Germany and Switzerland

This was the last of our planned trips from before the pandemic.  This trip originated in 1967 when I was in junior high school.  My 8^th grade history teacher, whose name has been lost to the history of my life, had us read quick books on different historic events, people and places.  One book really caught my imagination; the story of the Passion Play, a play about the life of Jesus in his final days and takes place in the town of Oberammergau.  All I knew was that it was in Germany and started during the black plague, which seems appropriate, as you will learn.  Come forward to 2019.  I saw an advertisement for the Passion Play.  Knowing it plays every 10 years, I realized I would be on the cusp of 80 the next time it came around.  So, that day, I bought tickets with a package deal of 2 nights in a hotel, 3 tickets to the play, daily breakfast, and dinners, all for what I thought was a very good deal.  Once I bought the tickets, I had to find out where this town was located.  Why, it’s in the Bavarian Alps just 1 ½ hours from Munich!  And luckily, Oktoberfest was going on at the time I bought my tickets.  Then the pandemic hit, just like the Black Plague.  The world stopped and our trip was postponed.  Come forward to 2022 and the play is scheduled!  I reconfirmed my tickets and went about planning my trip.  Along with this journey in Germany, I planned on visiting my Swiss friend Stefan, who I met on the Camino de Santiago in 2013.  He had wanted to show us his beautiful country, and I wanted to see it!  So a trip was planned!!!

 Our good friend Dave joined us for this German journey.  He and Rich spent the previous 9 days in Croatia visiting Split and Hvar.  Their trip sounded amazing!!!!

 Munich

Munich is just a wonderful city!!  Easy to visit and walk around, tons of things to do and see, friendly- just a perfect place!!!  We had last been there for the Christmas Markets in 2019, so you can check that blog post for more information.  The city is quintessentially cute!!! 

Rich, Dave and I having dinner at Lowenbrau Brewery

St. Michaels church !  Rich brought me a rosary with the image of St. Michael, so 
we had to dip it in this church's holy water,

The font for holy water

A group in their traditional lederhosen

The winding staircase up the tower of the cathedral

Oktoberfest (https://www.oktoberfest.de/en) is freaking amazing!!!!!  A large fair ground, there is the fairway with the most amazing rides that put American fairs to shame; the variety of food makes my mouth water; and the beer tents!!  Every major, and some minor, breweries have a massive tent with tables and music, food and beer!  Getting a reservation is almost impossible!!!!  I tried for months- they are like legacy and special interest tickets- LOL.  But luckily, we found room for the 3 of us at a table and the people welcomed us!!!  Amazing night!!!

A toast!  We were able to get a table!

The food at Oktoberfest is amazing!!

The fairway with all the rides is gigantic.  They have rides we have never seen before

Nymphenburg (https://www.schloss-nymphenburg.de/) is this massive, amazing royal palace in the city limits of Munich- easily accessible by tram!  The grounds are meticulously maintained.  The Palace is massive- only a few rooms are open to the public in all their royal splendor!

The ceilings are amazing!

Creepiest statue EVER!!!!

Oberammergau

Oberammergau is this incredibly cute town in the Bavarian Alps- cute, walkable, historic!  The Passion Play (https://www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de/en/home) takes place in a theater built specifically for the play.  We all know this story about the last days in the life of Jesus.  Basically, it is Jesus Christ Superstar remastered😊.  The huge stage holds hundreds of people and animals.   The play is in German; however, we received books with the English translation.  Sadly, there is no photography or video allowed during the play.

 Much of the town participates in the play, the youngest was 4 months old- we met him at his parent’s craft store!  An elderly woman in her craft store showed us a picture of her son, daughter and 2 granddaughters in the play.  And the 2 daughters of the owners of the hotel we stayed at were the classically trained opening singers!!  And sang through out!  The play includes a full orchestra and large choir!  The play is 5 hours long; 2 ½ hrs, then 3 hrs for dinner, then the final 2 ½ hours.  In the morning they have a lecture on the history of the play and how it has changed through the years, such as changes in costume, removal of antisemitic and pro-nazi language, and from ethereal with demons to the current historically accurate version.

Our hotel- Gasthof Rose- excellent!

In typical Bavarian fashion, murals are painted on homes and buildings
really excellent!

Always stop for Kaffee mit Kuchen and a nice German Beer!

The grounds of the town church are also the cemetery

The interior of the church is amazing!

Me with the poster of Jesus!

For my cousin Holly- an owl for you!!!

Switzerland

I was really looking forward to visiting Switzerland!  We had only been to Lucerne for a few hours 40 years ago.  Plus I wanted to see my friend Stefan, who promised to show us his beautiful country he was so proud of!!!

The BEST part of our trip- Stefan sharing his family with us!!!  We stayed with him and his beautiful girlfriend Elisa! 

One Sunday his parents, Rudei and Doris, invited us to brunch!  I knew it would be great!  And his brother Thomas and his wife Cleo were there!  Elisa was there so we got to meet her even more!!  Stefan always talked about his brother, and during the Camino he regularly talked with his mother, ensuring she knew he was good.  I knew his family was close.  I didn’t know, but should have known, they are all full of personality just like Stefan!!  It was amazing!!!  So much so, that his parents invited us back for BBQ a week later.  His father broke out a bottle of whiskey make in his home town!!  It was so good!

This whiskey was so excellent!

One night, Elisa planned a Raclette dinner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette), a type of table top grill where cheese is warmed below and meat and vegetable are grilled on top.  I have to tell you- it is freaking amazing!!!!!!  The best part of the dinner: Elisa invited her 2 daughters, Jasmin (and her boyfriend Ben and their dog Bailey) and Vanessa to join us.  I love young people, but these 3 are amazing!  Switzerland and the world will be in good hands.  They were kind, articulate, educated, funny, focused; we loved meeting them and talking with them and spending time with them!!!!  

YUM!!!  LOL

Thank you so much Stefan and Elisa for sharing your family with us!!!  Now, to

Zurich

Zurich- I loved Zurich!!!  The travel books paint it as sort of boring.  Loved it!  So much to see and do!  I thought that this is a city I could live in!

One of the reasons I loved Zurich: I’m reading a series of books far different from my previous love of science fiction, horror, zombies, apocalypse, and political analysis.  I found myself needing something else because there was too much death and depression, so…..  Romance novels! Specifically, mm military suspense romance novels.  I found this author I love: Anabella Stone (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=annabella+stone&i=digital-text&crid=2ICNO4UBTMH15&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C118&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_2_0_recent).  She wrote this great book Drax (https://www.amazon.com/Drax-Tags-Honor-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07ZYV3NQL/ref=sr_1_16?crid=2ICNO4UBTMH15&keywords=annabella+stone&qid=1666736134&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0Ljk4IiwicXNhIjoiNC4zNyIsInFzcCI6IjQuMjcifQ%3D%3D&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C118&sr=1-16), Drax is in Special Operations in Red Squadron, a team that works “off the books” for dangerous, and potentially embarrassing, military operations. Drax is told to go on vacation or lose his time (a threat all us retired public employees know well😇), so he goes to Zurich, a city that he has history with. In Zurich, he meets Noah in a pub, who tells him there is a plot to kidnap him. Drax is a bit surly and difficult, as well as a deadly SpecOp, so of course mayhem ensues.  The story winds through Zurich, before taking off to Italy and other parts of Europe and the Middle East. He and Noah hook up with his other team members as well as members of other teams for…..well, you’ll have to read the book!  You will not be disappointed!!!!  This author writes amazing books of passion, energy, excitement, every emotion you can imagine!  I really recommend you read her. And if you are not interested in mm military suspense, which really is most of you😊, she also writes mf military suspense that are every bit as good!  You can find them under her Kindle site; the 2 books are Cormack and Dalton under the Nemesis team.  Trust me!  So good!!

In the book, Drax is sitting in a pub (based on the Oliver Twist pub) in a dark corner where he can view the pub.  When it's time to ditch the tangos (bad guys), he exits through the back beer garden, down Banhofstrasse, through Bahnhofquai, past the Fraumunster (http://www.fraumuenster.ch/4.php?read_category=2770)  (as a confirmed tourist, I had to go in and see the Chagall stained glass😝)  And then.....

Anyway, I followed Drax’s trail through Zurich. One of the sites in the book is a Credit Suisse bank with Drax’ accounts and safety box.  I emailed the writer because there are like a million Credit Suisse banks😊, and in all her kindness, she wrote back!!!!  She actually lived in Zurich and is well acquainted with the city.  She said the bank in the book is based on the Credit Suisse on Pardeplatz.  Remember the brunch with Stefan’s family?  His brother asked what we wanted to see in Switzerland, so I pulled out my list, and told him about the book, the author, and the sites in Zurich I wanted to see.  Turns out Stefan’s brother works in that bank and gave us a tour!  Sadly, no photos allowed. This is how kind Stefan’s family is!!!  I cannot thank Thomas enough!!!!!

Zurich is not just a banking town.  Zurich has a cool old town, an amazing river, the Limmat, parks, churches, town squares, and great restaurants!!!  It really is picturesque!!

Grossmunster- great towers to climb and view the city.  Rich and I always say
"climb everything- the views are amazing!"
 

Bern

Bern is the capitol of Switzerland- and what a cute capitol it is!!!  The old town is huge, cute, and very well preserved!!!  There is an amazing park across the river Aare with awesome views.  The cathedral has a tower you can climb to see the entire town, and as befitting a country so egalitarian, the Bundeshaus, the Parliament, is just right there by the train station!  Stefan said when he was young, his father ran into the representative from their town- she was just walking around with her kids.  So very different from our American haughty politicians who think they are so important!  I was really impressed, and a little jealous.  It is how the US is supposed to be, after all; far more egalitarian than we are.  But enough of that!!  Bern has all these amazing fountains all around the old town!  Really interesting and artistic fountains.  The river gives great views, and the hills give a wonderful perspective to this great city!  We also got to eat Rosti, a Swiss dish of sliced fried potatoes.  We shared two types: with cream sauce and vegetable, and with a sausage and kraut.  Delicious!!!!

In front of the Bundeshaus!

Einstein lived in Zurich!

Remember- always climb!!  This tower has a wonderful spiral staircase with awesome views!

Remember: kaffee mit kuchen!!!

Glacier Express

The Glacier Express (https://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/) is an 8 hour train ride from St. Moritz to Zermatt- it is actually quite affordable- about $150.00- and shows the most incredible countryside as it slides through the Alps!!!!!  The train requires advance reservations, and is all windows so you can see everywhere!  You can order meals, snacks, drinks, and wine on Board.  The ride is amazing!!!  We actually did not take the full 8 hour ride, rather the 7 hour ride, starting in Chur to Zermatt (so we didn’t have to get up too early😊).  The ride is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  But 7 hours is a long time on a train!  You can easily catch the train at other stops for a shorter ride.

Zermatt

Zermatt- such a cute town at the base of the Matterhorn!!  You can take a funicular up to either the Matterhorn itself or the peak across from the Matterhorn, which we did.  We were warned that the Matterhorn was seldom visible due to cloud cover.  We didn’t care.  And there was no cloud cover the entire day!  The Matterhorn was visible for hours!!  It was amazing!!!  What we didn’t know was the Matterhorn we know is in Switzerland, but the other side is in Italy!  The wonder that is Europe- everything is so close!!

Blair Witch is everywhere!!  LOL

Lugano

Lugano is in the Italian speaking area of Switzerland.  Changing from danke to grazie was the weirdest thing we have done- it was so cool!  Same country and different language (thumbs up!).  The city looked so different from the German area we had spent so much time in, it made it that much more special in our minds!  But it retained the Swiss cuteness and love of walking areas.  We loved Lugano!  And loved the pizza!  The city rests at the base of this amazing lake surrounded by mountains!  We took a boat ride to different villages surrounding the lake, then a funicular to the top of Mont Blanc, hiking to view the town of Mont Bre.  We didn't walk into the town because, as usual, time!  But the view is amazing!

Took the funicular up to Mount Blanc.  Love Stefan- so funny!!!

Mont Bre

Met Zack from Portland and walked down from Mt Blanc with him. 
Love meeting people!!

Lucern

Lucern (https://wikitravel.org/en/Lucerne) is still the cutest town in our eyes!!  It is the one city we had both been to before in switzerland.  I had visited it in 1978 during my post-college backpacking trip through Europe, and Rich and I stopped here in 1984 in our first trip to Europe together.  So we were both familiar with the city- the cuteness, the bridge, the walking areas, the chocolate!  It brought back so many memories!!!!  Lucern is the quintessentially cute Swiss town!  From the Kapelbrucke  wooden bridge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapellbr%C3%BCcke) to the City Walls (https://www.museggmauer.ch/) above the city to the Lion Monument (https://www.luzern.com/de/highlights/sehenswuerdigkeiten/das-loewendenkmal/), Lucen is the perfect tourist town when visiting Switzerland!

Entry gate to the city across from the train station

That beautiful wooden bridge!!!

Painted details within the bridges rafters

So many buildings have the murals- really adds so much to the city!

The city is so green with trees!

Hofkirche

Lion Monument

Happy to be here!!!

And then Stefan told us the story of this monument and what it cost the Swiss😢

Lucern from the city walls high above

Walkway at the city walls

A cool panorama picture of the river and city walls above

Rheinfall

Rheinfall (https://rheinfall.ch/en/) is the largest falls, by volume, in Europe!  I mean the water rushes through those falls like crazy!!!!! Our friend and fellow Peregrino from the Camino, Ivan, joined us from Spain for the weekend!  Seeing him was awesome!!!! Stefan did not tall us where he was taking us!  He just said we will like it!   And having Ivan as surprised as we were with Stefan’s day trip made it all the better.  One of Ivan’s many great traits is his sense of adventure and fearlessness!  Even though it was freezing (for 2 Californians- LOL) and raining, we all decided to take the boat trip to the falls, where we were guaranteed to get wet, and climb the rocks in the middle of the falls to the top with the giant Swiss flag!  It was amazing!!!!  After, we walked the town and the remnants of the old castle before taking a train to the town of Schaffhausen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaffhausen) for kaffee mit kuchen!  And what a cute town it was!!

The wet rat look is in these days😏

We made it up the rocky mountain to the Swiss flag- a little wet, but we did it!

Walking the old town of Rheinfall

Shaffhausen town square- such a cute town!!!

And that ended our Swiss trip.

And that is our trip to Germany and Switzerland.  It was a whirlwind of a time!!  We traveled like we were still in our 50's- LOL.  But experiencing so much history, beauty, connecting and reconnecting with all these amazing people in our lives- this is a trip to remember!!!!

Thank you Stefan and Elisa for everything!!  And thank you Ivan for making this trip-
seeing you again is a boost to the spirit!

And with that, Rich and I, and Dave thank you for taking time out to share our time together.  Love to you all!