It Ends as it Starts, July 5, 2010

The trip started and ended with a bratwurst lunch at Schlemmermeyer's in Frankfurt

I can't believe we are heading home today. 41 days visiting 4 countries (Spain, Germany, Austria and Italy) have gone by so quickly. Its been an eye-opening trip for both us. I was very surprised and impressed at what Germany had to offer as a tourist destination. For me, the top three places we visited were Rothenburg (the start of the Romantic Road), Fussen (the Kings Castles) and Lake Como. Two out of the three places are in Germany. We were dissapointed in not staying in Munich but it did allow us to spend more time seeing the Kings Castles as well as adding a stop in Kitzbuhel, which was a real treat. For Rita, it was also an emotional trip being a very proud tourist showing off her country as well as being able to spend time with her parents.

We will be heading home to Vancouver looking forward to a super, natural summer and starting the planning process of our next trip. For as long as we have the ability and desire, Rita and I will be planning trips to places we want to visit and experience.

Thanks for following our Blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about our travels.

Until next time.....Geoff & Rita

Franz and Evelyn come to Frankfurt, July 4, 2010

Had a long and restful sleep. Got up around 10:00 and after breakfast took the airport shuttle to Frankfurt Terminal 2 as we wanted to see where and when we would be checking in tomorrow. Got back in time for us to meet up with Rita's parents who drove in from Kassel to spend the day with us. Had a very nice picnic in the forest and then Rita and her parents went to visit her brothers grave in Frankfurt. We ended the evening with a very yummy dinner as its chanterele mushroom season here. We will meet up for breakfast in the morning for a final goodbye before her parents drive back to Kassel. Rita and I will pack our bags, check-out of the hotel, take the airport shuttle to Terminal 2, store our luggage and take the train into Frankfurt for a few hours before heading back to catch our 7:40pm flight home to Vancouver.

Evelyn, Rita and the lovely picnic goodies laid out before us

England lost, Germany won and Geoff has to wear the Deutschland shirt for Franz and Evelyn!!!!

Lake Como to Frankfurt, July 3, 2010

Had to get up early for us (07:30) as it was going to be a full day of driving and sightseeing. We were sadly leaving Lake Como and heading back through the Alps into Switzerland and then into Germany where we would stop in the Black Forest town of Freiburg before ending up in Frankfurt some 12 hours later.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and Rita prepared a lovely breakfast which we had on our deck before packing the car, closing up the apartment and heading for Varenna and the 09:40 car ferry to Menaggio. The traffic was heavy as it was the start to the summer holiday season in Europe but most of it was coming into Italy from The Netherlands and Germany. I was very happy that we had a small car as the roads over the Italian Alps to Switzerland were very, very narrow with lots of blind turns. However, we made it through and were merrily driving on a Swiss motorway when everything came to a standstill. We did not move for just over an hour. When we did start up again it was at a crawl for the next 23km. We found out what the problem was from the radio. We were heading for the 17km long Gottard tunnel and it is only one lane each way creating a bottleneck at the entrance as the highway is two lanes each way. The authorities also only let so many vehicles into the tunnel at any one time, which also slows the traffic flow. By the time we were through the tunnel we were about two hours behind schedule but we started making up the time when we got to the German Autobahn. About an hour into Germany we saw some dark clouds on the horizon. The temperature outside was 35.5c when it started to rain. The rain was so heavy that the temperature dropped to 20c in less than two minutes and our speed went from 130kph down to 20kph in the same amount of time. The storm lasted for less than 10 minutes and then we were back to our normal speeds and temperatures. We arrived in Freiburg around 4:00pm. We parked the car and went for a tour of their historic old town.


Freiburg has been a university town since the mid 15th century and currently has over 30,000 students living here, many of them riding bycicles. But the most unique part of Freiburg is what they call "Bachle", tiny canals running down nearly every street in the old town section. Started in the 13th century they were designed to keep fires from spreading (in case of fire, the canals could be quickly dammed to flood the street). The system worked as Freiburg had no major fires since introducing its "Bachle". The canals also provided a constantly replenished water supply for humans and cattle. Freiburg still employes two "Bachleputzer" to scrub the canals clean each day with steel brooms. The town does not have any of its town wall remaining but does have two of its original tower gates protecting the old town.


When Rita and I started to walk around the old town it was very strange as most of the shops were closed and the streets were empty. All of a sudden we heard a big roar and wild cheering and headed in its direction. The bars were full and everyone was watching Germany and Argentina playing in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. We continued on our tour and ended up in the main square called Munsterplatz. The square was covered with tents and umbrellas as people were selling food, wine and beer from stalls. There was obviously some sort of festival going on but very few people were there due, I believe, to no TV's. We managed to catch snippets of the game as we toured the town and with Germany up 3 - 0 and just 10 minutes left to play, we decided to leave as I was concerned about traffic congestion when the game ended. We had no problems and arrived at our Frankfurt airport hotel and hit the sack by 11:00.
Stopped for gas in Switzerland and saw this truck with a satelitte dish coming out it's passenger compartment. I have never seen this before. Perhaps Gordon, my trucker brother-in-law, has and will ask him when I get back to Vancouver. What a great way to pass your non-driving time
Rita improving her tan as we wait for traffic to move 23km from the Gotthard Tunnel which runs 17km through the mountain you can see in the background

Freiburg's main street with Swabian Gate Tower in the background

Historical Merchant House (1532) located in the main square (Munsterplatz) was the trading and customs center during the 16th century. In Freiburg during the Middle Ages, a red painted building meant that it was a place where you would pay a tax or fee.

Rita cooling her feet in one of the 13th century canals (Bachle) that are on every Freiburg old town street

Como on Lake Como, July 2, 2010

Another hot (33c) and glorious day Varenna. We thought it would be a good idea to take a long boat ride to keep cool and then tour the town that gave Lake Como its name, Como. The ferry ride is just over 2 hours as the boat stops at several of the lake towns along the way. But we enjoyed the ride, taking in the scenary, having a capaccino and enjoying the breeze that kept us nice and cool.

Como is located at the bottom of the east leg of Lake Como. The mountains have been reduced to high hills and Como lays in a valley at the end of the lake. As many of the towns and villages along Lake Como, Come was an important stop on the Roman road system between the north and sounth. We spent all of our time within the old town and were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and well preserved it was. We even had time for shopping but amazingly, I was the only one who made any purchases.

We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Como. We headed back on a faster ferry as we had made a reservation at a very popular waterfront restaurant in town to celebrate our last day in Lake Como. It was a very worthwhile decision. Rita had the local lake trout and I had the seabass and both were fabulous. We headed home to a wonderful hazy sunset and started packing for our long journey to Frankfurt, via Freiburg tomorrow.

Rita checking out the information on Como during our 2 hour ferry ride

One of the ferry stops was to the medieval hamlets of Coatesa and Riva di Castello which are joined together by the Romanesque bridge called Civera.

Rita walking down one of old town Como's narrow shopping streets which had laid down a pink carpet to help attract visitors

The Gothic 15th century facade of the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore

The interior of the cathedral houses many works of art which we did not have a chance to see as Rita was asked to leave due to her bare shoulders. I quickly took this shot of the 17th century high alter before joining Rita outside

The "Broletto", a 13th century building is attached to the cathedral and the 19th century "Town Hall Tower" is attached to the "Broletto" and the three buildings are at the core of the main square the Piazza Cavour.

Rita showing us, in her best Italian, the location of the hazy sunset from our deck

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A Day in Milan, July 1, 2010

After a very restful day yesterday Rita and I decided that a day trip to Milan was in order. Milan is a very big city and so we focussed on visiting its two main atrractions, the Duomo (Cathedral) and the Galleria (shopping). We took the train as its only an hour from Varenna and we had been told parking by the Duomo is very difficult and expensive (24 Euro a day). The train was very efficient and we arrived into Milan Central Station without any problems. Its a massive and beautiful Art Nouveau style station built in the early 1930's. We had no idea where we were in relation to the Duomo and so we asked a policeman. He said to take the yellow line Metro for 4 stops and we would be there. We headed into the Metro station and looked for the ticket machines. We were accosted by a very friendly person who asked us if we were English and if we wanted to take the Metro to the Duomo. We said yes and he took us to a ticket machine and pushed all the right buttons for us. The cost for the two tickets was 2 Euros and we put in a 5 Euro note. We handed us our tickets but wanted to keep the 3 Euros change. We settled on him keeping 1 Euro for his help and headed for our platform. As soon as we climbed out of the Metro station we were facing the front of Milan's Duomo and its truly magnificant in its size and design.

The construction of the Duomo started in 1386 and was not completed until the early 1890's and in fact minor improvements continue to be made, so you could say the Duomo has never really been finished. The church was built starting with the back and moving to the front, so the front facade was not built until 1682. The outside of the Duomo is finished in marble that was shipped into Milan on barges up the 50 km Darsena Canal, which was constructed in the early 17th century for this purpose and is still in use today.

When you walk inside the Duomo you really get a feel for its massive size. There are five bays (entrances into the Duomo)with six buttresses spanning its 93 meter width. The layout of the inside is in the form of a Latin cross with five naves (the central one is double the width of the others) and the space is divided up by fifty-two 52 gigantic columns. The floor in marble and stone was started in 1585 and was finished in the mid 1950's.

After making our way around the inside of the Duomo we went outside and headed for a side entrance that has a 280 step tower taking you to the rooftop. You can walk around the outside of the Duomo and see the incredible detail of the hundreds of spires and archways. It was a very hot day and being on top walking around on the granite and marble made us very thirsty and so we heading down for lunch.

We found a delightful sidewalk restaurant next to the Galleria but were too hot to stay outside and chose the cool, airconditioned interior. After a hearty lunch it was time to explore the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele 11, a huge shopping mall created in 1867 when two piazzas were joined together by glass and steel roofs that created four covered streets. Most of the big fashion names are there (Prada, Gucci, Louis Vitton, etc) as well as many independent stores selling clothes, jewelery, books, antiques as well as cafes and restaurants. After helping fuel Milan's retail economy we headed back to Varenna and a very nice tapas dinner on our deck.

The front facade of the Duomo viewed from Piazza del Duomo

Inside the Duomo looking down the massive main naive

One of the Alters in the side aisle showing the early 13th century "Candelabro Tivulzio"

From the terraces on top of the roof looking towards the front of the Duomo
The 108 meter spire on top of the roof of the Duomo completed in the 1860's is currently undergoing rennovations

The triumphal arch entrance into the Galleria from Piazza del Duomo

Inside the Galleria showing the detailed mosiac tile work

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Living "La Dolce Vita", June 30, 2010

Woke up late this morning (10:00), had a relaxing breakfast on the deck and decided to stay there. It was hot (32c) so Rita and I moved onto the lie-lows (Rita in the sunshine and me in the shade) to read and just enjoy the view, something we had not done since Majorca. It was a wonderful day of nothing. In the evening we finally managed to find the energy to shower, change and head into Varenna for dinner. However, we did not have enough energy to walk and so we drove. Ahhhh, living La Dolce Vita (the sweet life).....

Rita on our deck enjoying a day of down time

Afternoon view from the edge of our deck overlooking Lake Como

View from our waterfront restaurant table in Varenna

Geoff contemplating an important decision (will it be pizza or pasta tonight?)

Touring Bellagio and Menaggio, June 29, 2010

After Rita and I had finished touring Varenna we headed for the Ferry Terminal to catch the next boat to Bellagio, a 35 minute trip. It was a wonderful way to cool down as well as experience some excellent views of the towns from the water.

Lake Como is shaped like an upside down Y and Bellagio sits in the "crotch" between the two outstretched legs of the lake. Bellagio is often called "The Pearl of the Lake" and has been chosen as a residence by authors, artists and poets since ancient times. The original town was located back from the water on the slopes of the mountain with narrow streets leading down to the waterfront.

Bellagio is where the rich and famous go when they holiday at Lake Como and this becomes obvious as soon as we step off the Ferry and see all the high end shops and 5 star hotels stretched out before us on the waterfront. We headed for the tourist info center and picked up a walking tour brochure and spent the next couple of hours exploring this delightful town. Rita and I really liked the feel of Bellagio and could certainly understand why it's such a popular destination. After I had a local beer and Rita a sparkling water at a waterfront cafe, we walked onto the Ferry and headed for Menaggio, 20 minutes away on the east side of the lake. Menaggio has been an important hub since Roman times as it was a strategic point on the East/West trade route. In fact, it still is today as we will have to take a car ferry from Varenna to Menaggio for us to get back to Germany.

After exploring Varenna and Belaggio we were a bit dissapointed in Menaggio as it did not seem to have that much to see other than its waterfront piazza filled with sidewalk cafes. The historic district is quite plain and not many tourists take the time to climb the steep and narrow streets to explore the area. After touring around we stopped for a gelato in the main piazza before taking the Ferry back to Varenna and home.



Rita reading up on the Lake Como Ferry timetable as we head out to Belaggio from Varenna


The waterfront of Belaggio and one of the Lake Como passenger Ferries

The drapes come down in Belaggio to keep the clients and the shops cool during the midday heat

One of the many steep and narrow streets in Belaggio

The waterfront district of Menaggio from the Lake Como Ferry