Oberstdorf and more, 1 June 2022

We decided to have a boat trip on the Königssee this morning, although we were slightly worried about queues and how long we would have to wait if the boats were only every half an hour, but, in fact, they were every few minutes. They had need to be, too, as even though it is mid-week (on the other hand, with public holidays last Thursday and next Monday, I rather think a lot of people are on holiday this week) the boat we got on was very crowded. 

We stayed on it all the way up the lake, to Salet, which is the start of various hiking trails. Part way up, the boat stopped for a few minutes by the "Echo wall", and the MC got out a trumpet - each phrase he blew was answered by its echo! I had never really believed in that sort of echo, although it features in many books, and was amazed! 

The Swan Whisperer wanted to go up to another lake only 15 minutes walk away, so I sat in the shade and read while he did that, and then we got the next boat back to St Bartolomä, which is a very beautiful church, a couple of restaurants and not much else!

We would have liked to have eaten there, but it was still too early for lunch, so we got on the next boat back to Königssee. This took a long time to leave, and was very full by the time it did, so it was well past 13:00 when we arrived back. We lunched at the local Bierkeller - the SW had currywurst and chips and I had Munchner Weisswurst, which came with a ginormous pretzel that I couldn't finish. 

We bought a scoop of ice cream each in a local gelateria - strawberry for me and some kind of cookies for him - and ate them walking back to the van.

The SW decided we should come back to Salzburg for the night, largely, I think, so we could buy diesel at Austrian, rather than German, prices, and right by the border, the prices were a great deal cheaper than in town. We did stop at a shopping centre in Berchtesgaden, where I visited Lidl, ReWe and DM! And then on to Salzburg and a rather slow journey through the city in the rush hour, to the aire here, which is rather nicer than most city aires, having loos and showers and extremely good services. It is not cheap, but you can stay until 17:00 for an extra €5, rather than having to check out at noon. We haven't quite decided whether to spend two nights here or not.... We shall see.