Blogs from South-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 11

As the last days have shown clearly, summer is finally over and autumn has started. Summer here in Switzerland this year was a sad affair - it started rainy and continued like this through june and july, it was cold most of the time, but since august, it was brilliant and hot. As we had a lot of work to do, we did not travel much and mainly stayed at home. But hey, this was our first summer in our new home. And as we live where others come for holiday, it was just brilliant to enjoy a summer at home. Therefore, we had decided to explore the mountains close to our home. Some of them are indeed walking distance from home. Others are a short drive of about 20 minutes. Yes, although when you live ... read more

06/09/16 – dinsdag – dag 3 Morges – Eerst dagtrip. De route 55km, liep een stuk over de 'Route Pied du Jura'. Door de wijnberggebieden van La Côte en de hellingen langszij het Meer van Genève. Pittige stroken en straffe wind, die altijd op kop leek te zitten. We deden een tussenstop in Montricher waar we de kaasmakerij 'La fromagerie gourmande' bezochten. Tonnen reusachtige Gruyèrekazen lagen er te rijpen in ideaal gekoelde en gerobotiseerde opslagruimten. Dagelijks wordt de voorraad aangevuld met nieuwe fabricage. Alles is kraaknet, winkels, degustaties en restaurant incluis. Op het menu: kaas, op allerlei wijzen. Door de pittige hellingen, de wind, en een gemiddelde van 17km/u werd deze eerste dagrit rit bij de evaluatie achteraf door een deel van de senioren als 'juist genoeg' betiteld. Te verstaan als 'het mag wat minder'. Voor ... read more

04/09/16 – zondag – dag 1 Morges – Ch – Meer van Genève - 664km Aankomst op mooie Cp aan het Meer van Genève met zicht op de Mont Blanc. 's Avonds welkomstdrink en kennismaking met de groep. 12 dappere opa’s en oma’s, bompa’s en bomma’s, bonnie's en vava’s, pépé's en mémé's, die onder de kundige begeleiding van Patrick en Carine, met de fiets, de bergen rond enkele Zwitserse meren gaan trotseren. Met de E-Bike, elektrisch dus, dat was de voorwaarde, behalve Rudy, een messcherpe sportieve opa, die alles bij wijze van training, op zijn gewone mountainbike gaat afhaspelen. Hoed af.... read more

EuropaPark was fab. Left Fugly early to the call of the 'coasters... First the Silver Star (in tribute to the Mercedes F1 team), and then on to Russia, two water rides, the bob sleigh and then on to the amazing Gaz Prom Blue Flame doing 0 to 100 mph in a nanosecond. We had planned to visit EuropaPark for half a day - no hope! After a sub standard meal at 'Spices', the new multi cultural 'restaurant', we left the park at c3.30pm and left Camp Resort at 4.20pm after filling up with water etc. Only one drama with Fugly before leaving. Managed to fuse the electrics by running the aircon unit and attempting to shower as well... Note to selves to switch the aircon off before using other appliances! The journey from Germany to Switzerland ... read more

Having hiked all the way from Engelberg to Mürren (almost 80km in all) along the Via Alpina during the previous week, I was naturally disappointed - though hardly surprised - to be confronted by threatening skies on Saturday morning (23rd July), which left me with little choice but to cancel my planned hike along the next stage of the Via Alpina over the Sefinenfurgge pass to Griesalp. While I would have had no hesitation in crossing either of the two previous passes on the trail (the Kleine Scheidegg and Grosse Scheidegg) in such weather, the fact that the Sefinenfurgge sits at an altitude of 2611m - around six hundred metres higher than the two previous passes - was enough to convince me that even if I could cross the pass safely in poor weather, I would ... read more