Heaven and Heritage: Switzerland to Venice Travel Notes
MAY 22, 2024 – TRAVEL DAY TO GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (Day 164)
We flew out at 10:30 a.m. enduring a 5 hour flight to Geneva. We had no real complaints as the flight was fairly comfortable. We left the dry Jordan desert to have our eyes assaulted by the lush, vibrant place that is Switzerland. It was so strange after spending so much time in both Egypt and Jordan.
We got our rental car in Geneva without any issues and started our drive to the Lavaux Wine Region just east of Lausanne. This area has a unique type of grape (Chasselas) that is only grown here and makes up 90% of white wines (85% of all wines) in the region. The wine is known to be very good. It is so good that 95% of the wine made here is consumed here. There are vineyards everywhere you look. They are terraced up the mountainsides and along the roads going all the way down to the lake. Our hotel is right in the middle of this wine country on Lake Geneva. Once we checked in to Hotel Lavaux, we decided to walk along the lake to the little village of Culley. We eventually found a small cafe with people at the tables out front sipping on wine. We had to sit inside as all the outside tables were taken, but we really enjoyed talking with the bartender/waiter.
This area is unbelievably beautiful. The lush greens almost hurt our eyes since we have been looking at sand for so long. People here sometimes speak French and sometimes speak German, but culturally, there is a huge French influence. We are really just trying to take it all in. We have a small balcony where we can watch the trains coming and going, along with gazing on mountains, lakes, and little villages along with the wineries. We are hopeful that we will finally get a really good night of sleep. We are so thankful that there will be no call to prayer to wake us up in the morning.
MAY 23, 2024 – LAUSANNE / LAVAUX, SWITZERLAND (Day 165)
After a good night of rest, the 1st order of the day was to find a good coffee shop in
Lausanne. We knew the route that we had to take to get to the Olympic Museum. We had been given a train pass by our hotel that would allow us to travel free, but we still decided to drive this first morning until we figure things out. We finally found a parking spot after driving around for a few minutes. We wanted to go to a coffee shop we saw online. We found our way to Fripsquare Coffee. I’ll have to be honest, for me, it was the highlight of the day. Gwen had to get a hot chocolate in Switzerland and it was fantastic. They even had chocolate powder sprinkled on top. The pastries looked good, so we tried an Almond Croissant. It was so delicious that we ate it pretty fast. I had to get up and get another!
The Olympic Museum was our next order of business. It was even better than we thought it would be. We learned so much about the history of the
Olympics and were surprised to learn that because of the continued passion of one man, they were started up again. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896.
There was a display of all the different designs of the torches that have been used to light the Olympic flame. They also had a display of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for each Olympic Games. One of the most interesting parts was a display of Olympic memorabilia. We found ourselves in awe being so close to Jesse Owens shoe that he used to race in 1936 Germany Summer Olympics. Gwen really loved the dance outfits of Torvill and Dean. She remembered watching them perform while wearing those outfits. There were so many different items on display, that our minds were working overtime remembering the exact moments that we watched the competitors. A case in point, the iconic Jersey of Jim Craig, the goalie of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team that stunned the Russians. I can still remember watching the game in my apartment at Ole Miss all those years ago. Who doesn’t remember the Miracle on Ice, and Al Michaels saying “Do you believe in miracles?” It was fun reliving history!
After finishing the museum, we went to the Old Town to find The Escaliers du Marché staircase, a direct and steep route that runs between Place de la Palud and the Cathedral. Gwen had read that it is one of the most picturesque sites in Lausanne, so of course, we had to find it. After some further exploring we found Cafe Le Raisin, and I ate a delicious stone oven pizza while Gwen had their pasta. What a great food day! (And so welcome after really needing some comfort food).
We headed back towards the hotel and decided to do a little exploring of the roads that ran between the vineyards on the steep slopes. Everything was going well, but I was continuously having to choose the lesser of two evils with each intersection. The road kept narrowing as we had to option but to continue on. There was no way I could have backed down without scraping up the rental car! It got to the point that the stone walls on each side were around 5 ft. tall and I had about a foot on each side. I was reminded of the time we travelled on the back roads of rural England and ended up in a similar predicament, but I promise, this was worse. Gwen was getting nervous about it all. I have to admit that I was very concerned about damaging our rental car by scraping the doors on each turn. I am so glad we did not meet anyone coming down the road. As we slowly figured out a way to start back down, we passed a Winery tasting room. I could use some wine, so we decided to take a break.
The winery, Domain Croix Duplex, had a back balcony that had a great view. We had fun talking with the young man doing the tasting. There were only about 5 to 6 people there the entire time, so it was very relaxing to sit back and take in the wine and the view. We loved the wine, so we bought a couple of bottles to take with us to Switzerland.
After a long day, we made it back to the hotel. Gwen wanted to walk the paths up into the vineyards and take pictures, so she took off and I went to the room to sit and watch the view and work on the website. We didn’t want to go back out so we ate a pizza at Mansaniello, the hotel restaurant. We are loving Switzerland!
MAY 24, 2024 – DRIVE TO COLMAR, FRANCE (Day 166)
We decided to use the free train pass this morning to get to Montreux and look around. I was hopeful we would find another great coffee shop. We found a tea room named des Alps. It was good, but not as much as the coffee shop the previous day. Gwen had some postcards to mail, so we walked along the lake front to the post office in a mall nearby. This town has a Freddie Mercury (Queen) statue. There were many interesting food trucks and market trucks lining the sidewalks along the lake.
We took a city bus to Castle Chillon that sits right on Lake Geneva. It was completed in the early 12th century and was very interesting to explore. By the time we had completed the tour, which included many steps that led us to the top of the Keep, we were tired. We made our way back to the hotel and hit the road for France.
We just can’t get over the beautiful scenery as we travel both Switzerland and France. The farms and vineyards are definitely keeping us occupied, that is until traffic got to be bumper to bumper. Our trip, that was supposed to be 3 hours, became a 5 hour journey. We finally reached Colmar and located the Airbnb.
As it was already after 6 p.m., we decided to walk to a local grocery to buy something for dinner. We decided to keep it simple with a baguette, salami, cheese, and tomatoes. It was time to kick back and relax. Any further exploration of Colmar, France will have to wait till tomorrow.
MAY 25, 2024 – COLMAR (ALSACE), FRANCE (Day 167)
We went into the Old City in Colmar to hunt for coffee and pastry, as usual. We finally decided on a pastry shop called L’Artiste. It was better than the cafes we had been to recently. The desserts here looked like they were works of artists! I got a cinnamon roll and Gwen got a strawberry tart. Everything was so good, we decided to get a Peanut Butter cookie for later.
We enjoyed roaming around the old streets of Colmar. We did a little shopping in some of the shops looking for a Christmas ornament or something that might interest us for the family. It was so interesting looking at all the old buildings. They go all out to plant flowers and greenery in all the right places to make the town seem that it was the land of fairy tales. It has been fun to hear church bells in all these small towns.
Late in the morning, we decided to drive out to Grussenheim, a town where my great-great-grandfather had lived. The Dietsch name comes from my mothers maternal grandfather. There was a Catholic church in the center of town that has a unique shaped dome. We walked around in the cemetery that surrounds the church. We were able to find several tombstones with the Dietsch name. One disappointing aspect to this trip was that the town was mostly deserted on this Saturday. It is a very small town, without even a gas station, but we thought we might be able to inquire about any living family still in town. There was one woman sweeping her driveway, and although we had a language barrier, she confirmed that there were still Dietsch’s living in town.
We left Grussenheim and headed to a very picturesque called Riquewihr. Truthfully, all these little villages are amazing. They are all so close to each other, just seperated by vineyards. We had a traditional lunch at a table in the street. Our waiter recommended Flammkuchen, which was the specialty of the restaurant. It translates as a Tart Flambee. It is like a flatbread with cheese and ‘vegetables without the marinara sauce. It is much thinner than a pizza and it was very tasty.
We weren’t disappointed in this village, in fact we surprised to be met with an accordion orchestra near the gates. There was even one small young boy who was playing with the adults who had a ball cap on the ground beside him for tips. After walking around, exploring, we made our way back to Colmar.
We walked down the block from our VRBO to a store named Picard’s that sells their brand of frozen foods. The entire store was filled with everything frozen. We found a Lasagna meal for two and cooked it at the house. It not only helps us when we just want to stay in and hang out, but it also saves money. It is very expensive to eat out here. It easily costs between 40 to 50 dollars a person for a simple meal.
We spent the evening in after finishing our meal. We were tired after all of our walking and exploring. We couldn’t say enough about the beauty of the Alsace Valley. This valley is unique in that it is located between mountains of France and the Rhein river in Germany. It is a very fertile valley with agriculture being a big part of life here. It is funny to me, because even driving through it reminds me of the areas of Illinois that the Dietsch’s eventually migrated to from this area.
MAY 26, 2024 – COLMAR (ALSACE), FRANCE (Day 168)
We woke up and hung out around the AirBnB for a while just to have an easy
morning. We then decided to go visit another castle, Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg. We had seen it from the valley and it looked interesting. It is located on some of the high hills abutting the Vosges Mountains and overlooks the Upper Rhine
Plain. This castle is 900 years old. Restoration was started in the early 1900s by
German Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was nice to see it being restored so well. One of the most remarkable traits were the spectacular views from most of the windows. We are definitely noticing the subtleties of castles in different nations.
We headed on then to another nearby town called Ribeauvillé to get lunch. We found a busy restaurant that had outdoor seating called Au Cheval Noir. We decided to get a Flambee Tart to share and ordered starters of Sauerkraut Rolls and Quiche. It was too much food, but it was delicious. It rained off and on while we were visiting this village. After some afternoon rest and doing travel research, we headed to an area called “Little Venice” in Colmar to a traditional type of Alsatian restaurant called a “Winstub”. It translates to “wine restaurant” and reflects a homey atmosphere where the wine growers of the region would sell off excess inventory while socializing in a comfortable atmosphere. These restaurants do hold to traditions for the type of food they serve and usually only on red checkered tablecloths. Gwen ordered a traditional dish, called Bibeleskaes, that is made with Munster cheese… cross that cheese off her list of cheeses. She said it reminded here of the dirty donkey she had ridden in Jordan. Not a pleasant description for something you eat. I, however, chose the beef tips, naturally!
MAY 27, 2024 – FRIEBURG IM BREISGAU, GERMANY (Day 169)
Time to head back to Switzerland and have more than a couple of nights. We packed up and headed east to the Rhine. We were planning on spending part of our trip looking around a German town. Why not, while we are here? We reached Freiberg im Breisgau, Germany and headed to the old town area. We started walking around, and to be honest, were not that impressed by the city. We found a lot of graffiti on buildings and walls. We quickly realized that we were crossing a college campus. When we finally reached the center square we were met with a huge cathedral.
There was a local market going on since it was the weekend. Many venders were selling produce and other goods. There were also some interesting shops lining the square that we visited. Amongst all the vendors, were 7 or 8 Wurst trailers. They were all selling sausages, and bratwurst of various kinds. How do you pick the right one? (You look at the lines and at what everyone was sitting around eating.) We each had to have one, but since we have similar tastes, we both picked the same type. It was simple and it was delicious.
One of the unique things we noticed were little narrow water canals in the square. Some enterprising vendors sold simple little wooden sailboats with plastic sails to the kids. We were so entertained by watching the kids pulling the boats up the stream with the strings, and then letting them “sail” down the narrow canals.
When in Germany, it is THE LAW to taste some German beer. We stopped Blauer Fuchs Kneipe (Blue Fox Pub), a cafe/pub that had flights of beer from a local brewery. Gwen tries ciders now and then, but never a beer. She found a cider, Bulmer’s Red Berry and Lime cider that may be her all time favorite. We hung out on the outside seating for quite a while, till it was time to head out.
It took us a couple of more hours driving to reach the Lake Thun (“tune” as pronounced by the locals) region. Once in Sigriswil, we stopped at a grocery store and bought lasagna so we didn’t have to go back out for the evening. Chalet Xanadu is located just above Sigriswil village, overlooking the lake and the mountains. It is unbelievably beautiful. I don’t think words can describe it. All I can say, is that we kept looking at the view the whole evening and every time, all we could do was mumble “Wow!” over and over again. It was even a great view in the rain.
MAY 28, 2024 – THUN LAKE AREA, SWITZERLAND (Day 170)
It was cloudy, so we had a slow morning. It was interesting to wake up to sea a lake of clouds, or so it seemed. The clouds covered the lake as we looked down on it. At 1:00 p.m., we decided to drive to Lauterbrunnen. The weather kept getting better with beautiful blue skies coming into view as we journeyed to this little mountain town. Lauterbrunnen has very high vertical cliffs with waterfalls that are awesome. We walked the road through town and ventured down a gravel path to the river. What a beautiful area as we walked next to fields filled with cows and sheep. All of the cows have the traditional bells, and standing next to a field, you hear the symphony of their movements and head shakes.
You could follow the flow of the waterfalls down the cliff face to the streams running through the fields and finally into the river to be swept away. There was even a nice covered bridge for use to cross back into town on our hike. We built up an appetite and we found an outdoor table at the Corner Pub. The food was not that good, but it was filling and refreshed our energy.
We decided to go ahead and drive to Grindelwald, even though it was not our original plan. We were inspired by the mountain views to try to get a little closer. We did get a different perspective of the peaks, but it was too late to try to get to the top of any of them. We checked out the little town, but since we didn’t really want to shop or eat anything else, we headed back to the Chalet Xanadu. We stopped and bought wine, cheese, crackers, salami and chocolate for an evening snack. It was fun to just sit and eat on our back porch looking at the mountain peaks without fighting crowds. Having a private space to relax and enjoy a great view has been great so far. The peaks were so visible and clear, now that the clouds had gone away. It is like having a painting that is unbelievably beautiful and it even changes giving you a different feel and a different focus.
MAY 29, 2024 – THUN LAKE AREA, SWITZERLAND (Day 171)
This morning we worked on our website and then took the local bus to Thun. We roamed around in a pedestrian area that is between 2 branches of the Aare river. We were just seeing what the city was like. We ate at a nice little cafe, called Primavera, that sat right on the water. I got pizza and Gwen tried a new pasta called trofie. We enjoyed the atmosphere with all the people walking around, along with the food.
After lunch we headed back to a smaller town called Oberhofen. We had about an hour to wait for the next bus to take us home, so we wandered down to the lake and found Pier 17. It is a little cafe/coffee/beer place with chairs for taking in the view. I had a beer and Gwen opted for some ice cream. From our view we could see the Schloss Oberhofen (Schloss is a German word for castle or manor house) adjacent to the pier. We (Gwen) decided we would have to come back another day to eat at the restaurant there and tour the castle. We caught the bus back to the house and spent a night relaxing.
MAY 30, 2024 – THUN LAKE AREA, SWITZERLAND (Day 172)
We got up early today to take a bus to Interlaken to look around. We were hoping for a good coffee shop, but the first one we found, really the only one, was very crowded with a line to get a table. We gave up on the idea.
It was raining as we walked around the city. Riding in on the bus, we saw about a dozen paragliders in the sky. We walked to see if we could watch them land in a nearby park area, but they were done and no more were coming in now that it was raining. We stumbled upon a small coffee shop that had bakery goods. It was just OK. Interlaken seemed crowded and very touristy to us. We were caught up in a crowd of shoppers that had been dropped by tour buses. Having to fight crowds for sidewalk space and to have the rain to top it off, was not the fun experience we had been hoping for. As it started to clear up, we saw the paragliders again, so we went back to the park and watched them land. It seemed to be a lot of fun. Gwen said she was tempted to try it.
We took the bus back to Oberhofen and decided to salvage the day by having lunch at Schloss Oberhofen restaurant. The food was very good. It was a little more expensive than we’re used to, but we just enjoyed it for what it was. After that, Gwen decided to tour the castle while I wanted to go sit on a bench near Pier 17. The cafe was closed this time, so I just sat on the bench and relaxed with the view.
Schloss Oberhofen was newer than the other two that Gwen has visited. This castle focused more on the history of the family that lived there, the Habsburgs. In the top tower there was an oriental smoking room and parlor that was pretty unique. It looked like something from Arabia. After Gwen finished touring, we both went back to the VRBO. We drove down to Sigriswil for groceries again. While there, we (Gwen) decided to walk across the suspension bridge. I went under duress because I knew I was going to get wet and it was cold and windy. Gwen and the Ranger that takes tickets ganged up on me saying we should do it today as tomorrow it was going to rain. So we went and sure enough, after we had crossed over to the other side, the rain came in and we had to come back across the bridge in the wind and rain. The ranger felt bad for coercing me, and told us we could come back tomorrow and use the same ticket. Fat Chance! The damage was done. I was cold and wet. We got our groceries and went back to the VRBO and cooked a very good inexpensive dinner. Truthfully, I enjoy it as much or more as eating out all the time.
MAY 31, 2024 – THUN LAKE AREA, SWITZERLAND (Day 173)
It was raining when we woke up, with forecast for rain all day. We decided to stay at home and relax. Late in the morning, we thought that maybe one excursion out to the Swiss Caves would be fun and we wouldn’t get wet. When we arrived, a lot of people were leaving as we found out they were closing down because of flash flood risk in the caves. We went back to Sigriswil and bought the groceries needed for a pizza dinner. We sat at watched the every changing view as clouds came and went in the valley below our VRBO. We spent a quiet evening at home and enjoyed our pizza.
JUNE 1, 2024 – TRAVEL DAY TO DUBLIN, IRELAND (Day 174)
Our 10th of 17 legs completed. See Leg 11 Notes for comments! Turnaround Day
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