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Published: September 10th 2007
Day 53: May 28 - GERMANY - Munich, LIECHTENSTEIN - Vaduz, SWITZERLAND - Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen
Accommodation: Camping Jungfrau, Lauterbrunnen
I woke up pretty tired after the night before, no hangover though, but I forgot to pack my bag the night before and had half an hour to shower and shove everything into my backpack. I hate these early morning starts. I later found out that I'd left my best jumper in the hostel room, but I was too tired and in too much of a rush to realise this at the time. Still, we got away on time as usual for our punctual-as-always group.
More time in the bus on the road, but this time we were heading towards probably the most beautiful scenery on our tour if not in the whole of Europe, the Swiss alps! Just coming into Liechtenstein was pretty spectacular. It was strange being told we were stopping in a country for lunch and then leaving the country a matter of minutes later. Vaduz was pretty quaint and I wondered where all the 40,000 people or so in this country were hiding as I couldn't see many houses or villages. I scored my usual fridge magnet I had to buy from every country and followed a few people into a little restaurant. This would be our first encounter with Swiss Francs, one of the strongest currencies in the world, therefore everything would be more expensive, and paying for lunch was about to prove this to me. I was too lazy and running out of time to find anywhere other than where I was so I bought a large bratwurst with onion gravy with fries on a plate for 15 Francs, about the same as AU$15. Ridiculous, I know, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Still, it was a damn good sausage. The highlight of Vaduz though was being able to get my passport stamped at a little booth in the carpark. I love passport stamps! I found it first and told one person and word got around pretty fast, then before you knew it half our group was lining up to get one. They charged 2 Francs to get it done but I didn't care. It was another stamp!
Next stop was Lucerne. The only reason I can see for stopping here was because it was a major city along the way to Lauterbrunnen and otherwise it seemed like a waste of time, although Contiki's cunning and seemingly subtle store demonstrations came into play again. Tash took us directly to a shop which sold cuckoo clocks, Swiss watches, and Swiss army knives personally engraved on the spot. We only had a short demonstration in comparison to the other painstakingly long ones in Monaco and Florence and Venice, but not before long the sales pitch started and at least half our bus bought a watch or a knife. I understand that Contiki doesn't pay their tour managers very much and all these little stops at certain shops are scheduled so that tour managers can get paid a bit more under the table from each store while we're given some sort of cultural experience, but I'm not buying into it. I can experience with my eyes and not my wallet. I am on a budget here. Anyway, we did walk across a nice old wooden bridge to get to the shop, across from there was a place with reasonably priced souvenirs of which I picked up a Swiss fridge magnet, and near the bus pickup point was a nice little bakery and takeaway cafe from which I scored a tasty chicken schnitzel on a toasted roll.
Before we knew it we were back on the road and onwards to Lauterbrunnen where the newly engraved Swiss army knives were already being handed out. So much beautiful scenery to see as we climbed a few hills then descended into a valley. The air was misty and clean and the mountain peaks were stunning. I could've taken that trip for hours but after an hour or so leaving Lucerne we were pretty close to Lauterbrunnen. We arrived at the campsite but we were in a large wooden cabin of several rooms right next to a roaring glacier river. I filled up my bottle from the river and it tasted very fresh and was very cold. Yep, water from a glacier was cold, obviously. We dumped our bags and relaxed as usual until dinner. We were promised fondue as an entree to our main meal and I was a bit excited about that because I'm always open to tasty cultural meals from each country, until I went up to collect my meal and noticed that there was a bucket of processed fondue under the table. When it was put on our table I tasted it and it wasn't like cheese or even a white sauce. I don't know what it was but it was bland and reeked of lack of effort, so I gave up on it. The rest was your pretty standard Contiki meal. At least it filled an empty spot.
Across the bridge over the river was a small shop. A few people were learning quickly that the shop held local beer called Rugen Brau for less than 7 Francs for a 6-pack, so they were getting snapped up quickly. I just thought I'd try my luck at the bar instead. The bar was apparently a converted bomb shelter and you had to walk through the laundry to get to it, which was handy as I had washing to do so I was able to watch it while having a drink at the same time. We all had a few good drinks and chats and danced a bit to crap music, and I got some postcards done as well. I didn't go too hard, got my washing done, and that was pretty much my night.
Day 54: May 29 - Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
Accommodation: Camping Jungfrau, Lauterbrunnen
There weren't many days I was hopelessly excited about but this was definitely one of them if not the most anticipated for me. We were going up to the highest point in mainland Europe, Jungfraujoch, or basically the highest point that a train can take you, about 3800 metres above sea level. The highest I'd ever been before this was 2200 metres on top of Australia at Mt Kosciuszko so I was way excited about going even higher. Tash asked us to pay for this optional on the day, the only optional we couldn't pay in advance, so I shelled out my 120 Francs at breakfast. A lot of money, I know, and this definitely lowered the number of people who came up with us, but I was happy with where my money was going.
We assembled at Lauterbrunnen train station and caught a cog train that slowly climbed up through the mountains towards the summit. Seeing it was May and still in the middle of spring, not all the ice and snow had melted from winter as yet so we had some beautiful scenery on the way up, the most spectacular being the Eiger glacier, or Eigergletscher, which was just an astounding block of ice and snow. When I came back in late July a lot of it had melted. It was fairly misty today so this only added to the mood and it looked absolutely beautiful the further we went up. There were a handful of cute little towns along the way too, with little chalets and houses which I'm sure would’ve cost at least a million Swiss Francs to buy purely for the location. We reached the halfway point, Kleine Scheidegg, and had to get out and change trains. From there the train climbed into a series of tunnels only surfacing briefly for us to catch a glimpse of more snow capped peaks.
The train stopped briefly to give us a view from about 3000 metres up, but the lookout was completely snowed in so there was nothing to see. Then the train took us right up to the top. The first thing we did was find the door to take us straight out into the open. There was a blizzard going on outside and it was an absolute whiteout, which was surprising seeing down in the valley there was only light drizzle. I walked out
for a few seconds and thought screw this I can’t go out in there it’s insane, but most of the rest ran out there and just went crazy for a few minutes. I guess I figured I get enough blizzards when I go skiing back in Australia, but some of the group had never even seen snow before so this was exciting for them. We walked around and looked at a few things inside, a few of us posted postcards including myself with a stamp saying it was being sent from the top of Europe, we had a hearty lunch where I scored a couple of yummy sausages with some awesome gravy (there’s nothing like a good German or Swiss or Austrian sausage), then we moved onto an ice tunnel and cave. The walls looked like pure ice and the floor was a bit slippery and it was dark in areas and it wasn’t exactly an ice tunnel as it would’ve been too wet to walk around and to maintain at a certain temperature but it was still well arranged. We came across a few places to take photos and narrow areas to climb through and thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably the most exciting part of visiting this place was a trip to the highest point we could possibly go without getting mountaineering gear on and going for a climb, the summit lookout. We got outside and the view of the mountains off in the distance was absolutely breathtaking. We all got group photos taken and it’s something I won’t forget in a long time. Back on the way down to the train station we passed a husky dog and its coat was beautiful. It’s a shame it was blizzarding so hard outside or we might’ve had a go at some dog sledding. Back down the mountain on the train we went and a fair few of us had a bit of a nap, but with gravity against us this time it was a bit hard trying to stay on the seat without falling off the slope! We stopped for a few more photo ops here and there before reaching the bottom having had a very fulfilling journey.
We got back and it was raining but it was only about 4pm so I went for a walk to see if I could get to Trimmelbach Falls which I was told was nearby and fairly spectacular. When I started out it started to pour down with heavy rain but I was determined to see it. I was told it was a 15-minute walk but even walking fast it took me a good 45 minutes. By the time I got there I found it was closed. I could see a glimpse of the falls from behind a rock and roaring by the entry gate. I contemplated actually climbing the gate but wondered whether I would get caught so I didn’t want to take that chance. Down by the riverside there was a sketchy walkway but I risked falling into the glacier water if I slipped trying to get through it so I decided not to, and I walked back a but unfulfilled but I’d had a very nice walk anyway through one of the most beautiful valleys in all of Europe so I couldn’t complain.
I got back with a bit of time to spare before dinner so I headed over to the campsite shop across the river and scored a 6-pack of the local swill Rugen Brau for just under 7 Francs. Bargain! I got dried off and sat down for dinner. The entrée was Swiss fondue and I was excited to finally try it as I’m all about trying each country’s signature foods but when I had a taste it was very bland and I wondered whether this was as good as it gets. When I went up to the kitchen to grab my main meal I saw a huge bucket on the kitchen floor labelled ‘fondue’ and then I realised it was just another cheap Contiki rip-off designed for the mass market of young people who they assumed probably wouldn’t care either way. It’s a shame they couldn’t branch out a be a bit more cultural.
So after dinner we got dressed up for what we were told would be a geeks and dags party. I saw everyone getting ready but I didn’t have anything to change into so I mainly stood around and watched sipping my beer. People were swapping ideas, swapping clothes, helping out each other, taking photos, and having a good laugh even before we’d reached the bar. There were some unbelievable outfits and most of them were very colourful and very well thought out. I was impressed and shocked at the same time. While everyone was standing in the hallway someone asked me why I wasn’t dressed up and I said I had nothing to wear, so I went to my room and found my yellow and multicolour Speedos that I wear underneath my board shorts when I go swimming, so I put them on over my denim shorts. Chloe asked where I got them from, and I sheepishly said “they’re actually mine” and she laughed and said it was pretty poor. I actually agreed and ditched them after that night. So on we all went to the bar for a good dance and drink and overall good time. I had about an inch of Bundy left in my bottle so I figured to lighten some weight in my bag I’d finish it off and get into the spirit of the night (no pun intended). Sadly it went straight to my head and I don’t remember much of the rest of the night, and I found out what I did from what people told me the next day and the photos on my camera. I had good fun though and survived.
Day 55: May 30 - SWITZERLAND - Lauterbrunnen, GERMANY - St Goar
Accommodation: St Goar, unknown hotel
I was probably more excited about coming to Switzerland that any other place on my Contiki tour so I was sad that we had to leave so soon, although this is the nature of all Contiki tours, so I was determined to come back towards the end of my trip if I had time and see more (and I did but more about that later i.e. 2 months after this date).
After a big night I woke up late and still tired and basically had to shove everything into my bag and roll up my sleeping bag in a rush. I was definitely due for a good long sleep on the bus. We rolled back into Germany again and slowly worked our way up north. Our lunch stop was at Heidelberg. I'm sure this is a nice town but I didn't research it and Tash didn't tell us much about the place so it was uneventful for us. We went to the small main square and scored some lunch, some people looked
at souvenirs, some people went to the supermarket, and we took photos of a castle up on a hill but unfortunately didn't have enough time to see it up close. Personally I would've loved to see Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle just outside Munich but we never got there. Maybe it was either that or Dachau, so if it was then I'm satisfied with that.
Back on the road and after some more nice countryside we arrived in the cute little town of St Goar sitting right on the Rhine river. We got out of the bus, walked about 50 steps or possibly less, and we were basically at our first destination being a beer stein shop. This may have been another one of those demonstrations where we're shown around and influenced to buy something but I was actually interested in this one. The shop itself was tiny but had hundreds and hundreds of remarkably detailed beer steins sitting on shelves. Describing and showing all the different types was very interesting, and a fair few people seemed intrigued. Corey was really excited about grabbing a genuine limited edition 2006 World Cup stein, and paid something like 400 Euros for it. I scored a detailed Deutschland one for myself and one for my friend back home, for about 70-80 Euros for the two, plus postage. Then I spent ten seconds
staring at the self-proclaimed biggest cuckoo clock in the world and joined half of the rest of the tour in the pub.
Off to the wine tasting we were to go, and I believe the whole tour joined in on this optional. Tash took us up a little alley only a minute's walk from our meeting point (this was a small town after all) and through this big wooden door taking us down a large flight of steps into a dark cellar and then through a doorway into a long dark room with a wooden table and long wooden bench for us all to sit on. The table itself was lined with thin little glasses and lit candles, giving the whole place a rather eerie feel. This place really felt authentic. We all sat down and noticed several scratchings had been made into the wooden table top from previous Contiki tours wanting to let the following tours know that they'd been here before. In came a guy who explained all the wines we'd be tasting and before pouring them out he described each one in detail, and even showed us photos of the grapes used to make the wine, even if they were a bit faded over the years. The Contiki attitude seems to be give us alcohol know and scrap the details but it was really interesting to hear about the wines before tasting them.They were all pretty nice and got sweeter as we went along, and then along came the ice wine which was so unbelievably sweet and smooth that it barely tasted like a wine at all. It was more like a brandy. One of the girls didn't feel like finishing one of her glasses of wine and asked the lady there whether she could dispose of it anywhere, and the lady picked up the glass and tossed the wine into a dark corner of the floor. I was pretty amused by that. After the tasting we got to keep the glass. Yay!
Next it was back out into the daylight and met up with the few members of the tour who didn't do the wine tasting, who were consuming beers at the bar instead. Either way, the alcohol theme was still alive and well. After a while we had dinner in a small yet capable dining room which was a nice tender piece of beef with steamed vegetables, like a good home cooked meal.
Then it was off to the bus and onto our hotel, which we were told would be in Koblenz about half an hour away, so we were surprised when we stopped a mere 2 minutes up the road. Apparently Tash got a last minute call that there was a change of hotel for us so that was lucky. The bus was unloaded but reception weren't there to let us in, so we waited about 15 minutes while Tash tried to contact them, and eventually they opened the door and we were off to our rooms. Kurt and Damien were tired as was I, but they wanted to keep up their run of drinking at least one glass of alcohol every single day of the tour so I joined them at the little bar at the front of the hotel, and a few others were there including the four Canadian party girls. We had about 3 or 4 drinks and a good chat and a few laughs then went to bed.
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PSMortimer
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Wine Tasting
I was in that same wine cellar! Is the little old lady (Eva?) still there? Do you happen to know the name of it?