Swiss Alps, Cote de Azur and more

Well hi all again,

Glad to hear everyone back home seems to be fit and well.

Well we have been a bit all over the place doing lots of different things since we last did a blog. We left Italy and headed across to Nice in France and explored the coastline there. Went to Monaco which is ultra rich, filled with big expensive boats, skyscrapers (which is unique over here) and of course Ferraris. We did a booze cruise in and around St. Tropez with our Irish guide who was classic and again saw just how rich some people can be. Helicopters on boats, multi-million Euro homes owned by all the celebs (including an 18 million Euro holiday home for Bryan Adams, Mum) and kings and queens over here.

After that we headed to Switzerland and stayed in a place called Lauterbrunnen. It was down in a valley between some of the Alps and it was such a beautiful place. Switzerland is probably the most beautiful country in Europe we reckon. We were soooooo lucky with the weather when we were there as well because the visibility in the mountains was perfect when we were there. We decided to go up the top of Jungfrau which has the highest train station in Europe. It sits 11,792 feet in the air and it is just unbelievable. We stayed up there for hours and walked to this hut which they said was 45 minutes away, but it felt like it took 3 hours to get there. It is tough to breathe up that high. It was so quiet up there as well. We hiked back some of the way back down just to savour the views a bit more; it was such an awesome day.

From Lauterbrunnen we headed to Lucerne then up to Munich for Oktoberfest time. We didn’t know what to expect from the camping or the festival itself. The festival was incredible! So much life and fun - everyone was so happy and just having a great time. We drank with some local Munich fellas who go every year. They were great fun, especially the one called Leo. Everyone just sings and dances all day to the bands that play all day in the tents. There are so many ‘Prosts!’ (Cheers) after every song that you can’t help but finish your stein (litre of beer) quickly. Dave obviously had 2 or 3 steins too many (I think he thought they were pots) but hey, that’s what the festival is all about!

One of the most hilarious things we saw at the Oktoberfest festival though didn’t even involve drinking. It was this toboggan slide that you get up by a very quick escalator type thing. All the women got help going up by the instructors but the blokes were too cool for school for that. The majority of them went down big time. One bloke did two backward somersaults after banging in to the metal bars on the side. He slammed in to the ground up the top and got up dazed; he didn’t know where he was. Crowd below was in hysterics and we were crying. One grandpa actually went down and did something to his ankle, so the paramedics had to get up there etc. But the ride still went on, just around Grandpa. We were entertained for well over an hour at this slide. No wonder it’s been at Oktoberfest for 75 years!

The funniest thing at the campsite was the English bloke camping with his mates next door to us. He was all loud and cocky during the night after he got back from the festival, thinking he was funny etc etc (and he was, kinda). The next morning though, things took a turn for the worse. He threw up easily 10 times and literally couldn’t leave his tent. Every time he moved we heard dry reaching…ewww! Not so loud now, hey buddy. On the other side of us, we had a couple who were fighting over the guy farting too much. She kicked him out of the tent, then she told Dave off for laughing too much and making fake fart noises. She wasn’t a happy camper. It was a really good crowd of people at the camping place though.

So from crazy party town we headed back on the bus, this time getting off in Austria. Tomorrow we are going skiing up on Hintertux Glacier, as there is skiing, snowboarding and a tricks park open all year round up there. Can’t wait. The photos will be up next blog.

Well, that’s all we have at the moment. We are loving it here because for four nights in a row we have a room to ourselves. That means no snorers (yay!!!!!!) and no hikers keeping the window open in zero degree temperatures because they are used to sleeping outside in those conditions.

Till next time, have fun!!

See ya,

Zoe and Dave

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