AA Day 10

We woke to mist filling the valley below, which burned away by breakfast time.  There was a good breakfast of rolls, bread, various hams, and cheese.  The guide book promised “all downhill on quiet country roads”.  The exit from the guest house, and the next few hundred metres were all uphill….  We reached the crest and the forest track did indeed go downhill before joining a tarred road, passing through several groups of houses.  This being Saturday, there did seem to be quite a lot of cars heading into the valley, presumably for shopping.  We got back onto another forest track and then reached the Drachenschlucht suspension bridge.  This was definitely not somewhere to drop your phone.  We then passed through an adventure playground for children, with a lot of families, and started on the road down to Gmund.  There were quite a few cars coming up to the park, but after a couple of kilometres we got onto another track.  From there there was another short section of road to get us over the motorway, and then a path into Gmund.  After the other “tourist” towns that we’ve been through, it was a surprise to see this one packed with tourists.  There was an alphorn band performing, as well as a wedding taking place, complete with its own brass band.  We enjoyed a really good ice cream each (see photo), checked in to the hotel, then went for a wander around town and visited the Porsche museum.  It was fascinating to hear that the first vehicles they developed were either electric or petrol/electric hybrid.  In the 70s, they produced a vehicle entirely from recycled parts, but decided that it was not a good commercial idea.  We went back to the main street and wandered round the shops; the centre seemed to be quietening down a bit from earlier.  Our hopes of getting to a launderette were dashed as it turned out to be dry-cleaning only.