Zürich

We finally got to Zürich yesterday around noon. First stop: lunch at Zeughauskeller. Beautiful ceilings, antique weapons all over the walls, and delicious food. 

Then we wandered around town for a couple of hours

and toured a church (Fraumünster), including 185 steps up one of the spires. 

These tiny footprints ^ were at the base of one of the stairways. Can anyone enlighten me as to why?

Then we strolled down to the water to sit and read for a bit before catching our next train. 

3 trains and 2.5 hours later, we arrived at our hotel in Lauterbrunnen. I love this town. I remember this area very clearly from when I visited with my family 30 years ago. So glad I get to experience it again!

Hotel Siberhorn and views from the hotel

^That metal building on the left is where the gondola to Grütschalp departs, right beside our hotel.

Dinner time stroll:

And quite possibly the best meal I've had so far this trip - Farmer Röstli (roast potatoes covered in cheese, mushrooms, onions, and ham):

We took a midnight train, going...

...to Switzerland. From midnight to 1:30ish, we took a train trip from Munich, Germany, to Salzburg, Austria. We were supposed to have a short layover at the Salzburg station, and then board a train (complete with sleeping car reservations) that would take us into Zürich. Unfortunately, that train ran into some bad weather and trees across the tracks, which delayed it by almost 3 hours. 

So after a little nap on the floor of the Salzburg train station:

We finally got into our sleeping compartment after 4:30 AM (Thursday).  

I had that top bunk (way at the top of the photo).  It was surprisingly relaxing. I was lulled to sleep by the rocking of the train and slept until at least 10AM. Once we awakened, the views from the train window were spectacular! 

Because of the delays, we did not have the entire day in Zürich, as planned, but we still had enough time to tour around a bit and do some more eating! More on that soon. For now, I need to catch up on my sleep. 

München, Part 2

We continued to eat and drink our way through Munich Wednesday afternoon. We planned to take a night train to Switzerland, so we put our big packs in a locker at the train station and wandered around all day and evening. Thankfully it was 20° cooler than the previous day, so very pleasant for walking. 

We spent a lovely afternoon strolling through the English Garden, enjoying the Japanese tea house:

The Monopteros:

And the Chinese Tower Biergarten:

Later, we walked through town. By the time we got to the Marienplatz, it was emptier than I've ever seen it. I guess because it was past the Glockenspiel time (but I've seen that so many times; it was nice to enjoy the architecture without fighting crowds).

We ate dinner at an outdoor cafe overlooking this church. Three girls (street performers) were playing violins, much to our dining enjoyment. 

It was a perfect day. 

München

We spent Wednesday touring around Munich. First stop: Schloß Nymphenburg. 

One of my favorite parts was finding this portrait of a "Helene" in Ludwig's Gallery of Beauties:

And walking through town later in the day, we stumbled across a shop called "Fräulein Helene":

We chose this name for our daughter because it is an old-timey, beautiful German name, so it was fun to run across it a couple of times in one day. 

Off to dinner...more in another post later...

Prost!

We arrived in Munich at 1:00pm and took a train straight to the heart of the city for a stop at the Augustiner Keller Biergarten. This is a very old, traditional Biergarten, with long wooden tables under big shady chestnut trees. Munich is undergoing a heat wave at the moment. It was in the 90s and felt especially sweltering since we were still toting all of our luggage with us. So a Radler in the shade was just the thing! I also got a plate of curry wurst and pommes, one of my favorite snack foods in Germany. 

After our break, we took another train and a subway to our hotel. It's called Motel One, and I chose it for its reasonable price and central location. It also happens to be a very nice hotel, and the breakfast this morning was delicious!

That's the view from our window. 

And here's the room (with my luggage all over the bed), small but comfortable:

After cleaning up, we took the S4 out to Eichenau to have dinner with Hanni Fleck. She's the English teacher I stayed with every year when I brought my German students over for the exchange program. It was lovely to catch up with her after 15 years! We had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant, although my jet-lagged brain had some trouble keeping up with the mix of German, English, and Italian being spoken. 

Now, after 10 hours of sleep and a healthy, hearty German breakfast, we are ready to spend the day exploring Munich!

Europe, it's been too long!

In December, John and I will have been married 20 years. As an early celebration (this won't jinx it, will it?!), we are taking a trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy this summer. No kids!!

As a teacher, I took groups of students on exchange trips to Germany every summer. The last trip I took was while I was pregnant with Campbell, 15 years ago. That is way too long. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?, so I'm looking forward to this trip more than any of my European vacations in the past. I've been preparing for months. 

I laid out some of my stuff today, just to look at it. :)

One of my goals for this trip is to enjoy and savor each moment. So instead of taking my real camera (which is still in need of repair, anyway), I will only use my phone's camera. I hope that this will encourage me to take snapshots but not spend lots of time setting up the perfect shot. I am also leaving behind my laptop and my iPad. I will only have my phone with me. One of the reasons for this particular blog entry is to test out my blogger app and make sure I'll be able to use this as a travel journal along the way. Another goal is to pack lightly, since we will be taking lots of trains and walking quite a bit. To that end, all of my "books" are downloaded to my phone's kindle app. And the Osprey suitcase above has wheels and a rolling handle, but also converts to a backpack for those bumpy cobblestone road moments when it would be easier to carry than roll. The small daypack zips onto the big convertible suitcase. My new Sherpani purse can be worn across one shoulder and in front of my body, and it's big enough to hold our passports and Eurail passes in addition to all the usual stuff. 

Tune in again next week, when the adventure really begins!