By the Weissensee with a Man in a Kilt

Driving back through Germany this year, what did we eat? Ah yes, the first night in the hotel we both chose cod. The hotel restaurant advertised itself as specialising in fish, but it wasn’t a very good restaurant, the hotel was in a lovely setting though, on the shores of the Weissensee. On the second day I walked into Füssen, 7km along a pleasant wide wooded footpath, and found myself lunching thus:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9343816952/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9341043063

Here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9343836188

The King Lüdwig Hell was the best bit, but all interesting nonetheless.

In the evening we walked along the lakeside to the area where people swim in the lake and sit on the grass, and found a festival going on, so we ate there:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9393743976 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9390986309

This was a somewhat bizarre experience that I have written up on http://rand-yerrup.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/formation-walking.html.  As you’ll see, the food was fairly unchallenging (except for anyone who is a veggie), a pork steak done on the grill in a roll. Alternatively we could have had sausage.  There was music and dancing – though not by the audience.

While walking round the lake in the morning we came across a man in a black kilt, complete with sporran and skein dhu, with his wife and daughter and a friend. I detected from his German that he spoke natural English and so asked him about the kilt. It's an everyday kilt, he said, he only wears his tartan one for special occasions. He came from near Edinburgh but lived and worked in north Germany and was married to a German woman. He was taking a short hol at the Weissesee.  He had recently been back to Edinburgh, the first time in nearly forty years, and was deeply shocked. ‘By the wealth?’, I asked. ‘No’, he replied, ‘by the poverty’. I can see where he’s coming from. Edinburgh is a very polarised city, and he was a man who I would guess works in a manual labour job. Such work in Edinburgh will be in short supply, whereas in Germany, depending on where you are, there is plenty to be had, as Germany still has quite a lot of manufacturing industry. There are areas of deprivation in Germany too, though less widespread than here, especially when compared to a place like Edinburgh. He was horrified by his visit, and wonders why the country has allowed itself to get into such a state. I couldn’t really say much to that.

But he was very friendly, encouraging us to take lots of pics and tell everyone what they’re missing by not visiting the Weissensee.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/casamatita/9393860994