Welcome to my blog, in which I post photos from recent travels and photography ideas.
These are posted irregularly, so log in at your leisure to catch my latest ramblings.
Day 26 - Country to City
This is Wirzweli, the high alpine village where we are currently staying.
This is the "road" we drive on as we leave the airbnb.
Here we are about to descend from high altitudes down to the valley and then on to Luzern (Lucerne).
Why are these cows not enjoying the view?
This is the most famous landmark in Luzern, the old wooden bridge.
It is actually mostly a reconstruction of the original bridge that had burned in the 1990s.
Old Luzern is the interesting area, with its traditional buildings.
Here is the "Lion Monument" carved in the rock, commemorating Swiss Guards who were massacred in the French Revolution.
We walked about the old city along the river and managed to survive the rain.
Then it was back to the harrowing (at least for Veda) drive back up to Wirzweli.
Rain clouds over Sarnersee as seen from the road up from the valley.
When we reached the alpine plateau we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow.
We stopped at a farmhouse and went in to buy some of their cheese.
We did not buy all of that - only a small wedge. This was a very delicious semi soft cheese.
Their cows thanked us for stopping in and making a purchase.
That evening Chris cooked a great dinner, highlighted with spatzli and pancetta with schnitzel, and wine.
Day 25 - Cows in Schwyz
We left Kirchberg on a drizzly morning, our destination our next airbnb.
The fields are still a vibrant green, as in this farm at Sattel, Schwyz canton.
We stopped in Schwyz to go to the Victorinox factory store, but we arrived right at noon, when everyone takes his lunch break.
So we thought that we'd do the same, so we walked into town. Being that it was everyone's lunch break, it was difficult finding seating in a cafe. Once we got seated, it seemed to take forever for Veda to receive her goulash soup. Our frustration with the slowness turned out to be a blessing. We noted many people gathering near the town centre. After inquiring what was happening, we were told "cows."
We had stumbled upon a parade of the cows being returned from their summer mountain pastures.
This is a traditional event throughout the alpine regions.
First came the marching (walking) band.
Then came the farmers with their cows - well over a hundred of them - with clanging bells.
I will not show you all of the cows, nor did I even photograph most of them.
We made one last stop, in Altdorf, the setting for the legend of William Tell.
Then it was time to seek out our airbnb in Wirzweli.
As we headed up this very narrow winding road, we found out that this road was closed. But we waited a half hour and the construction crew quit for the day and the road was opened. So we arrived in Wirzweli.
Day 24 - Meeting Hannah and Chris
This morning we met up with Hannah and Chris at their airport hotel.
In the north of Switzerland, in Thurgau canton, we checked out the grapes in the vineyards.
Our destination was Stein-am-Rhein, a village on the Rhine River at the border with Germany.
Though the village may appear interesting in this view from the castle, its main attraction lies within the village.
The facades of the buildings in the old town are protected by law, and thus well preserved.
Window shopping is also fun to do.
We then visited Hohenklingen, the castle above Stein.
From here, we took a leisurely drive eastward along the Rhine, and then turned southward.
Here we stopped for the night, in Kirchberg, St. Gallen canton.
Days 22 and 23 - Bye, Jane
We were prepared to be picked up from our hotel in Erding by the local car agent. But as we were eating breakfast, we received a message that our car was in front of our hotel.
This is a brand new Renault Arkana.
So we then were able to take Jane to the airport.
We've had a great time together.
Then it was another autobahn day, a long one, all the way to Fehraltorf, Switzerland.
Veronica and Veda relax over a glass (or more) of wine at Veronica's home.
Veronica has been a friend for fifty years, since we first met in Switzerland.
Hannah and Chris landed in Zurich this morning. We will pick them up tomorrow at their airport hotel.
We had light rain today, but were still able to go to this farm at Seegraben.
This farm has an annual festival of pumpkin sculptures.
Tonight Veronica is cooking us another wonderful dinner.
Tomorrow, we hit the road on a brief Swiss tour.
Days 20 and 21 - Through to Munich
This is the restaurant in our bed and breakfast in Santa Maria, with Jane and Veda at breakfast.
They are so fortunate to be having breakfast, because, after we arrived the previous afternoon, they weren't sure where they would be sleeping. Since I was relegated to the single room because it used a shared washroom, the ladies chose the double room with its private bathroom. But, after retrieving their luggage, they were unable to find their chosen room. I am forever grateful that our car had a GPS so that I did not have to rely on Jane and Veda for navigation!!!!!
We left Santa Maria and drove further down Val Mustair. This scene was at Trafoi.
We made a short divergence to drive up to the village of Guarda, in the Engadine.
These are a few vignettes from there.
This is the view as we left Guarda.
The village in the valley is Susch, below Piz dal Ras, in the Silvretta Range.
Our next stop was in Ardez.
This building is called "The Adam and Eve House" because of this historic painting on its facade.
It dates from1647.
How much more breath-taking a setting could there be for a cappuccino stop than this conditorei in Scuol!
Shortly thereafter we crossed into Austria and stopped at this pension in Pfunds.
This was the view from our room. And it was one of the most reasonably priced of all we stayed in.
Today was an autobahn day. We drove through the Inn Valley of Austria and to near the Munich airport.
We'd booked this hotel in Erding for this night. I subsequently returned our rental Citroen to the airport.
Tomorrow Jane flies home, and we pick up another vehicle to continue our travels.