Started the day by unwedging the car from a lovely car that had parked right in front of us, leaving about 10cm spare. Thought it was going to be about a 20-point turn, but with the aid of trusty rear-sensors at the back & Mum-sensors at the front, we got out fairly easily & were on our way back to Lake Konigsee.

Parked our car away from the tourist car park & sneakily got free parking all day! Feels like we're locals now!

Joined the long line of Asian tourists & bought our tickets on the boat for a cruise all the way down the stunning lake to Salet & the even more beautiful Lake Obsersee at the end . The water in the lake is incredibly clear, bitterly cold & is also amongst the cleanest in all of Germany since they've been taking good care of it since the early 1900's. In fact, all the boats on the lake have been electric since 1919!

We can see why it's called "The King's Lake" as the scenery here is so beautiful. Unfortunately it was pretty misty throughout the trip but in some ways, this is a good thing as it adds an air of mystery to the whole thing as you can't see the tops of any of the mountains. Since it's been drizzling as well, all the plants are glistening with rain drops and then there's the moss on the rocks & trees ...

Anyhow, we walked down the muddy path, past Mum's first cows with bells (much to her delight) to Lake Obsersee, which was so smooth you'd think it was glass. Amazing reflections here and yes, it might have inspired the odd photo or 20.

The backs of Mum's jeans were covered in mud by now (seriously, how can one person get so much mud on the back of their pants!) but it was worth it .  

This trip has been partly sight-seeing and part camera workshop as today I introduced Mum to the Time Value priority setting (to take some water-veiling shots) plus super macro to take photos of subjects that are so close, they're almost touching the lens! 

Stopped briefly at St Bartholomew church on the way back. It's pretty average on the inside but the reason it's so popular is for its outside beauty when you get the reflections of this in the water with the alps behind! *sigh*

Had a quick lunch at the markets, noticed that Eagles Nest now has a clear and unencumbered view of the entire valley now as it's all clear blue skies everywhere (grrrrr!), then at about 3pm, we started driving on the Deutsche Alpenstrasse: one of Germany's most beautiful roads and its first-ever tourist road (opened in 1927). So is it really that beautiful? YES!

"Picturesque" doesn't begin to describe the amazing views down grassy, green valleys between snow-capped mountains that are full of meadows with tiny Buttercup flowers, sitting in front of Heidi Houses (we've even seen "Heidi Haus" written on quite a few of the cuckoo clocks for sale) . The villages are full of muralled buildings, quaint steepled churches, onion churches (that's what we've called the churches with the bulby things on top), May-poles and more of those cute gingerbread houses & shops.

Whilst the road has some stunningly beautiful scenery, it's also incredibly hard to keep on it because there are heaps of signposts missing, the ones that are there are small & hard to spot sometimes, the names on the map I downloaded didn't correspond to anything in my GPS plus it's not a single road.

The online travel guides even tell you that you'll probably make some wrong turns! Here's an idea for you Germany: IMPROVE YOUR SIGNAGE! Germany efficiency doesn't extend to road signs!

Unsurprisingly, we missed a turn-off somewhere & because it was getting late, we decided to give up on the Alpine Road and head straight for our accommodation, a route which somehow got us back onto the Alpine Road again for a while .
 
Stopped for dinner in Oberammagau at a restaurant that had been there since at least 1612. This place is a tourist mecca as a result of its "Passion Play" claim to fame ... and it knows it! The whole centre of town is one giant mural gallery with nearly every second building covered in pictures and art. Oh yes, it's a cute town ... and it knows it!

There are so many Christian & Christmas things here it's ridiculous! 

After dinner, we wandered around the town for a bit, marvelling at its cuteness then hit the road again for our final drive through to Nassereith where we're staying. Arrived about 10pm & jumped into bed as soon as possible!