Strasbourg

I had a few days of float before I had committed to be back in Amsterdam, so I stopped by a little town called Strasbourg on the way.  Many years ago, a former boss had raved how beautiful this little town in France was.  So I stopped by for an afternoon.  

The old town is indeed very picturesque – canals surround the city, which still has many of its German roots intact.  The street signs were usually in both languages and you could hear both spoken on the streets.  (I have to admit that I got a little giddy when I heard French all around me again).  The architecture is still largely intact from the golden years of the city, and the cathedral is one of the better ones I’ve seen in my European travels.  All the tourist shops proudly advertise their pride of the Alsace region.  Strangely enough, Strasbourg tourist shops also sell a lot of stork paraphernalia, since it is the mascot of Alsace.

 

Not going to lie, I love any city that greets me at the train station with
a proper croissant maker.  Every other country serves a poor imitation.

I enjoyed wandering around a bit, enjoyed the charm, and then retreated to the warmth of my hotel for the evening.  It was very cold here, and I was still chilled even when I was wearing every layer that I brought or bought on this trip.  I was grateful for sweater from Houston, the fleece from Billings, the rain jacket from Oslo, the gloves from Munich. 

scenic canals and architecture

The wall bridge
built between 1200 and 1250, upgraded
from wood to brick in the 19th century

They would (and did) shut the doors here
to flood the southern part of the city
and make in inaccessible to invaders

More scenery

The stained glass windows paid respect
to the kings of the Holy Roman Empire
In French, it's the Holy Germanic Roman Empire?
Maybe that's because everybody in glass is
named Otto or Frederick 

Outside the cathedral

The main square, with the
Kammerzell house in the corner

"Little France"
you can see the merchants' coats
of arms hanging over the street

Strasbourg was a nice stopover on the way to Amsterdam.

Interlaken

I love this place.  I have loved Interlaken and the Berner Oberland region since the first time I laid eyes on them during my year abroad in college. It is still a passionate love affair - I have managed to return here almost every time I am in Europe.  I have brought many friends here to witness the beauty and participate in the adventure that is this place.  

Interlaken is a tiny town sandwiched in between two enormous, impossibly blue lakes and surrounded by snowcapped mountains, including the famous Jungfrau.  In short, it is everything I love about the outdoors all in one place.  

So it is almost a pilgrimage that brings me back to the heart of Switzerland. 

Sadly, my first day in Interlaken was mostly spent curled up asleep with a nasty headcold. Fortunately for me, it was well past peak season so nobody bothered me. 

But you can’t sit still for long in Interlaken.  It’s too beautiful.   I had to get out the next morning.  But I chose an easy itinerary hoping it wouldn’t cause a relapse of the feverish snuffling. 

I signed up for paragliding in the morning, which was AMAZING.  They picked us up from the various downtown hostels and hotels and drove us to the top of a mountain, where we jumped off facing the Jungfrau.  For the first few minutes, it was unexpectedly peaceful floating over the mountain, listening to the bell choir of cows jingling their right cowbells below us.  Then we got far enough out to be hanging thousands of feet above solid ground – it was exhilarating! And all over in about half an hour.

The takeoff field with the Jungfrau in the background

Under canopy

The colors were amazing.
See the restaurant on top?  We
took advantage of an air current and
climbed above it.

My pilot, Peter, managed to find an updraft so we were spinning and soaring up and around for at least 10 minutes before returning to the regularly scheduled route.  The forest foliage was also peaking on color - an added bonus when soaring over the mountains. He even let me take the reins and steer for a few minutes before taking them back and giving me a rollercoaster ride of loopdy loops.  All in all it was a blast!!  I can definitely see how people get hooked on this. 

A view of Thunsee and Interlaken

Right after takeoff

Peter turned out to also a great source of info on the local area.  He suggested I take the cable car to Niederhorn so that I could walk along the ridge trail from there during the afternoon.  I figured that it was easy enough since the cable car would be doing most of the vertical climb.  His advice was spot-on. The view was spectacular from start to finish.  I hiked along the ridge line from Niederhorn to Burgfeldstand and had the best view of the Jungfrau from anywhere in the valley, for the entire hike.  It was amazing.

The view on the left

The view straight ahead

The view to the left

http://desalpes-kunst.ch/

The mountain goats didn't seem
scared of the hikers at all

Relaxing while enjoying the view

The next day was also a trip recommended by a different local.  This guy had not already witnessed that I love good views and a sense of adventure, but he still offered a pretty good choice given that it needed to be a short hike since the rain would come in that afternoon.  He suggested I take the bus/train/cable car combo to Murren and then down again to Stechelberg to hike the valley with cliffs on either side and waterfalls.  I modified it slightly to hike along the “Mountain View” Trail to Murren, which did have stunning views whenever the mountains poked their peaks out from the clouds.  I sat and read, and journaled, and generally lingered to take in that view until the rain started.  Then I scurried up to Murren where I caught the cable car and train back to Interlaken. 

The view of the valley and waterfall
from Lauterbrunen

The wanderers way . . . appropriate

Mountain view way

my perch

I left Interlaken the next morning . . . the last day of the year before it snowed.  

Innsbruck and Tyrol

After Florence, we backtracked a little to Innsbruck, Austria. 
It was the designated “hiking the Alps” location we finally chose because it still had easy access to Munich for Chris's flight home.  So we landed at the Innsbruck train station in the afternoon and wandered around this Alpine town, prepping for the next day’s hike before enjoying a traditional German-style dinner.  Innsbruck is a pristine, colorful ski town with a river running through it that brags about being the “capital of Tyrol.”  Unfortunately it was shrouded in clouds that afternoon and the next day.  

The Austrians have perfected hiking so that you can literally hike from hut to hut through the peaks. So we started as early as possible Thursday morning and climbed ~4400ft from Innsbruck to one of these called Pfeishutte.  It is run like a rustic BnB and provides 3 course meals and bunk beds for hikers.  We lucked out on timing and stayed there during the last week of the season.  We ended up hiking through clouds all day, so there weren’t many views but we did see several mountain goats through the ethereal fog. 

Pfeisshutte

We're going to climb this
. . . from the trailhead at ~6300ft

The next morning was fortunately bright and clear!  Yay!  And we set out to hike to Rumer Spitze (another ~3800ft gain) that turned into a very technical “hike”.  Neither of us really appreciated what we were setting out for, but the views were worth it!!  Then we hiked/climbed back down to the Hafelekarhaus (Cablecar station) and rode the cable car back Innsbruck and a well-deserved Italian dinner.  I’m pretty proud that I stood at the top of one of the tallest peaks you can see from town.

 

The hike up
Difficulty rating 5.5?

The hike "down"
Difficulty rating 5.6?

Hugging the summit cross - We made it!

Sitting on Rumer Spitz  - 8052ft

View from the summit.  Innsbruck is beneath all the clouds.  Zoom in for gorgeous mountains.

View from the summit facing the other way.  You can barely make out Pfeisshutte in the valley below.

Thanks Chris for pushing my physical activity limits in 3 different countries!  And good luck on your race next week!

View from Hafelekar overlook:
Rumer Spitz is just left of Chris's head

Next stop: Interlaken

Florence

We spent 2 action-packed days in Florence so that Chris could see Italy on his first trip to Europe.  And I got to eat Italian food and drink Italian wine :)  In fact, traveling with Chris guarantees every day is action-packed.  The guy does not slow down!  After getting off a night in a sleeper train car, we dropped our bags, wandered across the famous Duomo of Florence, grabbed the traditional Italian breakfast of espresso and a croissant and then started an all-day bike tour, all before 9AM.   

The Duomo at 7AM
It's just too big for pictures up close

Our biking tour took us to a local winery, after which we got to eat a 3-course Tuscan lunch with wine from the winery (that you can’t buy in stores), take in the Tuscan scenery, savor some gelato and generally enjoy it all guilt-free because we just rode the advertised 22 miles up and down the Tuscan hills.   (I may have accidentally increased our distance by missing a turn and forcing Chris and our guide to come chasing after me downhill.)  

The Tuscan hills are beautiful, even with the cloudcover that burned off around lunchtime.  The cedar-lined streets frame roads up and down the hillsides.  And in the sun, the marble and tile facades of Florence practically glowed down below us.  Chris enjoyed biking in the path of the 2013 World Championships, and I secretly said a prayer of gratitude that our tour guide was pacing the group at a speed  I could handle.

Wine and Olive Oil at Trattoria Montereggi

Tuscan Hills

After two days of biking with Chris, I am feeling like I am in a lot better shape, and it’s reawakened an appetite to see more of the countryside than the big cities.  You really do get to experience a foreign country and culture so much differently when you’re not surrounded by throngs of tourists from around the world.  I may do more biking during the rest of my time in Europe so that I can enjoy these small towns more often.  

After cleaning up, we wandered up to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we sat on the steps, savoring a bottle of Prossecco and a light sampling of Tuscan charcuterie and cheese while watching the sun set over Florence, smiling when everyone applauded the buildings getting lit for the night.  A late dinner was delicious with delicious Tuscan wine, and our waitress introduced Chris to lemoncello.  While in Itally for 2 days, you also have to get gelato on the way home.  I don't remember what time we actually made it back to our AirBnB, but it was a great day.  

The Duomo from the steps of the  Piazzalle

Sampling Gelato

The mosaics of the Baptistry

The next day was devoted to tourism of some of the finest collections of art in the world.  The Baptistry and Duomo are by themselves spectacular pieces of architecture and art.  The entire façade of the church and baptistery are covered in marble, and the interior of the Duomo features a cupola painted by some of the biggest names in Renaissance history.  One of my favorites is the giant mosaic that covers the floors and ceiling of the baptistery.  Tiny stones and gold were installed in the 1200s to illustrate, in detail, key stories from the Bible.

Looking up at the Duomo Cuppola

Views from the top

Looking down from the Duomo Cuppola

The famous sculpture by Michalengelo

Then it was a little lunch of pasta, pizza and wine at the Mercado Centrale, some souvenir shopping and a visit to The David.  Unfortunately I messed up the reservations to the Ufizzi, but the unexpected time meant we got to go to Bergello, which is a fantastic collection in its own right, and wander all the way through the Bobili gardens before another delicious dinner.  

One of many statues at Bergello

Views from Ponte Vecchio

The Bobili gardens are HUGE
and lined with sculpture throughout

View from the backyard of
the Medicis

The entire city of Florence is a museum!  Everywhere you look, there are churches, palaces, museums and statues or copies of famous statues.  Everywhere you eat, the simple food is prepared perfectly with fresh ingredients.  Even the waiter/owner from the restaurant in Bologna, where we transferred trains the next day, began to wax poetic about how Tuscan food and wine is amazing.  It's a shame we only have 2 days in Florence, but we want to get back to the Alps before Chris leaves, so it’s on towards Austria!