"Füssen" Means Feet in German

Liz again, back guest blogging!  We had such a wonderful time in Füssen, I couldn't cover it all in just one post.  The adventures continue.

Our one full day in Füssen was dedicated to a nice, long hike through the surrounding woods and mountains.  Füssen lies along a river called the Lech, which has an interesting milky blue color.  I don't know where the color comes from, but if I ever find out, I'll leave a comment to this post with the explanation.

Our first sight of the day was Lechfalls, where a bust of King Maximilian is carved into the rock wall bordering the river.  This is definitely how I want to be memorialized someday, except it would be better if my statute showed me driving a team of four lions (like on the Siegestor in Munich).

From Lechfalls we walked through some beautiful woods and along a few small lakes (Obersee and Mittelsee), before reaching a lovely lake right below the mountains called Alatsee.

After lunch along the Alatsee shore, I contemplated a swim, but the water was so cold that I didn't quite commit.

 We made our way partly around the lake, and then left it behind to climb a steep trail to a place called Salober Alm.  According to a brief Internet search, "alm" means a mountain/Alpine pasture.  I found it interesting to discover that Germany apparently isn't keen on switchbacks...for much of the way, the trail went pretty much straight up.

This part of the hike wasn't very long, and close to the top we found ourselves at a beautiful outlook with views back towards Füssen and Neuschwanstein.

And, best of all...there was beer!  All the way up there, by its lonesome self, stood the Salober Alm Berghutte ("mountain hut").  We had no idea it would be there, and were pleasantly surprised.  Naturally, we rehydrated ourselves, while enjoying the lovely mountain view, complete with even more cowbell.

Salober Alm was actually in Austria, just across the border.  For security, they had a sign:  "Attention, border!"

And there was a teeter totter!  I had to promise to behave myself, but Kate eventually agreed to play on it with me.

Back down at Alatsee, we found a beautiful spot for swimming and wading.

After that we made our way back to Füssen fairly quickly, as we were pursued by a bloodthirsty swarm of mosquitoes.  More beautiful forest.

And that was our hike!  Definitely a highlight of the trip for me, and I would love to go back some day to explore the area trails further.

Tired in Dublin

After getting about 1.5 hours of sleep on the plane, yesterday was a very long day. I attempted to write this post last night but gave up.

We arrived at the Dublin airport at about 5am yesterday.  Immigration was fast and customs was basically non-existent.   We caught a bus to our hostel and enjoyed the view from the second story of our ride:

Given that we were up and about long before just about all the shops opened, we did quite a bit of walking around the city.  Then, hours later, Trinity College's Old Library and Book of Kells display finally opened.  You can't take photos of the Book, but we did get a few good ones of the Old Library:

It also had a cool spiral staircase, which Paul appreciated:

We also attempted the National Museum of Archaelogy.  However, since we had a tendency to fall asleep every time we sat down, we really didn't enjoy that one as much.  It's free, though, so we may go back.

Finally, last night we found ourselves a good Irish bar, had some fish and chips and beef stew, and enjoyed a couple of beers: