I'm On Top Of The World Looking Down On Creation ...

The Goetheanum

A 4:15 am start could not dampen our enthusiasm for our two weeks in Europe! We had spent the previous few days helping Klaudia, David's work colleague, settle into our apartment and now we were off!

We arrived in Basel, Switzerland, for the start of our journey that was to take us, on Day 1, through Freiburg to Freudenstadt. We had particularly chosen to fly into Basel so David could take me to the Goetheanum, which he had previously visited. This is the home of all things Steiner. The rounded roof tops, the pastel colours, art work, and beauty of the area is what Steiner was about.  The area was very tranquil and a gentle rain that was almost not apparent added to the serenity.

Freiburg

On to Freiburg. We drove through beautiful German villages with narrow roads and window boxes amassed with colour. Reaching Freiberg, we made our way to the Marketplatz. Buildings with high sloped roofs lined the cobblestone roads. A church and fountain centred the market place with restaurants and cafes adding to the vibrancy. A stroll around, and an ice cream, now that we had hit warmer weather, seemed in order, as we watched the passing parade of people and dogs.

Our overnight accommodation was in Freudenstadt. Thank goodness for the GPS as we may never have found our B&B. It was up a narrow lane to a ridge and set amongst corn fields over looking a valley. The owners were very hospitable and we ate a traditional German meal outside on the verandah overlooking the valley. We had a room with a verandah that had vivid red flowers in its flower box.

The plan for this trip was travel to Erlangen over the Black Forest High Road (Schwartzwaldhochstrasse) and then return to Switzerland by way of the famous Romantic Road (Romantischestrasse) As we drove through the Black Forest, hikers were preparing to set off on the many trails that can be found through this area. Huge pines lined the hills with the occasional village spotted amongst the trees on the valley floor far below. Every so often we came across a cleared area for winter skiing and also a bob-sled area.

The Black Forest from the High Road

As we headed towards Heidelberg, the road was very windy with numerous motor bikes and cyclists riding through this area on a beautiful summers day. In fact, the cyclists were almost a hazard as the road was narrow and traffic appeared around the bends quite quickly. As we descended down one hill, we came across what appeared to be a police road block. We waited patiently after they guided us into a road side clearing, thinking that it may be for random breath testing. Alas no! We had exceeded the downhill speed limit of 50 kph! 98 Euros later, and after they let me take some photos for the Year One's unit on "The Community", we were off once again. A very expensive photo opportunity! We can only think that we were caught when we accelerated to get around the cyclists!

Heidelberg and Schloss

We made it to Heidelberg later than planned. Delayed firstly by the unplanned police stop and secondly by a major traffic jam on the Autobahn. We had eaten our lunch in the car, whilst sitting staring at the traffic in front of us instead of cruising along at 130 kph. Heidelberg was a

Rothenburg house

pretty city, I dare not mention the cobblestone
streets and flower boxes again! We walked
 through the town, towards the river where there was the opportunity for a photo on the bridge looking up towards Heidelberger Schloss. This was just a quick stop before driving on to Rothenburg on der Tauber.

Walking the Rothenburg city wall

Rothenburg

I loved Rothenburg, a walled medieval town in Bavaria where you could walk the high town walls. The half timber traditional German houses look like something from a fairy tale. We wandered the streets looking at the Christmas shops and the shops selling Schneeballen, (Snow Balls - a traditional biscuit/cake dusted with icing sugar in the shape of a ball). As the evening was 31 degrees, we ate dinner in a beer garden before another walk around this lovely walled town.

We had a slightly earlier start the next day as we were off to Erlangen, where David was to meet Dirk at the university, whilst I met his wife Corrine for lunch. We had been to Erlangan on our previous trip 3 years ago and Dirk has had numerous visits to Wollongong, on one occasion with his family, so it was an opportunity for David to catch up on some university projects whilst I caught up on news with Corinne. We ate a lovely dinner with them outside on another hot and humid evening and later, when back at our hotel, we  planned our route to Augsburg. 

View of Dinkelsbuhl from the Bauerlin Tower

We left Erlangen mid morning after David had another meeting at the uni. Armed with picnic goodies to eat along the way, which I had bought while David was at work, we set off in the direction of Dinkelsbuhl. We seem to have needed to take a detour on every leg of this trip, roads and bridges being unexpectedly closed. This was the case once again, however, this detour took us through interesting farming land with houses, barns and fields with rows and rows of solar panels.

Dinkelsbuhl

Arriving in Dinkelsbuhl, which is on the Romantic Road in central Franconia, with our picnic, we found a spot under a tree in a quiet square to eat our lunch. Then it was off to climb the Bauerlin Tower. The tower gave us a magnificent view over this walled town, one of 3 in Germany and similar in atmosphere to Rothenburg. With its cobblestones and timber buildings, it was not hard to imagine this town as it had been in the Middle Ages.

Augsburg fountain

In comparison, Augsburg, where we arrived late in the afternoon, was disappointing. We imagined this town was one of the casualties of the war as its buildings lacked the charm of previous we had visited. Here we were particularly interested in the Fuggerei, the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. The conditions for living there remain as they were when it was founded 480 years ago. Each tenant must pay a rent of 0.88 Euro, offer 3 daily prayers, must have lived in Augsburg for 2 years, and be of the Catholic faith without debt. The gates of the enclosed complex are still locked at 10 pm every night.  We walked for some considerable time around the town before a very late dinner.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Wednesday saw us take a very scenic drive to Neuschwanstein Castle that is almost at the end of the Romantic Road at Schwangau. We were amazed how suddenly the Alps seem to loom up in front of you and although the weather was warm, snow could be seen on the mountains in the distance. With the other 6000 tourists, dodging cars, buses and prams, we spent a few hours walking and exploring the castle surrounds, built by the "Fairytale King" King Ludwig II with help from Richard Wagner. From the castle, you could see far into the distance, including the brightly coloured hang gliders that were floating on the air currents down from the neighbouring mountains. Unfortunately, the bridge above the castle, that gives a great view of the area was closed due to renovations ( a constant theme as we travelled around).

Wil

Our destination for the night was Wil, a small town outside Zurich, chosen as a halfway point on route to Sion. What a surprising town and a gem of Switzerland! We stayed in the old town, which was very quiet, yet full of restaurants and beautiful old Swiss buildings. Our accommodation overlooked a tree-lined lake with its quaint bridge. We had a wonderful dinner in an Italian restaurant named Vinothek. We had noticed how the area now had a definite French influence. Although a limited menu, the food was amazing and 

Dinner at Vinothek, Wil

beautifully presented. We were intrigued by all the young men in uniform also eating and celebrating at the restaurant. Apparently, they were concluding a part of their national service. The waitress, who spoke excellent English, was intrigued as to what two Australians were doing in their little town! After dinner, we walked around the lake before returning to our accommodation. It was disappointing that we had not allowed more time here to discover what lay beyond the old town.

Looking down on Lake Brienz

We left Wil mid morning to travel to Sion, an hour away from Lausanne where David was to give a lecture at the Swiss university, EPFL. We travelled via Interlaken and Grindelwald. What a day it was! We travelled through 32 tunnels and 1 road block ( where 1 policeman was armed with a camera and the other a machine gun), watched hang gliders continuously descend from the mountain tops above Interlaken to land in the park in front of us, ate lunch beside a fast flowing turquoise coloured stream (because of all the melting mountain snow on such a hot day), rode an aerial cableway 6 km up a steep mountainside

On the Lötschberg Tunnel train

above Grindelwald, walked through a herd of cows with cowbells ringing, rode on a train that you drove the car onto through the 14 km Lötschberg Tunnel and sat at what seemed the top of the world drinking tea and eating cake! The scenery and views were absolutely breath taking and we marvelled at how lucky we were to travel and see these amazing sights!

The Grindelwald-Mannlichen gondola cablew

A highlight was a ride on the Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola cableway, which took us for 30 minutes up the mountain, leaving the town of Grindelwald as a speck in the valley far below. It gave us spectacular views of the Eiger and Jungfrau with their snow and glaciers. Chalets and farm houses were dotted around the hillsides and the view from the top....amazing! We certainly seemed to be on top of the world!

When I think of Switzerland, I  imagine, yodelling, ice and alps; certainly not the 37 degrees celsius we hit as we approached Sion. We arrived late to our accommodation, happy to be sitting in an air conditioned car, as Swiss hotels don't have air conditioning. As we approached Sion, rows of vines crisscrossed the mountains in every direction. It was a pretty sight!

We ate dinner at the hotel and then went walking so I could get my bearings in preparation for the next day, when I would be exploring on my own, while David was giving his talk. The city was crazy and alive with people as it was celebrating its bicentennial over the following two days.

Valère Basilica, Sion

After an uncomfortably hot night, I set off to climb to Valère castle. We had viewed it the previous night, from our hotel window, perched on the hill lighting the sky above Sion. It is actually a basilica, built in the 12th and 13th centuries where I lit a candle for Maureen, David's aunt who had passed away the week before. On my way up the hill I passed a beautiful stone chapel, All Saints' Chapel. A museum and cafe are also now on the site and I ate a pleasant lunch high over the city looking into the distance at the rows of leafy vines. Once refreshed I set off back to the craziness of the town with its market stalls, music and history on display.

All Saints' Chapel, Sion

I had arranged to meet David at 3:00 pm so we could continue on our way to Fribourg, our last night on our German/Swiss trip. After a drink we retreated to the air conditioned car to make the hour and a half journey. After arriving in Fribourg, battling with parking meters and settling into our room (at least we had a fan this time), we stepped out for pizza sitting in the market square in 30 degrees. We really didn't get to see much of this town as it was our stopover on way to Basal airport early the following morning for 9 days holiday in Croatia. We were so looking forward to the relaxation and excitement of Split, Korcula and Dubrovnik!