We're all on our own; both Reiner and Lotti are back to work, so we now wander about the kitchen -grazing - as we plot and plan the explorations of the day. Yesterday we went to the touristic town of Titisee. The trip there was a trip! The road started out being two lanes then one and a half then one, and finally really narrow! Fortunately, no one came our way and the country charm was palpable. Titisee is really a touristic town on a small lake. We walked around the lake (the second half was a challenge because of the private land) then supped overlooking the the lake now populated with several hundred tourists paddling.




Today we shalt meander over to the Rhine River through hill and dale and Vinyard and old stuff to explore the little town of Breisach and it's surrounds, which include several little hamlets, and a river crossing to the country of France to visit Colmar.

The days with Lottie and Reiner are much the same now they are both back to work: get up for continental breakfast, plan a trip out into the Forrest of black to visit a hamlet, or, town or city sost we might view some more old stuff. Then each day has been filled with superb entertainment: exciting narrow roads to negotiate, beautiful landscape, and lots of really cool old stuff. It seems each village / town has an old town center built somewhere around 1200, give or take, and they're all charming - photo-ops abound. Yesterday we ventured out into France, across the Rhine, to a town with a significant old part. Well maintained, touristic (A word coined by Reiner), and filled with gastronomes (Not completely sure but think these are eating places.) Wandering through / gazing upon real old buildings is a thrill for us Americans, cause we simply don't have any; except of course Disneyland. The rental car has a nav system that works very well (I have avoided them in the past but have found this one to be exceptionally useful) in Germany, but not at all in France. The transition, it stopped working yesterday in France, into a navlessness world was traumatic. Fortunately we had a map that did work. Evenings are spent eating farm food outside under the awning, or under the stars if possible, carrying on about the days events. Turns out that Reiner and Lottie both like to have company and are outstanding hosts; showing real interest in our tales of travel. Life is good

The next morning another alfresco breakfast and then we bid auf wiedersehen to Uli and her family and headed off to visit Weis church - another rococo masterpiece- and Neuschwanstein-the castle from which Disney fashioned his Sleeping Beauty castle. Stopped at another beirgarten for lunch first and then drove on to discover that much of the castle was wrapped in what looked shrink wrap for renovations. We bravely ascended the hill leading to the castle anyway and were able to view the drawbridge, the front of the castle, and the Middle Ages style architecture without shrink wrap (They were working on only the one side of the castle). This King Ludwig was crackers, only living in this castle for 90 days and the Linderhof for maybe eight years. His exploits are legendary  - building several outlandishly opulant castles, smoking opium daily, creating an underground grotto (we visited the grotto; a mini Carlsbad Cavern with a lake and boat for him to be pushed about by his slaves, a swan fed by him with special food prepared by one of his chefs, active only at night not liking the bright sun, and finally suspiciously drowning one night in a remote lake). Then on we went to Bodensee, the largest lake in Germany and a very pleasant place to stop for a drink, and cake for poor Reiner who continued driving (very fast on the autobahn - 120 mph!, and he had to pull over to let fatser cars pass!)on to the Black Forest and their lovely home; our refuge for the next several weeks.  I must say that I am becoming farmisized - I slept exceptionally well last night even though there was a distinct possibility - na, a high probability that there were spiders and Mosquitos in the room:) my only regret is the persistent itching from the dozen or so bites on my arms, hands, and face. I am told amputation is not likely;)

Today we leave the valley of Anniviers and go into the valley of Salgash; our means is a 7 minute cable car ride; the change of scenery is dramatic - from pines to vineyards. The ride ended in a small town just a few miles from Sierre and the train ride to Salgash, so we walked. Turned out to be another dramatic change from walking in the forest to walking along boulevard, with fast moving autos dashing about; also the direct route was quite impossible because of housing and any number of buildings that were in the way, so we walked in a zig-zag pattern first right then left; each turn accompanied with the hope that it was a proper choice. Finally we arrived in the information office of  Sierre where we plotted a. Ourselves through the vineyards along the world famous Vineyard Walk. The walk began at the Chateau de Villa, and after some wandering we were there, then the Mercier castle, and fatigue. Wornout we retraced our steps to Sierre and the train depot, and a ride to Salgash, and rest in the hotel. That night we wandered forth in search of a restaurant only to find rain; then after a hurried retreat to fetch rain gear, the rain stopped and we wandered for once again. This time with success. 
The following day was a train day - 7 hours to Munich, and finding Reiner, my pal from Siberia. Then after an hour car ride out into the Bavarian country- side we arrived at the 150 year old farm where we were to stay for 2 nights, and a farmhouse meal of venison while listening to the dairy cows mooing for our background music. 
The next day we enjoyed a lovely alfresco country breakfast with the family and then Lotti, Reiner's wife, took us on a tour of her childhood home. Hiking the outskirts of the property took us about an hour and a half and a more idyllic place to grow up I couldn't imagine-forest, streams, a pond, and green meadows with cows and deer.  Then it was off to Linderhof, one of King Ludwig's palaces, with our own private guide-the former manager of this castle and of Neuschwanstein Castle. It was built as a smaller version of Versailles and is the ultimate in rococo architechture-enough gold to run a country! Then a delicious meal at a Bavarian beirgarten where Lotti and her sister Uli both wore traditional dirndls. 

Today was a take it easy day, starting with a bus trip to the dam (a must see for any happy wanderer) we walked back down into the town of Grimentz. The walk started with a walk down to the base of the dam where we looked up at a wall of concrete several hundred feet wide and half as high; a humbling experience, as well as creating great feeling of vulnerability. Then down we went, a nice walk to a location along the river where we could remove our boots and put our feet into the rushing water - Lynn's first time at feet chilling and she was quite surprised at the real chill of the water. It was very refreshing however, and we sang Sonets of great fullness whilst we walked the rest of the way down to town. The remaining day was spent wandering the town and finding the points of interest identified on the write- up Lynn found. We also happened to be here on the one day each week they open up the old mill and grind flour-very interesting to watch but very low door-Ouch! We also happened upon a group of people singing French songs a capella with beautiful harmonies in front of an old tavern. This is a great town.
This morning we were off up the lift, then down the lift - Lynn forgot her fan, then begin hoofing it to Vercorin, our last town in the valley - it isn't truly in the valley, instead on a large ledge overlooking the Sierre valley where we started. The walk was filled with the music of cow bells, as we walked through many meadows separated by lines of forest. It was our last walk in the Val d' Anniviers, and though not as grand as those of the past it was filled with many grand views of lands traveled in our recent past. The little town of Vercorin is another adorable old hamlet, and pleasantly we discovered that our hotel is one of the old buildings, a might cozy but very charming. In the afternoon our wandering found the church and a marimba recital - turned out to be quite extraordinary. Another wonderful day:)

Today was a day of training. I taught Lynn the lesson "don't forget to read the map"; a very important lesson. Starting with another hearty breakfast we rode the fun cable car in the drizzle into the high country then shot off down the trail posted clearly with "Grimentz", our destination for the day. For back-up we asked the worker at the station. After about an hour and half we came to end of the trail - ugh. After some considerable consideration, we turned around and began our return to the station. Then, after another half hour, don't ya know, we decided to look at the map. Well dang, the right trail went straight up the mountain from the station, and the trail we were on was clearly marked. Now we also observed that there was a trail less than half way back to the station that would take us to Grimentz, AND, it was shorter. We chose that one. As it turned out it was the short cut from hell-but a lot of fun.  The first 2 hours were extremely steep, often with a rope along the really steep parts to prevent you from falling to your death; or severe pain at the least. Well, as you may have surmised, we survived and have now enjoyed wandering the town, a fine dinner and a great sense of accomplishment. Another great day:)
P.S. my image as an uncanny navigator may be tainted beyond repair.

This day more fun on the funicular, as we returned to the high country, but this time we stayed on the main trail to Zinal. An interesting path, and by the way the one taken by the runners days ago, it wanders past all the planets in the solar system, at light speed! You all knew that Lynn's legs are now steel, however traveling the speed of light wasn't expected. The planets are placed along the trail in relative actual size with natural spacing that requires the walker about the same time to get from one to the next as it would take a beam of light.  Also, we passed the 100+ year old Weisshorn Hotel overlooking the town of St Luc and the grandeur of the valley; a grand old lady, three stories high, remote, accessible only by four wheel drive truck, she's filled with old stuff, and, completely booked for the night! After the hotel the trail continued up around the mountain that obscures the full view of the Imperial Crown (previously referred to as the Five Crowns, erroneously), providing more, then more complete views until finally there it was, looking straight up the valley - The Imperial Crown! After some time to enjoy we proceeded down (and I mean down, if the angle were to be increased a rope would be needed) the trail to Zinal. At the bottom in Zinal we noticed a walker coming down just behind us with an interesting gizmo on his boot; it was a 1 inch slab of sponge rubber on the bottom of the front of his boot - under the ball of his foot - to absorb the shock on the feet from such a steep decline - we surmised. Sure wished we had had some on our boots!
Sadly Lynn has a sore throat, now taking Cipro, so today we limited our walk to 3 hours up and down the path leading up to the glaciers of The Imperial Crown. The grandeur palpable, the views splendiferous, accompanied by the sound of rushing water, and the bells of grazing moo cows we wandered with enchantment only slightly hindered by the concerns of the symptomatic possibilities of a sore throat. Now we have finally enjoyed the local fare, the famous Swiss and artery hardening raclette. This fine dish is prepared by putting a half wheel of raclette cheese under a heat source, then scrapeing the molten cheese onto a plate - that's it, the raclette is ready to serve. Accompaniments include: potatoe, pickle, onion, and various cold cuts. The raclette lady (a elderly lady focused on keeping your plate filled with raclette) visited our table perhaps a dozen times before we finally threw in the proverbial towel, or was it cheese cloth. It's great to have a blessed life.

Today we gained more understanding why they call them Funiculars. We zoomed up the Funicular into the high country allowing us to hike much higher than we would have. We were above the timber line walking among the open meadows spotted with flower color and the occasional granite. The trails turned into dirt roads then back to trails well sign posted so no fear getting lost. I kept telling Lynn about my uncanny sense of direction but she still doesn't believe me. The views were of the 5 crowns (5 magnificent peaks at the head of the valley,) as well as down into the valley itself. Truly spectacular stuff. These high open mountains are laced with ski parafinalia; lifts, chalets, signs, etc. We were conflicted about it; without the funicular we wouldn't  be there, however they were a bit of an eye sore. Sadly, no critters were seen except a one distant marmot scurrying into his burrow - and LOTS of cowpies!  What a wonderful day:)

The train ride to Salgash began in the mountains of Zermatt where virtical granite escarpments abound, then down past more old stuff (quaint old houses, open green pastures, and panoramic views. To a wide valley where we met the main train and transferred to go to Salgash. A modest town surrounded by vineyards, and containing more vintners than hotels; our hotel was filled with wine tasting enthusiasts, so around 10 o'clock there was much noise. Today we began the Val d'Anniviers walk. We cheated, instead of walking  3500 ft up the side of a steep hill to get to Chandolin we took the bus there then took the cable car 2500 ft above the hamlet and nicked across the high mountains to the funicular that brought us down to St Luc, our final destination for the day. We even managed some off trail work, and Lynn's legs of steel had no trouble leaping over boulder, and across valleys, with both stamina and grace. This walk far outclassed the planned walk providing our first views of the valley that will be our home for the next 10 nights. This place is world class!!!!! The coup de gras was the view from the room, straight at the 5 crowns at the end of the valley. Oh happy day:)

Zermatt

The cable car systems here are awesome- we took one from Zermatt all the way up to the "Little Matterhorn" and were treated to incredible views.  There is also an ice cave there- not as big as the one in Hallstatt but was ALL ice over, under, and around. Then more wandering around town checking out more old stuff and lots of expensive stuff. There was a food festival this weekend but I have certainly seen better- still fun to peruse the offerings.
This morning we had to search out fuses as our power converter blew one and fortunately found some before it's time to board the choo- choo to head for our Swiss hikes. As it is likely we won't have stores available that would carry such it was a relief to take care of it here. It's also likely we won't have Internet connections for a few days so may not see entries for awhile. The weather gods have continued to smile on us and I hope that continues for our hikes. Looking forward to getting into the countryside again.

A pack morn only this time we were not pressed for time having a 10 o'clock train departure. Sooo, it was back to finding a real cup of koffee; earning a score of 7. On our 10 minute ride to the train station we said goodby to Innsbruck and all it's old stuff, then into the quiet train station; hardly recognized it, last time we saw it it was bustling. After a few food purchases we acquired a seat track side and assumed a position we will keep for the next 7 hours-sitting. You certainly can see lots of gorgeous scenery from a train! Zermatt is simply exquisite having a world class location, and combination of classy new Swiss hotels and chalets mixed with well maintained old stuff but this old stuff  is log cabins on stilts from the 18th century. It has a main street that feels classy old and as you walk down the street, all of a sudden- shazam, there's the Matterhorn looking down at you from high up in the mountains - a thrilling sight. Today, thanks to our discovery in chemistry we hike up the Matterhorn trail. Our discovery was that rubber combined with gelato make steel - Lynn's legs are now made of steel. Starting down main street to get to trail head we encountered a herdsman herding his goats right smack down the middle of it; quite a sight seeing goats walking along down a street bordered on both sides by Rodeo Drive type stores. The walk was filled with views of the Matterhorn, as we passed several hamlets comprised of real old stuff. Returning to town we wandered about discovering new wonders of Zermatt, the original old settlement, the walk along the river, a coop grocery store, etc. Fortunately for us, our hotel reservations included dinner as the prices here are incredible. . . .as in HIGH, like the mountains. Also fortunately, the included meals have been excellent!  Austria and Zermatt are both meccas for parasailers- we have seen them everywhere and they have classes and tandem rides here. Lynn is tempted but needs to continue being capable of walking so discretion is advisable.

As advertised this morn was a  funicular morn, however, not before another attempt at finding a real cup of  koffee. This time at the backerei next door; another oh dang, the same machine, undaunted I took the syrup to the room and added hot water - not bad. After properly adorning ourselves with hiking foot ware and warm clothes, and day packs filled with food we departed traveling through old town, along the Imperial Garden to the funicular terminal which oh by the way looks like a banana shaped ice cube (You really should google Nordkette Innsbruck to see for yourself, the town is quite proud of it). Also worthy of note is that the ticket lady questioned whether I was really a senior:) The funicular ride was short, spent a good deal of time underground, and also gained a good deal of elevation. Next came 2 cable cars, both gaining significant altitude delivering us up over 6,000 ft. Well above the clouds. We wandered a bit in the cold-up to the highest point as ole rubber legs was somewhat improved, tried again for real koffee, then went down to the second station to find the source of the clanging bells - dairy cows, perhaps two dozen chewing their cud and ringing their bells; a might friendly, coming up to say hi as we walked by. The views were all first rate though partially obscured by the clouds. Then back to old town to look at old stuff. A nice finish for our last full day in Innsbruck. Photos to come as soon as our old brains can figure out how to attach them!

This morn started slow. Our hotel, the one with a dog meat entrance and a premier room, does not provide breakfast, so Phil, needing a caffeine hit left for the backerie across the street. There he purchased a kaffee and what looked like a soft pretzel with salt. Well, the kaffee turned out to be syrup comming out of the same whiz-bang kaffee machine that produced syrup at our previous hotel breakfasts, the pretzel turned out to be a strange donut with sugar chunks on it. He's still working on his European epicurean skills. Further training occurred when he went back across the street to a Subway (you heard right a Subway) to get a real cup of coffee at an AMERICAN company; well dang, they had the same kaffee machine:) having successfully ingested his required caffeine dosage he returned to rubber legs to plan a ride on the city tour bus. The on-off bus proved to be great, particularly for rubber legs, and it took us to all the top tourist attractions including, the Olympic park, the Olympic ski jump, the palace (yes, the Hapsburg's got around building palaces all over Austria, this one has a large number of suits of armor), and finally back to old town where we walked around looking at old stuff again - we really like old stuff. (good thing!)  Oh yes, we did see some new stuff; specifically we found an Apple store where we purchased a photo kit that allowed us to import our new pictures to the IPad. Goody gum drops, we can now send the pics out into the cloud. Then back to the hotel just in time for the sky's to open up and drench the city. Oh happy day:). Tomorrow we plan on ascending another mountain via funicular and cable car but we will NOT be descending on foot again until rubber legs regains use of same.

The hotel at Bad Aussee was very cute, the proprietress (Heidi!) a delight, and the grub was excellent, however, the location was dog meat. Chosen for its location next to the train station and the trail it was 2 kilometers out of town and the river running through it was ruined by people stuff. So we watched Olympic stuff on the tube, in German. For the most part however, it was self explanatory. The next morn we went to town expecting to find more nasty people stuff, but to our surprise it was a cute Tyrolian town, fun to walk around exploring more old stuff, going into the myriad churches, etc. etc.  Then a train ride to Bad Ischl where we continued our exploration of the town (You may recall we were in the town a few days ago.) The big find was the Kaiservilla, another palace of the Hapsbergs it was big, filled with museum quality stuff, and the tour leader told us more of the wonders of Franz Josef and Sisi. By the end of this several day review of the life style of the rich and famous, we have a real understanding of why there was a revolution. The hotel served, are you ready, Mexican food! We had the fajitas which had little similarity to So. Cal. Food, beefing made up of mostly vegetables. It was however, very good; we did take our meal inside because much water was falling from the sky. The following morn we walked through Grand pine forest over hill and across dale to Pfandl, a small hamlet where a bus awaited to take us to Strobl, the small town at the end of St Wolfgangsee, and the final challenge of the day, a walk to St Wolfgang. the town hadn't changed a bit except we got a better room with a veranda to watch all the people wandering about town. The next day was a doozy: we rode up on a cog train almost 4, ooo ft to the summit overlooking the town, then we walked down! Today we took the train to Innsbruck,which on first sight looked too big city modern, but after checking into our hotel and wandering old town, we found it beyond charming.  Unfortunately, as a result of yesterday's  4000 foot downhill, Lynn's leg muscles were rubber so we did short forays out and about.

Oops, it has been pointed out that we forgot Hitler, and the  Eagles Nest. It was spectacular, not because it was so big, because it isn't, but because of it's location; right smack dab on top of an Austrian Alps peak, giving spectacular views in all directions. Oh, and the bus ride wasn't  chopped liver either.

We haven't had wifi for a few days so now a brief rundown. We left Bad Goisern and had a beautiful walk through the forest but this time the weather gods weren't so nice and we ran into a thunderstorm that was really neat, but didn't last long so we began singing right away. Fortunately we are prepared with rain gear and umbrellas. This place is really green and seems very happy when it rains- the flowers were singing with us. Wile waiting for the ferry. To take us across to Hallstatt it started pouring again but by the time we got across lake it had stopped again.  What an incredible town Hallstatt is!  It is built up instead of out with adorable tyrolean type homes jumbled ontop of one another and a plethora of  colorful blooming window boxes. While there we visited the salt mines
(6000 years old, not 11,000 as previously reported) and got to go down these fun wooden slides to different levels. We also took a cable gondola up more than 6000 vertical feet and toured an ice cave- VERY cold inside - thus the ice:) and a mammoth cave named for size not the mammal. We also hiked up to a five fingered overhang and looked out over several valleys and ranges. This over hang was built sticking out over a  vertical wall of granite several thousand feet high, so you looked through the floor at empty space - ooooooh. And several parasailers took off in front of us.
We ended our stay in the romantic hamlet of Hallstatt with a boat ride on the  Hallstattsee. It was a powerful vessel built by the boot renters grand father 60 years ago, and harnessing a 500 watt electric motor that blasted us about with frightening speed. There we were with the wind blowing through or hair, mist flying about as we were sped along at at least 5 miles an hour. It was a hoot, giving us many splendid views of the little hamlet.
This morn we hiked through more gorgeous countryside and little villages on our way to Bad Aussee. It was about 10 miles and by the end Lynn was feeling pooped. The walk was spectacular however, because the surrounding verticle granite walls looked much like those of Yosemite Valley.