Hohenschwangau

I haven’t really done the whole exercise thing in a long while but today I decided to be sporty spice and hit the countryside on a bicycle. Ok, so I cheated a little and got an e-bike which made the experience so much more enjoyable, but still a workout. I had it on the lowest setting for most of the ride, only switching it up 2 notches to sport mode for steep hills. Cruising along at about 25km/h it was fun. So fun that I got distracted and ended up in Austria 😂.

I first rode along the river, saw the waterfall and a cute nature / kids playground area along the river. Once backtracked back into Germany I headed to Alpsee. A lake frequented by Ludwig overlooking the castles. They had a swimming area there (although to be fair you can swim from anywhere).

The swim area had change rooms, toilets and a bar as well as a beautiful jetty that went out into the lake. The jetty take was about 1inch underwater making it look really cool and be refreshing to sit in the water and hang your legs over. I went for a refreshing swim. At first the water felt really cold but once in it was so relaxing and refreshing after a morning ride. I swam around for as long as I thought my white skin + sunscreen could handle the sun before resting in the shade on the grass. This is the summer life!

It cost €3.50 to swim here, which you could avoid by swimming anywhere else in the lake, or if you buy a drink entry is free 😂. What pool in Australia would allow you to drink beer and swim! After a chill on the grass (and checking out the scenery) I decided to go ride around another lake.

Just over the hills (which I naturally went around) was Schwansee. This was more a nature reserve and had a track that went right around. At the start of the track was a cute bar and heaps of families laying in the sun or swimming off a smaller jetty. I did the full lap in about 15mins, stopping for photos a few times. One other guy had got off his bike on the far side of the lake and hopped in for a nude swim. I decided that this was his spot and didn’t join him for a ‘Call me by your name’ moment.

Instead I stopped back at the bar and had a refreshing callipo icy pole. I can see why Germans come to the lake for their summer holidays. It’s so bloody beautiful and relaxing. The water is crystal clear that when swimming you don’t know if it’s 10cm or 10m deep.

Riding back into town I decided to try turbo mode on the bike and easily got to 30km/h racing back to town. My legs still feel like they’ve had an alright workout today, and my watch even went into open water swim mode. I didn’t run today, but did lug my suitcase onto a train at speed so I’ve practically done a triathlon today 😂.

I had a lot of fun on the e-bike and would definitely do it again. If they weren’t so expensive I’d even consider getting it for getting around Melbourne.Read more