Thrills and Chills
While the vast majority of our time here in Hohenschwangau was spent outdoors in nature, we did make sure to experience a few new things with the girls.
Less than half an hour’s walk from our apartment was Tegelberg, which was an amazing little spot full of tons of activities! And thanks to the generosity of my parent’s Christmas gift, we were able to treat the girls to several activities here over two days.
On the first day, we took the Tegelbergbahn (a cable car) up to the top of Tegelberg. The first time the girls have experienced a cable car. It was a gorgeous view the entire time we were in the car, looking out over fields to various lakes, looking over to see Neuschwanstein Castle from another angle, and looking down at the summer toboggan run course.
When we got to the top, the girls were ecstatic to see snow! We had expected our time in Germany to be cold and snowy in December but were clearly quite ignorant of actual December weather conditions. I don’t think it dropped below 10oC our entire time, even getting up to 19oC on Christmas Eve. Though typically it was around 15oC for most of our days.
It took less than a minute before they ran off to sled down a short little hill. We had no sleds, so they just slid down on their bums and were soaking wet by the time all was said and done! Not that they cared one bit about it. They were quite clever and made a makeshift sled out of their jackets, but their jackets weren’t fully waterproof. There were various lookout areas, including one you needed to access via some very snowy and slippery stairs. We all went up the first time and it was quite the adventure to come back down. You basically had to snowboard down the stairs, minus the snowboard. The girls enjoyed going up and down, but once was enough for me. At least there was a handrail to help them from falling too drastically, but I still did not feel the need to tempt fate more than once!
We saw the various hiking trails and the people with the proper hiking gear (spikes, poles, etc) and pointed it out to the girls. As well as just seeing how hard it was to walk around on level ground up at the top of the mountain, let alone the stairs with the handrail. So, when we explained to them that when we were going to go do the hike up the mountain on NYE, we wouldn’t be able to make it up to the top of the mountain without proper gear, they understood exactly what we were saying and why. Because until they see for themselves how challenging something can be, they’re convinced they can do everything! This is generally a good thing, but we also wanted them to go into our big hike understanding the limitations in advance to avoid too much disappointment the day of.
There was an amazing outdoor patio and restaurant up here. We got a snack and drinks, including the girls’ favourite – kinderpunsch! It was so nice and sunny. Even though it was snowy up here, it felt incredibly warm. Warm enough that we didn’t need our jackets, and the girls even went down to t-shirts! We spent a long time sitting up here, relaxing, chatting, and enjoying the spectacular views and our chats.
The second day we went to Tegelberg, we stayed down at the bottom. We went to explore the old Roman bath remains. It was interesting to ask the girls what they remembered about Roman baths from our time at the museum in York. We should have known their memories are excellent and they remembered quite well how they worked!
We did a summer toboggan run. Jon and I did it once each and the girls did it three times each. It reminded us of a bobsled. You get on your own personal little sled that has a brake lever – release to go fast, pull back to stop. You stay on the track as you get hauled up to the top and then fly down, going around twists and turns the whole way. It was a total blast! While most people we saw were fairly cautious their first time down, both girls flew down the hill and loved the thrill of it. Emmeline had the sense to have more caution and slow down a bit around corners. Katia just flew down, delighting in the fact that she started to lift off the track as she went around a corner at top speed. That child is going to give me a heart attack one day! The look of utter joy on both their faces as they did the toboggan run was amazing to see. These two know how to embrace life to the fullest!
There was a huge playground, complete with rock climbing walls, ziplines, and so much more. The girls love playgrounds of all types, and this was a particularly good one. It didn’t hurt that the views around here were also stunning. And we all loved watching the paragliders circling in the air above and landing in the field next to the playground. And watching the hot air balloons off in the distance. The girls, Katia in particular, really want to try paragliding. Fortunately, they’re too little for that right now. Well, unfortunately, if you ask Katia! LOL Jon and I both tried it in Switzerland when we were backpacking in 2009 and loved it, so they have also heard a lot of stories about that from us in the past, which makes them want to try it even more. I have no doubt they will experience this at some point in the future!
In addition to Tegelberg, we spent some time at the local brewery. They have an outdoor climbing structure that the girls spent a ridiculous amount of time on while Jon and I sat in the restaurant chatting and having a little bit of time together. They also had a mini-golf course and bowling. We decided to do the bowling rather than mini-golf, which was a lot of fun. I was doing terribly until I learned the trick was to rub Emmeline’s stuffy, Fluffy, for good luck before each turn. Once I learned that, my bowling improved significantly! Jon still was the very clear winner, kicking all our butts quite soundly!
While we were at the brewery, it was really nice to try their homemade beers and schnapps, plus tons of other yummy local delicacies. They had a beer and German mountain cheese soup that was to die for, especially with their homemade pretzels. Yum! The girls’ favourite was the German pancakes, which really were quite delicious, even without maple syrup! We also went to a few other local spots to try some amazing local foods – mostly sausages and cheeses. We pretty much loved everything. And at the one local cheese shop, we LOVED seeing the outdoor vending machine that sold fresh milk, cheeses, and meats! Now that’s my kind of vending machine when I need a snack!
This area has so much to it! I was tempted to go relax after some of the thrills and big hikes at one of the local thermal spas but thought that might be a little too indulgent this time around. Just means that one day in the future, we will need to go back to this area again. How awful!