Geneva and home

On our last full day we caught 3 trains and a tram to Geneva and arrived in enough time to walk around the main sights. It was a culture shock going into a city but the lake was beautiful and the sun shone which helped. We overnighted in a hotel in the suburbs and it was strange how impersonal it felt - everywhere else we have stayed has been small enough to get to know the staff/owners and chat to other guests.

Our flight home was on time which meant that of all the transport we have used during the trip we have only really had one hiccup with the strike in Italy on the 1 train connection. Looking back at my first post one of my worries was whether we would manage all of the bus and train connections. In fact this was no problem as so many people speak such good English and I don't remember encountering anyone who was unhelpful.

Another concern was if we would eat properly on a budget. We only ate in restaurants 3 times and the rest of the time we certainly didn't go hungry. We didn't have any vegetables for the whole time we were there but had fruit everyday. I think we are certainly fitter from all the walking and have both lost a little weight.

Managing our clothes in the rucksacks was easy as we compartmentalised the clothes in dry bags which Martin uses when sailing. I did find it a struggle sometimes carrying my rucksack in the heat - especially as it always seemed our rooms were up a hill!

We think we had just the right amount of time in each place and I would certainly wish to visit Slovenia again in the future.

I apologise again for the lack of good quality photos - I will take a gizzmo on the next trip to upload the photos Martin takes on his camera.

Thank you for reading this blog. Next one starts October 10th!

Thursday and Friday

On Thursday we went on a really good hike. Much of the morning was spent going uphill and my pace can only be described as dead slow as my rubbish lungs struggled to cope with the thinner air. We drank lots of water- there are water troughs with lovely clean, cold running water along the footpaths so we could refill regularly.

Last night it started to rain and there was a double rainbow over the valley (the pic doesn't show the 2nd one very well).

During the night there was a tremendous thunderstorm and we woke up to pouring rain. I had visions of us having to stay in and play board games but luckily blue skies started to appear after breakfast and the rain stayed away all day. We hiked right round the valley and I decided looking at Grindelwald from the hillside that it is like a model village - pristine houses, trains running like clockwork, cows dotted round the meadows.

We have found Switzerland to be incredibly expensive and have had to shop very carefully. I picked up a small tin of frankfurters in the Co-op only to hastily put them back when I realised the tin cost over £6. We invested in a Swiss Half Fare card which has been well worth it - 50% reduction on all of our train fares and also on the Matterhorn and Jungfrau excursions.

The hostels here are relatively expensive so we kept the cost down by staying in a 4 bed room. Hmm - had some roommates coming in late,  some getting up very early and making noise. Fortunately for the past 2 nights we have had the room to ourselves. Good job too as one of the wooden slats under Martin's top bunk fell on me during last night and it fell to the floor with a clatter. I settled back down but kept wondering if any more would fall so I got up to change bunks. As Martin popped his head over to see why I was up another slat fell off.
The bed was fixed today and I was given a bar of swiss chocolate as an apology - which Martin has eaten as it contained nuts!

"The hills are alive......" - Julie Andrews I'm not but I had a go

Hike

We have 3 days left here for hiking. Today we caught a train for 2 stops then hiked for 3 hours down to Interlaken.  There were picturesque villages, cows and goats all with bells round their necks and meadows filled with wild flowers. I can't get a good enough picture of the flowers with my phone.

Zermatt to Grindelwald

On Monday we had to catch 4 trains for our journey to Grindelwald but as we are now in Switzerland they all arrived and departed exactly on time. We had a 20 minute walk to the youth hostel - up the steepest hill yet. But it's worth it as we have a full on view of the Eiger from our room which has a shared balcony too. There is still a lot of snow and ice so there are no climbers to be seen.

Yesterday we went up on the highest railway in Europe to see the Jungfrau and the Monch. The weather was perfect thank goodness as it was an experience we had planned to do and cost a lot of money. The train goes in a tunnel right through the Eiger and stops twice so you can get out and see the view through huge windows built into the side of the mountain - an incredible engineering feat. It also passes a small window and climbers can request that the train makes a special stop there so they can exit through the opening to begin their ascent of the north wall.

On the train on the way to the special railway a man got on in the next carriage with a huge St Bernard dog with a barrel round it's neck. I got my camera phone ready for when we got off at the station but the reason he was travelling up soon became obvious. He was surrounded by Japanese tour groups - it is a pre-arranged daily photo opportunity.

                              The Jungfrau

                             
                              The Monch

We spent 3 hours up at the top. There is an ice palace, an exhibition about the building of the tunnel,  an alpine experience which was weird and rubbish, a snow plateau and an observation deck. You could see Germany, Italy to the south was in cloud.

A quiet evening in Zermatt

On our last evening in Zermatt (Sunday) we went to look at the cemetery for climbers who have died whilst trying to climb the Matterhorn.  The most recent gravestone was dated 2002 and the majority of climbers were only in their twenties.

We then wandered around a very quiet Zermatt. We heard some drums and music in the distance and when we followed the sound we discovered a band of about 15 members playing and marching through the streets. No-one else was following nor watching but we did.  Unfortunately they stopped playing after only a few minutes when they reached a school hall. So we wandered off again, still all quiet - until we heard more music and drums.  This time the band were in uniform and were marching down the main street to a hotel and had caught the interest of the few tourists around. When they finished we walked back to our hostel but kept listening out just in case there was another band out there.

We are here in the low season; skiing is just coming to an end and hiking hasn't started in earnest yet as the majority of paths are still snowed under.  We have done some lovely hikes though. Sometimes there is quite a stink as the farmers spray liquid manure on the meadows during the thaw.

Zermatt is car free, only electric vehicles are allowed. These are the taxis and the local bus.

These are the original houses before Zermatt became an expensive ski resort.

2 days ago I was cooling my feet in the lake....

The Matterhorn

Our luck returned on Saturday with the Matterhorn viewing cable cars opening (having been closed I presume due to weather conditions) and the sky blue and cloudless. We took the ride up and it was worth every penny. There were fabulous views of the Matterhorn and Italy and France.

At the top the air was quite thin and we both got a little dizzy climbing up to the panoramic viewing platform. Whilst we were up there taking in the view a man took off his top and rubbed snow on his bare chest and a woman sang along to a song playing out loud on her phone!

Zermatt

Our hostel.....

                                 
                                   

                                         
                                               Just kidding

From Italy to Switzerland

A bit of an off day on Friday. In the hostel there was a chap who, when he blew his nose it sounded like a loud untuneful musical instrument and the sound echoed through the corridors. He blew his nose every night and every morning. On Friday he did it at 5.20 a.m. - not a good start.

We caught an early bus ready for our 3 train journeys. When we arrived at the station we discovered that there was a strike just on this particular line- only a 20 minute journey but crucial to our travel plans. We asked about alternatives but the station is 15 minutes drive from the town and the bus service was sparse. No alternative but to get a taxi for this first leg. Despite Martin negotiating a price the cost still hurt.

If things happen in threes then my 3rd was bumping my head hard on concrete when storing my rucksack in the hostel store as we were too early to check in.

Never mind - there had to be one off day and hopefully it's been and gone.

Relaxing by the lake after climbing the hill

Views from Mount Mottarone

On the boat ride

Verbania youth hostel and view from our room

Lunch stop in Milan

To Pallanza via Milan

Another good journey on 2 trains and a bus. We got the early train to Milan and our carriage was full of very excited 10 year olds on a school trip. Luckily they got off after 2 stops and the silence which followed was golden! In Milan we only had time for a coffee and to eat our packed lunch in a park before catching the next train so we didn't see any sights although the train station was an immense monument in itself.

We had to catch a local bus to Pallanza and it was a bit of a bundle getting on. An elderly italian woman had started talking to me at the bus stop even though I told her I was english and couldn't understand her. She carried on even on the bus so I just smiled and nodded - not a clue what she was on about.

Our hostel was once a very grand villa but is now very basic inside - very clean though and with an excellent free breakfast. There are no kitchen facilities but we are still self catering - amazing what you can eat with just a knife - and we invested in some plastic cups for the wine.

Yesterday we took a boat across the lake which stopped at the Borromean Islands which looked beautiful from the boat.  We then took a cable car and chair lift to the summit of Mount Mottarone (1492m). We had a fab view of the mountains and 8 lakes. We walked back down which took us 3 hours - so pleased we chose to do it that way round!

Today we walked along the lake shore to give our legs and feet a bit of a rest as tomorrow (which is our last day in Italy) we are tackling the hill behind the town where we are staying.

Desenzola and Sirmione on Lake Garda

Mantua

Independence for Veneto!

Verona, Mantua & Lake Garda

I thought Dubrovnik was super, Ljubljana even better but now Verona is my favourite. There is something of interest round every corner and it is more compact than Rome. Besides the Roman, mediaeval and Napoleonic history the paving slabs contain fossils! We have spotted some annomites over 6" diameter.

We have had a day out in Mantua and also at Lake Garda. Our accommodation has been good - a 3 bedroom apartment shared with 2 other couples - the one bathroom gets busy! We have got on really well with a young Australian couple who are coming to the end of a 10 week trip.

On Saturday evening we were wandering around Verona and heard music coming through the open doors of one of the massive churches.  We crept in and discovered an orchestra and 50 strong choir just starting a performance of music by Bach. And it was free! The acoustics were wonderful and we had such a lovely 2 hours.

This evening there was a reenactment of something to do with Napoleon's army and independence of the Veneto region. It was great fun with the soldiers firing their muskets and marching around. There was also a crowd in modern clothes waving flags and it's only when I googled to look at the history I discovered that the Veneto region is going for independence again now in 2014 with a referendum starting soon.

Tomorrow we move on to Lake Maggiore with a couple of hours in Milan between trains so we hope to walk to the main tourist sites.

'Juliet's' balcony

I can understand padlocks to declare your love but chewing gum?

Verona