The day we visited Augsburg and Roseninsel might be the least impressive leg of my World Heritage Site hunting in Europe in 2019. Augsburg kept me wondering how the monuments ever made it to the list, and Roseninsel further left me inconclusive: Did I see the site properly? I am not sure if I managed to see some remains or not, but I was hoping and I wanted to believe that I somehow managed to sight even just a piece of it from the easternmost side of the island. The ferryman never failed to mention it and the signage around even mark the areas where the remains are supposed to lie (demarcated by the floaters in the vicinity). As far as ticking the site off, the island itself is already part of the core zone, in fact it is the heart of it! However, as far as being contented and having expectations met, it is entirely a different story.

If there was any consolation, however, lake Starnberg is truly marvelous. It is a place I would not mind returning to in the future. We were very lucky that day to have a nice weather, so Zugspitze and the other side of the lake were clearly visible. It was the second to the last day of the boat service to the island (as they close for the winter), and we went there at around 3pm. There were only about 7 of us on the boat, hence a lovely, non-hectic experience on the island. The Casino tour took some 30 minutes and being the only non-German speaker, I was handed out leaflets that I can read through while the tour guide explained things to others. I gather that the guide talked about the pile dwellings too when I heard her say something about "UNESCO". In the end, I wished I spent more time exploring the island and the vistas rather than searching for poking woods from the water --- I probably wasted some 30 minutes doing that in futility. The others were not as curious with the pile dwellings as I was that they never even went to the part where one could "luckily" spot them.