I had a hard time waking up this morning. I think all the "go, go, go" caught up with me. I finally crawled out of bed around 7:15 and we headed to a buffet breakfast at 8:00 a.m. Breakfast was not so great at all but Brenda wanted me to eat something so I made a turkey and cheese croissant...
We loaded on the bus at 9:00 a.m. Our guide, Mike, was not happy because they did not bring our luggage down to load up until 9 and he wanted to be on the road by then! Believe it or not, Mt. Pilatus was clear when we headed out - it would have been a perfect day to go to the top...
We headed toward Zurich and then on to the Rhine Falls. We had about an hour at the falls. One side of the falls is Switzerland and the other side is Germany. The falls were very pretty but the sun was at a bad spot for getting really good pictures.
After leaving the Rhine Falls, we drove a little more through Switzerland.
We then drove into Bavaria, Germany. As we drove along, some mountains with snow started coming into view. We drove by Lake Constance, the 2nd largest lake in Europe. It is surrounded by Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
We caught a glimpse of the castle we will tour on Friday.
We stopped for a short visit of a church out in the middle of nowhere. The Wieskirche, whose official name is Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour, is the most beautiful rococo church in Bavaria and probably in the world. In 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of the scourged Savior. This miracle resulted in a pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture. In 1740, a small chapel was built to house the statue but it was soon realized that the building would be too small for the number of pilgrims it attracted, and so Steingaden Abbey decided to commission a separate shrine. Many who have prayed in front of the statue of Jesus on the altar, have claimed that people have been miraculously cured of their diseases, which has made this church even more of a pilgrimage site. The church was completed in 1754 based on designs by the brothers Dominikus and Johann baptist Zimmermann and is a masterpiece of 18th century rococo art. Rococo is a late baroque building style dating between 1730 and 1770.
After leaving the church, we headed to our hotel in Bad Kohlgrub. We weren't expecting much - Mike said he just didn't know if such a small town would have a very nice hotel, probably have to carry our own luggage, probably no elevator, etc. To our amazement, it was a wonderful hotel with lots of charm. It was small but was probably the best hotel we stayed at. All the rooms were great - they all had balconeys. We had a great view from our balconey! We are staying here 2 nights so we are thrilled! 
After checking in and looking at our room, Brenda and I decided to take a walk in town. We walked around a bit. It is a small town so there wasn't much and a lot was already closed for the day. We headed back to the hotel. We sat outside in the courtyard and visited with others in our group until dinnertime. Dinner was at 7:00 p.m. and the dining room was fabulous! We had a 3 course meal like at the other hotels but we each got to choose what we wanted instead of all being served the same thing.
After dinner, Brenda and I decided to walk around a bit. We headed in a different direction this time... more into just houses. It was a short walk because I was just so tired!! We retired to our room around 9:15 p.m. - we were both worn out and oh so full from the fabulous dinner.
Here is a cute little guy that lived in the middle of town. He really started "talking" to us when we walked close. He is so adorable!
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