After a light chocolatey breakfast in Füssen…

we were on the road again, this time to Fürstenfeldbruck, described online as a “German rural district” – but there was method to my rural madness. I was finally, FINALLY, going to meet Simone of “Lady of the Cakes” fame! There’s always something a bit odd about telling people that you’ve got this great friend that you’ve never actually met in person, so I was happy to be able to rectify this bloggy problem. I also had the good sense to snap a couple of cake shots so I’d make a good first impression (four years later).

Simone chose the Romantik Hotel as our meeting point – don’t worry, she didn’t try to jump my bones – and when we arrived, there she was, sitting at a table in a beautiful courtyard. She had brought her brother along, I guess as protection in case Manfredas and I turned out to be psychos.

Disappointingly, neither of them was dressed in traditional Bavarian garb, but we managed to have a lovely time anyway. Manfredas summed it up nicely afterwards saying it was like watching two old friends who just hadn’t seen each other in a few months catching up, rather than two people who’d never met before in their lives. And, as you would expect, Simone chose somewhere with delicious food…

Sadly, after a couple of hours, it was time to say goodbye and hit the road again. I think Simone was probably relieved to see the back of me as I was struggling to hold in the yodels at that point. After a brief stop in Dinkelsbühl, which is just as cute and dinky as it sounds:
we drove to our final destination of the trip – Rothenburg ob der Tauber – arriving just before sunset. Rothenburg has long been on my list of places to visit, being a medieval town with flower-covered, half-timbered houses lining the pretty cobbled streets. We dropped off the car and our bags and hit the town walls for a sunset stroll.
At this stage, we were pretty hungry again, so we found a likely-looking spot in the town centre and refuelled on Flammkuchen – and wine. Unfortunately, all of the outdoor seating areas shut down really early because of the residents so we decided to head back to the rooftop terrace of our hotel to watch the stars with a bottle of wine instead.
The next morning turned out to be a glorious day, providing the perfect backdrop to this gorgeous town.
I even managed a dungeon escape…

Against my better judgement, I agreed to climb to the top of the Town Hall, which promised spectacular views over the city and surrounds.

To say the stairs are precarious would be an understatement and all of my leg muscles were screaming by the time we reached the top – which turned out not to be the top at all. No, after a grinning man relieves puffing, red-faced you of €2, you have to haul yourself up the remaining steps, through a trapdoor and out onto a 1-foot wide ledge. The views were well worth it though.
If I had thought getting out there was bad, getting back in again was ten times worse. Manfredas – bless him – had to take my bag as I tried to angle myself to squeeze back into the gap and down the ladder backwards, with handles roughly the size of staples to hang onto. With sweaty hands, this was NOT easy.
Me: How many people have died doing that?
Grinning man: None. 700-year-old fitness studio.
Me: Harumph.
After the most-deserved glass of wine ever, it was time to drive back to Berlin.
To sum up – lakes, castles, mountains, The Sound of Music, amazing food and wine, yodelling, beautiful towns and cities, meeting a blogging buddy, countless border crossings, a “mad” king, flowers, flowers, flowers, trick fountains, great company that doesn’t mind me singing and shouting “ROAD TRIP!” sporadically, ladies’ bottoms and a sex gag machine – if there’s a better way to spend a trip, I can’t think of it.
Simone is the best tour guide! And oh, the cake! Of course there was cake!
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There’s always cake – well almost always 🙂 Of course the food was amazing when I met Simone – I would expect no less!
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As someone that doesn’t LOVE cake, I’m slowly coming around between the two of you!
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Aw, that’s lovely that you finally met up with Simone and that neither of you turned out to be psychos. I’m sure she wasn’t at all pleased to see the back of you!
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Well, we’re still friends so I guess not 🙂 And phew about the non-psycho thing!
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You had me with your first five words! Nothing but a light chocolatey breakfast is going to do now…
Another very pretty place, and that view from the tower is marvellous. How nice to be able to meet a fellow blogger, and I know just what you mean about explaining to people about friends who you have never met! 🙂
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Ha, yeah, it’s a weird one! But at least I’ve met one of them now anyway! Thinking I need some chocolate now after this… 😉
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Now you’ve mentioned the ‘c’ word again, I need to go in search of some! 🙂
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Ha ha, you started it 🙂
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Amazing. Does it snow there? Steep roofs.
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Yes it does! I imagine the Christmas market there is out of this world 🙂
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How wonderful that you and Simone met face-to-face. I do enjoy your bantering on your blog: soulmates for sure 😉 I feel that I’ve developed some close friendships with people I’ve met through blogging. I may never meet them face-to-face, but there is a bond that will likely last. I am glad you are having so much fun 🙂
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Would love to meet you some day too! But in the meantime, we’ll keep up the banter – love that aspect of blogging 🙂
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Oh, definitely! I’d love to hear you yodel 🙂
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I prefer you to Simone already 😉
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Lol 😉
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How nice that you and Simone finally got to meet! That was the icing on the cake of your trip.
Which reminds me … thanks for the gratuitous cake photos. 🙂 Did you have a favorite dessert?
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So hard to choose a favourite! The cakes here are all so good! I’ve never had a disappointing one! 🙂
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First Neuschwanstein, then Rothenburg odT … Are you sure that you don’t visit the Middle Rhine Valley or at least Heidelberg? Have you seen in Rothenburg the wonderful Christmas Village by Käthe Woglfahrt and making some snips?
I couldn’t argue my Australian acquaintances out of visiting these attractions: Neuschwanstein, Heidelberg and the Middle Rhine are a must. Regensburg and Bamberg are wonderful, but Heidelberg …
For further cultural enjoyments here is a list of World Heritage Sites in Germany:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Germany
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So glad you two finally got together! Next time you should meet in a patisserie and sample everything there. And take pictures.
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Ha ha! I stupidly thought there might be enough cake in this post to satisfy you – silly me 😉
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I mostly have to look and not eat these days, so I’m more or less insatiable.
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Same! Taking pics of them is the closest I get 😉
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It’s great to read about the long overdue meeting of Linda and Simone.
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Long overdue is right – it only took 4 years! Hopefully the next time won’t take that long! You guys have met too, right?
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Yes, we met in London. Simone didn’t bring her brother along, so she clearly didn’t suspect me of being a psycho.
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Guess that privilege was all mine 😉 Her bro was far too jolly and nice to be much protection though 😉
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Glad you decided to take the detour 😉 It was a bit touch and go beforehand with part of me fearing that the meeting might not happen… but where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s two mad bloggers, well, there’s ALWAYS a way 🙂
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Very true! So glad we made it happen! Well, our determination and Manfredas’ planning and willingness to drive a bit out of the way! Say hi to your bro from me! 🙂
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I shall 🙂
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Ha! You repeated half of my itinerary from last summer! Isnt Germany gorgeous? And I’m so jealous you got to meet Simone – even Jenna had too!
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Ha, yeah, I think this is THE trail when in that part of the world! If it’s good enough for the Japanese… 😉
Yeah, I’m so happy it finally happened! Not sure when I would have made it to Toledo and we were so close-by that we just had to make it work somehow! I’ll be meeting Jenna next year too hopefully! 🙂
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Sounds lovely – the trip, the places and the meeting. I have done the “blind dates” thing a few times with people I had met virtually on various photo sites and with which I had exchanged messages for a while. A few have become very good friends since that first meeting but other meetings didn’t pan out as well. It was never creepy but a few times I didn’t truly click with the person in the flesh… It is certainly interesting to do a few times but I don’t make a habit of it. (Suzanne)
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Yeah, I had a couple of odd ones in Latvia 😉 But with Simone, I think it was different. We chat almost every day on FB and have skyped as well. She knows more about me than most of my friends back home at this stage! So it was great to finally meet her in person – and have an amazing meal as well haha! 🙂
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It is always great when it works. We have a very good friend in Paris that we met through a photo site well before we moved to Paris. He is now one of our dearest friends and we are still keeping in touch. It was great to spend 2 years in Paris so we could get to know him even better…We do miss him now that we are back in Canada. Hopefully, your friendship with Simone will continue to evolve.
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Yes, I hope so too – I can’t see it fizzling out any time soon anyway! She’s been a great support to me in starting this life in Berlin and grappling with the German language! Glad you also met a keeper – I guess now he’s got a good excuse to visit Canada!
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