Today started much better than it ended.  We got up early enough to be packed, checked out, and ready to ascend the Alpspitz cable car by 8.30am.  It made a pleasant change to be ahead of the crowds – most of the people with us were climbers or hikers, rather than sightseers.

The cable car was quite exciting, as it got up quite a sway over several pylons. It took us to 2033 metres, enough to feel the altitude. The main feature here was the new viewing platform, hanging over the edge and providing quite a sensation if you looked down through the mesh floor to the rocks a long way below.  After taking in the views, we wandered along the Ferrata, a walking trail that requires you to clip into a cable in order to scramble past some particularly rocky bits.  We only went as far as the first clip-in point, but it was enough to remind us of our alpine hiking in our (much) younger days. We even heard cow bells tinkling upwards. It was all wonderful.

We took a different cable car down to a lower station, from where we had a half hour walk across to a smaller gondola.  After negotiating the rough trail, I lost my footing on some loose stones on a perfectly good, almost flat path. Over I went, my camera slamming into the ground, and my left foot twisting. I knew instantly it wasn’t going to be good news.

Long story short, I managed to walk to the final cable car station; it was painful on the downhills and not so bad on the flat.  Once in the car, we faced a 2 hour drive to Deggendorf. I applied a cold pack.  Deggendorf was a detour in order to buy northern hemisphere compasses; we expected to go to a sports shop, but Google led us up and down some very narrow residential streets.  We saw the owner’s van parked, but the address was a private house.  So no compasses, and we start orienteering tomorrow.  Worse, it was quite a detour that wasted time. Not Happy Jan.

Disgruntled, we set the satnav for Regensburg, where we found ourselves in a huge two storey supermarket.  It was overwhelming; too many choices, and I was in no mood for it.

Eventually we headed towards our final destination for the day – Schloss Ramspau.  Yes, we are staying in a real castle!  Well to be accurate we are staying in a converted barn.  The castle is owned by a real Count and Countess, although he seems happiest when on his tractor. We were given a very thorough run-down on everything, and settled in before Ted and Margi arrived.

It’s incredibly hot – 34 degrees – despite having all the windows open. The views are lovely – the castle, the river and the hills.  The church bells chime regularly (hopefully not at 5am!)

The ankle looks like an egg, but is iced and strapped, so we will see how it goes tomorrow; but orienteering for me is unfortunately looking unlikely.

Enjoy our last German mountain photos: