Day 5 - June 13, 2006

Rothenburg, Germany
In the morning, we went downstairs to find another huge breakfast spread; coffee, meats, fruit, and cereal. I really like the German continental breakfasts! Then we got in the car and set the GPS for our next stop Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Old Town), Germany.

Rothenburg, a completely intact walled medival city located on a high promontory above the Tauber River, is one of the major highlights along the Romantic Road. The town has been a tourist destination for nearly a century and from May through September you'll likely encounter hourdes of visitors. Don't let that deter you from visiting this remarkable reminder of Germany's midevil past.

The Master Draught: How Mayor Nusch Saved Rothenburg
In 1631, during the Thirty Years War, General Tilly, commander of the armies of the Catholic League, captured teh PRotestant city of Rothenburg and was given, as victor, a 6 pint tankard of wine. He said he would spare the town from destruction if one of the twon burghers could down the huge tankard in one draught. Former mayor Nusch accepted teh challenge and succedded, thus saving Rothenburg and giving himself a three-day hangover. This historical episode was performed as a festival play called Die Meistertrunk (The Master Draught), in 1881. The play has been the centerpiece of a weekend festival that takes place every September ever since.

When we arrived, the city looked normal but then we got to the Old Town and saw the fantastic medival city walls. They looked just like in a movie! We drove down some winding cobblestone streets and found our hotel, the Akzent Hotel Schranne. It had a great view of the city walls. The walls had stairs that you could climb and then you can walk along the walls! We arrived too early to check in so we parked and then set off to the central Markt by the Town Hall. Just like the tour book said, there were a million tourists everywhere. It was kind of hard to walk on the old cobble stones and dodge all the people. I could tell Curt didn't like it, but the old buildings were so neat I didnt' care. One of the things I most wanted to see was the Criminal Museum.

Mittelalterliches Kriminal museum (The Medieval Crime Museum):
It is located inside the building of the former Commander of the Order of St. John built in 1395 and altered in 1718 to a Baroque style building. The famous law enforcement museum gives insight to 1000 years of European legal history, crime and punishment. On display are chastity belts, shame masks, a shame flute for bad musicans, a dunking basket, and an iron maiden.

The museum was somewhat small, but had a lot of documents. What was interesting is that most of the artifacts and documents were from the actual town of Rothenburg. Some of the engravings had pictures of the Town Hall which was just outside. It was intersting to read all the rules for everything. They had a lot of rules of course for what women could do, even how much they could spend on a wedding and what clothes they could wear. If they did something wrong then they were punished in public.

Next we stopped in Kathe Wohlfahrt's Weinachtsdoft (Christmas Village) store. It was huge with tons of cookoo clocks, ornaments, and stuffed animals. It was kind of hot inside and very crowded so we didn't stay long but I got some handmade straw ornaments and a cookoo clock ornament for Mother. Afterward we were starving so we left to get something to eat. We stopped at a place we had passed walking to the town square and had bratwurst and sauerkraut. Next we went back to our hotel to check in. It was three stories and we parked in the back and came up some back stairs. Our room was of course on the 3rd floor so we had to carry all our heavy luggage up more stairs. The room was pretty modern with a large bathroom and tub. This time the beds were not put together but seperated. After we checked in we decided to walk along the city walls to get back to the old part of the city. We ended up at St. Jacobs church which was closed for remodeling so we could only see the outside. Then we walked to the Plonlein or Little Square which was the "most photographed spot in Rothenburg." Two roads intersect at different levels with the Siebersturm (Siebers Tower) just behind dating from 1385. Next we walked to another place I wanted to see, the Old Craftmen's House. It was built in 1270 and furnished like medieval times. We walked in the front door into a little hallway where there was a lady to take money of course. She didnt' speak very good english and we were almost out of Euros but we found enough to see the house. The wood looked very old and dark and you could climb what looked like original, very worn, stairs up to the attic. There were lots of artifacts but sadly only a couple of the identifing cards were in English so we couldn't learn that much. But I was glad we got to see such an old house.

After seeing the Craftmen's house, Curt was tired of the tourists so I left him at the hotel outdoor patio cafe and I left to do more sightseeing. I walked along the city walls again and saw the Castle Gate which had a neat scary looking mask on it which is where they used to pour hot pitch onto attackers. The brochure I had said that they "recommended a short hiking tour to the village of Detwang; the oldest part of the city accross the river built in 960. Well, I started down the hill. About half-way down I realized that I had just got myself into another painful hiking adventure, and I was getting really hot and I had no water! At the bottom of the hill, there was field and then a bridge that crossed the river. A path led to some houses that it looked like people still lived in. The book said that the Topplerschlosschen (Topper's Little Castle) was around the corner. It was built in 1388 and served as a resort fo the powerful mayor Toppler. I took some pictures and realized that the old town built in 960 was far away so started back up the hill which was just as steep as the hill up to the Castles in Fussen. I forgot to mention that I didn't see any other tourists along this walk I guess they were smarter than me. It seemed like forever to get up this hill I tried to stop a couple times becuase I was so tired and out of breath but then I was getting bit by mosquitoes! Finally I got to the top and I saw a bathroom thank goodness it was air conditioned and I drank a bunch of water from the faucet. After my hike I went to buy some more souviniers since Curt wasn't with me but it was 5:00 and all the stores were closing! What was interesting is that all the tourists were gone too. I think they all come in for the day on buses. Next I decided I might as well see the other points of intrest on the map. At the far end of the walls was some really interesing fortifications and I got a lot of pictures. A sign said that this part of the city was destroyed in WWII and had been re-built. I ended up walking back along the other side of the city walls so it took me awhile becuase I had to walk down and then back up a few times. Every few hundred feet is a large city gate. I was really tired, but I was glad I got to see everything. When I got back to our hotel, We ate dinner at the hotel outdoor cafe since Curt had been sitting there all this time reserving a table. That night we went to our room, but I couldn't sleep because our hotel was near this restaruant and I think there were people in there watching a world cup game. As I mentioned before the rooms don't have air conditiniong or window screens so you have to open the windows for air. Around midnight it finally got quiet and I could sleep.

Day 4 - June 12, 2006

Augsburg, Germany
In the morning, we checked out of our hotel in Fussen and set the GPS for Augsburg, Germany. Augsburg was only about an hour away. Augsburg is a University town and our hotel was near the University in a residential area. The Hotel Prinz Leopold was much more modern then the last two places we stayed at; it was several floors with an elevator. The room was very sunny and the bathroom was very different. It was one plastic "unit" the shower, toilet, and sink were all one piece. We rested for a little and read our tour books so we could decide where to explore. Then we drove to where the map said there was parking which turned out to be a modern parking garage near the old town. Our first stop was through an alley to a church called St. Anna.

St. Anna, a former Carmelite monastery church dating from 1321. In 1518, Martin Luther stayed in the adjoining monastery when he was called to Augsburg to recant his 95 Theses before a papal emissary.

Augsburg, with a population of 260,000 is the largest town along the Romantic Road. It was founded about 2,000 years ago by the Roman emperor Augustus and reached it's cultural zenith during the Renaissance, under the patronage of the enormously wealthy Fugger family. The city was an important trading hub linking northern Europe to Italy. Augsburg was prosperous as a result of international trade in gold, silver, and copper. The Fuggers and Welser merchant families made Augsburg second only to London as a banking hub. A stroll through Augsburg reveals an attractive urban landscape loaded with historic buildings, charming corners, and the lively ambience of a university town.

The church was right off one of the main shopping streets with lots of modern shops and restarunts; you would hardly know a church was hidden there. Curt of course started analyzing the 'retail' immeadately. I think he was more impressed with that then the old architecture! While we were walking, we looked for a place to eat lunch but nothing sounded appetizing. Then we saw a sign at the end of another alley that said "hot dogs" in English. We walked down to find the smallest little shop which sold hot dogs with sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup (free ketchup!), mustard, etc. We got hot dogs and cokes then continued exploring. Next we found the main square, or Rathausplatz. There was a huge big screen tv set up for the world cup next to a fountain. We figured that was where the town gathered for the latest Germany game.

Augsburg's main square, Rathausplatz, is dominated by two imposing Renaissance-era building, both considerably rebuilt after damage in WWII. The Rathaus, completed in 1620, is one of the most significant secular buildings of the German Renaissance. The Augustus fountain in front of the Rathaus was dedicated on the occasion of the town's 1,600th birthday in 1594. Climbing to the top of the soaring sopre of the Perlachturm (Perlach Tower) next to the Rathaus reveals a marvelous view of the old town center. The tower is capped by a distinctive onion dome which is seen on churches all across Bavaria. The Rathaus' domes have pine-cones on top which is the town symbol.


Next we looked around for the entrance to the Perlach Tower; it took us a little while to find. We went in the church but it was not there. Finally we found it around a corner tucked away in an alley behind a gift shop. There was a little door that was open revealing steps. We were a little hesitant to climb stairs once again, but by this point were were pretty used to the leg pain, which was tolerable as long as you kept moving. We didn't want to miss anything so we started climbing. Luckily the steps were easy to get up but we did get out of breath. Right before we reached the top the tower bells started chiming. It was so loud that I had to cover my ears! They kept ringing and ringing but we couldn't leave because we had just walked up all the stairs and hadn't seen the view yet! Finally the bells stopped and we went up the final stairs to a room where there was a lady in a ticket booth. Funny they take your money after you climb the stairs to the top. Up the last flight of stairs was the outdoor viewing area right under the bells. It was a great view just like the tour book said, and another breeze to cool us off. After we left the tower we walked to the next stop, the Fuggeri.

In the old residential quarter of town, you'll find the Fuggerei, one of the most important building complexes in Augsburg. It was the welfare settlement in the world and is still in use today. It was building in 1523 by Jacob Fugger. It's surrounded by walls and gates; the compound looks like a minature town with 67 identical cottages containing 147 small apartments, a church, a fountain, and a park. Residents pay an mimimal annual rent and are expeced to pray three times a day for the soul of their benefactor, the Fugger family. The Fuggeri Museum lets you glimpse into the interior of one of the cottages as it looked in centuries past.

We found the gate to the Fuggeri entrance and paid the admission. I saw a church entrance and opened the door to see a bunch of old ladies praying. Curt said "Holly!" so I quickly shut the door. I guess I didn't read the sign that said people still lived there! We walked down to the museum where one apartment looked liked it did in the middle ages. There was hallway with a living area, kitchen, bedroom, cellar, and even a closet with a toilet chair. The kitchen had a little window that said that was where the woman cooking could look into the living room to check on children. The living area was used for crafts, such as weaving. Outside each apartment was a metal ornament hanging on a rod. Each object was different, such as a pinecone, so that if a resident came home late at night (before electric lights) they could feel their way home since all the apartments looked the same. Most of the Fuggeri was destroyed in WWII, but it was rebuilt.

World Cup Game
After we toured the Fuggeri, we hurried back to the area we were before with all the shops so that we could find a neat bar with a big screen tv to watch the USA vs. Chech Republic world cup game. This was the game were were going to try to go to with Curt's friends, but they decided they couldn't come on the trip. We walked for a while but didn't see anything, finally I saw something that looked promising... we peeked in and they had a projection screen! We went inside and sat at the bar; Curt got a local beer and I got a coke with no ice of course. I don't know how they can drink things with no ice. During the game I had fun watching the bartender pour drinks. Most people ordered a local beer named after some Augsburg royalty. The beer came in brown glass bottles, which the bartender poured into frosted mugs. Interestingly, he made sure there was about an inch of foam. Over here people don't like the foam and will make fun of you if you pour beer "wrong" and get lots of foam! The beer was "Helles" (German for "Light") and served cold. He also made lots of apple and cherry drinks mixed with sparkling water. The apple, cherry, and sparkling water came in a glass bottles also. I think they recycle a lot in Germany. He also mixed wine and sparkling water. The game was pretty boring, and finally the Chech Rep. scored. The people in the bar cheered. I guess the the German's aren't USA fans. The bartender also put out some bowls of what looked like cheeto puffs but tan colored instead of orange. I tried one and they were peanut! I was really hungry so I ate the whole bowl and then bartender gave me another one an laughed. No one scored the rest of the game, so the Chech Rep. won. We left and headed for someplace to eat dinner.

We found a restarant with lots of people sitting outside so we figured it was probably good. We asked for the English menu this time and ordered lettuce salad and the main course was goulash which was like a stew that came with a side of potato salad. The lettuce salads in Germany are really good, lots of fresh vegetables like kolarabi, carrots, and cabbage shredded and the dressings are very light similar to a ranch but more watery. After dinner we walked back to the parking garage and found our car. In the stairwell, a man tried to ask me something I thought he pointed to his watch like asking the time but Curt said, "no Deutsch" ("No German") so he walked off. We drove out of the garage expeting to come to a ticket booth but there was a machine instead. We put in our card but nothing happened, it just spit the card back out an beeped. Of course we couldn't read anything. We didn't know what to do we tried it several times and wondered how in the world we would get out of the garage as there was no one around and we didn't speak any German. I looked behind me up the next level and I saw there was a machine that looked like it took money and I thought "I bet you have to put your card in that machine first before you can leave...." I was just about to tell Curt that when the man that I saw in the stairwell came running up to us. Curt said "Sorry we don't know what to do" I guess he understood we were dumb Americans so Curt handed him our card & some Euros and he ran into the adjacent office to let us out. I bet he was trying to ask us something about leaving when we saw him before!

We got back to our hotel and decided to take a walk across the street. There was a cemetary that I had seen earlier and I thought there would be some neat old graves to look at. Unfortunately the cemetary was locked so we just walked thought the neighborhood and ended up near a modern grocery store. I remembered the potato snacks I had eaten earlier so we went in to try to find them. Apparently that is the only chip the Germans like because the whole asile had that and nothing else. I got the most expensive one I figured that was the "name brand" and the tastiest. I also got the apple drink that is apple juice and sparkling water that I had seen the bartender make earlier. It's called apfelschorle, and the bottle I got was made by Coca-Cola. This bottle was a heavy plastic so I guess they do have some plastic bottles. It actually was pretty tasty but I guess it didn't pass the American taste-tests. I think the Germans are really into apples. Our hotel had apples on the counter, and the bar we were in for the game had apples all around the bar on ledges. After I got the snacks we walked back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 3 - June 11, 2006

Driving to Germany
We woke up early, ate breakfast again at the hotel, and then checked out to say goodbye to Switzerland and make the drive to Germany. We weren't sure how long it would take to get to our next destination town Fussen, Germany; Curt asked the man at the hotel who said it would be about 5 hours. It wasn't that far on the map but the drive from Zurich was pretty slow because of the mountains so we figured it would be the same going to Germany. After the GPS was set, we took off. Because it was the weekend, there was a lot more traffic and bicyclists on the road than before. Curt was pretty stressed driving the winding roads. Finally we got out of the mountains and on to the Autobahn.

The Autobahn
The autobahn is not just one highway, but it actually is the German word for Interstate. You can drive as fast as you want in the left lane, but the recommended speed limit is 80 or (130 kph). It's illegal to drive in the left lane if you aren't passing and I never saw anyone the whole trip driving crazy, weaving in and out of traffic. I'm not sure if it's a law, but all the trucks were in the right lane and went pretty slow. The trucks (just like the cars) are much smaller than our semi's and they have canvas sides. Curt did take the car up to 100 miles an hour but I told him please don't go that fast cause the car was shaking. We mostly drove between 80 and 90. Alot of the exits take you into round-about's instead of the "clover-leafs" like we have in the US. All the roads we drove on were in really good condition which we thought was strange since there is lots of snow and ice. The roads were also really clean; I never saw any truck tire shreds. Every 1/2 mile or so there is a police call box. We also got to drive through lots of tunnels which again are very well maintaned and well lit. We listened to a lot of German radio which mostly played American music, only a couple songs weren't in English. All the stations were like "Big Hits of the 80's-90's and today" stations we have. We would lose radio reception whenever we drove through the tunnels. I didn't think the roads were that scary (of course I wasn't driving) but it was strange to see cars passing leaving you way behind when you were drving 90 mph. The whole time we were over there, I never saw one accident or broke down vehicle.

When it got to be lunchtime, we were on the highway and didn't know where to stop and wanted something quick. Yes, it was sacreligious, but we stopped for gas and ate at McDonalds. There aren't any roadside restarants except McDonalds. Everything else if off the road in the little towns. The inside of the the McDonalds was connected to a Walgreen's type store and was very nice on the inside (I took a photo) with very expensive furniture and lighting. I ordered a Cheeseburger Deluxe combo meal which is the same as a quarter-pounder #2 meal. I looked around for ketchup, then asked the girl behind the counter where it was. She handed me one packet and said "fourty." I said, "You have to pay?!" She smiled and said yes. So I yelled to Curt that we needed to get out the Swiss Franks again to get ketchup.

During the drive to Fussen, we had planned on stopping at Lindau an island off the shore of Lake Constance (or the Bodensee) which is the 3rd largest lake in Europe. Curt was worried about how long the drive would be, so we skipped the Lindau stop and got to our hotel in Fussen about 2 o'clock.

Fussen, Germany
Our hotel, the Hotel Christine, was outside the center of town in a residential area. It was a very beautiful building, and they even had a red carpet at the front door. We walked inside and they German man that owned the hotel welcomed us with a champagne glass of mimosa. We picked it up and drank, and he said "Seet down and reelax!" in his super-thick German accent. We did for a second but were anxious to get our things out in our hotel room. Our room was on the second floor, so we had to carry our bags up again which was hard because of our leg trauma from the day before. We had just got in the room when there was a knock at the door; it was a lady who dropped off a tray with cookies, nuts and strawberries! I don't think Curt booked the most expensive room, but I think were were the only guests in the hotel so we got the nicest room with a huge balcony that overlooked the mountains. We ate the cookies and researched how to get to the nearby Bavarian royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. These are the "fairy tale" castles you see in all the pictures of Germany on TV.

Hohenschwangau, built by Maximilian II in 1836 is the less remarkable and more intimate of the two. Neuschwanstein, the most photographed building in Germany, was the fair-tale concoction of Maximilian's son, King Ludwig II. Ludwig watched the construction of his dream palace through a telescope from neighboring Hohenschwangau. Building began in 1869 and continued for some 17 years, stopping only when Ludwig died in 1886. Between 1884 adn 1886, the king lived in Neuschwanstein on and off for 170 days. At Neuschwanstein he received news of this dethronement. Three days later he was dead.

For some, Ludwig II is the "The mad king" For others, he is the "dream king." This strange self-obcessed monacrch has become one of the legendary figure in Bavarian history. Biographies, films, plays, and even a musical have been written about him. Born in Munich in 1845, Ludwig II was only 18 years old when he was crowned king of Bavaria. Tall, handsome, and blue-eyed, Ludwig greq bord with the affairs o fstate and eventuallu become more and more obcessed with action out his extravagant fantasies. The most famous was the turreted castle of Neuschwanstein, perched on a crag high avove the town of Schwangau and Fussen. Ludwig's excesses eventually threatened to bandkrupt the kingdom, and in 1886, at age 41, he was declared insane. Three days later he was found drowned in Lake Starnberg on the outskirts of Munich, along with the physician who declared him insane. Was he murdered or did he commit suicide? No one knows.

We drove to the castles from our hotel, which is a huge tourist area. At the bottom of the hill are hotels and restarants, souviner shops, parking lots, carriages, and buses to take you up the hill to castle. Our Fodor's Guide described the walk to castle as, "The 35-minute walk up the winding hill to the castle is very enjoyable" so we decided just to walk. The walk was not enjoyable but very, very, very steep. I had to stop several times because I was out of breath from the altitude and dripping with sweat. We finally reached our first stop, the Marienbrucke bridge which overlooks the castle. This was great because it was really windy so we could cool off. We took lots of pictures of the castle and a waterfall below.

As a Crown Prince Ludwig had already grown to love the beautiful scenry of the Scwangau arca, including the dramatic waterfall in the Pollatschlucht above Neuschwanstein. This gorge with its steep rocky walls had already been "discovered" by Maximillian II"s generation as a beauty spot. The wooden rails of the bridge that spans it, the Marienbrucke, were replace by Ludwig II during the building of Neuschwanstein by the present elegant cantilever consruction made of iron. "The view from up above is enchanting, especially the view from the Marienbrucke of the castle, which will far outschine the Wartburg fro all it's acknowledged merits of location, architectural splendour and magnificent paintings, " wrote King Ludwig II in a letter in 1881.

After seeing the bridge, we walked to the Castle took more pictures then walked down which again was not enjoyable becuase it was so steep you had to keep yourself from falling. By this point I was getting used to the pain. Luckily, the weather was beautiful and surprisingly warm. After the walk down we got to our car and wolfed down some trail mix that I had brought along. Then we drove back to our hotel and took a bath hoping to relax our calf muscles. That night we walked to the Fussen Altstadt (Old Town) and found a nice hotel cafe to eat at. The menu was all in German so we had no idea what to order but we were starving. Curt asked the waitress if she spoke English and he ordered a beer and I got some kind of wine that sounded like it might be good even though I didn't know what I was ordering (It turned out to be really good). When the waitress came back Curt said, "Okay we are ready to order but I need your help" She said, "Do you want an English menu?" Oh! We didn't know you could ask for that. The english menu was good, but we noticed that it wasn't really the same menu. I think they only put items that they think the American's will like. Unfortunately we couldn't really order anything unique, but we were just glad we could read it.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and had to figure out how to use the German key to get in the front door since it was locked. The German hotel owner must have heard us, so he came to the door just when we figured it out and said in his accent laughing, "It's dee-ferent in Gerr-many, yah?!" We went to our room and relaxed on our balcony and sampled some of the local wines from the mini-bar. The mini-bar wines were really cheap so you could actually afford to drink them.

Day 2 - June 10, 2006

Exploring Lauterbrunnen
The next morning I woke up to find that Curt had already been up walking around. He got up early and walked down to the river that runs through the valley and of course found a local fisherman. He said he asked the man if he spoke English, and he said a little. He showed Curt a big trout he had caught. Curt was very jealous of course. Curt says, "He didn't fly fish, but fished with a 9'-0" pole and a spinning reel at the base of the handle similar to a fly rod but the pole was longer and more stiff. He placed the bait which was either a worm or grub at the spots where one would find trout. It was a very different type of stream fishing than we see in America. People in America think fly fishing is the only way to catch fish, but it's more for the sport instead of just catching fish." He also saw the local farmers bringing the cows through town to the pastures. The cows all had bells on just like in the movies. Curt said the cows tried to drink from an old watering fountain and the farmer had to shoo them away. There were several old stone horse trough/fountains throughout the town that had fresh water constantly flowing from the mountain streams.

After Curt finished telling me about the fish, we walked across the street to the main hotel building so that we could eat breakfast, which was included in the price of the hotel. The breakfast was like a buffet but the waitress seated you in the dining room and asked if you would like coffee. Then we walked to the room next door where they had lunchmeat, cheese, fruit cocktail, cereals, yogurt (the German yogurt is more runny than yogurt we have over here), and of course a variety of breads and Curt's favorite: Brochen (German rolls). The meats were especially good; they had several varieties of salami and baloney but they were much better tasting than what you would buy in the store over here. The coffee the waitress brought came on a tray in a silver coffee pot with real cream in a creamer and a variety of sugars.

After breakfast we took a 45 minute walk outside the town to Trummelbach Falls. This is not the waterfall you see in most of our pictures; this one is is not visible from the valley. It's a glacier waterfall.

Trummelbach Falls
Trummelbach Falls is 10 glacier waterfalls inside the mountain made accessible by tunnel-lift and illuminated. The Trummelbach alone drains the mighty glacier defiles of the mountain peaks Eiger (3970m), Monk (4099) and Jungfrau (4158m) and carries up to 20,000 liters of water a second 20,200 tons of boulder detritus per year. It's drainage area is 24km2, half of it covered by snow and glaciers. It is the only glacier waterfall in Europe inside the mountain and still accessible.


We reached the bottom of the mountain and paid a small fee to walk inside the waterfall area. Insead of stairs, they built a tunnel-lift which was like going in a cave elevator, but you went up. At the top you climbed stairs to see the different falls inside the mountain. My camera didn't work very well because of all the water-spray in the air. It was very loud and a little wet, but it was pretty neat. Afterward, we walked down the mountain instead of taking the car because that is what the operator guy told us to do. I figured out later that he must have thought we needed exercise or something becausse I think everyone else rode the car back down. You would think a few stairs going down would not be hard; but these stairs were very steep, uneven and at at 40 degree angle. You had to use all your energy not to fall down! By the time we got to the bottom our legs were shaking. Then we had to walk all the way back to the town and up a very steep hill throught the town and to our hotel. We ate lunch at another hotel in town; we both had Wiener Schnitzel and french fries. Curt said it was not that good; it probably came from the freezer. It tasted okay to me.

After lunch I took a nap because I was still really jet-lagged, and Curt went to a local bar to watch an England world cup game. He said that the sign said "big screen" and it was only a 19" TV! We figured out later that all of our hotels had small tv's so I suppose big screens are not very common. Later we relaxed on our balcony and watched the waterfall. We debated going to the top of the Jungfrau, the largest peak in the area (the white snow capped mountain behind the waterfall in our pictures) but it cost 100 Swiss Franks apeice to ride the train to the top. Later our calf muscles were super sore and we could bearly walk down the 3 flights of stairs to eat dinner! Since it doesn't get dark until 10:30 at night, I took a walk down to the Staubbach Falls after dinner because I saw from the road earlier that you could walk behind it. Unfortunately, there were signs and barracades blocking people from walking behind the waterfall. A sign said that a tourist had gotten hit by a falling rock so they closed off the falls. So I just walked back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Click on picture below to see our trip pictures!

Day 1 - June 8-9, 2006

American Flight 38: DFW to Zurich
We left Dallas at 3:00 p.m. which was great because we had time that morning before our flight to pack and think of last minute things. We took a cab to the airport and checked in. Neither Curt nor I had flown overseas before and we handed the ticketing agent our ID's like we usually do so she could look up our names in the computer to verify our flights. "Um, I need your Passports, not your ID's." she said. Our first awakening of the trip. Other than showing her our passports, we checked in as usual and waited for the flight. Before we boarded we got our last Tex-Mex fix in the terminal. I was pretty apprehensive before we left how I would survive such a long flight. Before we took off, I of course watched all the passengers board and walk-by. There was a whole bunch of Mexico soccer fans on the plane, even a guy with a sombrero! After taking off, "dinner" served to us about an hour after boarding and then breakfast about an hour before landing. I brought some sleeping pills (over the counter) and tried taking one but it didn't really hlep me fall asleap. It's hard to sleep when it's not that late. When we reached the French coastline, the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said that the left side of the plane had a great view of Paris. We were on the left, but unfortunately it looked like any other city since we were so high-up. As we flew closer to Switzerland, you could see the snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. I started getting excited! After we landed, we went through Swiss customs which was very quick and easy. The agent glanced at our passports then said we could go through. They didn't even stamp anything.

Driving through Switzerland
After we got our baggage, we headed to the Avis car rental counter. Curt had reserved an upgraded car that had a GPS navigation system. The saleswoman gave him the option of the Mercedes or BMW; we ended up with a BMW hatchback wagon that was brand new. I started to get really tired waiting for the car rental. It was afterall 2:00 a.m. Dallas time by this point! The Avis people showed us the car and set up the GPS for Curt to English. We spent quite a long time figuring out how to use the thing before we even got out of the garage. There was one button that you pushed or hit up/down/left/right to select things on the computer screen. It was pretty temperamental but we got the address of our hotel in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland entered. We left the airport and headed down the road. I tried to read the Switzerland road map to see if the GPS was working but I honestly had no idea how to read the thing. I figured all road maps are pretty similar but I couldn't find any of the highways we were driving on! Curt was really good about following the GPS. It had a women's voice that would say "Take the next exit, 500 meters" and then the map on the computer screen would show the route and where our car was on the map. We drove through Zurich and then into the mountains. That's when we both got really excited. It was so beautiful! The roads were very winding and narrow. The Swiss drivers had really small cars and there were lots of cyclists on the road which cars would pass. It was pretty scaring turning around a corner to see a car in your lane that had just passed someone.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
We reached Lauterbrunnen and found the Hotel Silberhorn which was at the top of a hill. We had our first 'parking in Europe' experience trying to fit our big car in the little parking lot. We did it and then tried to check in, but our room was not ready. We decided to walk down a couple blocks along the main street to find some where to eat. The main street of Lauterbrunnen is lined with hotels which have outdoor cafe seating along the street. There were several people that were in their cycling or hiking clothes who stopped to have a beer and eat lunch. I ordered a salad and some asparagus filled pasta. Curt ordered some bratwurst and "rosti" which is a local dish. It's actually hash browns. After eating, I could barely keep my eyes open so checked into our hotel room which was in another building across from the main hotel and took a nap before dinner. Curt aparently reserved the nicest room at the place. We had the top floor suite with our own balcony that overlooked the town and Lauterbrunnen's most stunning feature, Staubbach Waterfall.

People were fascinated by the 300 m high Staubbach Falls as early as the Middle Ages. The milky-white waters thundering down over dark green rocks have inspired painters, poets and travel writers over the centuries. Goethe wrote a poem based on his 1779 visit, making the lake famous in the late 18th Century. When Goethe visited the Lauterbrunnen valley in 1779 he made the waterfall famous by dedicating his "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" ("Song of the Spirits over the Waters") to it: "The soul of man is like water. It comes from heaven and rises again to heaven, it ascends to heaven and falls again to earth, eternally alternating. The pure stream flows from the high, steep rock face, falls softly in cloud-waves onto the smooth rock and, gently accepted, rolls and ripples into the abyss."

History of Lauterbrunnen
In 1240, Lauterbrunnen was mentioned in a letter as "in claro fonte" The scattered settlement was almost certainly naed because of the more than 70 waterfalls in teh Lauterbrunnen Valley, "lauterbrunned" (only Springs) aor also "lautere Bache" (clear streams). In the 14th Century, the Walser Village of Lauterbrunnen was home to the main colony of people from Lotschen in teh Valais, who has settled in the Bernese Oberland.

Mining & Lacemaking
Between 1715 and 1805 metal ore mines existed in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, which eventually closed for two main reasons. Providing sufficient wood for the smelting ovens and charcoal worksresulted in intensive deforestation, and transportation costs were too height to allow for profitable production. In 1750 there was a mass emigration of local people to the United States. The authorities attempted to stem the flow by introducing home industries such as lacemaking. The art of lacemaking is still practiced today, with regular courses being held in Lauterbrunnen's old school house. Today only a few women make a living from this skilled craft, but during WWI, about 450 local women and children supplemented the family income by the production of exquisitely fine yet durable lace.

Alpine Farming
About 15 cows and the same number of calves still summer on Ap Untersteinberg. The mountain farmer still uses a traditional and extremely involved system of grazing adapted to the Alpine pastures and this retains the pastoral charm. Is spring and summer, he moves his cattle in stages from the lowest to the highest level, before in autumn he brings it back down over the same levels to the winter quarters in Stechelberg.

That evening, we went to dinner at the hotel restaurant which was very nice, it was family run and there even was a old grey Basset hound that would wander through the dining room. At the back of the dining room was the kitchen and a big round table that was reserved for the family. We sampled our first Swiss wine during dinner which was very good; similar to Reisling. After dinner we took a walk through the town. I didn't get dark until about 10:30 at night. At night, the tourists, cyclists, and hikers had all left so it was quiet with the only noise being the waterfall. Every now and then a lone car would drive by.

Walking up three flights of stairs to the hotelroom we realized that we were in a high mountain altitude becuase we both got winded after the first flight of stairs! It was really hard getting our luggage up to the room. There were two keys for the room one to enter and another to lock from the inside. which we had to figure out. The key and the door hardware was much slimmer than in the U.S. and the door was thinner with a lip that overhung the door frame. The bed was low to the ground and with seperate matresses. There were two folded down-comforters but no sheets. This wasn't too big of a deal, except was was a a little warm during the day and it took awile to cool the room off. There of course was no A.C. but opening the windows let a really nice breeze in. Interestingly, there are no screens, but then I never saw any bugs really. The bathroom was similar to what we were used to except there was just a handheld shower head.

Introduction

Dear Friends & Family,
I created this website blog so that I can share our trip photographs and memories of our trip to Switzerland and Germany taken June 8-15, 2006. I hope you enjoy!
Love,
Holly