Submissions

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Paris

With Clippy

Hi!  I’m Clippy.  I’m a world traveler, actually a parasite that travels with whoever would like to carry me along.  So my assignment for Megan Diekhoff is to keep a journal of my travels.  My latest adventure is from May 10^th to May 26^th starting from Texas, then Illinois, then over the ocean to Munich (Munchen), Germany and on to Austria, Switzerland and Paris.  So here’s my account of our adventure!

The Christensens (my host) and I left Texas on May 6^th, arriving in Morton, IL on May 8^th.  The Christensens (Linda and Jerry) are friends with George and Sue Neal, so they were our traveling companions.  On the 10^th we drove to Chicago to O’Hare International to fly out at 5:45 P.M.  The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss Airport at 9:10 AM on the 11^th, 40 minutes early.  We were met by our tour guide, Elmar, and escorted to a bus to take us to the Westin Grand Munich.  At 2:45 we met up with the rest of our group (38 folks) for a tour of Munich.  We drove past the Munich Olympic site, and on to the Linderburg Palace, where the kings lived.  It was started by Maximilian and finished by Ludwig II.  The site was very large, and buildings encircled almost the entire area.  We stopped in the rain at the Marienplatz to see the 5:00 running of the Glockenspiel.  The chimes from the tower were drowned out somewhat by the large crowd and television broadcast of a soccer game.  Soccer (football) is a very popular sport in Europe, and the fans are very LOUD.

On Sunday, May 12^th, we drove through the German Alps with our bus driver and our tour guide to Oberammergau, home of the PassionPlay since 1634. The buildings there are very colorful with artwork on the exterior of the houses and other buildings.  This is also home to many very talented woodworkers, so we saw some beautiful carvings.  A Bavarian Rococo church, built in the 1700s was an interesting stop along the way. We then drove on to Neuschwanstein, the example for the fairy tale castle at Disney World. The castle was unfinished, as King Ludwig died an unusual death before he could finish it.  It was turned into a museum of very ornate and decorative works.  Back into Munich, we had some free time for dinner, and I was exhausted!

The next morning, Monday, we had a delicious breakfast and boarded the bus to drive to Salzburg.   Our first stop along the way was at Berchtesgaden, where we could look up on the mountain and see Hitler’s Eagles Nest, which we would tour later.  We arrived in Salzburg to meet up with our walking tour guide, Gabby, who took us through the old town of Salzburg.  Mirabell Palace gardens were beautiful.  The palace was built by bishop Dietrichshopf for his mistress and 15 children!  From the gardens you could see the fortress at the top of the hill and the chapel built by the bishop.  The gardens can be seen in the “Sound of Music” with Julie Andrews.  There was a fountain in one square of the city that was an imitation of Trevi fountain in Rome.  There was a statue of Mozart in one of the squares, since Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart.  We ate lunch from one of the open market stands and walked through some unique shops. 

Gabby then took us to the road to the Eagle’s Nest.  We drove to Obersalzberg (upper) where we boarded the bus to go up the mountain.  When we reached the top, we walked another 100 meters to an elevator that took us up to the building that houses the meeting room, dining room, other rooms, and a large patio.  The building was designed by one of Hitler’s lieutenants (Goering) for Hitler’s 50^th birthday. It took 13 months of 24/7 to build the 5.6 km road, 100 meter tunnel, and 141 meter elevator, plus the house.  It was overcast up in the mountain, and started snowing, completely covered by the time we left.  Brrrrr. (No coat for the paper clip!) On the way down, we stopped to look at the Ima castle built in 1472 with a moat around it. 

We learned in Salzburg, that Mozart began composing music at age 5 and was playing the piano and violin as well.  At 5 or 6 he went to a concert and watched the violinist focusing on his playing, he picked up a violin and played it!  Mozart had a sister who also was talented and played instruments.  Salzburg is known for its salt mines.  They pump water up into the mountain and the slurry coming down is salt brine that they then heat to evaporate the water and leave salt.  This process was done BC by the Celts who mined for salt before the Roman Soldiers came.  Two Celt workers were found perfectly preserved in the 1600s.  After our return to the hotel, we drove out into the country for dinner, where all our food was prepared from the farm.  We started with apple schnapps.  For an appetizer we had several types of cheese and a sausage with homemade hard bread.  For dinner we had port roast, potato slices and carrots, and for dessert we had a sweetbread with an egg wash, plum preserves, fried and coated with powdered sugar.  I’m going to have to start watching my waistline!  (Oh, I don’t have one ;-)).

On Tuesday, we left Salzburg and rode to the city of Mondsee where we visited the Benedictine church of Mondsee.  This is where the Von Trapps were married in “The Sound of Music”.  It had been refurbished in 1680-1720.  At a roadside truck stop, we enjoyed a light lunch.  On to the city of Melk, we visited the Benedictine Abby of Melk.  The abbey was built by a Duke in 996.  It was destroyed by the Turks in the 1600s and rebuilt by a Bishop.  It is the largest Baroque style church in the world.  Then we were on to the river Danube for a cruise for 2 hours to Durnstein.  The Danube runs through the Wachau Valley.  White grapes are grown on only one side of the river to get the most sunshine and produce a higher quality of wine.  We saw several castles and villages with large churches along the river.  At Durnstein an old dilapidated castle sits atop a high hill above the city.  A duke owned this castle, and when Richard the Lionhearted of England was returning from the third Crusade, the Duke captured him and held him for a year for ransom.  We drove to Vienna to the Park Hilton and ate at the Darkow restaurant, where we had Hungarian Goulash soup, Hungarian pork chops and chocolate cake for dessert.  Yum!

A large breakfast buffet started us off on Wednesday (do you think we were eating enough?) at the Park Hilton.  We boarded the bus and headed to Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs.  Our local guide, Willy, walked us through the palace of 1440 rooms (we didn’t see all of them, thank heavens!).  The cooking was done in a different area separate from the residence and carted over to the dining area.  The rooms had 22 carat gold leaf everywhere.  Different rooms had a variety of motifs, but either large paintings or pictures of the family decorated most of the walls.  One room was used only for Maria Terese to birth her 16 children on a king size canopy bed.  The walls were done in red and gold.  The king’s office had an elaborate desk in the center with several chairs.  Napoleon took over the residence for a time and used the king’s office as his own.  The gardens were huge and elaborate.  The Hapsburgs ruled for over five centuries, being exiled to Switzerland in 1918 during World War I.  They were blamed for starting the war. 

A bus tour took us to the winter palace, the Hero’s field and large garden, parliament and many other prominent places (the Stock exchange, City Hall, Johann Straus Memorial, and Mozart Statue).  Some of us were dropped off in the old section.  We shopped and went to St. Stephan’s Cathedral.  The inside had large striped stained glass windows that reflected inside the church.  The church was very elaborate but very dark inside.  The outside had an extremely tall spire and two smaller spires, very dark and gothic in appearance.  A walk took us back to the hotel.  At 3:55 we headed to the Vienna woods and went to the top of the hill overlooking Vienna, where it was very windy and hazy.  Afterwards, we went to the Tavern in Grinzing where we had a large pork platter with pork roast, ham, sausage, chicken and potatoes with apple strudel and ice cream, as well as a local wine.  With our tummies full, we then went to the Vienna Concert, where we enjoyed an orchestra of 10. This included 4 violins, a viola, cello, clarinet, oboe, flute and piano.  A soprano and a baritone entertained us, as well as a dance team.  The acoustics were astounding.  There are some 100 concert halls in Vienna.

Whew, we are on our 7^th day of travels already.  We left Vienna and drove through the countryside to Kindberg, where we took a break.  This is a small village, with a colorful Maypole and some nice shops.  On our way we traveled thru the Simmering Pass with a large castle and gorge.  The legend has it that a terrible flood came through the valley and destroyed the town and all its 500 inhabitants.  The only survivor was a child sitting on top of a hill, thus the name of the town.  Our destination tonight is St. Veit an der Glan, former seat of the Dukes of Carinthia.  The old town square with its graceful Town Hall and Plague Column, is where the local passion for flowers is evident.  Arriving at the hotel and unloading our luggage, we set out for Bled Slovenia.  It started raining on the way and was raining when we got there.  Bled is Bled Lake, which has clear greenish water.  No motors are allowed on the lake, only row boats.  It is 30 meters deep, and the water is pure enough to drink.  We took two row boats to the island to Our Lady of Lake Bled Church.   At the church we each made a wish and rang the bell for good luck, thus recording our wish in heaven.  Jerry had to help me pull the rope, as it was a bit big for a paper clip.  The church was quite ornate and had a Plexiglas plate in front of the altar over a hole in the rock under the church.  The legend there on the island is that a wealthy nobleman wed a beautiful young wife.  The nobleman was murdered by robbers soon after the marriage.  The young woman was very despondent, and locked herself into the castle above Lake Bled for 2 years.  The bell in the church cracked and didn’t work.  There was no money to replace the bell.  When the young bride of the castle heard this, she sold her jewelry and bought a new bell from Italy for delivery to Bled.  When the workers tried to take it to the island a bad thunderstorm came up and the boat sank.  The woman in the castle became even more distraught and entered the convent.  When the Pope heard the story, he bought another bell for the church, and thus why the wishes are registered in heaven.   We had cake and coffee or hot chocolate at a local café.  It was still raining when we left, but cleared up a bit when we got back to St. Viet.  After dinner George, Jerry and I walked to the town square.  There was a Maypole and two fountains, and a large column (Plague Column) in the center of the square.  There was also a large church with a separate baptistery, built in the 13^th and 14^th centuries. 

On the 17^th, we left our hotel on our way to Innsbruck.  The sky was overcast.  The countryside had continuous small villages with one or more churches.  Many of the churches are often on a hill above the village, with Gothic or Baroque designs, with an occasional Romanesque church, many of them hundreds of years old.  There are houses high up on the mountains and many sheds are scattered along the countryside.  These are to store the farm tools and equipment, along with dry firewood and hay.  The inhabitants seldom come down the mountain to the villages.  World Class Alpine skiers developed from the need to get down the mountain to attend school.  Hans Plummer, a 1976 World Champion Olympian began skiing at 3.  He lived high up on a mountain and had to ski a drop of 600 meters to get to school.  We stopped at Lientz for a break to get a snack and drink, then started out for Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.  We entered Italy by way of Lagodi Misurina and the Tre Croci Pass through the Dolomites.  It was rainy and foggy, and had clouds covering the mountain peaks.  We ate at Restaurante Pizza in Cortina.  This is a fashionable ski resort, the most exclusive in Italy.  Wealthy Italians have holiday homes here. 

Continuing our drive, the Drau River ran alongside of us most of the way.  It started in the Dolomites.  We also saw the Rientz River and the Isaac River Valley.  There are over 2000 castles in Austria.  They were used to protect the valleys and towns and to collect taxes.  The castles were often close enough to one another to warn of impending danger by flying flags as a signal.  A toll gate castle had every one traveling going through the toll gate in the castle doorway.  The Bishops controlled some valleys.  Dukes controlled other areas and roads and rivers.  We drove on to Innsbruck.  The clouds were lifting as we left Cortina.  We stopped at the Rosenberg café in the truck stop on the Austria side of the Brenner Pass.  When we got to Innsbruck we had better weather.  Innsbruck is surrounded by snow capped mountains.  It is also the site of the 1976 Winter Olympics.

On Saturday, May 18, the sun was shining when we got up.  Our room in the Hilton Innsbruck overlooked the ski jump in the distance.  We started the day with a walk into the downtown of Innsbruck.  We saw the Triumph Arch erected in memory of the death of one of the early emperors by his wife.  We walked to the Gold Roof of Emperor Maximilian and the Royal Palace. Maximilian had this golden roof constructed in response to a rumor in Vienna that he was running out of money.  He married his second wife under the gold roof.  We also toured the Swarovski crystal store.  Innsbruck was designated as the second capital along with Vienna by Max.  We had about three hours to stroll, shop and take pictures.

We left Innsbruck for the ride to St. Moritz.  The weather was sunny and fairly clear with a little haze in places.  We followed the Ein River Valley as we drove to St. Moritz, known as the green river.  The drive was fantastic with snow covered peaks.  There were continual small villages with one or two churches.  We stopped at the Swiss/Austria border.  Elmar went into the Austrian check-point to get the tax rebate slips signed for those flying out of Switzerland.  We stopped at the Swiss shop just over the border and exchanged some of our Euros for Swiss Francs and bought Swiss Chocolates.  The exchange was 1.20 Franc per Euro.  We continued on to St. Maritz seeing more and more snow covered peaks. 

On August 1, 1291 William Tell helped organize the Founding Pact of Switzerland.  It was 1648 before Independence from the Austrian Empire was accomplished.  William Tell and others were rebelling against the rule and taxes.  Austria sent tax collectors and soldiers to calm the rebellion.  A tax collector came to William Tell and told him they would not take him to jail for refusing to pay taxes if he would shoot an apple off his son’s head.  He did so and was asked what his second arrow was for.  Tell said it was for the tax collector if he missed the apple on the first shot.  He was taken to jail.  His friends got him out the next day.  Swiss are known for honesty and brevity.  We had a reception drink before dinner sponsored by those that have traveled with Insight before.

We awoke Sunday morning to snow in St. Moritz.  All the shops were closed for Pentecost through Monday.  St. Moritz is considered on the top of the world.  We boarded the Bernina Express in snow and rain.  It was often foggy and rain and mixed with snow as we rode through the Alps.  The ride was very smooth and had heavy snow as we reached the Bernina pass at 2253 meters.  We were stopping at the various depots if there were passengers getting on or off.  From Poshiavo, we rode the bus back to St. Maritz.  Some of our crazy companions got off at Diavolezza to take the cable car up to the top of the mountain where there is a restaurant.  On the way back we stopped to get a picture of the Vadret da Morteratsch Glacier.  After eating lunch at the Hauser Restaurant, the sun came out, so we had a chance to walk along the lake, although it was pretty cold.  Dinner was on our own, and we stayed at the Schweizerhof St. Moritz Hotel.  We actually had a brass key for the room!  Jerry tried kangaroo for dinner, so we kidded him about jumping around. 

After a good night’s sleep we left St. Moritz and boarded the Glacier Express for a 4 ½ hour ride to Andermatt, where our bus driver picked us up for our drive to Lucerne.  We followed the Rhine River along the train route through the valleys.  We were on the Arbalaline.  There were six viaducts, castles and watch towers.  We passed by the Heidiland (Heidistraus) where the little Heidi lived in the mid 1800’s, and the book Heidi was written about her (the author says it is a true story).  There are 26 cantons in Switzerland.  Chur is the oldest city in Switzerland.  It has a history spanning 5000 years.  We pass through the Rhine Gorge (known as the Grand Canyon of Switzerland).  Following the Ice Age, huge landslides created the gorge.  It is unique for wildlife and butterflies (350 different species).  The water in the river creates white water rapids that had numerous kayakers running the rapids.  The walls of the gorge have unique rock formations.  We passed through Disentis which has the largest and oldest Benedictine Monastery in Switzerland.  Disentis is the largest Romanish speaking community in Switzerland.  The monastery dates back to 1683-1695.  We next head toward the Oberalp pass, where we reach the height of 2033 meters.  Here a cog wheel is used to pull the train to the peak.  There was a large amount of snow there.  As we started down the mountain toward Andermatt the snow diminished.  We saw many streams and a few high, stone summer homes for the farmers.  As we approached Andermatt we passed by a ski lift going high above the city.  Andermatt was founded by the Waisers in the 12^th century.  There is a baroque Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. 

After we passed through the city, we went by the Devil’s Bridge and the Devil’s Rock. As we rode in the bus toward Lucerne we saw snow capped mountains, streams and waterfalls.  There are goats, sheep, brown Swiss cows with two horns and a heard of Holstein.  Outside Lucerne, a few of us went for a wagon ride through the countryside.  We stopped at a small river that flooded in the 1600s and wiped out the town.  As a result the town does not allow building next to the river.  We stopped at an old Catholic church with a unique cemetery.  As we finished the ride, we stopped at the farmer’s homestead for rose wine, apple juice, cheese, bread and fruit-filled pasties.  We arrived at our hotel, the Renaissance Hotel of Lucerne an hour or so later.  For dinner we went to the Stadtkeller Restaurant.  Our dinner was delicious with veal in mushroom sauce and hash browns.  A small band with a base fiddle, an accordion, 2 clarinet/saxophones and a piano, along with a singer, entertained us.  They sang German and American songs, brought people up onto the stage to yodel and play on Alpine horns.  There were many Australian tourists at the restaurant, but all of us were with Insight Vacations.  Note that 40% of the power of Switzerland comes from water power.

Tuesday, May 21, our last day on the guided tour, started with a driving tour of the city.  We stopped and walked to the Dying Lion memorial carved into a large rock.  It was magnificent and represented the 24 Swiss soldiers that died protecting King Louis XVI.  They were battling 3000 French soldiers and were holding their own, when the king ordered them to lay down their arms hoping he would be saved.  The king, Marie Antoinette and other family members met their death at the guillotine.  The Swiss soldiers were known for the bravery and loyalty.  The lion is crying as it is dying with a broken lance in its side.  On our way back to the hotel, we saw the water tower and the covered bridge that crosses the lake.  Some of us had booked a boat cruise on Lake Lucerne.  The lake is called the Lake of Four States.  Each of four towns is in a different canton.  There is 50 miles of shoreline and the lake is at one point 700 feet deep.  It is shaped like a cross.  It has naturally fresh water because of the river flowing through it.  There are goldfish and water turtles, and lots of fish.  The water turtles are a problem because they eat the grass on the lake floor that the fish need to lay their eggs.  Homes around the lake sell for 1.5 million francs to over 8 million francs.  Rents in Lucerne are 1000-1500 Swiss Francs a month.  There are 2400 sailboats and 5000 motor boats on the lake.  Waiting lists for docking are up to 10 years. Unemployment is at 2.2% in Lucerne and 3.0% in Switzerland.  We saw the Castle New Hapsburg on the lake.  There were some large homes and mostly smaller homes.  People have to pay to use the public beaches. Elmar says there are 3 types of bathing suits; the 1 piece, the 2 piece bikini, and the 3 piece (hat, sunglasses and sandals).  We had free time following the boat ride (By the way, it rained, so it was a good thing we had an indoor part.)  It was fun to look through the Bucherer store, where they have all kinds of Swiss products, including Rolex watches and Swiss army knives.  That evening we were bussed to Mount Stanserhorn station for the ride up the mountain to the restaurant.  The mountain is 1900 meters high.  A tram first takes you on rails for the first leg and then a suspended cable car takes passengers the rest of the way up.  The restaurant has a revolving dining floor.  The building had a center collar supporting the roof truss system.  They used four full 3: x 12” members for the bottom and top chord and smaller webs.  The restaurant was totally socked in with fog, so we didn’t get the view we had hoped for.  The food was delicious, and we were given chocolate bars with pear brandy filling when we got back to the hotel. 

On Wednesday morning, we got up early to see our tour mates off to the Zurich airport, and we walked in the rain to the train station to catch our train to Paris.  We changed trains at Basel to the Paris train, which traveled at 315 km/hr.  The farms along the way were larger and flatter than what we had seen in Austria and Switzerland.  We saw fields of corn, small grain and yellow canola.  The cattle were Simmental and Charolais.   The sun came out as we reached Paris.  The taxi from the train station to our hotel was 22 Euros.  We walked to the Louvre and spent about 2 hours there.  The Mona Lisa had a huge crowd.  The Louvre is the former home of the king of France and is huge.  We ate a dessert at a little bistro, but we were very tired. 

The Christensen’s and I booked a tour to Versailles for Thursday morning.  The driver took us to the palace and gave us our tickets, and turned us loose on our own.  We had recorders and ear phones to hear the walking tour.  There are some 2000 rooms in the palace.  Every room had paintings and many rooms had ceilings painted with center scenes and four scenes on the corners.  There were many large paintings and one large tapestry.  The grounds were huge with several fountains, pools and fountains.  Bushes and trees were neatly trimmed.  Versailles was built by Louis XIV who wanted to make it the best it could be to reflect art, all done with French materials, artists, and craftsmen.  Louis XIV’s father had built a hunting lodge at the Versailles grounds, for which XIV had fond memories.  King Louis Phillipe turned Versailles into a museum after the second revolution in France.  After returning to Paris, we joined the Neals for a tour of Musee d’Orsee.  We went to the second and fifth floors to look at the Impressionist paintings.  Large selections of Monet, Cezanne, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet, and many others lined the walls.  Other floors had additional statues and paintings.  We had a good dinner at the tavern bar.  Rain continued off and on all afternoon.

We began our day on Friday after breakfast by walking to Notre Dame Cathedral, but stopped along the way to tour Saint Chapel.  The chapel was constructed by Louis the IX during the 13^th century.   When Louis was killed in the Crusades, he was sanctified and became St. Louis.  There is a small chapel in the downstairs, but the upstairs includes 15 ceiling high stained glass windows around the 3 sides of the chapel, the fourth side containing a huge round glass window known as the Rose Window.  We encountered rain again as we arrived at Notre Dame.  The cathedral is huge and really pretty dark inside, very long and very tall.  It sits on an island in the Seine.   From Notre Dame we walked to the Eiffel Tower in the rain, stopping along the way to have a coffee or hot chocolate and croissant in a little café.  The Eiffel tower has several elevators that go up to the first level, then more up to the second level.  Then there are steps up to the final destination at the top.   The tower was built for the World’s Fair in 1889, but also to commemorate the revolution.  It was the tallest structure in the world until the Chrysler building in New York.

From the Eiffel, we walked quite a distance to the Arc de Triomphe.  A number of streets converge onto a round-about.  From here we walked down the Champs-Elysees, a street lined with shops and restaurants.  We stopped along the way for an afternoon snack of gelato and ice cream.  There were beautiful trees along the wide sidewalks.  The street continues on to the Obelisque stands in the Place de la Concorde.  The 3300 year old monument was presented to France by the Viceroy of Egypt in 1829, and bears inscriptions pertaining to Ramses II.  Our last dinner in Paris was on the street back to our hotel, where we enjoyed a Paris hamburger!

On Saturday, we boarded our plane home at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, and were glad to see Chicago

again.

  Bye for now, until I venture out on another trip!