Welcome to Alsace!

Strasbourg, France
September 4-5

Leaving Grindelwald on Sunday, we took the Jungfrau express back down the mountain to Interlaken, Switzerland. We grabbed a bite to eat and then boarded a train to Basel, Switzerland for our connection to Strasbourg. Basel is right on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland so we have made lots of connections through there. It is so close to France that within minutes of leaving the train station we had arrived at the first stop and realized we were already in France, just by looking at the signs. We traveled North through the Alsace wine region for about an hour to get to our destination.

By the time we arrived in Strasbourg, it was late afternoon and starting to rain. We had a funny experience upon arrival when we walked across the street from the train station and tried to check into the wrong Ibis hotel! I had completely forgotten that there were a few Ibis hotels in Strasbourg so when we hopped off the train and saw one right across the street, I assumed it was ours. The man at reception was very nice. When I showed him my reservation confirmation he got out a city map and showed me that we were at the Ibis Les Halles, not the Ibis Gare. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk, but in a much nicer area.

The hotel was another two star, with few amenities but very clean. Since this was just a one night stop on our way to Paris, we had both packed a small bag that we put at the top of our packs. It was much simpler than dragging everything out and packing it all up again. We took quick showers and put on some relatively clean clothes and headed out to see what we could see. It was raining pretty hard by now, but we didn't really care. I had a rain hat and we both had water repellent jackets and hiking shoes so we figured we figured would stay somewhat dry.

Yup, it was raining a bit when we arrived in La Petite France!

The main area to see in Strasbourg is La Petite France and I can see why! Even in the pouring rain it was lovely. It looks like you've stepped into a movie set from the 1600's. There were narrow cobblestone streets and medieval buildings and little pedestrian bridges crossing over the river that ran through it all. We wandered for a little while looking for a place to eat, but most places were empty because it was only around 6:30 and the French eat much later than that. We finally came upon a bustling place called the La Corde a Ligne (Translation: The clothesline). We knew it must be a touristy place to be full this early, but the menu looked perfect for what we wanted and the prices were right. Shaun got a duck leg confit and I picked an item they called Veal and Chicken fricassee, which was basically a veal and chicken pot pie in a puff pastry bowl. Now I must say, Shaun loves all things duck, but he had some serious food envy over my dinner. Lucky for him I could only eat about half of it before bringing him in for clean up.

We were warm and full and dry at this point, but not for long. We wandered back out into the streets, determined to make the most of our short stay. That lasted about 15 minutes. It was really pouring now and our jackets and my rain hat had basically stopped repelling water. We had booked an afternoon train for the next day in case we wanted more time in Strasbourg, so we headed back to the hotel, soaked to the skin.

My drenched husband...

And the same for me...We were still having fun though. It beats working!!

We woke up today to a light drizzle, but it was clear that the worst of the rain was over. We threw on some clothes and headed out to check out the city again. We had only two destinations in mind for the morning, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Civil Hospital. (Don't worry, it's not what it seems).

But as always, we needed food first so we stopped at a cafe and ordered a couple of pastries and two Cafe Cremes- coffees with cream and sugar. Once again, we were thrilled to be out of Switzerland when the bill came to 5 Euro total. The weather had turned spectacularly nice while we ate breakfast. The sun was out, there was a light breeze off the river and it just felt like the kind of crisp fall day you get in New England this time of year. It was perfect for sightseeing. First we headed back to the hotel to shower and check out. We put our backpacks in luggage storage and headed out.

Notre Dame was only about a ten minute walk, and when we got there, there were maybe only five or ten people in the whole place. We walked by later and there were hundreds! That's the great thing about getting out and about early. The beauty and peacefulness of a cathedral is much easier to experience when you aren't fighting for two feet of space with hundreds of fanny-pack toting, loud-talking, tour-group-following tourists. As it was, we had the place practically to ourselves. The cathedral is undergoing a major renovation and we could see why. It is filled with the most gorgeous, intricate Stained Glass windows that are some of the oldest still in existence in Christianity, dating back to the 13th century. From the inside, you could clearly see the difference between the ones they had already restored and the blackened ones they had not. From the outside the difference was even more startling.

Can you see the difference between the restored windows in the middle and the windows on the top?

One of the restored windows from inside.

Now it was time to go the Hospital. Believe it or not, the Strasbourg Civil Hospital has on its ground a wine cellar that dates back to 1395. It even has a barrel from 1472 that has only been tapped three times in 500 plus years. Seriously. The Hospital grounds are huge and it is truly a functioning hospital and yet for over 600 years they have kept this wine cellar in tact. I freaking love these people. We were so excited to go take a look. We got to the hospital and we were clearly at an entrance for hospital employees but the female guard took one look at us and walked over and said "Le cave de Vin?" (Wine cellar?) to which we laughed and said yes. She explained that it was around the corner and looked like the old door next to her and sent us on our way. I wonder how many times a day she has to do that.

Look, the entrance to the wine cellar! Doesn't that look inviting!??

Here is where the story takes a tragic turn. We rounded the corner and walked a little way and spotted the sign that said "Caves Historiques" and at the bottom a very welcoming "Entree". We turned the corner to walk down the stairs and this is what we saw:

If you can read French, you know this is a very sad sign

Yes, today, our only day in Strasbourg, was the day they were taking inventory. So sad.

So we put on our bravest smiles and continued our little walk around Strasbourg. We headed back to La Petite France, thinking it might be nicer in the Sun than in a downpour, which it was. We roamed around until lunchtime, and managed to see some very cool things like a team of divers braving the rapids to remove a dead bird from the river and a boat making its way through the system of locks.

Hanging out on the way back to La Petite France

Shaun has a different idea of hanging out!

Shaun, watching the boat rise up as the locks let in the water.

Can you see the divers? They were from the special emergency dive team. It was amazing how they worked their way around this raging river.

By now it was getting late so we grabbed a bite to eat at a Sushi place and headed back to get our bags at the hotel. It was just a 5 minute walk to the train station where we boarded the TGV for the two hour and fifteen minute non-stop trip to Paris.

Hanging out at the Strasbourg train station, waiting for the train to Paris

So here we are, on a high speed train to Paris for what will be the longest stay of our journey. When we unpack our bags this afternoon, it will be in an apartment in the Latin Quarter where we will live for the next 30 days. After the plane tickets, this was the second thing we booked for this trip. Both Shaun and I love this city and I have always dreamed of spending an extended time here. I am not fluent in French, but I am definitely conversational, which makes it easier. We've both done most of the normal tourist things so we won't be doing those, except when we have visitors. We want to do a lot of shopping at the markets and cooking at "home" and seeing what it really feels like to live in this city. So for now I will say Au Revoir because I am too excited to write anymore! My next post will be from our home in Paris.

In the Shadow of Eiger

Grindelwald, Switzerland
September 2-4

The town of Grindelwald sits nestled below three mountains; Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau. The views from town are all like this!

For the last two days we have been in an amazing place called Grindelwald, Switzerland. I know, I've been complaining about what a rip-off Switzerland is, but we already had the non-refundable rooms booked so off we went. I knew a little bit about Grindelwald, particularly that it was a great place for hiking. (I guess I'm becoming a glutton for punishment). Even with all the pictures I had seen though, I was not prepared for the beauty of Grindelwald. We must have been walking from the train station to the hotel with our mouths wide open.

The hotel Tschuggen was quaint and quiet, run by a Husband and wife team named Monika and Robert. They were extremely helpful and nice. This was the first place we booked where we had a shared bathroom, which made us both a little nervous, but so many of the rooms had their own bathrooms that it never became an issue. We had a little sink in the room to wash up at night and brush our teeth. The shower was right next to our room and we never had to wait to use it. Maybe everyone in Grindelwald was a little relaxed about their hygiene? We certainly were by this point. We can't wait to get to Paris on Tuesday to wash some clothes!!

But enough about our filth, lets talk food. We arrived fairly late in the afternoon and we hadn't had lunch yet so we went next door to place recommended by Monika. The Swiss seem to love Swiss food and Italian Food and not much else. Lucky for us they do Italian pretty well. It was getting close to 4 when we ordered so we got salads and a pizza hoping make this an early dinner. The pizza was ridiculous. It was called Pizza Carbonara and it was covered in bacon and had a fried egg in the middle. That is something I first had in Paris years ago, the fried egg on pizza. It sounds gross but it is so tasty! If you ever get the chance give it a try- you won't regret it!

We could not believe the view when we sat down to lunch

We were only slightly distracted by the pizza carbonara. MMMMMM, Fried eggs and bacon...

That afternoon, Shaun went for a run and I went for a walk. As I wandered up and down the streets with the Jungfrau looming over everything, I was awestruck by the beauty of this place. The sun was going down and the tops of the mountains were bathed in a soft pink light. The world seemed so small and quiet and beautiful in that small valley in the shadow of the Eiger. I will always remember the peacefulness of that moment.

Can you believe this place?

When Shaun got back, we went for a little walk together and then went back to the room to rest up. Travel days are exhausting regardless, and the altitude, the late afternoon beers and the big lunch made us both sleepy. Grindelwald at this time of year is very laid back and quiet at night so we weren't missing out on much. We set out into town and looked at a few places before settling on a place right near our hotel. Mystery Bar had relatively inexpensive drinks and food, so we split a burger and fries and a glass of wine and headed back to the hotel. We opened one of the little two euro bottles of wine from Freiburg and watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords on Shaun's laptop. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you rent this. It's a little HBO comedy series about two bumbling musicians from New Zealand trying to make it in New York. They only made two seasons before calling it quits but those two seasons are priceless.

Saturday was a fabulous day in the Jungfrau. Shaun and I awoke to the smell of breakfast and went downstairs to find a Swiss feast. We sat down at a table and Monika brought us a pot of coffee and a pot of steamed milk as well as glasses of juice and a big basket of breads and croissants. There were three different pots of jams and a small plate of butter and cheeses to go with the bread. And there was a little buffet station with meats, fruits, vegetables, yogurt and granola. And my favorite, hard boiled eggs that had been painted a beautiful swirl of red and orange. The breakfast alone made the Tschuggen worth the money. Purchased separately, I suspect breakfast would have cost 742 francs!

Bellies full and ready for a hike, we walked to the grocery store in town (our old friend The Coop) and picked up supplies. Similar to the hike in Freiburg, we opted for Ham, Rolls, Waters, Nectarines and Plums. We skipped the wine and picked up a bag of chips instead. We stopped by the tourist information center and picked out a hike that was about 3 hours long (but mostly downhill this time) and we were ready to go!

Shaun walking in the area near our hotel

That morning's weather was perfect. It was in the 60's in the morning and the high was expected to be 70, but the sun was warm and the sky was blue and cloudless. We only had to walk about a quarter mile to the cable car station. We bought a ticket to take us from Grindelwald at 1050 meters to First at 2168 meters. From there we would take a scenic hike up to the lakes at Bachalpsee (2265 meters) and then descend the mountain to Bort at 1570 meters. From Bort we would take the cable car back down to Grindelwald. It sounded easy enough, and as I said, it was mostly downhill so I was really looking forward to this.

The cable car ride was worth every ounce of fear. Unike the other cable car rides we've taken, this one was fairly long. It took at least 20 minutes to get to the summit with two stops in between. It didn't feel as though we were as high off the ground as some of the others cable cars we had taken though, so when we started passing herds of cows below us, I was happily taking pictures.

Yep, Cows below us on the cable car ride

Besides the cows, we were passing above beautiful countryside with those quaint brown Swiss houses dotting the hillside. And that was just below us. All around us were the mountains. Eiger, Jungfrau and Monch were behind us as always, snow covered and magnificent.

That is Grindelwald way down below. We only had to make our way about halfway down before catching another cable car.

The hike up to the lakes was steep but the view was so incredible that it took your mind off anything else. We got to the lake after about an hour of climbing interspersed with picture taking. Unlike our walk in The Shauinsland, this one was clearly marked at every turn and at every major crossing it even told you how long the next leg would take. I suppose we should have expected as much from the Swiss, those masters of the time piece.

Once we arrived at the lake, we laid out our picnic lunch on a bench and ate in the most beautiful spot overlooking the lake and the mountains. We finished lunch and started the longer leg of the journey, the descent to Bort. The first hour was fine. The trails were mostly gravel, with some rocky areas, but no gorges or ladders or anything too technical. It wasn't until we got to Waldspitz for the last leg that things got difficult. It was made up of hundreds of steep stairs built into a forest. You basically were climbing downhill on these steep stairs for about 40 minutes. It wasn't really the stairs that hurt though, it was the incline and your feet pushing into the front of your boots. I was one happy camper by the time we reached Bort. I was thrilled to get on that last cable car.

The look on my face is saying "OK, one more cable car but then I am DONE!!

Our last afternoon in Grindelwald took us in two very different directions. After our big hike, I was exhausted. We returned to the hotel and I took a nice long nap to recover. Shaun on the other hand, could not pass up the opportunity to go mountain biking in this amazing place. So I slept for an hour or so and then showered and changed into what relatively clean clothes I had left. Then I Skyped with my sister Maura, my niece Amber and my nephew Ted. Skype is amazing. If you have a laptop or an Ipad with a camera, you can sign up for their free service and video chat with anyone around the world for free. Maura and Tom's house was where we stayed before the trip began and our mail is going to them while we're away. So Ted and Amber told me about what they were up to while Maura opened a few pieces of mail she thought I might need. Then I held my Ipad up to the windows to show the kids what Grindelwald looks like. Pretty cool.

In the meantime, Shaun was bombing around the Jungfrau region on a mountain bike. Actually, he had a few unexpected interruptions in his mountain biking, of the bovine kind. Remember the cows from the hike and the cable car? Apparently they also tend to stop in the middle of the road around here. So every once in a while Shaun would have to take an unintended pit stop for cow crossing. It was a first for him! Fetchez la Vache!!

For our last evening out, we stopped first at a bar called the Avocado for a local beer. The bartender was from Australia and gave us a few good tips for dinner. The place we ended up at was a little restaurant at a family run place called the Hotel Bellevue where they served traditional Swiss food. We both had our meals with Rosti, which is basically the Swiss version of a hash brown. It was quite delicious after our big day out. We met a really nice couple at dinner that night, Barbara and Phil from Montreal. Phil was originally from Wales and they were both very well traveled so they gave us lots of good advice on where to go in Wales, Scotland, England and New Zealand. We love tips from fellow travelers!

It was getting late but we stopped at one more place for a drink and to finally try fondue. It is another Swiss specialty, but neither of us loved it. It's basically what you remember from the 70's--a big pot of hot cheese served with bread and baby potatoes. Maybe we should have saved it for another time when we were hungrier.

Fondue is one of the Must Do things in Switzerland. It didn't do it for us. Does that make it a Fon-Don't?

So it was off to bed for one last night in Grindelwald. It was Switzerland, so it was still extremely expensive, but we both agreed that we wouldn't have missed this place. If I ever make my millions I would love to come back. In the meantime, we are off to Strasbourg, France for one night and then we start our month in Paris! Can't wait!!!

Best Picnic lunch scenery ever!!

Wait a minute, we're hiking UP this mountain???

Freiburg, Germany
August 30-September 2

After our expensive two days in Switzerland, we could not have been more excited to head back to Germany. Freiburg im Breisgau never would have made the list if I had just looked at guidebooks. It doesn't get a lot of press in the States like Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt do and that is really too bad. It is a fabulous city. My friend Lisa Elliott came to Freiburg for a year abroad when she was in college. When I told her months ago that we might be planning a little visit to Germany, she said Munich and Freiburg were her two favorite cities. She has great taste. We loved them both.

The train to Freiburg from Luzern was uneventful. We wrote the date in the Eurail pass, hopped on, and took a 50 minute train to Basel, Switzerland where we changed trains and took another 45 minute train from Basel to Freiburg. When the train pulled into the station at the Freiburg Hauptbahnhof, we could see our hotel out the window. Now, normally I try to avoid booking hotels near the train station as they are infamous for the shady characters who hang about, but when you have a 30 pound pack on your back, that seems less important. I dare anyone to get in my way after a long day of traveling!

We had booked this stay fairly early on and gotten a great deal at the Novotel, which is one of the Accor hotels (yay points) and a little higher up the food chain than the others we had stayed at. The hotel was really nice, with a huge bed, big bathroom and a nice view out the window. It had a small pool and sauna downstairs and we got free internet because I was an Accor member. It was amazing to me that this cost less than the Etap in Switzerland. The Etap in Luzern was also an Accor, but it was a one star hotel. It was clean and safe, which is always the priority, but it had no phone in the room, no amenities, a teeny bathroom and you could only get a hairdryer or iron by paying a 20 franc deposit. I found it hilarious that the woman at the front desk told me I wouldn't be getting any points there because it was "too cheap".

So right away, we were loving Freiburg. We went out for some lunch at a place called Fil, right down the street from the hotel. We were both craving greens so we ordered salads and were served a huge, fabulous salad. Warm grilled chicken, fresh greens, corn, cucumbers and a light vinaigrette. It was just what the Doctor ordered.

I can't even tell you how good this salad was!

After that we wandered out to find the Tourist Information center. T.I.s are a wonderful source of information, especially if you get the right person. The guy we spoke with was great. We told him we were going to be there for three days, that we wanted to do some hiking in the black forest, that we would be taking all public transportation. They had a three day card that covered Freiburg and the surrounding suburbs as well as the cable car to the top of Shauinsland, Freiburg's landmark mountain right in the black forest. (Yes, I know its another scary cable car, but wait, it gets better!) So Shaun is discussing the cable car with the guy and asking about hiking and the man says that many people take the cable car to the top and hike down. To which Shaun says, "Or we could hike up and take the cable car down right?" The guys smiles and says something like "Sure you could do that, hiking down is harder sometimes than hiking up". I wonder now if he didn't go our for beers with his coworkers and tell the story of the stupid American tourists who were going to hike up the mountain. I can see them all now, laughing over their giant beers.

Knowing we had the big hike coming up the next day, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around the city and explore. Freiburg is what you would imagine when you think of a very old german town. The city was officially founded in 1091 and although no buildings remain from that time, there are plenty of remainders of the Hapsburg rule from 1368-1803. The old town hall (Rathaus) for example, dates back to 1557 and the cornerstone to the main cathedral, Munster, was laid in 1354. Munster is a beautiful gothic church, complete with flying buttresses and gargoyles. The square around Munster serves as a huge Marketplace in the mornings, with vendors selling everything from woodworking to spices to Bratwurst (of course). In the afternoons it is quiet and peaceful in the square. That is how we first came upon it. Right behind it was the House of Baden Wines, where we sat out at a table in the sun and sampled a few small glasses of local wine. The whites and roses were delicious and the price was right! A small glass cost only about 2 Euro. We love you Germany!!!

Having a glass of a local white wine at the House of Baden Wines behind Munster

The beautiful gothic cathedral

Augustinerplatz, just another lovely square in Freiburg

We wandered around some more that afternoon, checking out this lovely city. The character was just so unique. Besides the amazing old buildings in their beautiful pastel shades, there are wonderful cobblestone streets and idyllic courtyards everywhere. My two favorite quirks of this city though, are the Bachle and the sidewalk mosaics. I don't think the pictures will do them justice, but the Bachle are little waterways that are found in almost every street of the Old Town. They say if you fall into one of the Bachle you will marry a Freiburger.

The sidewalk mosaics were also wonderful. Throughout the cobblestone streets you would come upon them. At first I thought there was no rhyme or reason to them, but I later found out they had specific meaning. A pair of eyeglasses symbolized an eye doctor, scissors and a comb would be a barber, a pretzel would be a baker and so on. I particularly loved the detailed on we found outside a church.

The fabulous Church Mosaic on the sidewalk

After a good dinner and a great night's sleep, we awoke the next day determined to do some hiking. Our first stop was a grocery store to get some food for a picnic. We purchased a nectarine, two plums, 2 bottles of water, a 1/2 bottle of wine, some black forest ham, a piece of soft muenster cheese and two kinds of rolls and the total came to less than 12 euro. (Happy!) Next we set out for Shauinsland. It is a big destination from Freiburg so it was very clearly marked. Take the number 2 tram to the number 21 bus which brings you right to the Shauinsland cable car station. We of course, had decided to hike up the mountain so we didn't need no stinking cable car!

As we started the hike up through the black forest, everything seemed pretty clearly marked and although the hike was steep, the views were gorgeous so I was doing OK. That was the first hour. By the time we finished the second hour of climbing we were both soaked with sweat and starving. We sat down for our picnic at about 2 and a half hours in and decided wine was not going to go so well with famine and grime. (Regardless, the ham and muenster sandwiches tasted SOOO good at that point.) By that time the trails were not very well marked, nor was our map and we both seemed to think we had passed two signs saying the summit was 2.4 kilometers away. The problem was those signs were 45 minutes apart. By hour three we were both exhausted but I was just getting punchy. I could see us on the news weeks letter telling how we never would have survived if it weren't for the black forest ham, soft cheese and local wine that kept us alive! I guess you wouldn't say we were roughing it! Finally just after hour three passed, we began to see people coming down the trails from the summit. (I believe they are referred to locally as "the smart people"). The signage got better and we began to see the place where the cable car arrived. I was happy to know I wouldn't have to someday eat my husbands arm with a fine red wine.

This just doesn't capture how long and difficult this hike was!

The picnic that stopped me from running around like a crazy person screaming "We're gonna die!! We're gonna die!!











Once we caught our breath, we sat down at the cafe overlooking the mountain and order two giant waters and two beers. It felt so good to get off our feet and let the sweat dry. I was so happy to have stopped climbing that I didn't even mind taking the cable car back down the mountain!

The cable car ride DOWN the mountain. This should give you an idea of how far we hiked up. Seriously, I don't know who I am anymore!


When we got back to the hotel that evening we both crawled into bed for a nap. I was so tired I fell asleep in my whole outfit, including my fleece and my baseball hat with the sunglasses perched on top. We slept the sleep of the dead for about an hour before getting up to go find dinner. We found a great local brewery calls Martinsbrau that also made their own sausages. We started with a huge salad that we split and then I ordered a pigs knuckle and Shaun ordered a lamb plate that consisted of a sausage, a chop and a small steak. The pigs knuckle may sound gross but it was basically a big ball of slow roasted pork that fell off the bone. I was one happy girl.

The next day we decided to take it easy, so of course we ended up hiking again!! This time it was a little easier though. At the East end of Freiburg, the town also borders the black forest at a place called the Schlossberg. There was a tram there that takes you about halfway to the top of the Schlossberg. After about a 30 minute hike you come to a viewing tower that has a 360 degree panoramic view of Freiburg, the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest. I managed to keep my fear of heights in check to get almost to the top, but after a few moments up there I was all done. As I made my way down the narrow tower stairs I had the pleasure of fight past about 100 teenage school kids who were there on some kind of outing. Shaun said it was a good thing I went down because the top was shaking with all of them up there.

The hike down from the viewing tower was spectacular. There were various scenic overlooks on the way down and one of them was over acres of grape vines that are actually local vineyards. Some of the wine we had been drinking could have been grown right there.

We were starving at that point so we headed to the Market outside Munster cathedral. We ordered two Brats with onions, washed it down with fresh apple cider and followed that up with a plum tart. If we weren't doing all this hiking and walking I would be gigantic right now.

This pretty much sums up how much they love pork in Germany! I laughed out loud when we walked past this restaurant.

That afternoon, Shaun went to get a massage and I went to hang out in a sunny park to try to finish my Luzern post. It's a tribute to Freiburg that it took so long to get the post done. There was so much to do and see that I couldn't bear to take the time away to finish writing. I was glad to get it done though and have it behind me so we could enjoy our last night in Freiburg.

Shaun and I outside Munster cathedral on our last night in Freiburg


The last evening was just like every other one we spent in Freiburg- beautiful weather, great food, friendly people. Freiburg seems to be much more diverse than any other place we visited and so the variety of food is also diverse. For our last night we started at a beer garden for a pre-dinner pretzel and beer and then we went to a great Turkish restaurant where we ate way too much food. We started with a stuffed meat and cheese pastry called a Borek, and then a lamb & tomato stew for me and donor kebab (shaved lamb) for Shaun. I think we were in a "food panic" because we knew it was our last night of cheap German eats. We were heading back to Switzerland in the morning!! (Insert scary music here!!)

Our Turkish dinner at Harem was Lamb-tastic!

Farewell to Germany! I will miss everything about you, especially these beers that are the size of my head!! We'll be back for more in December!!

Switzerland, where you can buy a penny for a quarter!

Luzern, Switzerland
August 28-30

Sunday the 28th was our first long train trip. After our lovely stay in Salzburg, we were heading west to Luzern, Switzerland. For this journey we would take two trains, one from Salzburg to Zurich and then a change of trains in Zurich for the short trip to Luzern. The first leg is a very popular route so you need to make reservations, even if you have a Eurail pass. We had booked reservations for the 8AM train so that we could get to Zurich mid-day and Luzern by early afternoon. The whole trip took around six and a half hours, but the scenery was absolutely beautiful and the company was great. Shaun and I took advantage of the longer leg in the morning to write our blog entries for Salzburg. The train didn't have wifi, but we could still upload pictures, write the entry and get everything ready so the post could just be uploaded when we arrived.

I absolutely love traveling by train in Europe. To start with, the views are amazing. You really get a feel for a country by passing through the small towns and seeing the people going about their business in the farms and villages. Plus, the convenience can't be beat. Shaun and I bought a Eurail Saver Flexipass for Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France before we left the states. It's good for two months and we can pick 9 days to travel within those two months. The Saver part is a discount for two people who will be traveling together. On a travel day, you just fill in the date and hop on the train. You can take as many trains as you want on that travel day. Of course, there are some gotchas, like reservations for busier routes, but it's all very easy to understand.

The view out the window on the train from Salzburg to Zurich

Another lovely thing about traveling by train is that you often meet other travelers, especially on the long routes. On the train from Salzburg to Zurich, we happened to meet someone who heard us speaking English and asked about the train to Luzern. When we got off in Zurich he walked with us to the Luzern train and we invited him to sit with us. His name was Marc Caro and he is a journalist. Apparently the Chicago Symphony is doing a tour of Europe and Marc, who is the entertainment reporter for the Chicago Tribune was assigned to follow them and write about the experience. We told him about what Shaun and I were doing and we all chatted for much of the train ride. He has a brother who lives in Phoenix (like John does) and he lived in Inman square in Cambridge for a while (like Shaun did). It is a small world indeed.

We arrived in Luzern on a beautiful, sunny afternoon and at first glance we thought we were going to love it as much as we loved Salzburg. When you come out of the train station, you are right at Lake Lucerne (or Luzern as they spell it). The lake is surrounded by mountains and the water is that beautiful green that you can only get from glacial waters. There is a footbridge dating back to the 1400's that crosses the area where the lake narrows into a river and it is covered with flower boxes of pink, purple and white impatiens all the way down the length of the bridge. And if all that isn't enough, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of swans that call Lake Luzern their home. It all seemed like it dropped out of a fairy tale.

The Chapel Bridge- note the swans!

What's not to love right? Well, you know those scenes in cartoons when something is so surprising that the cartoon animals head spins around and his eyes pop out from the sheer shock of it all? Well, I think that may be what happened to me when I saw the prices on the first menu we came across. It was insane. I knew Switzerland was expensive but there is a difference between expensive and highway robbery. At first we thought maybe it was just the area we were in, but we traveled far and wide and saw the same thing. The swiss franc had a slightly better exchange rate than the euro, but that didn't make it worth charging upwards of 30 and even 40 francs for an entree! That first night we were exhausted from traveling, and we walked for close to an hour before we found a Thai place that had a few entrees in the 25-27 franc range. We ordered a pad thai and a chicken curry dish and split them between the three of us. We washed it down with a couple of 8 franc beers and paid the bill. I will say the food was delicious, and it was nice to get away from the fried meats for a change.

The second day I was determined that we would not let Luzern get the best of us. We got up early and took a walk looking for coffee. The previous day we had ordered two coffees from a cafe for what we thought was a great bargain at about three francs. I believe we were served about 4 tablespoons of coffee for that price. So when we found that the Starbucks on the water was selling a "grande" for 6 francs, it truly was the bargain of the century! I took my coffee to the side where the "fixins" were located and added cream and sugar as usual. Then I added cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and chocolate from the shakers. Shaun and John were laughing at me but I was going to get my money's worth everywhere I went today! We left with our coffees and picked up a slice of quiche and a fruit tart and spread out a blanket along the river for a picnic.

After breakfast we went in search of Luzern's famous lion. The monument is called "the dying Lion of Luzern" and it is a monument to all the fallen soldiers who went to aid in the French Revolution and an ode to Peace. Mark Twain had it right when he called it "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world". For anyone who has read or seen the Chronicles of Narnia, it is very reminiscent of when Aslan dies on stone table.

Shaun looking at the Lion Statue- It was very moving

Right next to the monument is a Glacier Museum. My brother Paul is a geologist so I felt it was our duty to check it out and take some pictures. (He's a total rock geek, he even wears T-shirts that have rock jokes on them that only a geologist would get!) The museum showcased these "potholes" that had somehow been formed by glaciers 20,000 years ago. It was cool, but somehow everything we did was tainted by the prices we had to pay. We took lots of pictures for Paul and then left in search of lunch.

Coming down the hill from the glacier museum, we saw lots of college students sitting around eating out of little black plastic take-out containers. Everyone knows college students know where the bargains are so we started looking to see where they were coming from. (By the way don't ever send your kid to college here. They will need a thousand dollars a weekend just to have fun!) We soon spotted the source- the Coop grocery store. We walked in and it was like one of those religious experiences where there's bright lights and music and everything goes fuzzy for a minute. Cheap food nirvana!!

We bought roast chicken, nectarines, plums, waters, an iced tea, a big salad and some bread for less than 20 francs! We were all joking around that the same meal at a cafe probably would have cost 742 francs. Then we took our food to the banks of the river and had another nice picnic. They don't charge for the view! (Yet!) Satiated by both the food and the great bargain, we decided to enjoy the beautiful day and just stroll up and down the banks of the river. I think we walked about 12 miles that day. We just walked and walked and enjoyed the gorgeous views.

Our cheap and tasty picnic lunch!

It was our last night in Luzern and John's last night with us (for now) so we finally decided to say "the heck with it" and get a nice dinner to see him off. It has been unbelievably helpful to have him here with us. He is way more fluent in German than he ever let on and Shaun and I have had him tutoring us as we go so we can at least be polite. We now know Bitte (please) and Danke (thanks) which are the two words you should know in any country you are visiting. We know enough things on a menu to be dangerous and we know that an EisKaffe is not what you think! We know that if you follow an Einbahn sign you will only be going one way! We know that the central train stations are always called Hauptbahnhof and we know lots of other useful words and phrases. So we certainly needed to put aside our Luzern bias for the night and enjoy a nice dinner together.

We looked up places on Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet and settled on a place called La Terraza. The view was great and the food was even better. Pasta Bolognese for me, Pasta Carbonara for Shaun and their house Lasagna for John. We ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer as well. I may have to work the streets in Paris to make up for this on the budget, but it was worth it!

Luzern on our last night

We took a leisurely walk back to the hotel, stopping by the amazing Needle Dam facility that regulates the level of the lake. We said our goodbyes to John and headed back to our rooms for a good night's sleep. It was off to Freiburg, Germany for three nights tomorrow! It would be the longest stop of the trip so far and Shaun and I were so thankful that those three nights were not in Switzerland. As Shaun said the last night, "Salzburg stole my heart, Luzern stole my money!"

Fun with German!

Salzburg, Austria

There are places that you visit in this world that just speak to you. For us, Salzburg was one of those places. We arrived in Salzburg at around 11AM on Friday, the 26th of August. Because it was high season, we had to book hotels and trains in advance, so we had pre-determined that we would stay in Salzburg for only two nights. When we got off the train, my brother John left us to fend for ourselves while he took another train to the countryside. He had booked one of his crazy "thrill seeker" adventures. He was going to Zip Line down a mountainside face down, traveling at around 60 Mph for a distance of just over a mile. Not for the faint of heart, like me! So John was off to find adventure and Shaun and I were left to find out whether our few words of German were enough to get us around for the day.

When we came out of the train station, there was a little info/ticket booth with a friendly man in the booth waiting for a customer. We asked if he could speak English ("Sprechen Sie Englisch?"), and he said he could speak a little. We explained that we were only there for about 48 hours and we wanted to explore as much of the city as we could. The Salzburg card was his suggestion. I am always wary of these kinds of cards- sometimes they are a great deal, other times they get you entrance to a bunch of stuff you wouldn't want to do. The Salzburg card was a great deal. For 34 Euro a person you had unlimited public transportation throughout the city, plus free entrance to practically everything you could want to do in Salzburg for 48 hours. Considering the fact that our hostel was on the outskirts of town, we knew this card would save us boatloads of money.

And yes, I meant to type Hostel, not Hotel. Austria and Switzerland in high season are extremely expensive so we needed to find a way to do this on the cheap. There was a Meininger hostel in Salzburg that had just opened in the last year and got good reviews on Trip Advisor. Unlike some hostels which only have dormitory-style rooms, Meininger has single, double and triple rooms as well. Once we knew my brother was joining us, we decided to book a triple room, which basically brought the cost down to 30 Euro a night per person. When we checked in they mentioned that we had a handicapped room, which always means a large bathroom (for wheelchair accessibility). In this case the whole room was huge, the largest room I've ever had in Europe. Shaun and I took the pushed together twin beds that constituted the double and John, always a sport, was happy to take the top bunk of the bunk beds when he arrived. The room was spotless and the beds were comfy. All things considered, it was a great find.

Here is Shaun by the "Double", John by the bunks and me in the giant bathroom!

Meanwhile, John was barreling down the side of a mountain, and Shaun and I were falling in love with Salzburg. Using our Salzburg card, we jumped on the bus back into the city and set out to explore the city and find some lunch. You can usually tell by the subway map where to get dropped off. We hopped off at Mirabellplatz and started exploring. Salzburg is my favorite kind of city. Lots of narrow winding cobblestone streets between old beautiful buildings and a pretty green river splitting the "old town" from the new. The public transportation here is the bus system, which is well laid out and easy to understand. The German language not as easy to understand, but I'll get to that later.

I should preface this by mentioning the weather. It has been unseasonably hot here since we arrived and the first day in Salzburg was no exception. It was 93 degrees and humid as could be. I normally don't mind the heat but when you are sightseeing, it gets to be a bit much. We looked on the list of free sights on the Salzburg card and found we were right by the Museum of Modern art. The museum hovered above the city and had a beautiful shaded scenic overlook. It was the perfect place to hang out.

The view from the top of the Museum

We took the elevator up and took some photos from the overlook, then meandered back in to check out the art. I'm not a huge Modern Art fan, but one of the exhibits was really neat. It was described as "video portraits". There were people like Johnny Depp, Marianne Faithful and even Xioa Xzing posed in these crazy pictures and it was only if you stood there long enough and saw them blink or breathe that you could tell it was a video, not a painting. We checked those out for a while and made our way through some other exhibits, happy to be in the cool of the museum, when we turned a corner and came upon a Karaoke Room in the middle of the museum with a sign urging patrons to go in and have a go!

You may not know this, but I am a closet Karaoke fan and have been for years. Shaun was a novice until about a year ago when we went to Jamaica on a trip with college friends. It was Karaoke night at Sandals and I was up asking what songs they had when all of a sudden I heard a familiar voice belting out Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me". When I turned around, there was Shaun, mic in hand, shirt unbuttoned, doing his best impression of a sweaty 80's hairband singer. The crowd loved it, especially when he pulled off his shirt and started swinging it wildly above his head and doing high kicks along with the singing. I only wish he wasn't so shy.

So there we were in the Museum, singing Aerosmith's "Dream on" together in the privacy of the Karaoke booth and having a great time. Next I attempted Miley Cyrus, "Party in the USA" (because I am a very mature, serious woman) but it was going very badly. Who knew Miley could hit some difficult notes? So all of a sudden these two older Austrian women come in, and we offer them the microphones but they say they just want to watch. Well, I was done at that point but Shaun was now taking requests! So they asked him to do Bob Dylan, "Knockin on Heaven's Door", and he starts doing his best Dylan and I convince them to take the mike on the chorus. So there is Shaun, in the middle of the Museum of Modern art in Salzburg singing Knockin on Heaven's Door with two Austrian Women with thick German accents. I'm convinced that someday this will end up on a German TV show or as an exhibit in the museum...

After the Karaoke extravaganza, we were back out on the steamy streets and needed a pick me up so we stopped at a cafe and ordered Eiskaffe, which we assumed was iced coffee. We forgot that my brother had told us that ice and ice cream are the same words so we were quite surprised when the waitress brought us two coffees with a big scoop of ice cream in the middle and some kind of cookie across the top.

Enjoying our Eiskaffe

That should have been a sign about our lack of understanding of German, but we missed it. So when we decided to walk to the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station) to meet John, we started following signs that said Einbahn and had an arrow on them. It made perfect sense to me that since the central trains stations in every city are called Hauptbahnhof, and the German rail service is Deutche Bahn, that Einbahn with an arrow must mean "To Trains" Right???

Well we followed those Einbahn signs for about 15-20 minutes. They were everywhere! It wasn't until we came across two in the same area pointing in different directions that we realized I may have made a bad assumption. At that point we were already late to meet John and had no way to contact him, so when a pretty college student from Iceland stopped and offered us a deal to take us to Hauptbahnhof on her pedi cab, we jumped at the chance. We later found out from John that the Einbahn signs we had been following really said "One Way", something that seems fairly obvious in retrospect.

Einbahn- Just follow the arrows, right??

That evening we had a traditional Austrian meal, meat with mushroom gravy for John and I, goulash for Shaun and some Austrian wine. We headed back to the hostel pretty early. We knew it would rain the following afternoon and we were going to try to fit in as much as we could in the morning. We were also quite tired from the heat and the travel.

The next day the we woke up a little later than we had wanted and it was already raining by the time we left the hostel. It had also turned much colder- only about 50 degrees. I had really wanted to do a Sound of Music tour, but the one we wanted was a bike tour so we scrapped the idea. We headed into town to the market square and ate some yummy ham sandwiches for breakfast with fresh raspberries we bought at one of the fruit stands. Some coffees at a cafe and we were ready to go!

Shaun buying raspberries at one of the fruit and vegetable stands at the Marketplace

We took the number 25 bus way out of town to a Village called Grodig, home of the Untersburg mountain and the cable car that takes you to the top of said mountain. It should be said that I am afraid of heights so I was not exactly looking forward to this. But it was pouring rain, it was free (the Salzburg card) and Shaun and John thought it would be cool so I just tried not to think about it too much. Well let me tell you, that is easy to do on the ground, but not when are you going up 1776 meters in a cable car and you pass beyond the cloud cover! I thought I was going to Sheisse my Leiderhosen if you know what I'm saying! Once you arrive at the summit, they let you out at the top where they have a little cafe. We had a quick cup of coffee before making the descent and then attempted to find lunch, but no luck. It was that crazy time between 2 and 5 that many restaurants in Europe close down. We will have to keep a better eye on that it the future. All we could find at that hour were coffee and sweets. So it was one more cup of coffee and a piece of Sacher Torte and we were back on Bus 25 heading to the Hellebrun Palace.

The clouds were dense but that is another cable car making it's descent next to us!

The Hellebrun Palace was nice, but the big draw is the "trick fountains" and the gimmick on the tour is that they actually try to get people wet. Most folks were enjoying this, but we were pretty cold and soaked already, so we left the tour a little early and headed back to the hostel to change into dry clothes. By now we were pretty hungry so we said we would go directly to dinner, but first we had to stop at Mirabelle Gardens so I could pay homage to Julie Andrews. I found the passage that Maria comes through when she first goes to meet the Von Trapps and made Shaun and John video tape me as I twirled and whirled and sang the chorus of "I have confidence in me!" It was awesomely cheesy and embarrassing and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

All of us in Mirabelle Gardens and a photo of my Ode to Maria Von Trapp

Once again we set out for dinner, and once again we were waylaid. As we were walking along on a main street, we passed a small archway on our left. Beyond the archway we could see there was a steep little street that had stairs built into the sidewalk. We had no idea where it led, but we had to investigate. The street and sidewalk stairs went up about a half mile and led to some absolutely stunning overlooks. By now, the weather had completely cleared up so we took some great pictures before heading back down. After so many detours we were ravenous, so we settled in at a little restaurant for "Schnitzel with Noodles" and a few beers before heading back to the Hostel for our last sleep in Salzburg.

Views from the scenic overlook

Shaun and I have already decided that we want to come back.

Auf Weidersein Maria! Bless your homeland forever.