along the way, one break was at McDondald's and the other break was at a gas station near a McDonald's. I hate eating McDonald's, it gets me so sluggish. Although the German McDonald's probably have better ingredients than an American McDonald's, but the burgers don't taste the same. However, the German McDonald's french fries are good.

We hit a lot of traffic getting to Bavaria, Michelle and I split the driving duties, doing one 3 hour shift.

This place was a paradise for outdoorsy people. The Germans were out in full force biking, hiking, walking, etc. They were really having a good time. Our view from the hotel was money. We had a great vantage point of the Bavarian Alps with Newschweinstein and Hohenschwangau in the distance.

We unpacked and I really wanted to do something. We drove to the city-center of Schwangau. Like many German city-centers it was super cute. We bought food at the Netto. I was a little disappointed at their beer selection. It didn't have much variety and what they had wasn't much different than any other Netto. After the Netto we ate dinner at a top rated Trip Advisor German restaurant #8 called Zum Hechten. It was about 5p and they were expected a big turn out at 6:30pm. They asked us if we would be out by then, we said yes, no problem.

This is what I've been waiting for ~ Bavarian Food. When you think of Germany, you think sauerbraten, dumplings, sauerkraut, red cabbage, cheese spatzle. But so far, many places in Germany don't really have all of these foods on one menu, until now. The menu had all the 'good stuff'.

I ordered the famous pork knuckle. We ordered the sauerbraten for Jared. Malia ordered a rumpsteak and Michelle ordered the cheese spatzle. We were in for a treat. The meal did not disappoint. Adding to the ambiance was the cute low ceilings and German decor. Our waitress was very nice and spoke great English. It was a perfect German meal. We expected this and got it.

After we ate, our stomach was bursting at the seams so we decided to walk around the area. Malia wanted dessert, we ate gelato at an ice cream shop. Gelato in Europe is different from ice cream in America. Gelato in Europe is like you are eating cream as opposed to ice cream where the ice cream is more dense in texture.

We drove back to the hotel to get some much needed rest. I opened a beer, but was so tired that I fell asleep.