We headed out of La Vrine in France and crossed the border into Switzerland. As we crossed the border we were greeted with one of our magical memories of Switzerland - the sight of cows grazing in the lush green paddocks and the clanging of the bells hanging around their necks - each farm has its own bell and individual sound. It's great to be so welcomed back to this beautiful country.
Our Swiss friends Marianne and Raymond, rescued us in 2006 when our Toyota 4WD lost a wheel in the mountainous countryside of Tibet. It was great to be able to meet up with them again at their home in Bussigny. They invited us to stay at their Chalet in the Swiss Alps, so we made some quick changes to our itinerary and made plans to meet them there the following Saturday.
Interlaken is a beautiful part of Switzerland and we enjoyed driving in the mountains and around the lake over the next couple of days. The weather was quite cool and we had rain each day, however it did not spoil it for us. We decided against the trip to the top of Jungfrau on the gondola because of the fog and poor visibility. Pat headed up to the Town Square to watch the World Cup game of Switzerland against Spain on the big screen. The atmosphere was pretty amazing and even more amazing when Switzerland actually won the match.
Our journey continued onto the Lotschberg tunnel in Switzerland where we drove our car straight onto a railway carriage to travel the tunnel through the mountain. We then followed the valley along to the village of Tasch where we stayed for the night. From Tasch it is a 10 minute train trip to Zermatt at the foothills of the Matterhorn, fortunately we were able to leave our car at the hotel in Tasch for the next 24 hours.
We arrived at the Helvetica Hotel in Zermatt and took our bags straight to our room - 84 steps up from the street! Our room was on the top floor with a wonderful view through to the mountains. We then walked through the village to the encased chair lift where we took off up the mountain to commence our 40 minute ascent to the Little Matterhorn. Further up the mountain we changed to another enclosed chair lift and yet further up again we climbed aboard a gondola designed to carry 8,000 plus kilograms. The gondola ascended to the lookout at the Little Matterhorn where we sat in the sun and snow for one hour, waiting for the cloud and fog to lift so we could get a clear view of the Matterhorn - Europe's highest peak. There was a real league of nations on the lookout - Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Koreans, Italians, English and Scottish - it was a great atmosphere as we all chatted and waited for the cloud to lift. The air was thinner at the top, so we had to walk slowly and reserve our oxygen. We had full mobile phone coverage so gave PJ and Kelli a call from the top of Europe!
Back in Zermatt that evening, we enjoyed a traditional Swiss meal and music by a Swiss quartet. After 4 trips in our hotel up and down our 84 stairs on our first day in Zermatt we were ready to call it a night. The next day we took the train back to Tasch, picked up our car and headed for Marianne and Raymond's chalet in the Alps.
Our day's journey took us through Sion, Nendaz, Bramois, Nax and onto the Village of Mase. Marianne's directions were spot on, so we had no difficulty in finding Marianne and Raymond. The view from the Chalet is out of this world - across the valley and the wildflowers to villages high up in the mountains. In the evening we had a traditional Swiss meal called Raclette with wines from this wine growing area of Valais, to match each course! Oo-la-la! C'est bon! Tonight was a special evening as we raised our glasses and toasted Marianne and Raymond and helped them celebrate their 29th Wedding Anniversary - a great occasion.
The weather had become quite cold during the evening and we awoke to see fresh snow on the mountain tops surrounding the chalet! Brrrr - it's the first time we've experienced snow in the summer time! Raymond took us out for a drive to the village of Evelene where we walked around the streets and enjoyed the scenery. In the afternoon we learned how to play the game called Rummikub - we thoroughly enjoyed the game and will try to buy it on our trip home. Tonight's meal was something I have never eaten before - horse! It was very tender and very nice. Horse is a very common meat here and particularly in eastern Europe.
We said goodbye to Marianne and Raymond in the lovely village of Mase and headed through the beautiful Swiss Alps and many mountain passes before arriving in the famous city of St Moritz. We crossed over many passes including Julier Pass at a height of 2,284 metres. Crossing the border into one little corner of Austria we stayed in a lovely little village called Landeck. Our journey took us through West Tirol into Germany to the magnificent and truly beautiful Neuschwanstein, otherwise called Ludwig's Castle in south western Germany.
The castle was fantastic and the tour very interesting - this is yet another story for me to follow up on when we get home. King Ludwig was a very interesting character however he was an accomplished swimmer but drowned with his Doctor in the lake, when he was in his early 40's. The castle was then left unfinished. Fussen is a quaint little village nearby and is the beginning of the Romantische Strasse or the Romantic Road which we followed north in Germany. In the village of Landsberg we headed to a traditional Bavarian restaurant and were served the biggest meal I've ever seen! Our dinner was a huge joint of pork served with knodel, a traditional type of dumpling.
The towns and villages along the Romantic Road are so traditional and interesting - we stopped in Augsburg and shopped for some traditional German clothes - we decided to get ready for Dingo Beach's Oktoberfest celebrations on October 1st. We travelled onto Nordlingen and checked into a great 600 year old hotel. The floorboards creaked a bit - but it was very well kept.
We travelled further north to Wurzburg and stayed in the beautiful city of Bamberg with it's fantastic Old City. This area of Germany is also known as the Beer Road - so Pat thought that would be the obvious road choice to follow. Bamberg has many private breweries and we visited the oldest and most famous brewery in the Old City called Schlenkerla. We sampled four types of beer - light, white, lager and black smoked! Once again we booked into a 600 year old Hotel - these buildings are great - although I did notice the floor in this one was on a bit of a slope!
Pottenstein and Gossweinstein are beautiful little villages, with the latter having a magnificent Basilica which was well worth a visit. Heading south once again through Germany towards Austria we travelled through some beautiful scenic areas with green rolling hills. The town of Regan has a Guesthouse and Resort which is home to a famous German horse and wagon team, seen at all major functions including the Munich Beer Festival. It looks very impressive with the wagon loaded with huge beer barrels and being pulled by a team of eight horses. We checked into the Guesthouse and were served a fantastic four course dinner at a cost of 8 Euros each - unbelievable!
Southern Tirol in Austria is just soooo beautiful. We travelled past a lake and through the town of Zell am See to a little village called Lengdorf. Here we met up with Reiner, Fred and Ulla whom we originally met back home at Dingo Beach. They were spending some time with their friends Sepp and Ina who also invited us along to their holiday house in Lengdorf. This is one serious holiday home - it has 3 floors with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor; a cellar; a barbeque in the garden and about 12 bicycles in the shed! Sepp told me this house will sleep about 20 people in beds and after that it's swags and sleeping bags on the floor! The most they have ever had was 35 people in the kitchen at the same time.
We all walked out for dinner in the evening to a restaurant about two kilometres away. The village is in a valley, flanked on both sides by beautiful green rolling hills and mountains. The food was great and the walk back home was very enjoyable. This evening there were many spot fires on the mountain sides - this is the time (after the winter) to burn fires as a celebration to St Johann - one such fire high up on the mountain was in the shape of the alpine flower The Edelweiss. Wunderbah!
Reiner drives a 2009 Porsche GT2 - 540 hp with a maximum speed of 336 k/ph - it goes from 0 to 100 k/ph in 3.6 seconds!!!! Pretty impressive! Pat and I both shared the day travelling with Reiner - the remainder of the group travelled in Sepp's normal car! The Porsche certainly is a speed machine! As there is no speed limit on the Autobahn it is possible to drive a car at whatever speed you like. Reiner said he has actually taken the Porsche up to 310 k/ph!!! That's a serious speed! This day we didn't travel on any Autobahns - thankfully! Today's scenery was glorious - travelling to Mayhofen, Hintertux Glacier and Lanersbach.
The following day we visited the highest peaks in Austria including Grossglockner in Hohe Tauern National Park. As we drove through the mountains we came upon perhaps more than 5,000 people walking - they were all on a pilgrimage and attended open air Mass high up in the mountains. At home in the early evening we set off on a bicycle ride along the waterway close to Sepp and Ina's home at Lengdorf, Neidersill. We had a wonderful visit in Southern Tirol and would certainly love to return on another trip.
Further north in Austria, we visited the lovely city of Steyr where Finnigan's diesel motors were made. We toured the Steyr facility with Hubert - he then took us out to a restaurant on the river for a traditional Austrian lunch. We were now Hamburg bound and headed back into Germany through Nurnberg and Bamberg, staying the night at Pfarrweisach in an old Guest House, once again about 400 years old. The amazing thing about this guest house is that it has been in the same family over all these years. The lady who currently runs it moved in with her husband when she was 18 years of age and she is now 62 years of age.
We set off early the next morning and headed through Fulda, Gottingen and Hannover into Hamburg. It was great to see Heine and Sieglinde again and to meet their daughter Steffi. Heine grew up with my Uncle Joe (Sepp) in Austria - they were next door neighbours. The last time we were in Austria, Heine took us walking in the mountains - a wonderful experience and memory for us both. Steffi has an apartment in the same complex as her parents, so it is great for them that they have a daughter living close by. We spent the next few days with Steffi in her lovely apartment.
Heine and Sieglinde took us to the old Hanseatic city of Lubeck. We toured the Cathedral and took the lift to the top of the Cathedral tower which gave a great view over the whole city. At the entrance to the Old City there are two round towers - one of which is on a very noticeable lean - but then I guess we all lean a bit as we get older! After having a good walk in the Old City, we had a lovely lunch in the City Square.
That afternoon, Pat and I visited an amazing elderly lady, 94 years of age in the City of Hamburg - she is our friend Otmar's Mother. She lives by herself in an apartment on the 4th floor of her building. Otmar has always told us his Mum lives on the 4th floor and walks up and down the stairs herself. When I was going up to her apartment I purposely counted the steps and stairs - 84 in all! She is 94 years of age and walks up and down as many as five or six times a day!! Now that is what I call amazing - she said when her younger relatives come to visit they always complain about the stairs! I guess this is part of how and why she has kept so well and fit for all these years. We spent a lovely couple of hours with her - she wouldn't let me clean up after our afternoon tea - she said she wants to be able to look at her table and see that she has had visitors after we have gone! What an inspirational lady.
We bought a train pass and travelled into Hamburg's Maritime Museum for the day. The Museum was 10 floors high and we managed to spend many hours checking out all the floors. Pat wanted to do some research to find out more information about an old Hamburg ferry named Elisa which was bombed in Hamburg harbour during the war. An elderly gentleman from Bundaberg who was once a skipper on the ferry managed to salvage the steering wheel which he later gave to Pat. The old gentleman has now passed away and the steering wheel has pride of place in Pat's bar. We weren't able to find out any more information, however the Museum staff will contact Pat with any information they may be able to research for him.
Heine took us to the beautiful area of Blakenese along the River Elbe in Hamburg. They took us out for afternoon tea to the Saegbiel Hotel, overlooking the river, where he and Sieglinde had their Wedding 40 years ago. The waiter told us he has worked there for 50 years - so we think he was probably there at the time of their Wedding reception 40 years ago. Imagine working as a waiter at the same place for 50 years! Hopefully he did receive some recognition for his many years of service. We said goodbye to Heine, Sieglinde and Steffi and look forward to Steffi's next visit to Australia sometime down the track.
The European leg of our holiday was nearing an end so we headed south from Hamburg through Bremen, Reine, Essen and Olpe to the little village of Marienheide in another beautiful and scenic area of Germany. We spent a couple of days with Annette, Harald and their 4 year old son, Ole - all of whom we met in South Australia last year while we were travelling with our caravan. Their little Yorkshire Terrier Morris was also lovely company - I think we have a soft spot for Yorkies! We visited some great caves in the area and enjoyed a very traditional pancake lunch in a restaurant Pfannkuchenhaus.
In the evening we walked about 3 to 4 kilometres to a beautiful old Castle which is now a Police Training Venue, enjoyed a good German beer and then headed off for the walk back to the village. It was great walking along the country lanes and through the woods and fields. Harald's parents live alongside their home, so at dinner time it's a trip out to the veggie patch to choose the vegetables for the salad - beats a trip to the supermarket!
We visited the city of Koln and the beautiful old Cathedral then headed through Aachan in Germany, Maastricht in the Netherlands (home of Andre Rieu) and onto Liege in Belgium. In a short period of time we had driven in three countries. We followed the river for most of the day and stayed in a beautiful old Villa on the River just south of Namur in Belgium. In the evening we went for a walk along the banks of the river before dinner. The Tour de France would commence the following day and would be coming through this area so there are many visitors to the area.
Our journey into Paris took us through the lovely Champagne Valley of France, where we visited the ancient wine cellars of Pannier wines. These cellars were amazing as they were dug out by hand over one thousand years ago and digging was carried out over a period of 300 years. The caves were originally dug out to provide the rock to build the village nearby - it was in later years it then became the wine cellars. We checked into the Ibis Hotel at Charles De Gaulle Airport, unpacked our bags and the car to prepare for our flight to Bangkok the following day.
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