A restful day at Starnberger See

Although our itinerary listed Oberammergau as today's destination, we really didn't feel like another early start, long train trip and late return. Instead we decided to visit Starngberger See, just an hour by train south-east of Augsburg.

We arrived at the town of Starnberg just in time to join the 11am cruise on the lake. It was a pleasant jaunt for an hour, calling in at two small towns before alighting at Berg.

Berg's claim to fame is that it was there that mad King Ludwig II drowned (either by suicide or murder). It was Ludwig II who built the romantic Neuschwanstein Castle and several other exotic palaces, including Herrenchiemsee which we are intending to visit tomorrow. There is a memorial chapel for Ludwig at Berg but, yes you guessed it, it was wrapped in scaffolding and temporarily closed. There is also a cross in the water just off-shore so we photographed that instead!

The woods on the way to the chapel

The chapel - somewhere in there!

We enjoyed lunch in Berg, but the menu was in German so some of our choices turned out to be a bit unexpected. For example, I ordered a glass of Moscato which turned out to be a liquer!

Back in Augsburg we decided to check out the extensive gardens and park close to where we are staying. There is a large outdoor theatre (a bit like the Myer Music Bowl) where the Blues Brothers are performing for the next couple of nights. We found a lovely garden with big shady trees, climbing roses and beds of herbs where we sat in the shade and read for a while - a lovely way to end our relaxed day.