Friday 23rd
Dec 2022
We caught up with some more of the family today when some joined us for a tour of the Salt Mines at Berchtesgaden. We went over the mountains and saw from a distance the Eagles Nest that was once used by Adolf Hitler.
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| Adolf Hitler's Eagles Nest |
Had a coffee break in
Berchtesgaden. After this we went to the Salt Mine and did the underground tour
(no photos allowed). Was interesting but the tour guide was hard to understand
and was a “grumpy man” – very much reminded everyone of Sergeant Schultz from
Hogan’s Heroes, but grumpier. After the tour, which included two wooden slides
and a boat ride on an underground lake as well as train rides (No photography
allowed in the mines except the tourist shot they do and sell to you), we
headed back to Salzburg for a late lunch. The guide on the coach, Walter, was
very good and had us laughing on many occasions. We later headed to the Augustiner
Brau Hof (Beer Hall) where we met up with most of the rest of the family. Headed
back towards home and again after a few wrong turns we made it home.
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| Walking home in the dark at Salzburg at 6:30 pm |
Saturday 24th
Dec 2022
We decided to meet and have a morning tea at Mozart’s Café in the centre of the old town. Then we all went to the starting point for our tour to Hallstatt, all 16 of us!!! There were 2 coaches heading to Hallstatt about 15 minutes apart and we were on the 2nd coach. As we were such a big group we were allowed to board the coach first. Les organised the group as best could be organised but there were a few other passengers who tried to get on – Les soon set them right! We headed off on a 1.5 hour coach trip to Hallstatt. The scenery is very spectacular even if there is not much snow other than on the high peaks. The tour guide for today was Gerhard and he was nowhere near as good as Walter who we had yesterday. Gerhard was harder to understand and was not as funny with his jokes. He was knowledgeable but lacked the wit of Walter. We stopped for a scenic photo along the way (cannot remember the name of the town we overlooked).
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| On the way to Hallstatt |
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| Hallstatt |
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| Hallstatt homes built on the mountain side |
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| Hallstatt |
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| Les' photo!! |
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| Joy's photo of Les!! |
Sunday 25th
Dec 2022
Had a fairly quiet morning and headed to the markets just after they opened at 11:00 so Joy could buy a Christmas tree for the lunch table. Once we found one, we still had plenty of time so we just wandered the streets of the old town and along the river checking out the scenery. aWhen we rrived at the Goldener Hirsch Hotel we were not the first and not the last. Had a wonderful meal of 4 courses plus a little pre-lunch savoury thing in a ceramic spoon and then chocolate after the dessert with the coffees. Joy had alpine roast beef, French onion soup, lightly roasted saddle of veal and rigo jancsi (chocolate cake) plus coffee and chocolate. Les had caramelized goat cheese, cream of potato soup, lightly roasted saddle of veal and Salzburger Nockerl (like a soft meringue), which is a specialty of Salzburg. They were all small dishes, like most fancy restaurants, but we were all full when we left. The soup was interesting as they bring out the plate with either the croutons (French onion) or bacon (potato soup) and then bring out a jug with the soup and pour it into the bowl.
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| Just proves that Joy is an Angel!!! |
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| At St Peters Restuarant |
Monday 26th
Dec 2022
As the rest of the family is leaving to head to Lapland today, we met at Mozart Café for breakfast (for some) or morning tea (for others). We (just us two, as the others had to leave to get to the airport) then walked to the Kapuzinerkloster (ehemalige Burg Trompeterschlößl) which is a monastery that overlooks the town.
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| The uphill slog to the Monastery. |
We didn’t go in but just enjoyed the views and walked back down and home. Les
is starting to feel it and all the walking over the last few days/weeks has
caught up with him. After lunch we did a quick walk through St Peters Cemetery
(in the daylight) and tried to get to the MönchsbergAufzug (Elevator) but it
didn’t appear to be open so just walked back via the markets. Relaxing
afternoon doing diary, knitting, etc
Tuesday 27th
Dec 2022
We were up at a reasonable time as we are heading off to the Fortress Hohensalzburg which is just above our accommodation. We arrived just after 9:30 which is when it opens and were one of the first funicular rides for the day. The fortress is a very impressive building, or series of buildings, and we booked for the full Grand Tour. It is a “wander around and read” type tour and some rooms get a bit crowded. We got back down to our accommodation at about 12:30. The fortress is well worth the look but can get very busy, as it did towards the end of our visit.
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| View from Fortress |
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| Inside the Fortress. The wood was used, when this was the top of the wall, so the soldiers could walk on the wood without any light and so long as they stayed on the wood they knew they were on the right path and would not fall of the edge. |
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| More of the Fortress |
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| Our accommodation from the Fortress. We stayed in the ground floor of the dark grey roof building in the centre. |
After lunch we decided to head out to have an afternoon tea and try and get Joy a Sacher Torte! We tried the Café Tomaselli however there was a queue to get in and the place was full, and very noisy. We wandered around trying to find somewhere else, but all either too small or too busy, and eventually ended up back at the tried and true, Café Mozart. It was also very full, but we managed a table in the back room. Joy got her Sacher Torte however was disappointed as it was not as nice as she was hoping for.
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| Joy's Sacher Tort |
Les had cheese strudel and this also was a disappointment but that may just be what it is like.
Wednesday
28th Dec 2022
Up fairly early today as we have a 9:56 train from Salzburg to Zurich. We have a 15-minute walk and a 15-minute bus ride and wanted to be there by 9:30. We arrived at the station at about 9:15 and the train was also running 12 minutes late so we bought a cheese roll each for lunch and settled down in the waiting room. While there we messaged with one of the family and were able to see them on the Webcam at Santa Village on the Artic Circle near Rovaniemi in Lapland. On the train and settled down in our reserved seats whilst others had to move, etc as they had not reserved seats and other people had reserved those seats. Luckily, we haven’t had any issues like that as our seats were empty. Today is a 5.5-hour train trip via Austria, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein (although we didn’t stop there), and Switzerland.
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| Joy and The Kids deep in thought!! |
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| Fences to Lessen the Avalanche threat. |
Exited the
station on the correct side (as compared to Munich) and were able to catch a
tram to our accommodation almost straight away as they run every 7 minutes. The
public transport system in Europe seems to be much better run than in
Australia.
We met the
representative for the apartment just after we arrived at the apartment and
booked in. They didn’t have the extra laundry tablet we had asked for and when
he returned with it, we enquired about the power adapter that they said they
had in the apartment. He went and found 2 in the basement. Off to the
supermarket which is probably the biggest supermarket we have been to since
arriving in Europe. Did the shopping but at the checkout found out that we
should have weighed and labelled the vegies so the lady at the checkout had to
do that for us. We’ll know next time!!
Thursday 29th
Dec 2022
Heading to Lucerne today and needed to leave the accommodation at 7:45 which meant the sun wasn’t up as it doesn’t rise until 8:15 am! Walk to tram stop, buy tickets on the app, phone locks up, restart phone just as we are getting our tickets checked by the inspector! Arrived at railway station with plenty of time and head off on the 8:35 train to Lucerne. Can’t reserve seats on this train but wasn’t very crowded in 1st class. One of the benefits of paying the extra to travel 1st class even if the seats are not much different.
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| We haven't told the Kids they have a special carriage for Teddy Bears!! |
Arrived in Lucerne at about 9:30 and bought some salad rolls and drinks for lunch and a treat for morning tea. Things are expensive in Switzerland and this cost about $34 AUD, but then the average salary in Switzerland is about twice that of Australia. We wandered along a walking route we found in the Lucerne Tour Brochure we got from the Info Centre at the railway station. It was quite easy to follow until we got to the small alleys and streets, but we just wandered and came back to the correct streets, but got to see some beautiful old buildings. Crossed the river and walked along the Musegg Wall which has 9 towers. In summer you can walk along the top of the wall and enter the towers, but in winter we can only follow the wall at ground level. It was a steep walk from the river to the 2nd tower but after that not too bad.
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| Joy now has a fascination for water spouts!! |
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| Jesuit Church St Francis Cavier |
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| Musegg Wall and Towers |
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| Musegg Wall and Towers |
When we finished walking along the tower we walked to Das Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument).
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| Lion Monument. Notice the outline is shaped like a pig. You need to Google it! |
We then headed back towards the river after Joy visited a wool and craft
shop (and didn’t buy anything!) and Les bought a Swiss power adaptor that we
will need for the next week or so (so we can plug our European adaptor into it,
that we then plug our Australian power cords into). The walk back to the river
goes down several old town streets that are lined with expensive brand shops
and was teeming with tourists. Managed to find a bench seat to sit on and have
lunch overlooking the river. We then crossed the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke).
It may look original but is actually a rebuilt bridge. It was built about 1365,
and 75 metres was demolished in 1835 after they filled in some shoreline. In Aug
1993 a fire destroyed a large part of the bridge, and it was reopened in Apr 1994.
47 of the 111 paintings that adorned the bridge were saved, the others
destroyed.
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| Chapel Bridge, Lucerne |
We then
headed to the station and caught a train to Root D4 station to visit the Aeschbach Chocolatier and Museum. It cost 15 CHF each
but you also get 5 CHF voucher each to spend at the café or shop. Good way to
get people to spend more at these places. The Museum was interesting and we got
to see the workers making chocolate stuff in the factory. Joy also got to try
“Unlimited” amounts of chocolate. We spent the 10 CHF voucher on specialty type
chocolates for her but didn’t add any extra money so they didn’t get much out
of us.
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| Joy tasting chocolate. Enough said! |
Friday 30th
Dec 2022
After a leisurely morning doing some diary, reviews, puzzles, etc we had an early lunch then headed off at about 12:10 to join our tour to Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein. We met at the coach parking area and checked in then boarded the coach. Our tour guide was Franziska. We very quicky learnt she was a female version of Gerhart from the Hallstatt tour on the 24th Dec. One of her favour sayings was “I tell you..” We headed towards Rhine Falls and Franziska decided to go via the country roads rather than the highway, which was fine except the coach driver had never been that way before and she wasn’t very good at giving timely navigation instructions. The weather had been OK but cloudy but the closer we got to the Rhine Falls the worse it got. By the time we arrived it was raining which made the walking a bit miserable. We did the normal walks, even in the rain including taking a wrong turn and going back down to one of the viewing points so we got to ride back up the elevator a 2nd time.
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| Rhine Falls |
While Franziska had talked a lot on the coach on the way (about things such as solar panels, living in Zurich, growing up in the country, the Swiss health system), she hadn’t told us anything about the Rhine Falls or the castle there, except for the fact that her grandmother used to take her to the falls. So we didn’t really know what we were doing when we were at the falls, or even if we could look at the castle etc. Back on the coach and off to Stein am Rhein which is a quaint medieval village on the Rhine River. It had lots of stalls in the main street which is car free when the markets are on. Not sure if they are left over Christmas Markets or markets for the tourists.
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| Stein am Rhein |
Not much else open so
Joy didn’t get her afternoon coffee. Light rain. Back to the coach at about
5:00 pm and home in the dark.
Saturday 31st
Dec 2022
We had to be up at a reasonable time this morning so the alarm was set for 7:30. After breakfast at about 9:00 we headed back to the coach parking place and started our Zurich Town Tour with ferry ride to Lindt Museum. We had the same tour guide as yesterday, which we knew about as she mentioned it yesterday ☹. We departed at about 10:05 and headed through the town to the lake, up to the hills surrounding the town and back to the old town area, as Franziska pointed out items of interest. Surprisingly the guide started off fairly well but it didn’t take long to fall back into her old routine. We spent about 30 to 45 minutes doing a guided tour of the old part of town and she would stop at items of interest and start talking before the full group arrived. As we had about 45 it is always going to be a problem keeping them together.
At 12:30 we piled onto the ferry and luckily got a seat for the 30 minute ride to the wharf near Lindt. Apparently they had booked the seat numbers for our tour so some of the other people queued to board missed out. It was like trying to herd cats!!! When we got to the wharf near Lindt the guide was explaining what would happen and you could tell she was getting annoyed with some people, but that is the life of a tour guide. A short walk to Lindt and then we started the audio tour. When we got to the scanner barriers there were a group of people waiting to get through and there must have been an issue with the barriers as we all stood there for about 10 minutes until the barriers started to work again (or maybe there is a specific time for when people can go in – we wouldn’t know, because once again, Franziska hadn’t told us anything). The audio tour would be very long if you listened to all the checkpoints. We did probably about ½. After a while we got to the chocolate tasting area where you can taste liquid chocolate and some parts of chocolate bars. Joy was in heaven. Next we came to a counter that had containers of Lindt balls. There were 8 with a different Lindt ball flavour in each container. To access them you have to put your hand through an opening and you could not grab to many as you would not be able to get your hand out. Also there are staff keeping an eye on what is happening. Joy got one of each and Les also got one of each and gave them to Joy! Isn’t he wonderful!! You could keep going back if you liked to keep getting more, but you aren’t supposed to take them out – you are supposed to only take what you can eat right there.
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| Lindt Home of Chocolate, Tasting Room |
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| Lindt Home of Chocolate, Lindt Balls Samples |
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| Joy was in heaven! |
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| Joy and her friend! |
You can’t take backpacks in as
apparently they once caught someone trying to leave with 4kg of Lindt balls! We
then left and wandered down to the ferry wharf, arriving 15 minutes before the
ferry was due. We got a seat on the way back to Zurich wharf as well. After disembarking
we walked up the road to the train station where we catch our tram. This road
is lined with shops like Tiffany, Cartier, Burberry, Prada, Hermes, etc and
even a car dealership. Cars going past or parked on the road included Porsche,
Maserati, Mercedes, Lamborghini, etc. Very high end of town. Caught the tram
home and Joy dropped into the supermarket to buy a beer and some more coffee.
Tonight is
New Year’s Eve and there are noises of fireworks going off all the time since
we arrived home. Be interesting to see how long they last (pretty much all
night). Decided the centre of Zurich is not the place to be on New Year’s Eve!
Sunday 1st
January 2023
Today was
an official rest day for us. And also for Zurich. Pretty much everything is
closed. Even if it wasn’t New Year’s Day, most things would be closed because
it is a Sunday. We had a lazy morning, with Les doing diary, photos, etc, and
Joy knitting and doing puzzles.
After lunch
we decided to go for a walk around the local area. We had a general idea of
walking around the block, but in typical European fashion, the “block” isn’t a
neat and tidy rectangle, especially if you take turns down streets that look
interesting. Thank goodness for Google maps on smart phones! The buildings in
the area are a mix of old and beautiful, and new and ugly (or at least utilitarian).
Along the way, we passed a couple of guys playing table tennis on the local table tennis table (it’s made of concrete and concreted onto the footpath).
We’ve seen these
around a couple of times – interesting that they are used and not vandalised. We
also passed quite a bit of rubbish, the remains of the fireworks that had been used
last night. That’s one of the problems with everyone being able to buy and use
fireworks – the rubbish that gets left behind.
On one of
the sidestreets we found a park that was being used by families with young
children, as there was a play area there. Table tennis tables were there too,
but they weren’t being used. After we left that park, we saw another place that
looked like an interesting park, so we headed down another side street. Turned
out to be a cemetery. It was quite large, so we only walked a short way in then
turned and headed to one of the exits. Cemeteries can be interesting places –
lovely statues, and interesting to see how other cultures bury the dead. It
seems in this cemetery there are family plots. Many of the graves had
headstones with a quite long list of names of people buried in that same grave.
Some even had the inscription at the top of the headstone saying “Familien
Schwarz” so you knew they would have multiple people buried there.
On coming
out of the cemetery, we headed back to our place – or so we thought. After a
while we consulted Google, then turned around to go back the correct way.
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| Old Buildings in Zurich |
Monday 2nd
January 2023
Today was
supposed to be a big day for us – up early to get a train to Lauterbrunnen,
then a longish walk that would allow us to check out the scenery, including
waterfalls, then the bus back to Lauterbrunnen for lunch (hopefully fondue),
then back to Zurich via Interlaken. All in all, it would have taken us over 12
hours.
But, we
didn’t do it. Les woke up feeling crook, and suggested we give it a miss. Joy
knew he must be quite sick because it would take a fair bit to get him to miss
out on a waterfall where he’d have as much time as he wanted to take photos. So
instead of an exhausting 12-hour day on the go, we had another rest day. Didn’t
do much, really, except hang around the apartment. We did have to go out to
lunch, though, as we didn’t have any food to make it with if we stayed in. We
went to the Grand Café up near the tram stop (5 minutes’ walk from “home”). We
had seats at a high bench at the window so we could people-watch as we ate –
there are interesting people everywhere in the world. Les had pancakes with
banana (they must be expensive, as there wasn’t much banana), peanut butter (again,
not much, but then you don’t need a lot of peanut butter) and maple syrup –
what a healthy lunch! Joy had Pita Sabich (deep fried organic egg,
eggplant, hummus, pickles, pita bread, kazuz – whatever that is, fries). It was
quite good, except for the salad that came with it, which was diced cucumber
with a couple of pieces of diced tomato and coriander mixed through it!
Needless to say, the salad went untouched.
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| Joy's lunch! |
After lunch we wandered back “home” for more lazing about,
reading, knitting, updating the diary, packing etc.
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