Switzerland
Pictures - http://victorandlena.typepad.com/photos/switzerland/index.html
Zurich was our first stop. I had a picture of a modern business-like city full of Swiss bankers. What we found was a pretty medieval city perched on 2 sides of a small river, at the edge of lake Zurich - though the food prices reminded us this was indeed a city of international banking. We wandered through cobble-stoned pedestrian ways, up to a scenic overview on the hilly side of town, down to an old church with Chagal stained windows. We strolled along Zurichsee (lake) on a pleasant esplanade, past parks, museums. On this promenade we came across an impromptu outdoors balancing rock exhibit - big rocks stacked on top of minute stones as in a totem pole. As the city center came into view we heard an accordion player renditioning Bach and Vivaldi - which worked out much better than one may have thought. Being 'foodies' which I understand the be the new term for gluttons, our favorite meal in Zurich was at a warm fundeu venue.
After a nice train ride through pastoral Swiss settings, with the final leg of the journey through vineyards clinging the slopes of Lake Geneva, we landed in Lausanne. Still the same country, no more than 200 kms from Zurich, but a different world. The feeling was Mediterranean French, down to the hot weather. Sitting at a cafe for breakfast I would have guessed Lyon rather than CH (that is Confederation Helvetica, origin of Switzerland's ISO abbreviation). The orientation here is not so much east west, north south, but up or down. Down by lake Geneva was a nice wharf full of yachts and crowds of young locals hanging out. Up at the city center were the cafes and typical European medieval-through-enlightenment-to-post-modern architecture. One day we headed out of town to a small wine producing village, and strolled through the vineyards for great views of the hills and up close view of the slow village life in a well to do country. We did manage to get lost, hitting a dead end on the trail, but only had to backtrack a bit to find our way. In Lausanne the culinary highlight was a dinner at a fine and cozy French restaurant.
Germany
Pictures - http://victorandlena.typepad.com/photos/germany/index.html
Next onto Deutscheland, into the Black Forest. We made a small detour into surprisingly quaint Bern, Swiss capital, where we joined a crowd for the noon display at the coockoo like clock tower in the city center. Onto Germany, we first held fort at Freiburg, a university city at the edge of the forest, with a delightful pedestrian city center. Perhaps our favorite spot on the trip, the medieval/renaissance city center was charming and romantic, and was given a 'real' vibe by the local students. From postcards here and in Munich we were reminded that most cities were heavily damaged or destroyed in WWII - and amazingly rebuilt to their pre war state. This ironically makes them more inviting - it is like walking through 'new' and fresh medieval cities. One day we headed to the interior of the Black Forest to funny-named Titisee, where we paddled on the lake, bought some local art work from an Italian expat, and ate and drank local cheeses, sausages and beer. Very nice time. Our culinary highlight in Freiburg was dinner at the Red Bear restaurant, supposedly Germany's oldest restaurant - meaning a restaurant has been running at that site more or less continuously since 1120.
For our next couple of destinations we launched onto DE's roadways on our rental car. Having hoped for an Audi, we had to settle for a Ford Focus, as the Audi had been in an accident. At the rental car venue, the burly and tough looking but nice attendant waved bye as he said 'Choos' which is the informal 'Bye' around those parts. Our drive took us through twisty forest roads up to Triberg, home of the original Black Forest cake, Germany's tallest waterfall, and the world's largest coockoo clock. The first and last were worth the visit, and we did pick up our own clock, but the waterfall was a bit comical. Our guidebook warned it is 'no Niagara' and that was an amazing understatement. But the walk through the forest to get to the waterfall was nice. For the giant coockoo clock we had to stop to ask where it was, which to our embarrassment they pointed to the three story coockoo clock staring down at us!
Next onto Lindau on Lake Constanze, which was supposedly a 'jewel', but disappointing. At least we got an excellent breakfast out of it and we did need a stopover on the way to Fussen, where Disney-like castle Neuschweinstein awaited. The roads were easy to navigate, and on the highway, we stayed on the right at about 75 mph as Porsches and Mercedes whizzed by on the left.
As Lake Constanze had not much to offer for us, we decided to take a quick drive through Austria into Liechtenstein, to get one more country under our belt, and just check out the tiny but rich nation. The length of the country we navigated in 30 mins, at a leisurely pace. The capital was a pleasant little place, and we rode up the mountain to a couple of near by villages. Nice alpine farmland and rock formations lined the twisty road. After 3 hours and having gotten a good feel for the country, we headed back onto Fussen, Germany
Fussen itself, through primarily a holding spot for tourists on the way to Neuschweinstein castle, was a worthwhile destination in itself. From a castle overlooking it on a hill we had good views of the red roofs and German Alps as background. We headed for the castle nice and early the next day. As you may know Ludwig II king of Bavaria was into castle building and burning through money. The castle interior was about half done when he was declared mentally unstable and shortly thereafter mysteriously drowned. Walking through the spectacular interior, with amazing wood carvings (his bedroom took 7 carvers 4 years to complete), Byzantine-emperor-like golden throne room with chandelier weighing 1 ton, and eagle views of the surrounding mountains, lakes and farms, one could see how this extravagance would lead his subjects to stage a little coup d'etat. While many other palaces we have visited in prior trips were awe inspiring they tend to be heavy and uninviting through design or age. This place was airy, colorful and inviting.
Driving to Munich we were blessed with good luck. Not being able to follow our German google maps directions, we went onto the interior ring, where we spotted our hotel in the distance, an easy beacon to find, and as we navigated to the hotel hit upon the very street our rental car was to be returned.
Munich was at the height of Oktober fest during our stay. On the street and the subway (the 'underground') men decked in leiderheusen and women in Heidi outfits were to be spotted everywhere. Here we as usual strolled the 'old' city center (also largely rebuilt after WWII - apparently Munich was the 'heart' of Nazi Germany and accordingly pummeled during the war), enjoyed a symphony in a beautiful and inviting theater, and enjoyed the many brands of beer available. At the outdoor beer garden crowds were to be found enjoying their brew before noon, next to a copper/bronze statue of a lady holding a real glass mug. We headed to the Oktoberfest grounds the next to last day, where each of 10 or so huge tents, each the size of a football field, housed its own brand of beer and band on a platform above the crowd. The standard size mug was 1 liter. Each tent had its own atmosphere - one was mellow with older folk, another rowdy with soccer fans and some drug use to be seen, and the last we stopped in boisterous but festive and light. Back in town we did see here and there someone who had had a bit too much to drink, but leave it to the Germans to hold a well run and well organized drinking binge. Our foodie delight was at a Michelin-rated restaurant the last night of our stay, where we felt adventurous and hence tried a venison topped with black pudding (otherwise known as blood pudding). Surprisingly delightful.
