Germany Day 19 - Is that an Eibsee I See?

Apparently, when we made our vacation plans, we were really clever and made sure to slow down a bit right at the end of our German adventures.

All we had planned for today was a hike around Eibsee, a beautiful and very clear lake that is surrounded by mountains. The hike is 7km long, and is a bit up and down hills in places, and it was a lovely hiking path.

The bad part was that we went on a Sunday, during a freak hot weather pattern. ALL the locals came out to cool off in the water of Eibsee. Paul and I talked about how it reminded us of going to Holland's state park on Lake Michigan on the weekend growing up. You know, lines and lines of cars waiting for parking, people all over the place with beach gear, etc. You can't have motors on this lake, so instead of jet skis and motorboats, it was a lake full of those people who stand on surfboards and a few paddleboats.

The nice thing though was that most of the crowds were here for swimming. So the hike was mainly quiet and calm. It was a nice change of pace from our hike yesterday at Hell Valley! Paul and I strolled the hiking paths at a nice meandering pace, while holding hands, and soaking in the beauty of the forests, lake, and mountains. It was cool, one side of the lake had rolling green mountains that reminded me of the Appalacians and the other side was huge craggy Alps. 

At about the halfway point, we stopped for a picnic lunch and swimming. It was weird to realize that we had ALL day to chill at the lake, with no other plans, and it took us a bit to really relax. We went swimming in the clearest water ever, and it was the perfect temp!

After swimming, I read a book while Paul napped. Then we walked a bit longer, found another lovely spot, and sat and read our books for some time again. At no point did we feel the need to check the time.

We finished the hike at a slow, relaxed pace, while soaking in the incredible beauty. You should visit Eibsee! It's incredibly beautiful.

We finished off the day with a 2 hour drive to our last airbnb on our vacation. This one was in Austria, and I was a bit nervous about crossing those steep Alps to get there! However, there was a tunnel under most of the steep part and the drive was very safe. We've got a great view from our airbnb balcony, and we ate dinner on the balcony watching the sun set behind the mountain majesty.