Eremitage Bayreuth

On our previous visit to the Bayreuth Festival in 1999 we were in the town for a full week and so when there was no opera we had a whole day to explore and apart from an afternoon spent in Nuremberg we took a trip out of the town to the Felsen Labyrinth in the mountains to the  north-east of the town. A bit of a hike, figuratively and literally: clambering over huge boulders deep in the cool woods. That ate up most of the day but included a memorable lunch by a lake, ringed by mountains.

We didn't have the luxury of time to kill this trip so we chose something close by and it was The Eremitage.

I'll let the photos and video give you the flavor of this beautiful spot.

We drove there and on the way I found out that in Germany when you hear an ambulance following behind you with sirens and lights you don't have to pull over and stop ( I got honked by the car behind for doing that) but rather get over to the inside lane to let him pass but keep your speed as long as it doesn't trap the ambulance in traffic. If you are going to Germany to drive for the first time you should google "driving in Germany"as there is plenty to learn regarding road signage and rules. Basically you need to be (1) alert and focused (2) driving with two hands, neither of them holding a 32 oz coffee or applying makeup, changing diaper, knitting etc. The drivers there are focused and courteous and most of them don't drive like they are trying to escape the police which is the opposite of Chicago. Oh- they also don't drive "beaters" where the passenger has to hold the door on with a piece of rope out the window and the windows actually have glass, not plastic bags keeping the wind out.

I LOVE  driving in Germany!!

The Jaguar rests at the Eremitage parking lot. From here in we use feet.