The Best of Europe Day 4
The Best of Europe
Day 4 Tuesday September 9, 2003 – Engelberg
Up at 6:30 and we had all the luggage out by 7 AM. Nice day - some blue sky even though the temperatures were in the low 60's. Pleasant.
We went down for breakfast and it was a real problem. Some people did not have a seat, some of the food was not cooked enough - eggs and the coffee kept running out.
Some people complained and there will be some adjustment by Trafalgar on this. My food, hard rolls, butter, jelly and cheese was plentiful and good. Coffee was dark - quite good.
We left the Fairway Hotel around 8 AM after a brief delay and were on our way down to another suburb of Baden Baden and then up and around the Black Forest of Germany. It is made up of conifer trees with large green pasture fields interspersed. Dairy cattle and sheep are seen grazing on their steep slopes.
All around us we saw the traditional German barns with their overhanging and steep roofs. We saw the wine country giving way to fields of corn and vegetables.
When we arrived at Lake Titisee, Germany’s highest glacier lake, we left the bus, and went down to the lake to take a short ride on an electric boat. As we skirted the shore we saw beautiful homes, pristine vegetation and fairytale images of the Black Forest.
We were let out at the small resort community of Titisee and in a facility there were given a short talk on the history of the cuckoo clock and how it is built. The village is also impressive for its flowers and German architecture.
We had a coffee and a Coke at a small restaurant there while friends tried the potato soups and the Black Forest cakes. At 12:30 PM we were back in the bus and continued our trip through the Black Forest on our way to the Swiss border. We had an easy crossing and were on our way.
The architecture changed a little bit but we still see the rolling hills with the dairy cattle. Our destination was to view the mighty Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen. We were treated to the scenic falls and a pleasant walk around the area. Many of us had a little to eat and drink, Gennie with an ice cream and I with a veal sausage.
We were back on the bus and took the route out of Switzerland only to re-enter a few miles further on. We save an hour’s drive by this short cut. We drove to the Zurich Airport to change money for our 6 days in Switzerland. They use the Swiss Franc and are not part of the European Union.
The Swiss are very independent and respect their many nationalities. They speak German, French, Italian and Romanche. I used an ATM machine to get some money and was very surprised to see that the Swiss Franc is very colorful; red, yellow, green, blue and each bill a little shorter than the other as it goes from 100, 50, 20, 10.
While at the airport, a BMW Z8 was parked by the bus and Craig and I had a chance to look and admire its $100,000+ sticker price. We drove through the outskirts of Zurick, and went on to the community of Engelberg.
The Swiss are noted for their tunnels and this short drive showed us why. We must have gone through at least 20 of them, some quite short, others several miles in length. It is said that they are now at work on some that will be as long as 50 miles!
This drive was spectacular as we left the rolling hills of Germany to see the steep and jagged Alps all around us. Lake Lucerne was spectacular as it sits at the foot of all these mountains. As we approached Engleberg, the narrow valley floor gave way to a steep mountain road that climbed through narrow ‘s’ curves.
When we finally arrived at our destination we were in a fog and the streets were quite wet. The temperature must have been in the low 50's. We were given our keys to our rooms at the Europaeisher Hotel. Another part of our group went to the Hotel Schweizerhof right next door.
As we had 90 minutes before dinner and our luggage was not available, I went in search of an internet computer. After three hotels and no luck in finding any with a computer available, I was finally able to find a internet café and get out the journals for the last two days. Somehow, I did not get the picture zip file of the first day out so I will do that tomorrow.
At 6:30 I returned to our nice and spacious room and took a quick shower and went to the other hotel for dinner. Minestrone soup, veal, noodles and broccoli were the menu. For dessert we had a Swiss chocolate sundae. We have tried to sit with others as there is some concern by other members of the tour that the Colorado group is too closed.
At 8:30 PM we returned to our hotel and were able to get on the net where Gennie worked on her University of Phoenix student emails. By 9 we were back in our room and I worked on the pictures and this journal while she washed out some of our clothes. We will be here two days so our clothes will have a chance to dry and be clean.
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