The Mighty Matterhorn

More than 40 years ago I rode the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland (I just barely made the height limit and was ecstatic!). And today I saw the real thing! It stands as a beacon from the main street in Zermatt. How proudly it oversees the mortals down below. . .

The Matterhorn from my hotel balcony.

The view garnered my avid attention.

Me at 12,688 ft. On top of the world!  

Highest elevation I have been on land.

The Matterhorn, 14,691 ft.

Mont Blanc, France, 15,781 ft, highest point in Europe.

Best Day in the Swiss Alps, So Far. . .

I haven't downloaded my photos yet so will post more later. Here's a couple from today's trip to the Jungfraujoch - highest train station in Europe - 11,333 ft.

Kleine Scheidegg - hotels and railway junction - and the mountains Monch (13,465 ft), on the left, and Jungfrau, on the right, (13,642 ft).

And here is me enjoying 11,000+ ft.

Top Of The World

So, I made it the Alps!!!!! Arrived to cloudy, rainy, horrible conditions for viewing and hiking in the Alps. This is the best view I had from my hotel window yesterday afternoon.

Room 201, Hotel Edelweiss, Murren, Switzerland. And here are some better views this morning.
So here I am at the top of the world - the Schilthorn, Piz Gloria (where they filmed the James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' in 1969). I'm at 9691 ft. It is the highest altitude I have ever been on land.

Although the morning is glorious with bright sunshine at lower altitude, here is the view at 9691 ft. . .:-(

Ah, Switzerland. . .

Well, after all the Bavarian cuteness of half-timbered houses, pork, and beer, I made it Switzerland. First stop, Lucerne. It's on a gorgeous lake, small enough to walk around the old town, and the motel had the best food I've had on the trip so far - Hotel Stern Luzern. Highly recommend it.

Lunch at my hotel.

Ok, I Needed This. . .

I have now been in Baden Baden for three days. This is my last evening and I have done no sightseeing. At this point in my trip I needed this. I spent half the day yesterday at the Caracalla Spa taking the natural spring sulfur waters. And today I had a full body massage at Freidrichsbad - the older of the two spas. Can you say relaxed? Ah well, tomorrow starts back to the slogging. Off to Colmar, France tomorrow and then on to Switzerland. Getting excited about seeing the Alps!!!!!!

Stairs & More Stairs

I thought this time that I would be lucky because my hotel has an elevator. However, I did not count on the town being built on the side of the mountains. Hence, to get anywhere in this town you have to go up and down stairs!

Baden Baden Spa Spa

Well, if I wasn't relaxed before, I will be now that I am in Baden Baden. The question is whether to go to the naked spa or the one where you wear swimsuits? Now, I understand that "when in Rome, do as the Romans" but I think it will take more than that saying to convince me to give up deep seeded near paralyzingly modesty for the sake of acting like a local. So, it's to the swimsuit spa. It's newer and bigger anyway.

Life Without Wifi

What in the world did we do before wifi?! It's been 24 hrs without it and I couldn't last another minute. Since my last post I have traveled from Bruges to Bacharach, Germany, and am now in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the Franconia (aka Bavaria) region of Germany.

Bacharach was a sleepy and charming (and small) Town along the Rhine. I enjoyed my two nights stay (with a balcony). Of course, I did the obligatory Rhine cruise. The area is known for it's many castles along this well used river and it's white wine. The vineyards are locally clinging to the sides of the mountains as are the castles!

Vineyards along the Rhine river.

Rheinfels Castle, St. Goar.

Me, on my Rhine cruise.

Stahleck Castle in Bacharach.

Getting to Rotenburg was challenging. Four transfers with five trains! I missed the first one because it never came (BTW it was 0705 in the morning!). Who said German trains were reliable? After a bit of panic and help from a nice station attendant who barely spoke English I managed to catch a train 30 minutes later with different connections. Now that threw me in all kinds of a dilemma because I only had one itinerary and you need to know which train to catch at each station. I mean the trains are identified by their final destinations and departure times not by the stops in between (where you may want to get off). But I actually caught up to my itinerary three trains later thanks to a delayed train from Frankfurt station. 

My hotel in Rothenburg.

A real Iron Maiden!

Shame mask for quarrelsome women
(Not my description!).

Entertaining Nightwatchmen Tour,

 

House between two gates.

Neck violin for quarrelsome people.

Touring Bruges

Today was busy with a city bus tour followed by a short but wet (rain) canal cruise. The town is compact and very busy on an August summer day. There is a festival going on in Bruges this week and the church bells outside my hotel have been ringing now for more than 5 minutes. Not sure what that's about as it is 6:45 in the evening. Must have something to do with it being Sunday. . .

Had a nice chat with friends at lunch time. Ah, the wonders of FaceTime. . . It really helps to boost the spirit!

A moment of sunshine on a day of intermittent rain and shine.

Fidel - the most photographed dog in Bruges!

In Bruges

First day in Brugges, Belgium. My hotel and some quaint pics of the city.

My hotel.

The canal on a sunny Saturday morning.

View from my hotel window.

Museum Day

So, the Anne Frank House was a bust today. I went twice but the line was still more than two blocks long. The Museumkaart did not work. Still had to have a reservation. However, the Van Gogh and Rijks museums were great! I felt like I surely walked at least 10 miles today. At least that is what my feet are telling me! Here are a few of the better pictures from Museum Day in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam From The Canals

The view of historic Amsterdam is amazing from the canals. Here are some pictures that I took while crusin' the canals. . .

The Anne Frank House.

Along the canals.

O'Reilly's Irish Pub

A friend once told me that there is an O'Reilly's Irish Pub in every major city. So, of course, I had to stop in. . .

Just passing the time. . .

Arrived in Amsterdam at 0600 this morning. Not too jet lagged, thankfully. Walked from the central train station to my hotel only to find that reception doesn't open until 0800. No problem. As I sat and waited for someone to arrive I met some people from Oregon and Ohio. Chatted with them to pass the time. Couldn't check-in then though (room won't be ready until 2 pm). So, am now trying to waste some time until my room is ready.

Sitting in a ubiquitous Starbucks passing time.

Note to self: Backpack gets heavier the longer you carry it! Was so proud that my backpack was only 9.7kgs. Realize now that 9.7kgs is HEAVY!!!! May have to purge some more and send stuff home. Will wait and see.

Day of Departure

Ok, this is the Day of Departure - August 6th. All packed and ready to go. The bag now weighs in at 9.7 kg. Not bad to start with, I think. But it will get heavier as I go along, I'm sure.

Now, to get through the throngs at the airport. Nothing like leaving the day before Eid! Ugh! Hope the lines aren't too long.

See you on the blog soon. . .

Eurotrip 2013

5 days and counting. . .

So, five days until I leave on my two month backpacking trip to Europe. It's exciting and a little bit nerve racking. It's a lot of traveling in two months. Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland.

All accommodations are booked and Eurail pass is in hand. Now to finalize what I will be taking with me. The bag is packed and it's at 9 kg right now but will probably be a bit more when it's all said and done.

I will try and make a video of what the final bag looked like, what I packed in it, and the final weight. But it may not be until after the trip. . .

Stay tuned for the next installment. . .