1986 Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria

Participants Nancy and Luther Hampton - Cindy (Nancy's sister) and her husband Bill

Click images for larger views.

June 18th - Wednesday

We ran uneventfully then went to breakfast. We got checked out and left lovely Lucerne and the Wilden Mann.

We drove along the lakes edge and off into the Alps. My oh my, how spectacular they are! We drove up a pretty valley and over a stupendous pass where there were people with traditional dress. W took tons of pictures and headed down into Lichtenstein where we bought some stamps [left]. We drove out of Vaduz and stopped for a picnic. Lichtenstein is a very clean, nice, little country with hidden factories. We had a bottle of Swiss wine, bread, cheese, strawberries, salami, ham ad melted chocolate.

The day had started out cloudy but had steadily improved. Now it was beautiful - clear with big white thunderheads and breezy. It was a really nice picnic [right].

We headed out and into the Alps again and got onto the skinniest road which went up and up. There must've been a 500 foot drop right by my window. We went through the town of Lech - a ski center and named for the river below. We had to stop for about 15 minutes at some road construction where my sister told a lady that her dog was trash in German (Cindy wasn't too good at it). There were tons of resorts all through these mountains.

We headed down through a gorgeous valley cut by the river Lech. Along the way there were fields full of green grass and pretty wild flower, Swiss towns and big towering mountains, and lovely plunging waterfalls swelling the river bigger and bigger. We stopped in this beautiful town for beers at about 4:15. There were pretty painted buildings and a nice church with a steeple all surrounded by the pretty scenery. The Swiss have an amazing country.


Luther at waterfall

Storm in Alps

Lake along the drive

Lech river far below

Beer Break

Pretty building

We were all getting tired by now. The ride was longer than anticipated. We saw a bunch of cows heading to the barn - single file - followed by a man. They all had cowbells (brass) that tinkled as they walked.

We left the Lech valley and passed through Garmisch to Murnau and found the Alpenhoff and checked in by 6:45. Really bushed. We went to our rooms which are nice. They felt sort of Spanish in style with nice little balconies overlooking a manicured garden, the pool, and then the Alps.

We quickly prepared for dinner. I fought with the shower which went wild on me. The restaurant in the hotel was supposed to be one of the best and it was for sure. The dining room had the same view ad our rooms. We were seated next to a window and menus were brought. The order was a bit off but we ordered wine by the glass as an aperitif. They were all German white wines.

We had a very nice young man as a waiter who helped us translate. I had game soup with truffle quenelles, then a local, freshly caught fish. Cindy had cold cucumber dill soup and Lamb with mint sauce. Luther had port in a tarragon sauce and potato soup. Bill had potato soup and duck breast a la orange. For dessert Cindy and I had a berry pudding with a vanilla sauce - a local specialty. We were all pretty tired so turned in after dinner. A good time.

June 19th - Thursday

Our waiter from the previous night was there again the next morning. He was very nice. He was from Frankfurt and had only been in Bavaria for 2 1/2 months. He had spent some time in the States in North Carolina. He and his parents used that as a base to explore the mid-atlantic region.

We had a nice breakfast with great ham and cheese, rolls, etc. We set off (another lovely day!) for Neuschwanstein to see the (Disneyland) castle. We climbed up. Along the way we got some nice photos. After a tour we went to Hoenschwanstein which was at the foot of the mountain. We had tours in English for both.


Neuschwanstein castle

Neuschwanstein

Hoenschwanstein and Neuschwanstein

Linderhoff

Alpenhoff Murnau

Then we stopped for a beer and pommes. It began it's daily thunderstorm and we had to dash for the car. We headed next to Linderhoff which was another of King Ludwig's castles. I was about castled out. We snapped some photos and ran for the car since the rain had caught up with us again. It was a pretty place, elegant with giant fountains that started up as we were there. They shot about 60 feet into the air.

We stopped in Oberamergau to look at all the stuff there. All we bought was pastry for a snack. We headed back towards Murnau and this time visited the town itself. It was not a tourist town but a real town. We decided to eat there and chose the Alpina. It looked like a typical German restaurant.

When we got back to the hotel it was 6:30 already. Some of us are getting cranky. We discussed the plan for the next day and decided not to visit Chemisee but go straight to Saltzburg where we could tour the town thus leaving the next day for the Eagles Nest or the Salt mines.

Off we went to dinner. The place was the Bob's Big Boy of Bavaria. We sat at a big table in the back. There were only Germans there. Our waitress was nice. We had a bottle of 1975 German Rhine wine. Nice and nutty and a little sweet. I had Leberspätzel suppe, Luther had goulash, Cindy broth and eil, and Bill had onion soup. Luther, Cindy, and I had Rahmschnitzel with spatzel an Bill had Wienerschnitzel. Nothing great but lots of it. Coffee all around. Bill and Luther got some Remy. We had also had a bottle of local red which turned out to be Italian (!) Good though. It was a nice adventure.

June 20th - Friday

We decided not to try to do too much this day. We rose and ran and breakfasted and got on the road about 10AM. We drove on a pretty small road to the Autobahn and zoom! We arrived in Saltzburg by 12:15. This left plenty of time to explore.

We found the Schloss Wirt[right], which was another Romantik hotel in Anif - about 4 miles from Salzburg. It was too early to check in so we left our bags and headed for the old town.

After a bit of confusion about parking we began walking toward the center of town. We bought a city plat and wandered to get a beer. We were low on money so found the American Express office to change some dollars into Shillings. We decided to take the bus tour of the city. We had horrible ham and cheese sandwiches with good pastries. Cindy and I had cheese Luther and Bill, apple - yum.

We took the bus tour. It was nice. We rode in an air-conditioned bus and stopped and walked through the old town. It was very nice. We saw St. Peters Skif and then visited the Cathedral that was built in the 1,000s. Which had the cemetery where Leopold Mozart was buried. The house where he was born was nearby. We finished the tour by riding. We saw the house that they used in the Sound of Music. It was built by one of the Archbishops. It was an amazing example of Rococo architecture. Our guide was Sylvia and she spoke pretty good English except for a few phrases and they were amusing.

We had our afternoon thunderstorm but not off easy this time as it was just a sprinkle. We went to our hotel and checked with plenty of time to relax and cleanup for a change. The tub was a sit down type affair - strange. It felt good to clean off the sticky sweat from the hot day.

We were dining with the "savvy" Benedictine Monks at St. Peterskeller [left & right]. We had peeked at the menu earlier. The place was built right into the stone of the cliffs that cut through the city.

We drove into town and after reading the signs, determined that we could drive into and park at the restaurant. We went into the courtyard dining area. There was a table reserved for us about half way down. The room was half outside and half carved out of the mountain.


Saltzurg fountain

Saltzurg fountain

Saltzburg castle

Sound of Music house

Mozart grave

The food was only passable but the local white wine was nice. We had an Italian red wine with dinner. After dinner we had a glass of the locally made schnapps. Whew! Firewater!

While we were dining, a woman had brought her dog and another dog (who was not leashed) came over to investigate. Afterwards he cocked his leg on one of the table legs and peed (!)

There was a beautiful moon out, the night was warm and our room was warmer. It was a fun evening.

June 21st Saturday

We rose early and because we were catching a bus tour to the salt mines did not run. Breakfast was Müsili, cheese and bread. We drove downtown to Platz Mirabelle. They said the tour would only go with 6 people. They gave us a map and we decided we could go ourselves. We got our money back and retrieved our car. We headed for Berchesgarten. It began to rain.

We arrived at the mine. There was a very short wait. We put on miners outfits - fun! Then we rode a little tram into the mine [left]. We were the only English speakers so had to stand by a little speaker to hear a translation. We went down into the mine and disembarked and got on a slide and slide down then took another slide. Finally we took a boat trip across a low ceilinged room filled with water. Everyone enjoyed it. We ordered photos to document our voyages.

When we came into the outside it was really pouring rain. We drove into town and had some coffee. Then we drove up to the Eagles Nest. It was raining so hard we didn't go up. Luther was disappointed.

We drove to Konigsee. It was a nice drive but we couldn't see the lake. We returned to Saltzburg and parked in the underground lot. Then we walked to Café Tomaselli. It is the oldest café in Austria. We all had the most marvelous pastries and coffees. We walked about. Everything was closed at noon on Saturday.

We had a beer in Mozart Platz and listened to a violinist. Then we went back to our hotel. We walked out back and saw the castle of the Hotel owner [left]. It was sunny again. Cindy and Bill went to their rooms while Luther and I walked on some pretty woodland paths. We walked up to the castle from the back where we could see the rest of the moat with drawbridge. The Count parks his Mercedes on the span.

We returned to our room and got ready for dinner after relaxing. We ate in the hotel this night.

I ordered garlic soup and fried duckling with dumplings and red cabbage. Luther and Cindy had potato soup - Bill, oxtail soup. Cindy had braten, Luther port tenderloin with cheese and Bill beef too. All the food was great. We ate in the front room by a window. Al the tables had fresh flowers. There was a pretty black cat who jumped into the window and onto the seat and down as we ate. We had a bottle of Henkel Sparkling (German) and an Austrian Spat Burgunder (Pinot noir). Both good ones! We moved to a table outside on the terrace where we had dessert, coffee and brandy. I had a cheesy torte with vanilla cream sauce. Cindy had apple strudel; Luther Chocolate mousse and Bill had fresh strawberries. Altogether a nice evening and a nice anniversary.



Extra Pictures


Lichtenstein Royal residence

Road avalanch protection

Neuschwanstein

Saltzburg castle

Mozart's house