Three Trains, a Bus, and a Boat

That's what it took us to get to Hallstatt.  Normally, it would be two trains and a boat, but flooding has caused some problems in the area.  The train tracks from Stainach Irdning to Hallstatt aren't doing so well, so the train stops, you board a bus, travel past Hallstatt, and then get on a train to go back to Hallstatt.  Then, you take a boat (the Stefanie) across the water to Hallstatt itself.

Additionally, a river that runs through town decided to change directions the week before our arrival.  Switzerland responded by sending in the army to help sort things out.  The river was back to its usual course by the time we got there, but crews were still working on cleanup and repair.  Also, we discovered that a bridge had washed downriver into the lake:

Sorry, taken from a bus. That bridge belongs quite a ways upstream and not in the lake

So, what did we do in rainy, cold (50 degrees or so) Hallstatt?  A fair amount of hiding in our hotel, which was quite nice:

We took the short Rick Steves walking tour around town and were impressed by the trees growing along the buildings:

We visited the ice caves and saw... ice!

Along with about 30 eight-year-old Austrian schoolchildren.  Awesome.  The English speakers got to stay at the head of the group so the tour guide could tell us about the place before everyone else caught up.  Then she repeated the spiel in German.

We also toured the charnel house in Hallstatt, and by that, I mean we walked in and stared at all the skulls in this tiny room:

I felt kind of bad taking a picture (although the above is actually one that Paul took).  These are real skulls.  In Hallstatt, due to limited space, bodies stay in graves for only about 10-15 years, and then they are removed.  Previously, it was a practice to bleach the skulls in the sunlight for quite some time and then paint them with the person's name as well as with flowers, laurel leaves, or similar.  This practice has pretty much stopped, although I think people can still request it if they want.  The last person to do so was in about 1995.

We also went on a nice long walk on the day it didn't rain very much.  Austria really takes its walking paths seriously:

We enjoyed some lovely views:

That's Hallstatt nestled at the base of that hill.

It Doesn't Get Much Better than Lake Lucerne

On our first night in Lucerne, we ate at Rathaus Brauerei, a restaurant and brewery recommended by Rick Steves.  Paul enjoyed a delicious beer and pondered the tubes of mustard:

We feasted on sausage and sauerkraut and on a cheesy noodle dish traditional to the region: 

Our second day in Lucerne, we left the city to go for a beautiful hike around Lake Lucerne on part of the Swiss Path (from Sisikon to Brunnen).  Paul said it might just win the award for prettiest place we've been so far on this trip:

Here's a link to the full panorama.   Hopefully it works!

I think I might have to agree.  Toward the end of the walk, we came upon a sight that I thought only existed in US parks - exercise stations.  Apparently I was wrong:

Paul is attempting the exercise, but at this point, our arms and legs were quite sore...

Swans are a common sight in Lucerne.  I think this old guy is glaring at me to stop taking his picture (it probably didn't help that I wasn't the only one snapping photos):

Some of the buildings are decorated in a pretty interesting manner...

In the course of two days in Lucerne, we went for three two-hour boat rides (covered by our Eurail pass!).  We rode a steamboat and enjoyed watching the crankshaft and piston rods (at least, that's what Paul tells me they are called):

The final boat ride was a sunset cruise:

Wenger in Wengen!

There are only two things you need to know about Wengen.

1. I tried to pretend my name was everywhere (the sign actually says "Wengernalp"):

The sign says Wengernalp AND Wengen.  :)

and 2:

That folks, is more cowbell.

Okay, fine, a third thing = even more beautiful mountain views!  (This one isn't actually in Wengen, but is a not-terribly-long train ride away):

The Mighty Schilthorn

It took us three cable cars to get up to the peak of the Schilthorn, and my, what a view!

If you have a Google account, click here to view the full panoramic (hopefully it works!)

Paul laughs at me, but I have decided that cable cars are really not my preferred method of travel.  I wouldn't love them anyway, but I don't particularly enjoy it when the cable car rocks when it passes over support towers (about 10 seconds into the video below, although this particular car may not have rocked much).  It's also not helpful when Paul tells me how crazy it seems to him that so much of the equipment (the car, etc) is so sturdy and big, but we glide up on a wee little cable.  Thanks, husband.

Us and the mountains!

Hot chocolate in the revolving dining room:

And yet more mountains:

And finally, a video of a bird soaring on the mountain updraft:

The Glacier Field of Chilchbalm

Welcome to Gimmelwald!

On our first day in Gimmelwald, we went for a hike to something Rick Steves described as a glacier field.  It's called Chilchbalm, as you can see in the photo below:

Paul poked the snow:

And I stuck my fingers in the icy cold water:

On the way back, we checked out the wildlife and beautiful wildflowers:

Also, speaking of glaciers, the hotel at which we stayed had an interesting shower experience, which I dubbed the Alpine Freeze.  You had to pay 1 franc for five minutes of shower time, the machine to add another franc was no where near the shower, and when you got near the end of your 5 minutes, your only warning signal was that the water became absolutely freezing cold (like, top of the mountain water cold).  It also did that occasionally during the shower, presumably when someone flushed a toilet or similar.  Not an experience you'd want right before bed, I'd say.

The hotel itself was run by an 89 year old gentleman, Walter (his photo is on the website linked above - check it out!), and his assistant, Tim, who has been working there on a somewhat informal basis for something like 14 years.  They have an amusing relationship.  Tim tries to get guests to eat elsewhere so Walter doesn't have to cook dinners by saying that Walter isn't feeling well.  When we arrived, Paul said to Walter that he hoped he was feeling better, and Walter was like "who told you I wasn't feeling well?"  And then he proceeded to joke about Tim making things up and telling us how Tim sticks around because he wants a room so he can paraglide in the area and see his girlfriend.  Pretty funny.

In many ways it was a great place to stay - we had some great conversations with people over breakfast and dinner (including the mother of Paul's best friend in second grade!), and Tim and Walter were both very friendly and super helpful.  However, the number of spider webs was amusing - in doorways, in the corners of rooms, everywhere.

CSI Schilthorn

Amusing signs from the viewing station at the summit of the Schilthorn in the Alps:

CSI: Don't talk to the hand!

CSI: Ummm, a dinosaur put the cap on your bottle?  Anyone else have a better one for this one?

Lovely Interlaken

We spent one night in Interlaken in an amazing hostel.  If you are ever in Interlaken, I cannot possibly recommend Backpackers Villa more highly.  It was one of the cleanest places we stayed, and it had free lockers in the rooms.  Now that is a genius idea for a hostel.  Everyone was super-friendly, and there were lots of places to sit and relax.  We would happily have stayed there many more nights if we weren't eager to be on our way to Gimmelwald.

Switzerland is, well, beautiful, as you might expect.  The train ride in was quite pretty (and included breakfast - woot!).  Paul snapped several photos:

For lunch, I enjoyed a burger that included shredded carrots, something I think our US burgers are sorely lacking:

Interlaken is sandwiched between two lakes - Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.  We had hoped to ride one of the ferries to a castle on Lake Thun, but the ferry hours just didn't work out.  Instead, we hopped on one of the Lake Brienz ferries and floated along for three hours as it made its loop around the lake.  Switzerland has some great Eurail pass benefits, among them the ability to ride the ferries in Interlaken and Lucerne for free (or, as Paul is keen to point out, more like pre-paid, since our Eurail pass was pretty pricey!).  Paul got himself a beer:

And we enjoyed the endless views:

We topped off the day with dinner at the top of the ugliest and tallest building (a hotel) in Interlaken and enjoyed watching the paragliders land: