Monthly Archives: July 2013

Interlocken

We have done it again. We boarded a train in the morning and after about 4 hours we found ourselves in the Alps! I took pictures of our train-it was a double decker so I took pictures of the top and bottom. As you can see they are very nice. This is 1st class, but 2nd class is just as nice just more crowded. Again the train trip was an event. As we approached Interlacken the view opened up to a large beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. We are at the base of the Jungfrau, Eiger and some other mountains. There are many hang gliders jumping off the mountains. See pics. The pictures of the middle of the mountains is not clouds, but snow capped peaks. There is still a lot of snow on the mountains. We are planning to go to the top of the Jungfrau tomorrow pending weather conditions. It is very expensive to go to the top and it would be foolish if weather prevented us from seeing anything. We have been out looking for climbing gear. (Just kidding). I must tell you you have not lived unless you are at the base of the Jungfrau in Seitzerland reading an Italian menu written in German & Japanese. Now to the food. We wanted fondue because we are in Switzerland, but found other great food. Of course see pics. We each ordered a cheese dish and then split them. One was bread soaked in white wine, covered in cheese then baked. The other was potatoes and tomatoes covered in cheese and a spicy sauce. Both were outstanding. I hope I can tell you tomorrow how great it was on top of the mountain.

Strasbourg

We started out the day by going to the French Prefecteur and the America
Embassy to clarify some issues about us and schengen countries. Got a lot of info and will keep you all posted. Then we went to the wine cellar at the hospital. See pics. Then we went in search of a chocolate experience. We went to the right place but couldn’t find it. Again we did a lot of walking with no success. We returned to the hotel (walking of course) we decided to have a glass of wine while we waited for the dinner hour (8pm). So naturally here are the pics from dinner. We shared a cheese appetizer. OMG the cheese was good -no pic we just ate. Marsha had the buffet-too many choices if you ask me, and I had the goat cheese and spinach quiche. Marsha decided on desert- profiteroles . The waiter brought out the dish – see pic – and Marsha said OMG and the waiter said “No, my name is Frank”. Tomorrow we leave for Switzerland.

Strasbourg

We’re back in France. As usual we took the train and walked to our hotel to check in. Then we walked to the old city center. From our hotel we can walk along the river and it was really nice. When we got into town it was quite a bit warmer. By this time we had walked several hours so we stopped for something cold and wet. See pic. Then we toured the church that is the centerpiece of the town. See pic. We walked some more (Yes, we walked a lot today). Then we went in search of a restaurant. This was not easy. There are a ton of nice restaurants, but I wanted an Alsatian speciality and Marsha is vegetarian and the first dozen or so did not meet our expectations. Finally we settled on a restaurant -we turned out to be the only customers. Our waitress told us the restaurant has been in her family for 150 years and her father is the chef. Marsha had onion quiche and a salad and I had a local speciality of venison cooked in red wine with spätzle. Everything was great, so of course we split a dessert-see pics. Then we set out for the light show on the river. Well we walked in circles for quite some time. Streets here go a block, change name and even direction. Finally we asked someone and they sent us on the right direction. We found the location and the city puts on the laser light, dancing water and firework show every night for free – See pic. It ended past 11pm so we decided to take the bus and tram back close to our hotel. Yes we figured out how to buy tickets and which lines to ride. We are back at the hotel resting up for tomorrow.

Heidelberg – con’t

More pics

Heidelberg

We took the train to Heidelberg again. We checked into our hotel which is very nice and near the old city. (See pic of remote for TV). We set out for a Deutches bank so we could get money. We had a map and general directions, but we must have asked 6 people and walked 10 miles in circles before we found it. It was only a block away from where we had been walking in circles. Boy, did we feel stupid. We the headed for the castle. Fortunately not that many stairs today. There is a funicular to the castle and then the original one-106 year old- to the top of the mountain .there is a great deal of restoration going on at the castle, but the view is still great. See pics. We also saw the great wine cask that holds 228,000 liters of wine. It is bigger than my pool! We the went to the original funicular – see pics. The top if the mountain is spectacular. We had a small snack at the restaurant at the top of the mountain then headed back down. See pic. We went to the old bridge across the Neckar (pics on my camera). We walked thru the old town for several hours and then decided to grab a bite before it got too late. It was already 8pm. Marsha had spinach ravioli, but I wasn’t very hungry so I just ordered a salad. See pics. I just can’t believe how pretty the food presentation is, plus they gave me some bruschetta. We are now back at the hotel trying to figure out how to work the shower, Tomorrow is Strasbourg.