Widerluege Switzerland!

Up early and off to collect the plane boxes from storage. Kelly got us checked in while she waited for my arrival.  It was a quick and easy process and then up to pay for my over sized plane boxes :-(

After paying the man …yes you have to pay!…  We dropped them at the bulking items/airplane box area and headed towards the gate.

Boxes heading to the bowels of the terminal building.

We cleared security after having my TX swabbed for explosives and then headed to Starbucks! Had a nice coffee and texted with our ride support people (Kris) back home to arrange for pickup.  our gate were we met up with Pat & Hartley.

Another amazing wine bar at the ZRH airport.

The 787 was loaded up and airborne at 0950 local time. Lunch was served then it was time to write a personal “final thoughts” report for the Team Canada blog.

Nice flight into Toronto and then we did the customs, immigration two step. With the two plane boxes it was a bit of a challenge but we managed. Hartley was a great help as we had to move the boxes through to recheck them for the outbound flight. It brought back memories of Mark Byrne and I doing the same thing on our Muncie trips to the AMA Nationals!  Less rushed this time though :-)

Off to Vancouver next and after a bumpy flight arrived early. We said our goodbyes to Pat & Hartley as they had went to get their truck from the hotel parking lot then catch a ferry to the Sunshine Coast and home.

Our flight to Victoria was on time with the plane boxes being loaded into the cargo compartment as we boarded. They all looked in good condition.

In Victoria with all bags/boxes accounted for!

Kris picked us up with my truck and we headed home. He then bought us dinner at the lodge down the road! Very nice!

Once home I unpacked the plane boxes to check for any damage. It appears Hartley’s newest airplane, the Oxai Galactik made it just fine!  

Back to Zurich

We met for our breakfast and departed about 9:10 am. One last windy drive to the bottom before getting topped up with gas. We quickly found the highway and headed towards Zurich via HWY 2 and Altdorf when we hit the longest tunnel of our trip.... the Gotthard Strassentunnel.... 16 km through a mountain. We then drove past Ingenbohl with its beautiful lake views.

We arrived at the Ibis in Zurich at 12:30 and dropped Pat and Hartley off. We asked if they wanted to drive around a bit but they wanted to sort luggage and then have dinner at the Italian place next door.

As we have been travelling together for the past week I am sure they wanted some down time from us. We managed the four opinions pretty well:-)

We headed off to the Radison Blu at the airport but our check in time was 14:00 so we decided to head just north to the MG Zurich RC Field just to take a look.  We crossed the Rhine and stopped in the small town of Eglisau where we ate leftover meats & cheese that we had in the cooler. We sat on a park bench just feet from the Rhine and watch the activities unfold in front of us.  It was stunning.

The Rhine River

Boating action.

Bells a ringing.

I believe Team Australia ate here!

After lunch we headed up to the field and saw a couple guys flying sport planes. It was close and easy to find although the wasp population seems to thrive here! ! No wonder the Aussie's liked it. :-) Back through town and off to the Airport to refuel and drop the minivan off.

We grabbed one of the bags from the storage place and repacked everything for the morning... Kelly did a great job :-) Next a quick check in at the Radison Blu hotel and we were set. Low and behold an ice machine right outside our hotel room! It's a Miracle!  Sadly there is a shopping mall down stairs as well so Kelly is doubly happy. Me... meh!

Amazing Wine bar at the Radison Blu. Acrobats climb up and get your bottle!

 Kelly and I headed down to drop a travel bug into a geocache that we could actually see from our hotel window. This was the only large sized cache that we have found since our arrival. A quick easy find and we then scope out the check in process and the over sized bag drop (For plane boxes). All pretty straight forward so not anticipating any problems in the morning.

Grabbed a few items from the Co-op and back to the room to relax before dinner.

Out of Aosta

Up and showered, we loaded the VW with our gear and headed over to the other B&b for breakfast. Of course it featured the owners dairy products and meats. All very good of course. At 09:07 we hit the road and soon found ourselves on the interstrata toll highway eastbound towards Milano. Our topography transitioned slowly from mountains to foothills to flat prairie like lands.

We swung north towards Lake Como and then on through Lugano. Numerous toll highways but pretty easy to navigate.

This is the switchback at our B&B.

Neat rock shed along the pathway.

Our B&B was off the highway about 8km up a windy switchback road that took us up to San Antonio. We arrived at 12:30 and check in was 16:00. Down to town via switchback we went and enjoyed a nice lunch at a local restaurant just below the mountain in Giubiasco. After lunch we headed over to a castle that we could see up another mountain.

Church in the park in Guibiasco.

 It was the Castello di Sasso Corbaro fortress that overlooked the valley. It was small by most standards but the views were great.  We headed back towards the Osteria B&B and stopped at co-op for some refreshments.

Up the windy road we went and soon arrived... again:-) 

We got checked in and the car mostly unloaded. We took a beverage out onto the deck and enjoyed the afternoon.

Dinner was chicken and roast potatoes as the proprietor/chef said the only other option was black bread and mineral water :-) It was perfect

Panorama of the valley.

Great views of the city bellow.

From Sasso Corbaro we looked down on to Castle Montobello and Castelgrande.

Dinner time.

Off to Italy

We awoke a 7 am and enjoyed coffee and the stunning views from our balcony. Not a cloud in the sky! Arghh!! We could see the Rothorn Station atop the mountain and thought briefly that maybe we should go up again. With things planned later today in Aosta we will just have to settle for mountain views on our drive today.

We left the farm/apartment 8 minutes earlier than planned...yes you read that right...  8 minutes early and we did not leave Kelly behind! We went past Interlaken, Bern and then after a little gps dipsy doodle, down to Martigny and the St Bernard Tunnel.

We stopped in Martigny for a pit stop and some croissants for Kelly. I bought some cheese as well for our lunch. Lots of neat stalls in the crowded market.

Off we went and then stopped along the highway and had a bite of lunch. Our cooler contained  snacks of meats, cheese, pizza and some fresh olives that Hartley had purchased at the market. It was all very tasty then time to go through the St. Bernard Tunnel.

The toll was 27 euro for our car load and the tunnel ride lasted for 5 km through the mountain. Never touched the gas pedal on the way down to Aosta:-) The road was windy and I was cautioned that a windy fast swerving car ride would yield results that I would not like. I tried my best from that point on to provide a smooth ride. It worked!

After a little jigsaw puzzle through the traffic circles we found our home for the night. Hartley and Pat have a room at the B & B and we are over about 100 meters east at a huge B & B apartment. Our host Igor showed us around and we discovered he operates a working dairy farm with 120 head of cattle. I meet a few:-) It is all very nice and will be great for our one night stay.

The iMow was running next door.

Our apartment was over by his little shop that he sells cheese, yogurt, beef etc that he make here.  All very interesting. He even has a vending machine for fresh milk and products from the farm! We bough one and it was delicious… for milk :-)

 We headed into town and walked the main square with it's Roman ruins spread throughout. The old town actually rests on an ancient Roman city with pieces sticking out at different locations. We enjoyed the local sights & sounds of a busy town center with all it's narrow streets and many shops and stalls. Kelly was smiling.

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We stopped and enjoyed a drink and snacks then headed back to the B&B for a drink. We met up at the main lodge and published most of this blog.

We thrn walked down the road and enjoyed a meal at the local restaurant Le Bon Plat, Mine was excellent but Kelly’s prawns were a tad cool in her pasta. One day she will get a good meal!

Another day of travel tomorrow as we head to the Lugano area to sight see and geocache.

Making it up as we go!

We woke up to low cloud and rain this morning with heavy rain falling through the night. Our decision to skip the Jungfrau was a good one as the ceiling is about 300 feet in the valley and the weather reports above have similar conditions.

We had a bite of breakfast and planned out our morning. Pat wanted to see a castle so after a bit of search on the net we settled on Schloss Thun Castle in the town of Thun. It is about 50 km west of us at the end of.... yep you guess it... Lake Thun :-)

Off we went to the town of Thun for a tour of the castle. We made an emergency stop at a huge mall as Hartley's belt succumb the pressures of vacation eating:-) New belt in hand... or should I say waist (?) :-)  and our trip resumed. 

The TomTom took us to the base of the castle and we quickly found a parking spot. It was all within easy walking distance to both the castle and the downtown core with it's neat island setup and fast moving water.

Lovely planters with tourists.

 The downtown was very pretty with lots of shops along the water front. The small island is surrounded by nice vegetation and lovely planters.  Ideal for pictures and a nice stroll.

Upper side of the sluice.

Great spot!

Lower Sluice

 We walked around the stalls and shops and then headed up the small hill to find the entrance to the Castle. After searching around a bit, and with some guidance from a local lady, we found it!

Town Square Pano

Thun Castle... look up..way up!

 We picked up tickets and stored our packs in a locker before heading up the many stairs to the towers above. Each level presented a piece of history and interesting artifacts of the numerous era's.  The dungeon was actually on one floor and I thought about shackling up Kelly... just to see how they worked. (It was a brief thought :-) We spent about an hour looking at the views and the interesting items on display.

View from the towers.

Tower from the other tower :-)

Incredible view showing Lake Thun, the canal and Stadtkirche Thun (Protestant Church)  

The Swiss are inventive!

Guard Tower along the wall.

After our tour of the castle we headed down along teh waterfront and stopped for lunch by the river. We people watched during lunch then decided to head to Grindelwald to check out the bottom of the Eiger (which the clouds obscured today... aaarrgh! ). Worth the trip to see anyway as it is not far from Interlaken. We drove up the windy road and soon past the mini golf of Akimoto fame. We found parking easily and walked the shops along the way. Hartley bought a watch and we bought chocolate, wool and souvenirs. 

Lunch cooking in Grindewald

Very nice yard work on display!

We headed back to Brienz and topped up the car with gas for our morning escape to Aosta ,Italy. A quick stop at the Co-op for dinner supplies then back to the apartment. Drinks and blogging to keep our peeps in the know!

We planned the route to Aosta via Bern, Montreux and then the Tunnel Du Grand St. Bernard through to Aosta... should be interesting.

Rothorn Kulm

Today we slept in a bit but Kelly was quick to make coffee and relax outside while looking at the fabulous views. Hartley took on breakfast duties and once he figured out how to cut up the bacon he was busy cooking. Sounds easy but it is a layered block of meat and a dull knife! He managed to do it and the breakfast was great!!

I went downstairs and donated our beef leftovers (there was plenty!) to Helga for their dog. The hound will be very happy I think!

Today our plan is to take the train up to Rothorn Kulm and see the sights from that side of the valley. Scattered cloud right now but we are hopefully that the trip will pay off. We also have some caches to grab up there as well.

We loaded up the car and headed into town and first, tried to buy a travel pass...sorry can't...  you need your passport for this. ... and you need to pay! Of course the passports are back at the B&B. Arghh!

Forgeting about the pass idea, we caught the 09:40 cog wheel train up to Rothorn Kulm. Initially it has great views but sadly just past the 3/4 mark, clouds enveloped the train and surrounding mountains.  On arrival at Rothorn Kulm we took some pictures of the train then set off for a geocache. It was like being inside a ping pong ball as visibility was 1/8 of a mile at best. We got the geocache after a 15 minute hike and also spotted a ram in the mist.

Kelly enjoying the cog wheel train ride up the mountain.

Lots of tunnels as we went up the 25% grade.

Looking back as we went up the mountain.

We stopped mid way for water... hey it's steam powered!

Leg stretch time!

These field had numerous cattle grazing in them... almost to the top!

Kelly at the top of Rothorn Kulm... and close to a Geocache:-) It's a good thing she could not see anything!

With no visibility we grabbed the train down to Brienz. It made a few stops on the way but we arrived safely at 12:25. It was a nice leisurely descent back to the town.

Kelly and the locomotive.

Nice views as we went down.

We walked the waterfront for a while and then lunched at the Hotel Sternen . We split up and cruised the shops. Kelly picked up some nik-nacks and then we all met at the co-op for dinner supplies. The trip to the Jungfrau Wednesday has been cancelled (we all agreed!) due to the rain & snow forecast. Just too much money to spend for a very narrow possibility of seeing anything.

Along the board walk...er gravel walk :-)

Lake front.

Looking towards Interlaken.

Beautiful Swiss architecture.

A nautical theme was most evident.

The fantastic carving was in one of several shops that lined the main street in Brienz.

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We took the groceries back to the farm/apartment and headed out for a drive. We went by a campground and toured the area. As we both have RV's back home we just wanted to compare... they are similar as we thought.

We drove back through Brienz and along the north side of the lake to Interlaken to check it out. We grabbed a few caches along the way as well. The rains started and we only spent 5 minutes in town driving around. We will be back tomorrow when the weather improves!

A quick trip back to our "home" in Brienz and on arrival we enjoyed another snack of meats and cheese and a beverage. It's a tough life!

Our Farm/apartment. We have the entire top floor to ourselves.

We will plan a new itinerary for tomorrow...  tonight. Castle visit anyone?