France, Germany and Switzerland Travels – 2012

We arrived in Zermatt, Switzerland safely at about 11:30 AM this morning.  It was a long travel day, even though we were only on the three different trains for a total duration of about 3.5 hours.  We got up this morning at 5:45 AM (yeah, nice relaxing vacation) so that we could get ready, finish the last minute packing, and still have time for some breakfast at the hotel before we headed to the train station to make our 8:00 AM train.  We had debated yesterday whether to forgo the breakfast at the hotel and try and make the 7:00 AM train instead of the 8:00 AM train.  The earlier departure would get us into Zermatt an hour earlier, and possibly miss some of the commuter traffic.  However, the drawbacks of missing the good breakfast at the hotel, and the need to get up even earlier than 5:45 AM so that we could get ready, finish packing and check out, and have time for the 15 minute walk to the train station outweighed the benefit.

We opted for the 8:00 AM departure time and enjoyed our nice breakfast and a leisurely walk to the train station.  As we arrived at the station, the train we were going to be taking was just arriving, and we still had over 20 minutes before our scheduled departure.  That enabled us to secure front facing seats, store our luggage, and be set to go before most of the other connecting passengers even boarded.

We had three different trains to ride before making it to our destination in Zermatt.  We left Lucerne on our way to the first stop in Bern, Switzerland, which was about a hour away.  In Bern, we quickly made a change in platforms to board our train to Visp, Switzerland.  This was a regional train, and it was really full.  We barely found seats and luggage storage space once we boarded the train.  This train made a few more stops than the previous one, and was much slower in overall speed.   It was a double deck train, and we found seats on the top deck near the restaurant car.  Upon arriving a little late in Visp, we hustled over to another platform to make the final train connection into Zermatt, all the while  thinking we only had a few minutes to make the train.  However, as soon as we rushed onto the platform, and saw that the train had not yet arrived.  The station was also making an announcement that the train to Zermatt was running about 10 minutes late.  There were quite a lot of other people heading to Zermatt, so we knew this train would also be crowded.

The train arrived and we had to move down the platform to get to a second class car since the area we were initially standing in was for the first class cars, which were in the middle of this train.  We boarded, stowed our luggage, and found two seats across from each other next to another couple.  This was a “panoramic” car, so it had large windows and then some upper narrow windows at the top area where the car side curved to meet the roof.  These extra upper windows allowed you to see the tops of the mountains as we rode by them.

The views on this train were fantastic, although it would have been a little better sitting next to the windows instead of the aisle seats we had.  The train actually climbed up some fairly steep inclines as it slowly progressed towards Zermatt.  We made several stops in some really small Alpine cities, and in about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we reached the Zermatt Station.

It was roughly a 300 meter walk from the train station to the hotel, all down the main street of the town.  Zermatt  is a cross between a skiing town and a hiking town, many of the stores are geared to supporting these two outdoor activities.  Hiking is certainly predominate this time of year, but skiing is available year round up on the glaciers. We could feel the altitude difference already, the town of Zermatt is at an elevation of 1, 620 meters (5,314 feet)

Our Hotel – Hotel Garni Testa Grigia

Our room at the hotel was not yet ready, so we once again stored our luggage in a secured area, first having to change from “train  travel” mode to “sightseeing” mode, meaning changing out several items from our suitcases into our backpacks, including the camera gear.

Our First View of the Matterhorn From Town

We headed out to try and ride a few of the cable cars in the area, knowing that the weather forecast for tomorrow was for cloudy skies and some rain.  Since we wanted to get some good photos of the Matterhorn, which is the main attraction of this area, we headed to the Rothorn/Sunnegga set of lifts.

We purchased a three day travel pass, which allows us unlimited rides on the cable cars and local electric bus service.  All of the vehicles in Zermatt are electric, including the City buses, the taxis, delivery trucks and hotels shuttles for the hotels that have them (ours did not).  They are small little electric vans that really scoot along.

Cog Rail Inside Tunnel – Destination Sunnegga

The initial portion of the lift ride goes to the first hiking area called Sunnegga.  This portion of the journey is inside of a tunnel the entire way.  You initially walk about 150 meters into the mountain in a horizontal tunnel, then board a cog railway that transports you up the mountain, inside of a tunnel the entire way.  It goes pretty quickly up the mountain and has about 1,000 meters in elevation change.  We exited there and took a few photos before heading up the next portion of the mountain in some smaller 6 person Gondolas.

Cable Car to Rothorn – Elevation 3,103 Meters

Once we exited the gondolas, we boarded a large cable car for the rest of the journey up to Rothorn.

There were not many people on the cable car with us, making it an enjoyable and peaceful ride.  The cable car appeared to hold 100 or more persons, it was hard to tell since there were only 6 people on board for our journey.

Rothorn is at an elevation of 3,103 meters (10,180 feet), and there were spectacular views of the Matterhorn and surrounding mountain peaks.  We hiked around  looking for a good photo spot.  You could tell the air was thin as we climbed up and down on the trails.

Chuck & Stephanie – Matterhorn From Rothorn

You could see one of the glaciers from this area, and several of the small, but really clear lakes formed by the glaciers in the past.

We boarded the cable car, and then the gondolas for the journey back down to Sunnegga.  Then we were back on the cog train for the remaining journey back down to Zermatt.  We walked back to the hotel to check in since it was now about 2:30 PM, and the room was supposed to be ready.

Glacier Seen From Rothorn

We walked past some really old wooden cabins, dating back to the 16th century.  We believe it is an historic portion of the town that is preserved as part of a museum.

16th Century Cabins in Zermatt

Arriving at the hotel, we checked in and the desk attendant, who might be the owner, led us to our room.  According to the attendant, our room was supposedly an upgrade, although we were not sure what the difference was from our original reservation, since it was no more specific than telling us it was a “double room”.  We did end up on the front side of the hotel in a room on the third floor with a balcony, and did have a nice view of the Matterhorn mountain from our balcony.  The entire hotel was recently upgraded, and the room was very nice inside with all new furniture, a nice double size bed, and a large bathroom.  Real upgrade or not, we were very pleased with the room.

View From The Trockener Steg Area

We headed out to get a quick bite to eat for a late lunch.  Afterward, we walked to the other end of the town, looking for the Matterhorn Glacier lift, which goes up to the highest point in the area.  Since we had the three day passes, our plan was to just ride up to the top, and then ride  back down.  The initial portion of the ride up was in an eight person gondola, and then the next leg of the trip was in a large cable car.

We were there in time to take the last cable car of the day to what we thought was the top of the mountain, and we would only have 15 minutes to walk around before we needed to board the final car for the ride down.  We initially thought this cable car went to the top, but there was actually another separate cable car to go the remaining distance, and that was already closed for the day.  The intermediate area we arrived at is called Trockener Steg, at an elevation of 2,939 meters (9,643 ft).  The actual top of the mountain in this area is called Klein Matterhorn, and is at an elevation of 3,883 meters (12,379 feet).  There is a restaurant and a hotel in Trockener Steg, and this is also the area where there is skiing year round on the glaciers.  We will have to try and go up the remainder of the distance tomorrow, or early on Sunday.

The Matterhorn – View From Our Hotel Balcony

When we got ready to board the cable car in Trockener Steg for the trip down, we found out that the cable car that had brought us up had never made it to the bottom with the people that had boarded after we got off.  There was an electrical problem, and it took about 30 minutes for it to be repaired before the car came back up, and they allowed us to board for the journey back down.  Stephanie was not thrilled with the fact that the car had broken down right before we got on, but we made it down without further incident.  We rode down the next portion on the 8 person gondolas accompanied by a man from an area nearby to Zermatt who had been hiking on the glaciers all day.  He spoke pretty good English, and told us about his many trips to the US, some to see some relatives in and around Missouri.  He actually worked for the Swiss train company SBB.

We walked back to the hotel to relax before heading out to get some dinner.  Later, we ended up in a German restaurant that was having a buffet in celebration of the start of Oktoberfest tomorrow (Saturday) in Munich.  The food was good, it was nice to try out some different sausages, and roasted pig knees, which is a popular German dish.  The restaurant was not very crowded, possibly because it was after 8:30 PM, but the remaining guests were having a good time.  It appeared that they may have known the owner, who was dressed up in some traditional German Oktoberfest clothing.

We walked back to the hotel to process pictures for posting to the photo albums, and work on the blog.  It had been a long day, and we knew we would sleep well.  We won’t need to get up early tomorrow since the weather may be rainy, and we may not have much to see in the rain and cloud shrouded mountains.  We may just ride some of the cable cars anyway since we have the passes.  Maybe they will go above the clouds, or we may be able to see some snow falling.

This was our last morning in Zermatt, and we awoke to clear and beautiful blue skies. It was not as cold as yesterday, or it did not seem so since it was sunny. We set the alarm for 6:30 AM so that we could try and get to breakfast as early as possible, and then head out on the cog train to Gornergrat. We were looking forward to seeing the peak in the sunshine today, after seeing it in the rain/fog yesterday, and also to see what the entire area looked like in the morning sunshine versus the afternoon sun. All of our sunny mountain top experiences so far were in the afternoon, so the morning sun may offer a different perspective with the sun in a different location.

The Matterhorn From Our Balcony

We had a little trouble sleeping last night, we had left the window open for some ventilation, but we did not know that there were going to be people out partying on the streets of Zermatt until 3 and 4 in the morning, yelling and talking loudly. They were not Americans, since we could not understand anything they said. It was hard to believe anyone would be that loud that late at night.  It is sort of funny that all of the Rick Steves’ guidebooks always advise Americans traveling in Europe to talk in soft tones and not be “loud”.  I wonder if it seems louder anytime you hear talking that is not your native language, maybe where the pronunciation sounds harsher….food for thought.  There are a lot of loud Europeans too, at least they sound that way to us, daytime, and as last night, especially that late at night.

We went to breakfast and then finished packing as much as we cold and still keep out all of the camera gear and both backpacks for the trip to Gornergrat.

The Matterhorn From Gornergrat

We headed out to the Gornergrat Station and took the 8:48 AM cog train to the summit. Without being taken politically incorrect, we would like to express that it is interesting that almost 90% of the people out and about in the early morning at touristy destinations are Asians, and they are not quiet people either when they are in their tour groups.  We had settled into our seats on the train, and all of a sudden, we were inundated with a large Asian tour group, and their tour leader, a woman, was barking commands and handing out information to her group. The rest of the group was talking loudly back and forth all around us. It was just too much for us this early in the morning, so we got up and moved into another car. Unfortunately, most of the cars were also filled with Asian tourists, they just seem to start early in the morning as tour groups go, we had seen the same thing  in Paris.  You have to give them credit, they probably see a lot more sights  on their tours than other, less early rising nationalities.

Glacier Pools From Gornergrat

The riders on the train seemed to calm down some once we started moving, other than the scurrying around to take bad pictures through the highly reflective glass of the train car windows. Then they started having trouble with windows fogging since it was cold outside, and everyone was talking inside, fogging up the windows.  It became a constant back and forth of cleaning windows and running around to get photos.  It actually started to get a little comical to watch.

During the ride, once we were above the treeline, the sights were so much better than we had seen (really, not seen due to the fog) on yesterday’s ride.

Chuck & Stephanie – Gornergrat, Switzerland

After departing the train at the top of the mountain, we headed straight for the observation deck, the highest point we could get to, and found a good spot where the sun angle was good, and the background was what we wanted. We set up the tripod and took some more photos of us with the mountains and glaciers in the background. We then headed down to the station area where the trains let people on and off, and took a couple more photos. We decided to ride the train down to the next stop heading back down to Zermatt, and get off there to see what it looked like, and possibly find another spot for photos. We got back on the train heading down from the summit, and so did most all of our new Asian friends. We thought it was going to be nice to get off at the first stop, thinking we would let all of our new friends continue downward. Wrong, they all must have decided we knew what we were doing because almost the entire train load got off with us!!!

Swiss Peaks From Gornergrat

It was interesting because there were only a hand full of people at this stop when we arrived, and we (mostly our new friends) added a lot to the total station population. Luckily, they headed down one of the trails, I guess they were altogether as a group, and were following their guide. We took a few more photos of us with the Matterhorn in the background, and then packed everything up to wait on the next train heading down to Zermatt. It was now almost 11:00 AM, and we needed to get back to the hotel to make the 12:00 noon check-out time.

Chuck & Stephanie from Gornergrat

Luckily, the next train down was almost empty compared to the one we had initially taken down from the summit, so when we boarded (sans new friends) we were able to enjoy a nice, quiet and peaceful descent for our last remaining time in Zermatt.

Once back in the room, we hastily packed the remaining items into the luggage, and checked out about 11:50 AM, plenty of time to walk to the station and make our 12:39 PM connection to Visp, Switzerland.

We stopped on the way to the station and got a sandwich and large pretzel with our remaining Swiss Francs. We ended up with 0.05 franc (a Swiss franc nickel) in change, pretty good since the remainder of our trip uses the Euro as currency. We headed over to the platform for the train that said “Visp” and went ahead and boarded the train so we could eat our lunch which was good.  Afterward, Stephanie and I discussed the fact that we had not gotten any pictures of the small electric vehicles here, and since there were several parked at the train station, some were hotel shuttles, others were taxis, we thought I should take Stephanie’s small camera, get off the train,  and go and and take a couple of pictures of them. I got off of the train to take the pictures, and to throw away our trash from lunch, thinking we still had another 20 minutes until the train departed.  Stephanie stayed on the train to watch the luggage. That is when the wheels fell off!!!

Electric Cars in Zermatt – I Think I hear A Train Whistle

After taking the photos, as I was heading back to the train, I heard a loud toot of a train whistle. I was thinking that another train was departing before ours, but when I got around the corner and looked out at Platform 4, where our train, and Stephanie had been, our train was already a few hundred yards away, heading out. It was a bad feeling. Several days earlier, we had actually discussed a plan of action in the event something like this happened.  The plan was that we would just meet up at the next station/stop. The bad news was that Stephanie had our Swiss Passes, so I could not travel on the train unless I either went illegally without a ticket or purchased one.

I was glad that I at least had my credit card since we did not have any Swiss francs left after purchasing our lunch. I considered buying a ticket from the automated machine, but then thought that I might have trouble with the credit card in the machine, and maybe it would just be easier to go to the ticket window to purchase the ticket. This ended up being a good thing because, little did I know, Stephanie was already talking with the train attendant on the train she was on (without me), and they had already called in to the main ticket office at the station looking for me.

As I was trying to purchase a ticket at the ticket office from one person, another ticket agent was talking to the train, and they
confirmed that Stephanie would get off at the next station with all of the baggage, and I would meet her there, at Tasch, Switzerland, which was the next stop out of Zermatt.

Meeting Up With Stephanie and Our Luggage in Tasch

I could have taken the next train heading to Visp, stopping in Tasch, about 20 minutes later, which was actually the train we intended to take originally, leaving Zermatt at 12:39. I ended up taking the Zermatt to Tasch Shuttle, which only goes from Zermatt to Tasch instead, and it left much sooner than 12:39 PM.

What had happened to cause this situation was that we had unknowingly got on the 12:13 PM train from Zermatt to Visp, where we were supposed to take the 12:39 PM train. It was not an issue to go to Visp earlier, and we just saw “Visp” on the station monitor, saw that train was on Platform 4, and thought it would be our train. We did not remember seeing any other Visp departure time posted. We thought that eating lunch on the comfortable train seats was a good idea while we waited for our departure, but that train just happened to be scheduled to depart a little earlier, and without both of us on-board.

The shuttle train to Tasch happened to be on a train dedicated to going back and forth from Zermatt to Tasch, since Tasch is where everyone who drives to the Zermatt area has to park their cars, and ride the train into Zermatt, because Zermatt is “gasoline free”.  My decision to take the shuttle train caused me a little concern, because when I departed the train in Tasch, Stephanie was nowhere to be seen on the platform I was on. I entered the station and looked around, but still no Stephanie.

I was getting a little concerned before I realized the the train I was on did not go any farther (this is when the “shuttle” concept hit me) and that the platform it stopped on was not for the normal trains heading through to farther destinations. I looked around and finally saw the sign for the other platforms, and once I got out there, I saw Stephanie sitting all by herself with our luggage. We were glad the adventure was over.

It was then that I was able to hear Stephanie’s side of the story. As soon as the train started to leave without me, Stephanie quickly found the train attendant and tried to get the train stopped. The attendant was very helpful, but of course, stopping the train was not an option, and that was when the attendant called the station office in Zermatt, and was on the phone in the main ticket office at the same time I was there trying to purchase a ticket.

It all ended well, but it was a good example of why we had discussed having a back-up plan in case we were separated. We both carry credit cards and ATM cards, so we always have access to money, which is also good.  Our new best rule though is once on the train, stay on the train, or get off together.  And, check departure times more carefully.

The next two connections were made without incident, until we got to the station in Basel, Switzerland. Our Swiss Passes enabled us to travel that far without tickets, but we needed a separate ticket for the ride to Strasbourg, France from Basel. The station had a Swiss side, which is large and modern, and a connector walkway to the French side, which is old and small, and not attended by anyone. Since we could not find a manned ticket window, we initially tried to purchase a ticket from the SNCF (French Train Company) ticket machine, knowing the possibility was slim that it would accept our credit card without the “smart chip”.   In addition, there was no English menu, so we had to try and figure it out in French, which we were able to do. However, when we tried to pay, sure enough, it would not accept our credit card. In addition, this was another one of the French ticket machines that only takes coins, no Euro bills, and we needed about Euro 46.00 in change, which we did not come close to having. Nothing easy or convenient about these French ticket machines for foreign travelers, and as stated previously, there was no one attending this part of the station.

We went back in to the Swiss side of the station and went to the SBB (Swiss Train) counter.  They were able to sell us a ticket, but there was an additional 20.00 Swiss Franc “charge” that we did not fully understand.  If we could have purchased the tickets from the unfriendly non European  SNCF ticket machine, we would have avoided that charge, oh well.  The actual ticket price was the same numerical amount we saw on the French Ticket Machine, but in  Swiss Francs, so maybe with the exchange rate differential between the Swiss Franc and the Euro, it was not as bad as it seemed, even with the additional charge.

With all of that ticket purchase confusion, we missed our connection that we had hoped to make to Strasbourg , but there was another train leaving 30 minutes later, which was the one we purchased tickets for.  We went ahead and got on the train about 30 minutes early, first verifying through an attendant that it was the correct train. (we already learned our lesson today, and we are “train”able  – no pun intended).  There were just a few other persons on the train, which was at least 10 cars long, and we thought it was going to be a relaxing ride.  I guess they schedule the number of cars based on the number of potential passengers (damn those statistics) because at the next stop, we were mobbed with people boarding the train.  It did not bother us, but it was amazing to see the train fill up completely as we made a few more stops before getting to Strasbourg.

Cathédrale de Nôtre Dame in Strasbourg

Luckily, our hotel in Strasbourg was right near the station, so within 10 minutes of departing the train, we were checking in at the Vendome Hotel.  It is a decent place, certainly not as nice as the hotel in Zermatt, but a lot less cost.  This is a “cost offset” hotel, helping to offset some of the higher cost of the Swiss hotels.

We put our luggage in the room, and headed out to do a little exploring, since it was just a little after 6:00 PM.  We actually walked into the “Old Town” of Strasbourg, and saw the Notre Dame Cathedral (yes, there is one here too) and part of La Petite France, an older historic section.

La Petite France in Strasbourg

We were tired from all of the train fun we had today, so we just stopped off at a Gyro sandwich shop nearby the hotel on the way back from our walk.  Things sure are cheaper here than Switzerland.  Instead of a 1.0 deciliter wine for 7.00 francs, we had a half liter (that is 5 deciliters for the math impaired readers) for euro 7.90, and it was better wine.

Well, it was an eventful day, we came away with some hard lessons learned, and were glad everything had worked out.  We both think the Lord was watching out for us, maybe in thanks for our desire, and enjoyment, in attending Sunday Mass wherever we are traveling.

Tomorrow’s forecast calls another rainy day, but that will not deter us from going out to explore Strasbourg.  We will sleep well tonight knowing we have no more trains to take for the remainder of the trip.  Today’s train travel was exhausting! For the remainder of the trip trip travel will be via rental car, with the exception of the two bus trips to and from Prague.  At least with the buses, we have no connections to make once we board them, hopefully together.

Once again, we were having to get up early to make our connections, this time a train ride to Kehl, Germany to pick up our rental car. I had lied, we still had one more 10 minute train ride before we were through with trains for the trip.  We set the alarm for 6:30 AM, and after one snooze, we finally got up. We slept better, we never had the window open so the noise was not an issue. However, the air conditioner  was a pure disappointment.  Stephanie had asked the front desk for the remote, and they gave it to us so we could operate the wall mounted air conditioner.  Neither of us think it worked at all, there was no difference in the amount of air on any of the three fan speeds, or in the temperature, even though it was “on”. It was a totally useless piece of equipment. Thankfully, it was cool enough outside, so that the room was tolerable, and we could get some decent sleep.  We thought that maybe it was a centralised water cooled system, and it was not operational because if the time of year, but they did not tell us that, and only the fan seemed to be working, there was no cooler air coming from the unit when it was supposedly on.

We packed up everything in the suitcases one more time, knowing that for the next several days, we would not be traveling by train, and would not need to keep the suitcases as small as possible to more easily handle on the trains. Since we were picking up our rental car today, we will be able to expand the suitcase if need be, since space is not an issue in the car.

We checked out right on time and headed to the train station, which was only about a five minute walk away. Once we were at the station, we headed for one of the automated ticket machines to purchase out ticket to Kehl. We already knew the train numbers and fare, it was just a matter of purchasing the two Euro 3.80 tickets. We first tried a SNCF ticket machine, which is the French National Train company. We even had an English translation selection, and all seemed to be going well until we tried to pay for the tickets.  It was then that we noticed the machines only took credit cards, no coins, no bills, just like yesterday in Basel. It was a flashback, other than having the ability to see it in English, so we were one small step ahead. Since this entire effort was for naught, we headed over to another ticket machine which was for the “Ter” trains. This is a subset of the SNCF railway, we think. We thought this would work for sure since we already knew from looking up the train schedule last night, that all of the trains between Strasbourg and Kehl were operated on the Ter network. We even saw that the Ter ticket machines took both coins and bills, in addition to credit cards. Then we tried to select the destination, which was under the alphabet letter “K” selection on the machine for Kehl. When we selected “K” for the destination cities, Kehl was nowhere to be found in the station listing.

We were confused to say the least. One type of ticket machine had the correct destination but did not take coins or our credit card (sans “smart chip”), and the other took the correct forms of payment (coins and bills) we needed, but did not have the destination selection for Kehl. Damn the French ticket machines, they hate Americans.

We then had to try and find the ticket counter, all the while, the clock was ticking to make our desired connection of 7:50 AM. We knew we could take a later train at 8:22, but the principle of it all was getting on our nerves, we had not gotten up early so we could fight the ticket machines.

We had to ask where the ticket office was since we did not see it anywhere near where we were. It was almost at the other end of the station, so we headed over there, and then got in line. There went the 7:50 AM connection as we patiently (well not) waited for our turn. Sure enough, the ticket person told us we had to purchase the ticket in the yellow colored SNCF machines, but that they would not take US credit cards since they don’t have smart chips.  She also informed us we could not buy a ticket form the Ter machines either, even though it is a Ter train we are riding.. Who knew, we had to go to the ticket counter all along…damn the French ticket machines.

Well, we now had enough time to get some coffee and breakfast, thank you French Railway ticket machines

We rode the entire 9 minute train to Kehl without incident, at least without incident once we had tickets. The actual train ride took about one third the time it took to actually purchase the ticket.  Of course, we did not have to show our tickets to anyone, we could have just ridden for free if we wanted to take the chance. Not worth the 8.00 Euro ticket cost for the potential of a much larger fine.

We got off in Kehl, it already seemed like it took forever to get there. We had directions to the Europcar Car rental location, which was about a 10-12 minute walk from the station.  We had used Google maps, and Google View to check out the train station and how to get to the rental car location from there, and it was exactly as shown. We walked to the rental car location without any problem, and within 10 minutes of arriving, had our car, a VW Golf Hatchback, with a diesel engine, and a 6 speed manual transmission.

Once we were situated with our luggage, and had made the transfer of photo equipment to our backpacks, and gotten out our GPS, we were set to go. We had loaded up a Google Map route of some of the more scenic cities to go through on our way to Simonswald, our destination city for tonight.  We used the cities along the Google Map route as the GPS entries, so we just drove from one city to the next, following the GPS directions.

We stopped at a couple of the cities we had mapped out, some of them were scenic, some were just small German cities, nice to look at, but after a while, they sort of all look the same.

Wolfach, Germany – Our Stop for Lunchtime

We did stop at the equivalent of a German “Home Depot’, more to seek a bathroom than anything else, but after visiting the facilities, we walked around inside the store. It was very interesting to look at all of the different items that they have in Europe as compared to the US. A lot of the items are just made to fit in smaller spaces since a lot of the homes are smaller.

The Falls at Triberg, Germany

We stopped in Wolfach, Germany around lunchtime, just to look around, but we also decided to have lunch there. It was a nice city. We then headed over to Triberg, Germany, to once again visit the waterfall. It was sunny as we headed to the parking lot, but about the time we got to the actual falls, it started to get cloudy once again, and even started to rain.

Chuck & Stephanie at the Triberg Falls

We were able to get some photos, but also had to wait under a Gazebo for the heavier rain to stop. Triberg was the city we were in two years ago when my Dad passed away. It was also the home of our cuckoo clock from the last trip there, so we had to visit the store where we bought the clock.

After leaving Triberg, we headed over to Titisee-Neustadt, Germany. It is a real touristy area, but we wanted to check it out since we were so close. It was just as billed, a tourist mecca, seeming to be mostly older German people on vacation. There was a large lake nearby, but the main area was mostly touristy shops. We spent about a hour there and then headed to our hotel in Simonswald.

The GPS routed us through an area where the road was VERY narrow, in most areas, it was just wide enough for one car. If it had not been raining, late in the afternoon, and both of us being tired, we would have actually appreciated the scenic ride. It was at least 10 miles of narrow winding road, but most of it ran along a river, which was running full due to the rains falling all day. We had to pull over one time to let someone by, who was going much faster than we wanted to go, at least there was some other traffic on the road.

Clouds Envelope the Black Forest

We finally made it to Simonswald, and checked into our hotel. It was still raining and we could not enjoy the beauty of the area as much as we wanted. The hotel was really nice,  our  room came with access to a balcony that went across the entire front of the hotel,  looking out over the valley and forest across the way. The clouds were rolling through the trees, and it was very scenic.

Stephanie on the Balcony at the Landgasthaus Gruner Baum

They also run a restaurant here, and we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant tonight since there was not anything close by. The restaurant was packed, apparently a lot of locals as well as hotel patrons eat here.

  We had to get the sin if the owner’s to help us with the menu, he was the only one there that spoke any English, and he was very helpful in telling us about the items n the menu.  In the end, we just ordered the special they had for tonight.  The food was really good, and it was one of the best meals we had on the trip so far, good home cooked German food.

We will be heading out early again tomorrow for our drive to Schwangau, Germany. We have about a 380 km drive, with planned stops along the way in some of the scenic towns.

Today is Stephanie and my Anniversary.  Happy Anniversary to Us

Cloudy Skies In The Morning

As forecast, it rained during the night, and some in the morning. We could see blue sly off in the distance, but then it would disappear, and we would get more rain.  It was also about 41 degrees, so sort of a cold and rainy morning so far.

We did some clothes washing last night after returning from dinner, hoping that with the heat running, the clothes will dry before we leave tomorrow morning to head for our next stop in Oberammergau, which is only about a 45 minute drive away.

Hohenschwangau Castle

We waited until the skies started to clear at about 9:30 AM before we headed over to the castles.  After the rainy night and morning, it appeared that the remainder of the day would be sunny.  Unfortunately, we were wrong.  However, it was nice for about 2 hours, enough time to get to the castles and actually tour the Hohenschwangau Castle with the sun shining, but unfortunately, the sun had disappeared by the time we arrived at the Neuschwanstein Castle.

It actually was very sunny once we waited in line about 20 minutes to get our tickets.  We did the dual castle pass, and with that, we saved a whopping 2.00 euros.  The negative was that we had to tour the Hohenschwangau Castle first, and then wait about 2 hours later for the Neuschwanstein Castle.  The actual tours last about 35 minutes, but getting from one castle to the other is a little bit of a time consuming venture. It is the responsibility of the person going on the tours, us, to get to the castles, either by walking, riding a horse drawn carriage, or taking a bus, the last two being an extra costs to the actual entry fees we already paid.

Hohenschwangau Castle – Fleeting Sunshine

The Hohenschwangau Castle is lower, so it is an easy walk to get to it, but the Neuschwanstein Castle is quite higher in elevation, and is a tough 30-35 minute walk from the bottom area where you park and purchase the tickets.

We climbed up to the Hohenschwangau Castle in about 10 minutes, and took some photos from the area outside as we waited for our tour time.  All of the tours in both castles are guided, and are all set to start at a certain time, and they are limited in size.  The inside of the Hohenschwangau Castle was not that spectacular, I guess one has to remember that this castle was only a summer residence, and not intended to be large or lavish, only a place for the royal family to get away. The rooms were not that lavish, nor were they even that large.  Our guide informed us that they did not hold any royal functions there, those were reserved for the castle in Munich.

Lake Alpsee Near the Castles

Once we completed the tour of the Hohenschwangau Castle, we headed back down and passed by the crystal clear Alpsee Lake that was nearby.  The water was deep and the color of a bluish green.

Afterward we headed over to the bus station to purchase a one way bus ride to the top to see the Neuschwanstein Castle.  We waited about 15 minutes for the bus, and they really loaded the passengers on for the ride to the top.  The advantage of the bus was that it took you to a higher point, which was close to the Marienbrucke Bridge.  The bridge is one of the best vantage points to see the Neuschwanstein Castle.

View of Neuschwanstein Castle from The Marienbrucke Bridge

We climbed up from the bus stop to the bridge, which spans over a large stream, and it quite high in elevation.  The photos would have been great, had the sun stayed out, and if there had not been a tremendous amount of scaffolding on the castle.  We already knew about the scaffolding, since there have been restoration efforts going on for several years,  What we did not know was that the scaffolding was on some of the most visible parts of the castle, including some of the higher towers.  Most of the scaffolding was on one side and one end, but the scaffolding on the higher tower was so much more visible.

Oh well, such is the case for a lot of older sights in Europe, they are constantly under restoration.

Marienbrucke Bridge From the Neuschwanstein Castle

The tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle was much better than the other tour, the castle was spectacular inside.  The other thing that was amazing was that the castle was under construction for about 18 years, but only one floor was really ever completely furnished.  However, once we saw what it took to decorate the interior, it was understandable.  There were so many wood carvings, some of the ones in the King’s Bedroom took a group of 4 carvers several years to complete, just for that one room.  The carvings over the bed were just fantastic.  Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside, so we can’t share the wonders.

The tour was completed in about 35 minutes, and we walked through the gift shop, and then through the kitchen, not on the official tour.  There was one balcony where we could take some photos of the Marienbrucke Bridge and the waterfall and creek it spans.

Chuck & Stephanie From Balcony – Neuschwanstein Castle

We then headed down the walkway to the bottom, stopping for some more photos outside the castle.  The walk down on the walking path was farther than we thought, and it takes a different route up and down the mountain than the bus route.  On the way down, we passed by a Hofbräuhaus restaurant, which is the same beer company as the one we had visited in Munich two years ago.

Hofbräuhaus For Lunch

We were hungry for lunch since it was about 3:00 PM.  We had not had time for lunch since it took so long for us to go from one castle to the other, and then take the tour.  We had some really good German food there, and one beer a piece since we had to drive home, and the alcohol limits are amazingly low for DUI in Germany, something like 0.03%.

Beers With our German Lunch

We walked the remainder of the path to the bottom.  By this time it was really cloudy and cool, and looked like it was going to rain at anytime.  We decided to just head back to the apartment, and enjoy the rest of the evening having our cheese and crackers we had bought from the grocery store yesterday.  We were not back long before it started to rain again.  It was sort of amazing how the weather had changed from rain to sunshine and then back to rain again.

We did some more laundry, trying to get ahead of it while we had time, and had a place for the clothes to hang and dry.  It was cool enough where we could use the hot water radiator heaters to help dry the clothes.

Tomorrow, we hope to have more sunshine.  If we do, we will probably first head back to try and get some better photos at the Neuschwanstein Castle and surrounding area before we head over to Oberammergau, Germany, which is only about 45 km away.

Like a broken record, we are sad to report that today, the skies were cloudy once again in Germany.  It is getting discouraging at times since many of the sights are so much more beautiful when the sun is shining, and the skies are blue.  Unfortunately, the only thing blue today is our mood from seeing so many cloudy days.

We did get to sleep in a little since we were not in any rush to go out into the cloudy, and at times, cool and drizzly weather.

Linderhof Castle and Fountain

After eating our wonderful breakfast at the Hotel Gästehaus Richter, we decided to go and visit the Linderhof Castle, which is only a few kilometers from Oberammergau.  Linderhof Castle was the only castle ever completed by King Ludwig II, who was also responsible for the Neuschwanstein Castle.  The Linderhof Castle was really small compared to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was probably one of the reasons it was actually completed.

We arrived at the parking area about 10:30 AM, and headed to the ticket office to purchase our tickets.  The lady at the desk was less than friendly, and seemed irritated when I tried to use the credit card for the purchase.  She quickly informed us that the purchase amount was too small for them to accept a credit card, and that cash payment would be required.  We paid in cash, and headed to the castle for the tour.

Castle and Fountain From The Hilltop

The next English tour was in about 30 minutes, so we had some time to explore the grounds around the castle.  The actual building faces a large fountain area on the front, which is itself surrounded by some gardens.  Then there are steps going up to an elevated area with a stone or marble fixture.  In the back of the castle, opposite of the steps, is a long stepped waterfall that cascades down to the back of the castle, and has a covered gazebo at the top of the hill on that side.

The main fountain at the front of the Castle only operates for about 5 minutes at a time, we surmised it was running on the hour and half hour.

We headed inside for our tour, and similar to the other castles, due to copyright issues, there are no photos allowed inside.  Although the castle was small inside, there were only two floors and the rooms were not that large, it was exquisitely decorated.  The lower floor was the kitchen and servants living area, and the upper floor was reserved for King Ludwig II.  The rooms were spectacular, and well decorated with lavish carvings and gold gilded woodwork.  The castle was just for Ludwig’s personal use, no official royal functions were held here, so even the dining table was only sized for a single person.  He did not like to be disturbed by servants, so the dining room table could be lowered to the bottom floor, set up with dishes and food, and then raised up to the second floor for Ludwig to sit at by himself  and eat his meal.

View of the Back of the Castle From the Gazebo Side

There were four rooms on each corner, or at least near the corner on one side, that were decorated in their own color, and their main purpose was for use by the servants to be able to be nearby to the main rooms in between the corners of the castle, so that the servants could quickly be available in case Ludwig rang for them.  He was definitely a nut.  He had a room set up specifically for reading, which was apparently a great passion  and he was always up at night, and slept during the day.

The bedroom had a “king size” bed, OK that was the joke the guide used, and looked out at the cascading waterfall in the back of the castle. Another room was for music, and contained a piano that had only been played a few times.

Boat Inside Grotto – Opera Stage in Background

After we left the castle, we walked out to the “grotto”, which was, and I think is still is one of the largest man made grotto’s in the world.  It was under some renovation, but the center room contained a large pond that had a boat in it, and a stage for set up to perform opera scenes on.  Ludwig was a big fan of  Richard Wagner, who wrote a lot of operas at that time.  It was a place that reminded Ludwig of the nighttime, and servants would row him around in the boat, and they would even put swans inside on the water.  Did I say Ludwig was a nut!!!

Inside of the Ettal Abbey

There was also a hunting lodge on the grounds, but we did not go into that building.  There was also a small building that looked like a mosque, I believe it was built based on a trip Ludwig made to the middle east.  Again, there is just too much to put into this post, but I have added a link to the Linderhof Castle Web Site for more information.  On one of the pages at this official Linderhof Castle Site is a layout of the interior for the second floor.   We just wish it had been a sunny day, the buildings and grounds would have been so much prettier.

From the Linderhof Castle, we drove over to the town of Ettal to go to the Abbey there, which had a beautiful church.  The Abbey is called Ettal Abbey (Kloster Ettal), and  is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal.  It was beautiful inside, mostly with pink colors, similar to other churches in this area.

Ettal Abbey

Then we drove back to to our hotel in Oberammergau, where unfortunately, it started to rain.  We walked back into the town, and we ate a small, late lunch.  After lunch, we spent some time in the Oberammergau Catholic Church taking pictures inside, and of the cemetery that surrounds the the church on the outside, similar to what we had seen at the church in Lucerne, Switzerland.  From there, we walked back over to look inside some of the shops, but unfortunately, they all closed at 6:00 or 6:30 PM, so we did not get to spend much time looking in them.  This is definitely a sleepy little town where all of the shops and stores close early, no matter the day of the week.

We headed back over to the Catholic Church for Saturday Vigil Mass at 7:00 PM, and then after Mass, started our walk back to the hotel.  It was a cold rain, and we were tired of walking around in it.  We did try and stop off at the grocery store near the hotel, but had forgotten that all of the grocery stores close at 8:00 PM on Saturday, and it was now 8:15 PM.

Catholic Church in Oberammergau

We should have known that since this same exact thing happened to us in Vienna, Austria two years ago.  It was rainy (check), we were walking back to the hotel after Saturday night Mass (check), but that time, we unknowingly walked past the barrier indicating the store was closed, and went into the store anyway, not making the employees happy.  We thought the barrier, consisting of a mop and mop bucket was a warning for a wet floor (it was raining , not something to keep us out!  It was afterward that we looked at the sign showing their scheduled hours for the week.  We learned then that the  European signs giving the hours started on Sunday, and go through Saturday, not our typical Monday through Sunday signage. In Vienna, we thought the information for Saturday showed they were open until 10:00 pm, but in reality, that was the time for Friday.  In this case, we were much too late to squeeze in, the stores were already fully closed, so we had walked the extra distance in the rain for nothing.

Our plan then turned into going to a gas station we passed going back to the hotel that had a convenience store.  We picked up some really fresh and appetizing croissants and a jumbo pretzel for our snack (just kidding on the fresh part).  We proceeded to walk back to the room in the now steady rain,  and were glad to finally be inside, and out of the cold rain.  We ate our purely sustenance convenience store meal, and then we packed up our suitcases once again since we are driving to Munich in the morning, where we will be dropping off our rental car, and staying for one night to attend Oktoberfest.