We last left this post where we were going to be going to a little town that was the gateway to the Matterhorn. We arrived in Zermatt on June 17th and we were staying until June 19th so that our group, those that wanted and could go, would go up to the Klein Matterhorn (little brother to the Matterhorn) could get up close and personal without actually climbing the Matterhorn. Karl and I stayed in town since the altitude was going to be above 12,000 feet and he wouldn't be comfortable that high because of lack of oxygen. So we walked to the edge of town and sat in a little park looking up at the Matterhorn waiting for the clouds to clear from the top of the mountain. It showed it's tip a couple of times, but never cleared completely. So the following pictures show what it looks like in clear weather and what we actually saw.
So you can see how close we were from seeing it. The group that actually went up higher did see it uncovered and were awed. Also during the time we were in Zermatt they were going to celebrate Corpus Cristie Day (Christ's Day) the next day and a high school band serenaded the town the night before. Unfortunately, they also celebrated the following day at 6:20 AM! Our tour guide joked that he called for a "natural" wake-up call.
June 19th we were on the move again to end up in Lucerne, Switzerland. But before we arrived there we stopped at many places along the way. Our bus took us through the lower Rhone Valley which is called the breadbasket of Switzerland for all the fruits and grapes they grow. We passed miles and miles of vineyard that grew grapes they would eventually make into their local wine which is a white merlot. Then we stopped in Berne to see the bears which is the mascot of the city since Berne means bear in German. They are kept in a concrete enclosure during the night, but at 9am they are let out to roam the river bank.
Next stop was in the village of Interlaken. We were going to take photo stop to get pictures of Jungfrau Mountain, but the clouds covered it completely. On we go. We stopped at Truemmelbach Waterfalls which are waterfalls inside a mountain! They are Europe's largest subterranean water falls. The sound was unbelievable! There are 10 falls in total and 6 of those are in the mountain.
June 20th we stayed in Lucerne for the day and walked the city to the Lion Monument. For those of you who have been to Stone Mountain in Georgia this will look similar. This was carved in memoriam for the Swiss guards that were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution while guarding the French Royals. It is a lion (the symbol of Lucerne) impaled by a spear covering a shield with the Fleur-De-lis and next to the shield with the coat of arms of Switzerland. It was a very sad feeling looking at the monument and the facial expression of the lion.
Our next stop was to take the cog train up to the top of Mount Pilatus. The journey is almost 7,000 feet up on a cog train with the inclination of 48 degrees. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the middle point and another 15 minutes to get to the top. The legend goes that the mountain was haunted and people weren't allowed to go up there. The haunting was that the restless ghost of Pontius Pilate found lasting peace in the mountain and no one was allowed to go up in case they would disturb his ghost.
In our room that night I looked out at the surrounds buildings and noticed a unique chimney feature that I hadn't seen before, but I thought was a great touch.
June 21st we were on our way back to Frankfurt where it all started,but of course we had more stops to make. Our first stop this day was at Rhine Falls. When I saw it I immediately thought that it was a miniature Niagara Falls. See what you think.
Now, I don't usually take photos of bathrooms or anything that is in there, but I couldn't resist this time. On the wall behind the toilet I looked up and saw this sign:
I want you to read the first "instruction" then look at the first picture. Then please notice that this is written in ENGLISH! I didn't think that the Swiss thought we do that! Oriental, yes, French, yes, but Americans? Hmmmm.
After an hour here we were going to where I have been waiting to visit for 2 weeks. We traveled through the Black Forest and stopped at a cuckoo clock maker's store! Oh yeah!!! I had been waiting for this stop so that I could finally get a genuine Swiss Black Forest cuckoo clock. But what a surprise awaited us. Outside the store there was a gigantic, working clock running. The picture doesn't really show the height of the clock, but if you take a look at the figure on the right, he is the same height as a human! It was awesome. Of course I got my clocks and we will receive them in about 3-6 weeks.
After arriving back in Frankfurt we had a farewell dinner with all of our group, drank wine (or beer), reminisced, laughed and had a general good time. The next day we parted ways with hugs and promises to email each other.
So ends our organized group tour. We were driven to the airport where we picked up our car and drove back to Austria to join up with the Blue Knights for the International convention. Since Karl was going to be in meetings all day on the 23rd I decided to go on a tour and visit Grossglockner. This is a glacier that is 12,461 feet high and the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of Brenner Pass. (Sorry about the cross showing the in the picture. I was shooting out of the bus's front window and he had it hanging from the mirror.)
June 24th Karl and I both took a tour up to Hitler's "Eagle's Nest", his mountain-top retreat. The history of this building is that it was built in 13 months during 1938-1939 as a 50th birthday present. It cost over $130 million Euros to build. But Hitler only used it 14-15 times because he was afraid of heights and was claustrophobic. The original elevator is still in use with all original parts. Because he was claustrophobic, the elevator was made of brass with a mirror effect so that he didn't fell the closeness of it. It can hold 45 people! The dining hall that could seat 30 people comfortably is now the restaurant and the conference room is also used for the eating. Eva Braum's "tea-room" is next to the conference room. No one ever slept there except the soldiers who patrolled the mountain top 24 hours a day. Unfortunately the weather was terrible and we couldn't see anything around the building.
We have finished our touring for now and will arrive back in New York on the 29th for 4 days. Then back to Calif. where Karl will take off for Washington for a few weeks (I'm staying home!). But stayed tuned readers! There will be another blog in September when we are taking the Corvette and traveling Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Pictures will be AWESOME! Ta-ta for now.
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