Lauterbrunnen Switzerland

I have decided to dedicate my life to becoming the mayor of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland...... this was one of the most spectacular towns I have ever had the pleasure to visit. I truly was sad leaving.

Here are shots of our 10 hour hike...... like all the others I have not done any Photoshop yet.

We took a cable car up about 1500 meters and started our hike from there. We hiked up through the valley you see in the distance of this photo.

Travelling companions, fellow boozers and great friends stop to pose for a shot.

Every corner, every ten steps was something new to see and experience. It was an incredible hike.

In our usual style we still managed to find a restaurant and beer despite hiking all day. The area is famous for  skiing and the restaurants stay open for tourists during the summer. What a view!

Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany was a fun stop. The Castle there has a beautiful grounds. It's really more than a castle, more like a palace. The very first structure was built before 1214. 

Here Joey-Lynn overlooks her kingdom from atop the Castle walls.

Now this is a keg fit for me.... every home should have one. It holds over 100,000 litres of hootch...... might do for a saturday night.

Heidelberg pedestrian only promenades  were great to stroll around in and enjoy some beer while people watching. Here a little around the back of all the crowds a church looms.

Heidelberg's 250 year old bridge. We walked across the bridge after consuming a few beers thinking it was a pedestrian only bridge...... it is not!!

Cochem Germany

The Mosel River from one view and the other direction below. The two shots were taken from Cochem Castle. We took a river cruise to Berg Eltz Castle down the river, it was an amazing experience. 

We were witness to a spectacular fireworks to conclude the wine festival. It had to be one of the best set of fireworks I have ever seen. They fired the the rockets from three points, behind us over a hill, over the bridge, and over the castle like here. It was so much fun!!

Cochem Castle

We happened on this procession at a cemetery in  Cochem with the Castle looming in the background and the vineyard rolling through the hill.

Little did we know that there was a wine festival in Cochem. We got our jag on and party like the locals. We had such a great time.

Frankfurt, Germany

These were the kind of drinks I need!!

Frankfurt from a bridge we were crossing. The cloud cover and lighting was amazing.

Frankfurt, Germany

This is a promenade in Frankfurt. It was a fascinating place to start our trip. We walked a lot this day as there was a huge festival on both sides of the river there.

In Germany you will find locks attached to bridges and structures with people's names and dates on it. It symbolizes the couples love locked together.

Flight troubles

Okay so we were able finally get a flight from Berlin to Zurich, Zurich to Montreal, and now waiting to get seats on a plane from Montreal to Halifax. What a day. The 8 hour flight from Zurich was brutal but Swiss Air had a great entertainment system..... Thankfully better then the one we are all familiar with. Can't wait to get home.

Dear God the Curse of Johanne Continues

Well, arrived at the air Port this morning only to find that our flight to Frankfurt is cancelled and everything is completely sold out....... This is our anniversary too ....... Happy anniversary baby....

Luthwansa has completely rebooked our flight. We were supposed to arrive in Halifax at noon now we won't get in until 7:30...... basically by the time we get home we will have been up for nearly 24 hours....... and we all have to work tomorrow...... not good. Instead of 10 hours of travel and air ports we have 18 hours of travel...... instead of two flights we now hav e three........ RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

More biking today.

Got up at 8:00 and walked back ro Fat Tire Bikes and we rented bikes for the day 10Euros. A great way to get around Berlin as it's so flat. We rode through the city like we owned it and covered a termendous amount of ground. We saw an amazing monument of the Berlin Wall outside the touristy area. We got to see the non-tourist side of Berlin and I really enjoyd the ride around the city. I got some great video of Joey-Lynn riding through Check Point Charlie.

We have read and seen alot of the atrocities the Nazi's did, read stories of people being killed trying to escape East Berlin. It has all left me feeling very sick and emotional at times. I think I have had enough. I can't feel sad like this too much longer. There has been more than once I was close to a meltdown on this trip. The hardships people have endured I cannot imagine.

We also climbed the Victory Monument. It was pretty tough as there were over 250 steps to the top but the view was spectacular. Well worth the 3 Euros and the work though.

Riding through the park was cool, Berlin has so many wonderful parks close together.

We ate supper tonight at a restaurant near the Dom on the Canal..... I had Indian Chicken Tikka and Joey-Lynn had Buttered Chicken.... it was so good. It was a great way to end the  trip.

Berlin ended the night with an unbievable thunder and lightening storm.... We had to run home and dodge the rain. It was really something else.

We finished with beers and crib..... we have to get up at 4:00AM for our flight.  The boys skunked the girls and nearly skunked them the second hand.

Fantastic Bike Tour today

We decided to sleep in until 8:00, I got up and showered by 7:30.

Looks like a nicer day today. We plan to do a bicycal tour today through Berlin.

We went on a 5 hour bike tour with Fat Tire Bikes. We had a great guide named Tony who was from Ireland. We basically touched on a little of everything in Berlin. I especially loved seeing the Berlin Wall and Check Point Charlie again. Clarence was sick and had to bail on the tour. We met up with him at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews, which was an interesting place in it's self. We continued with the tour and Clarence went his way exploring.

It really saddens me to think about the huge number of lives lost during the first and second world wars here in this area, war is bad enough but extermination........ There is another loss as well, the amount of art and history that was obliterated from bombings. It's scary to think of the amount damage done by Adolf Hitler...... one man with his cronnies.... sadly such atrocities still occur today..... as stupid humans we haven't learned a thing.

Later we met back up with Clarence at 5:30 at the apartment. We left for a walk and had a bite to eat and of course had some beers. On our way back the Japanese were projecting a "Thank You" on the Brandenburg Gate". It was pretty cool, the main theme was "peace and Thank you". It was set to classical music so it was pretty cool. We have really lucked into some coom sights.

Did I mention I was pick pocketed yesterday and I wish I punched the crap out of the guy........ ask Joey-Lynn, Clarence and Susan, I wasn't a bit pissed off.

Went to bet about 11:30.

I Nearly got pick pocketed....... I should have hurt the guy!!

Got up at 7:00am... it's raining out unfortunately. I can't wait to get rid of the car now, it will be one less worry. We have an amazing apartment with an upstairs and downstairs and full kitchen and living room right around the corner from the Brandenburg Gate. The girls made us breakfast and we are set to leave.

Returned the car and decided to take the bus back. It was absoltutely packed. I started getting a lot of anxiety on the bus like something was wrong. This one guy kept directing me where to stand and was overly helpful and friendly and really in my space, although there was little space. A little space opened up on the bus and I stepped back into the hole. The guy followed me and kept looking behind me but was so close he could almost kiss me. I stepped back so my wallet side was away from him and tried to create distance. He kept invading my space, suddenly I realized my pocket with my wallet the zipper was opened. The guy was trying to pick my pocket. You question yourself in these cases but I wanted to let everyone know so said out loud, "hey someone tried to pick my pocket." then I thought Stop being a chicken and be more direct, "That guy just tried to pick my pocket"..... yes I made a scene on a public bus. I stood back starring him down watching him closely and he saw me watching him hard and hearing me freaking out he put his head down and he turned his back to me. He tapped another guy on the leg who was well dressed..... obviously his partner. I never took my eyes off them and he took off at the next stop with the other guy close behind him. I wanted so badly to punch the shit out of him and hurt him so bad.

We walked to Museum Island and went to the German History Museum and spent a few hours there. It was fasinating. For some reason I was freaked out about seeing Napolean's hat from th battle of Waterloo.

We  went to "Check Point Charlie" only to find a swarm of police and a lot of people. Germany's Chancellor was speaking there. We were fairly close to her as she walked through the crowd.  Check Point Charlie was an exciting visit. We visited history that occured in our life time. We stopped at the Berlin wall and visited the Topography of Terror, which was about the Nazi rise and fall. Again touching the Berlin wall was fasinating to me as well.

The girls were starving so we walked around looking for a place to eat. We ended up in the same restaurant as we were last night. Nice meal just the same. We came home and had more beers and played Cribb..... the boy's ruled.

Did I mention I was nearly pick pocketed and that I am really pissed off!!

The Crazy drive to Berlin

Got up Early today in Dachau and headed out for Berlin. 6 hour drive there abouts. Clarence and I shared the driving. The Auto Bahn is crazy..... here I am cruising at 150KMH drinking a coffee and cars were passing me like I was standing still. There was a fair bit of traffic.

It rained on and off most of the day. We arrived in Berlin just before 5:00 and had supper. The plan is to return the car tomorrow and use public transit, walking and bicycle the rest of the trip. Tomorrow we plan to do a bike tour.

I had baby calf liver for supper and it was good but something is not agreeing with my belly so I opted out of drinking for the first time this whole trip..... maybe it had nothing to do with the meal....

We have had no internet

Our Berlin Apartment said Internet available but it was using a usb stick so no good for the Android. so I am posting what I have written.

Arrived in Dachau, Germany

We arrived yesterday here in Dachua around noon and spend nearly 5 hours at the former concentration camp. It was heart wrentching but not as bad as our visit to Auschwitz a few years ago.

We went up to the palace and castle to sack it but instead had supper and drank way to much. It was a fun night but we are all paying for it now!!!

Today we have a 6 hour drive to Berlin. We will drop off the car and use public transportation there.

Got up at 7:00AM again...... How we want to sleep in!!

I thought vacations were supposed to be relaxing.... not our vacations I guess.

We had a wonderful breakfast from our host, Eva. We packed up and left for Hitlers Eagles Nest and a bunker he had. The drive was just over an hour.... it was spectacular. Driving was crazy through the winding roads and mountains and tunnels. Once there we took a pus to the top of the mountian the Eagles Nest is on and then you take an elevator to the top. The view was beyond belief really. 360 degrees seeing for miles not to mention the steep drop everywhere. Holly crap it was great.

Most of you may have seen the Eagles Nest in "Band of Brother".

Going into the documentation center and into the bunker was emotionally disturbing but very interesting. There is over 4 miles of bunker (obviously we never saw near that), but what we did see was something else.

We got home and decided to cook and stay in and drink and play crib tonight. Tomorrow we head to Dachau.

It was beauful and sunny today about 21 degrees.

Early Morning

Got up at 6:00AM, it's raining outside unfortunately. It's going to be a wet day. We have to be thankful though it is our first day of rain.

We went to Mad King Ludwigs two castles today..... amazing and crazy really. God it poured hard we were soaked. I got some cool shots with the fog. But I'm too hosed and tired to post them. Not to mention too much beer.

We left Liechtenstien and the 2.5 hour drive took 5 hours.... traffic was crazy. We checked into our B&B and man what a great spot. The owner is amazing she is so funny and full of personality we all love her.

We went to a local pub for supper, the smoking laws allow people to smoke in the pub so it was intense.... but when in Rome...... We staggered home and now I write.

The mountains surrounding us is unbelievable, beautiful and ...... well words can not describe it...... I will post pictures but we are on the go so much it's impossible for me upload at this point.

The ran stopped to night hopefully a better day tomorrow.

Sack the Castle

We got up early to sack the Castle in Balzers. Susan and Clarence had gone for a jog and were delayed getting back so we were a bit late for the sacking. We had a great breakfast... one must have a full belly when sacking a castle.

We drove around the castle three times and couldn't find a place to park and parked so far away that by the time we walked to the castle we had to postpone the sacking.

The castle gave an unbelivable 360 degree view of the city. It was spectactular.

We walked down to a church and walked through a graveyard. Fairly resent were the dead. The graves were kept like gardens..... incredible.

I drove today, and we decided to make the GPS pick a southern route with less super highways. It was the most impressive drive. The drive through towns and up and down mountains made for a fun and exciting day but we were too late to sack the Castle outside Fussen. Tomorrow we will conquer it.

We left Liechtenstien, traveled through Switzerland and entered Austria today and are now in a beautiful hotel in Fussen, Germany.

Tomorrow back to Austria.

Saying good bye to Switzerland, hello to Liechtenstien

It was sad leaving Laterbrunen. The beauty there is so inchanting it's hypnotic. It sucks you in and makes you feel so relaxed and calm. I could spent a month there hiking and never touch all the possibilities. We decided that we would leave Laterbrunen and stay in Liechtenstien for the night, so before we left I did some research and found a place in Balzers about 9km outside of Vaduz the capital. Vaduz itself is pretty expensive so this was a great alternative.

We arrived in Balzers traveling for about three hours through some of the most beautiful mountains and scenery.

we dropped our crap off at our hotel which was beautiful and our rooms have balconies that look over the castle. We left and went to Vaduz and toured around and had a really late lunch. When we got back to the hotel we sat on the balcony and had salsa, chips and of course.... beer.

We went for a walk and had supper at a nice restaurant and went to bed eary around 10:00, we were all pretty tired.

Found a place to stay

We found a place in Balzers, Liechtenstien to stay for the night it was expensive but an amazing place. We drove to vadux and tried to sack the castle but it was a huge climb and decided to have lunch instead. after walking a round and exploring we went back to the hotel and had a few drinks.... note our theme here..... and explored. We found a nice little place and had supper. Clarence and I formed a plan to sack this castle tomorrow morning. Beer will do that to you.

The drive here was incredible. Ever turn was something new.

I may finally have a picture up

This is the Castle in Cochem Germany.... amazing spot, amazing town.