It was a glorious day and there were many boats on the water already. We had been told that the water was very clear and unpolluted and it was - a lovely tropical green colour. Our tour included a ferry trip to Fraueninsel (the female Island) and Herreninsel (the male Island and home to King Ludwig II's palace).
On the recommendation of the tour company we stopped off at Fraueninsel first (approx 25 minute ferry journey from the mainland). The Island is home to arts and crafts people and I would say approximately 50 houses. The properties were immaculate and the residents are obviously used to keeping up a certain standard.
We stopped for lunch and had some home-brewed beer and then visited St Michael's Chapel and local art gallery - the Chapel boasting some of the oldest frescoes found in Bavaria (dating 860/865 AD).
We then boarded the ferry to Herreninsel and bought our tickets to see the Palace. The building of the palace started in 1878 and was intended as a monument to monarchy as opposed to a practical residence and was designed to 'copy' the Palace of Versailles. Unfortunately, we hadn't left ourselves much time so this visit was a bit rushed. The palace and gardens were very ostentatious and the tour included a visit to 6 or 7 rooms, ending with the bathroom (the bath being nothing less than an indoor swimming pool). Every surface of every room was either covered in painting, gilt, marble or porcelain. King Ludwig II died in suspicious circumstances at the age of 42 in 1886 (the Palace remained unfinished) and I couldn't help but guess the Government of the time got rid of him as he was bankrupting the country with his frivolities and expensive taste in architecture (he only visited the palace during the months of September and October).
After an hour we boarded the ferry back to the mainland and enjoyed a cold malt beer before getting the tour bus back to Rhupolding. Lake Chiemsee was an impressive lake and you could see why it draws a lot of visitors - for me it was a bit too busy and 'touristy'.
We were pretty tired by the time we got back but after dinner we went down to the local bar (the Stachus Bar) for a quiz night with the Thomson's rep. We joined a couple we had met (who were from Glenrothes) and we had a good laugh guessing at most of the answers but we came 2nd (out of 3 teams!).
