Week two of our European adventure definitely outshined week one for scenery. We left Munich and got to Salzburg only two hours later by train. The old town is quaint with small, closed in streets, no cars, and nestled along a river with a castle perched above. The only negative was that it rained the whole first day, so everywhere was just plain wet (and so were we!).
The next day we went to Hallstatt, in the Austrian lake district. We hadn't planned this stop originally, but a Rick Steves DVD convinced us to go here instead of Innsbruck and we were not disappointed. This is truly one of the most beautiful places in Europe and I dare say the world. You approach it by boat and the town is built up on a hill overlooking a swan filled lake and gorgeous peaks. WHile here we also visited the famous salt mine which has been active since before Christ. The mine itself wasn't very exciting (the one I visited in Poland I would definitely recommend more), but you got to go down two miners slides and clock your time. Not surprising, I was slow and conservative at 14 kilometers/hour, while Jon went the fastest of anyone we had seen at over 30 kilometers/ hour.
Leaving Hallstatt we set off for Luzern and had a long day on the train. We arrived in the late afternoon and quickly got our bearings. As we scouted out a place to eat we were shocked at the prices! Yes, the euro was a poor rate but here you couldn't find a sit down place to eat for less than 20 dollars/person. Even the McDonalds Big Mac meal was over 11.00. Yes, that isn't a misprint.
Luzern was another pretty city but very touristy. The cobbletone streets and pedestrian only old towns are lovely, and the lake it is on is also swan filled and Mt. PIlates overlookes the city. It rained here the entire next day we were there, so we were unfortunately stuck in our room for much of the day.
We left Luzern anxious to get to the most popular tourist destination in Switzerland, the Berner Oberland. We skipped staying in Interlaken to get higher into the mountains, and we were so happy with our decesion. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen, a small town famous for its 500 foot waterfall, Staubbach Falls. Our room had a view of this imposing sight as well as the Jungfrau mountain range. Everywhere we looked we wanted to click our cameras for more impressive sights. We took the train for a two hour climb to the top of the Jungfrau peaks called the "top of Europe" because it is the highest train station on the continent.
Jon pushed me to my limits (and I'm so thankful he did) and we walked for 50 minutes from the shelter of the Sphinx on the top of the mountain to a hikers lodge aways away. The whole time we had snow swirling around us and high winds blowing against us making the uphill ascent something I had seen out of National Geographic.. When we got to the lodge I had such a sense of accomplishment though, and the views were extrodinary. It is one of the neatest things I have ever experienced.
Before we left in the area we went hiking in the Alps for about 2 1/2 hours and had gorgeous scenery and weather the entire time. Hearing the cow bells ringing through the valley was another quinicential experiencec for me. This is a place we would definitely return to. We fell in love with this gorgeous terrain.
As I write this we are in Zermatt and havve entered week three of the trip. Zermatt is also very touristy but seeing the Matterhorn after waiting to come here for years was exciting. This area in general doesn't seem as imposing as the Berner Oberland because the Matterhorn is all by itself and the area around it doesn't have peaks towerning over you as well, but it is still a pretty area (we have just been spoiled by the past three days in Lauterbrunnen).
The next update will have to wait until we return home. We only have the ascent of the Matterhorn tomorrow, Lugano and the Italian lake district, and Zurich left. We can't wait.
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