Strolling through Puidoux, Switzerland

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Weekenders

Another beautiful train ride took us through the heart of Switzerland. We were glad to be in a scenic car with huge windows to enjoy the views! Arriving in Lausanne we were greeted by a friendly face, my cousin Cheryl was there to pick us up and take us to their home overlooking Lac Lamen (Lake Geneva). We were really enjoying staying with all these wonderful hosts across the region.

Little did we know that Jimmy and Cheryl had several adventures already planned for our stay. First up was a walk through the terraced vineyards with beautiful views of the lake. We stopped at Caveau de Riex for wine and aperitif. For dinner that night Jimmy and Cheryl even made fondue for us, we felt right at home!

Our next adventure was a local hike starting at Les Avants working our way up through the picturesque valley of Les Beviaux. We stopped a perch to enjoy lunch and the views before heading back down. To recover after our hike we stopped at Docteur Gab’s brewery to try some more of the local beer.

The last tourist activity they had planned for us was sightseeing through the old city of Lausanne. We meandered our way through the winding streets admiring the old architecture. The Fontaine de la Justice was our home point and we branched off from there. We even made it to the top of the Lausanne Cathedral for spectacular views of the city below. I could get used to having a local show me around on our travels!

It was a wonderful visit to Puidoux and fantastic being able to stay with our cousins for a few days. We wished we could stay longer but we had to keep moving as we had a few more stops planned before Oktoberfest in Munich.

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Catching up with friends in Bulach, Switzerland

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Weekenders

We dropped off the car and hopped on a train to Switzerland. Our next stop was another free couch. This time it was at Heidi’s house, one of Sara’s old friends. We were glad for the accommodation because the hostels in Switzerland were even more expensive than in Austria! This also meant we had a local tour guide to show us around the sights.

Our first stop was Rheinfallfelsen, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. We were really racking up the big waterfalls! We tried to find all the best angles on the waterfall, and even took a boat ride to get extra close to the falls.

Being in Bulach, it was a short train ride to Zurich, and that is exactly what we did. We took a day to explore the city. No time in Switzerland would be complete without fondue, and Heidi told us which was the best in the city: Raclette Stube. We enjoyed the day meandering through the city finding good pubs such as Steinfels, and Paddy Reilly’s. My favorite part of Zurich was walking along the banks of the Limmat river and Lake Zurich.

After catching up with Heidi and exploring the city it was time to continue deeper in to Switzerland. And for the scenic train journey we made sure to book first class scenic car for our next leg to Lausanne. It was quite a treat, they had excellent food and huge windows to watch the alps roll past.

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Air Racing in Spielberg, Germany

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Weekenders

Before leaving Croatia we had found a couch to crash on just outside of Spielberg, Austria. But to get there we had to wind our way through the mountains, and after not driving in almost a year it was a very exciting drive.

We stayed at a very old farm house with some wonderful hosts that welcomed us like family. They showed us around their farm as we exchanged stories about our travels. For me the coolest part was his bee colonies. He went into great detail explaining beekeeping and what kind of honey we was expecting that time of year as well as some of the challenges of owning bees. To show our appreciation we cooked them one of my ‘American’ meals which everyone seemed to love! And to top it off he even took us to one of his favorite local hikes one morning. He was a much faster hiker than us, and had lots of energy to tell more stories about how he hikes up the mountain then boards down, all before work.

But the real reason we were in Spielberg was to see the red bull air races! The day started off slow with low clouds and some rain. Luckily the clouds soon lifted and the airplanes could take to the skies. I had never been to an air race and didn’t quite know what to expect. It was phenomenal! There were giant inflatable pillars that made up the course and these sleek aerobatic planes wound and looped their way through the course. They way the course was setup we could see just about all of it from the stands. For aviation geeks like us it was an awesome day! Well worth the extra challenges of finding our way into the mountains.

All too soon we had to leave our generous hosts and travel back to the cities because we had even more plans lined up. Next stop is Zurich, Switzerland to meet one of Sara’s friends, then off to Lausanne to visit family.

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Climbing a Castle in Graz, Germany

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Weekenders

Arriving into Graz was a dramatic shift from being on the Mediterranean. Cooler weather awaited us along with the nearby mountains beckoning our attention. Graz was another quick stop, but this time we were doing something we hadn’t done in quite a while. Our next destination was in the mountains and away from train lines we had to rent a car!

We stayed at a surprisingly expensive hotel, B&B Graz, and even though it wasn’t right in the middle of everything Graz was a walk-able city. We climbed to the top of Schlossberg (Castle Hill) for excellent views of the city and surroundings. But while taking pictures disaster struck, our camera fell to the ground and broke the lens! After some research we found a camera shop not to far away and luckily they had a new lens in stock. It was pricey, but since we were headed further afield we had to get it now. We rounded out the afternoon with drinks at Brot & Spiele.

The next morning we headed down to the car rental agency to pick up our new ride. We were officially headed to the Red Bull Air Race in Zeltweg!