Can there be a more irritating bird to other birdlife and man than the Cuckoo. First of all it lays its singular egg in the nest of another bird. Then, when the cuckoo youngster hatches, proceeds to sling the other eggs/chicks out of the nest. When the chick becomes an adult it sits perched upon a tree branch calling out its unique song from dawn till dusk...... pestering and driving campers mad. AAAAAAARGH! Why any one would think of putting the sound of a cuckoo in a clock beats me, although I hope the Amercians we saw, sizing up a £600 cuckoo clock in Austria enjoys there purchase-good luck to them. Anyway onwards and eastwards. We set off today from Maggiore to discover the other large Italian lakes. We made a bit of an error, not ... read more

Day 24 Into Italy! Today we travelled on a glorious sunny day from Interlaken towards Italy and the Lakes, and what a way to arrive. We drove for about an hour towards the Italian border, when the satnav suddenly said ‘then take the ferry’ Alison checked the map - she said there isn’t a lake or river around here, we both looked again incredulously at the satnav and sure enough, there was even a little picture of a boat. Any way a few kilometres, and a toll both later it dawned on us that we were going to travel on the back of a Train! We proceeded to follow the stream of traffic onto an endless stream of carriages. We then entered a tunnel, which to say least was a bit scary as it was pitch ... read more

Day 21 22 23 The last 3 days in Interlaken, we have spent making use of our six day pass on the trains, cable cars and buses in the Jungfrau region. We have done a variety of high walks and have been blessed by the weather- the Swiss are having an unusually dry spell - but to our advantage. Today the 24th May we had a wonderful day on the Schilthorn mountain, with a 30 minute cable car ride to get to it. This mountain complex was used for the James Bond film : On Her Majesties Secret Service’ the views are spectacular and it has a revolving restaurant, which we had to try-where you can literally watch the world go by. Sadly there wasn’t a Martini - shaken or stirred, to be seen. We are ... read more

Day 15 & 16 Tunnels, Lichenstein and Heartstopping Alpine passes We left Innsbruck with weather still gloomy but had our first taste of the long monotonous alpine tunnels- I’ll never complain about the Blackwall tunnel again. We made an overnight stop in Lichenstein one of the smallest countries in the world. Its main claim to fame is its the largest producers of dentures in the world and has a dubious reputation as a tax evaders haven. As the Royals sometimes ski there, we thought it might be interesting to go to. Also thinking it might be a bit like Monaco - smart wealthy and stylish. We were disappointed. The only thing that was interesting was the old castle on the hill, in which the ruling prince resides and rules with a rod of Iron. Think of ... read more

Day 12 & 13 Hahnenkamm, Rain, Snow and the road to Innsbruck ‘The Hahnenkamm’ Mention that to any downhill skiing fan and they will instantly know it is one of the fastest, most terrifying courses on the skiing world cup circuit. I’ve (k) wanted to walk down it for some time. It seemed when we woke up that it wasn’t going to be. We had consistent rain for over 20 hours and even when we drove towards Kitzbuhel the town nearest to the Hahnenkamm, the cloud was low. As with the scenic road, the Sun came out. So we thought we go for it, but...the cable car wasn’t going to be operating until June. We thought we would go UP instead, boy was it steep, but managed about 95% of it until the threat of further ... read more