We packed up and were on the road by 9am.We first drove along the lake to Friedrichshafen and then inland to do a cache at a viewpoint. We had not found a cache in Meersburg because they were written in German and there were 'muggles' (non-geocaching onlookers) everywhere and we didn’t want to leave this side of the lake without one.

We went inland a bit past vineyards and orchards . At GZ (‘ground zero’ for non-cachers) the view was not that great because of the cloud/haze.

Then we drove to Fussen (a change in route) as we had been told about the great castles from others we had talked to. Apparently Walt Disney based his Disney castle on them. Also Margo said the trip would take about the same time so it would be good to go a different way. Once we were clear of many trucks we did make good time. On the way we saw cows with cowbells – a first for me!!

The castles looked lovely from the outside. We discovered they are the last stop on the Romantic Road so there were heaps of tour groups. There were also at least 4 large car-parks. We walked up the hill and joined the long queue for tickets. As we read the details we realised we would either have to take a shuttle or walk for 30 minutes to get into one of the castles. It looked as though we would have to spend at least three hours there. It was heavy cloud that looked like it would rain any minute . So we pulled out of the queue and settled for the photos of the exterior. We bought bratwurst in bread and washed it down with coffee and tea made using the thermos we had filled in Meersburg.

Just as we were leaving Fussen we stopped at an amazing waterfall. Above and inset into the fall wall with a sheer drop into the raging river, was a statue. We couldn’t work out how it could have been put there safely. The flow over the falls was massive but the previous high water marks were carved into the wall and they were huge. There was an earth-cache here so we took careful note and hope we have met the requirements to log it, but wont be able to email for a few days.

It was only a minute or so later when I noticed signs that we had crossed the Austrian border with mention of the Tirol. In Austria you need to pay to use the motorways – a one day pass cost us 7.90 euros. We later found the fine for not having one is 400 euro so we are pleased we stopped to get one .

As we drove through Austria we noticed all the different greens in the vegetation but it was impossible to take photos to show this. We also couldn’t show in photos the height of the viaducts and the length of the tunnels, one of which was more than 3km. There were also a lot of road-works – we were stopped at one place for about 5 minutes but the queue on the other side went back for almost 2km so we were lucky.

It was a very scenic drive with the ski resorts, steep roof houses, ski lifts, waterfalls and a huge rocking horse (just in a random spot). We should have topped at the top of a pass for the view but stopped instead at the bottom for another coffee/tea break

As we carried on the mountains looked odd, as their tops were chopped off by low cloud. But as we were at one stage over 1400m high the cloud was not that low. The road was full of trucks, which was fine until you got to road works with temporary road marking in bright orange . These lanes were just wide enough for a truck and it was a bit stressful if you were going past them with the middle barrier close on the other side and the truck swerved!! We had just commented that at least our road ticket was being used to finance the road works when we realised there was a toll place ahead. Luckily we realised in time to get into the correct queue with cash in hand and we left safely, 8 euro later.

Then we were over the border into Italy and a 20km drop in the speed limit. The road here was not as good but we dropped steadily as we moved away from the Alps.

We then entered a toll road and luckily we knew the system here is different. You collect a ticket when you enter and pay as you leave, with the cost depending on the length you are on the road. We noticed there were no side rest areas as we had become used to. With about 60km to go we exited the toll road and pulled into a ‘car’ lane. They also had a big ‘T’ in some lanes which we discovered later is a Telepass system which the locals mainly use .

The car in front of us stayed stuck by the toll gate for ages, then the driver was given a big piece of paper, the barrier arm lifted, they seemed to argue for a bit and drove away not looking happy. John thought he recognised the car as one that had zoomed past us recently. I had read that the toll people also look at the time you enter the toll road and the distance and you get a ticket if you must have been speeding to cover the distance in the time, and we suspect that is what happened to them. We just had to pay the 9 euro toll. So our main expense for the day was the road tolls but we did drive for about 6 hours.

The last part of the trip was on the narrow mountain roads we remember from the last trip. Having the Tom Tom steadily count down the distance does not make the roads wider but is reassuring. The hairpin bends are amazing. However, we did go through a tunnel we didn’t recognise so we think we had an easier trip than last time (Robert may remember we got lost here in the mountains last trip). Also work did seem to have been done to improve at least some of the roads.

We arrived at Nico’s in Barcarolla just after 6 and his mamma rang him while we had a quiet drink. We are in Room 1 again and the only guests tonight. We had tea with Nico, planned the next day and I drank too much. I didn’t realise that the small jug of wine was 500ml.