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

Welcome to Lago de Como, June 29,2010

Our apartment is located about 50 meters from the waters of Lake Como in a small hamlet called Fiumelatte, a 20 a minute walk to the town of Varenna.

Lake Como is 50 km long and is the deepest lake in Europe (410 meters). The lake is famous for its mild climate (it's the most northern point where olive groves are commercially grown). The first human settlement can be traced back to 4500BC but it was not until 1000BC that civilization truly took hold in the area. By 59BC is was a major trade and tourism area. In more recent times, international nobility have been building villas along these shores since the 15th century. The rest of us discovered Lake Como in the early 1900's and now most of the villages and towns along the shoreline depend totally on tourism for their existence.

After reading up on Lake Como we decided to focus our limited time here on three villages (Varenna, Menaggio and Bellagio). Lake Como has a very efficient and effective ferry boat system that runs like a bus service between all the villages.

Today its hot (32c), humid and hazy as we head out to explore Varenna. The 20 minute walk from our apartment is flat and runs along the lake but I was drenched by the time we arrived so we headed for a shady, waterfront cafe to cool down before we started exploring.

The ancient town of Varenna is on a point jutting into Lake Como with Mt. San Defendente at its back and has steep, narrow streets which fan out from the central piazza down to the waterfront. Although its origins are older, Varonna became firmly established as a viable town in 1169 and continues to flourish as one of the most popular destinations on Lake Como. We spent most of our time exploring the waterfront as it was more interesting and much cooler.

To be continued....

Looking at Varenna as we take the lakefront walk from Fiumelatte

Rita checking out the Varenna guide book in the shade at a waterfront cafe

Part of the waterfront walkway with its many shops and cafes

One of the many narrow, steep streets leading from the waterfront to the central piazza

The town of Varenna from the waters of Lake Como

Three Countries, One Alps, June 28, 2010

Left Innsbruck for the 5 hour drive to Lake Como in Northern Italy via Switzerland. It was an amazing trip as we traveled through the mountains and valleys of the Alps. From Innsbruck we claimed to the top of the pass in Switzerland and dropped into an incredible low valley into Italy. We stopped at a few places along the way to enjoy the view of Lakes, mountains, meadows, valleys and waterfalls. Arrived in Lake Como and had an interesting time getting into our apartment. TomTom guided us to our apartment but we could not open the lock box that had our keys. We finally called the company we booked with and they had given us the wrong code. Ahhhhhhh!!!! Once into our apartment we unpacked and went looking for a grocery store. The temperature is 31c and humid with a heavy heat haze over Lake Como and the surrounding mountains. We are still in the Alps and tomorrow we will start to explore this beautiful place.



Alpine meadow with wildflowers just outside of Innsbruck, Austria



Rita and Geoff besides a beautiful lake just outside St. Moritz, Switzerland

Looking down from the top of a Pass in Switzerland into a valley in Italy

Driving past a very small village in Italy and saw this waterfall and had to stop

Wonderful view from the deck of our apartment at Lake Como

Innsbruck, June 26, 2010

Rita had booked a hotel that was in the old town which proved problematic when trying to drive to it as there is limited vehicle access. We found a parking spot just outside the old town walls and reprogrammed our TomTom to take us to the hotel by walking route. It was only about a five minute walk. The 14 room hotel and award winning restaurant is called Zum Weissen Roessl (The White Horse) and it has been in the hands of the same family for four generations. The building itself is 600 years old and the restaurant is located where the original horse stables were. The restaurant is lovely and is where Rita had taken me for my 63rd birthday dinner.

Innsbruck can trace its heritage back to the 4th century when it was a Roman army station protecting the economically important commercial Verona-Brenner-Ausgburg road that linked the north to the south. Innsbruck officially became a town in 1267, the capital of all Tirol in 1429 and an important political center in the 1490's when Emperor Maximilian resided here. The old town has remained virtually intact from this time with exterior rennovations taking place up to the 1700's.

Innsbruck and Salzburg have a love/hate relationship that is very similar to Edmonton and Calgary. Many consider Innsbruck a blue collar town where the factories are located and Salzburg is the white collar town where the head offices are located. But as far as old towns are concerned, I definitely prefer Innsburck.

Rita and I had really enjoyed walking around the old town and checking out all the sites, including a trip up the 148 steps of the city hall tower. But the best time we had was by accident. We went for a walk along the Inn River but the walkway stopped after about 15 minutes so we turned up a hill and ended on a steep forest trail that took us to a Vanicular station and so we bought a ticket to take us up to the mid point of the mountain. We got off and hiked through high alpine forest for another hour that took us to a Scherzalm (a summer farm on the mountain). This one had a restaurant attached to it. After a break we hiked back down to the Vanicular station and rode it back into Innsbruck, took a shower and went for a lovely dinner in one of the outdoor cafes. A great way to end our time in Innsbruck.

The Inn River with Old Town in the background

City Hall Tower built in 1440 located in Old Town

Helblinghaus built in the 15th century with late Baroque stucco added in 1730 in main street of Old Town

Rita drinking mountain fresh water at the Scherzalm on our hike to mid station of Nordkette Mountain

View of Old Town rooftops, St. James Cathedral and the Alps from the City Hall Tower Lookout

Rita sampling the goodies at the Speckeria which was established in 1909. We ended up having staying for lunch and had a delicious sample plate of cold cuts (salami, ham and cheese) washed down with a fine Innsbruck beer.

Birthday Boy, June 26, 2006

What a lucky young lad I am. For the first time I celebrated my birthday in two towns on the same day. Woke up in Kitzbuhel and Rita had a champagne breakfast organized for us. It was a great way to start the day. We then traveled to Innsbruck and had a nice walk around the old town as it was very warm (24c) and sunny. Had a wonderful traditional Tirolean dinner on a outdoor rooftop restaurant. We ended the day with Mozart Kugeln (dark chocolate balls) and pear schnapps. Thank you Rita for putting together such a memorable day for my 63rd birthday. And thanks to everyone who sent me emails on my birthday, they helped make my day special.

Geoff with some of his birthday swag (pink shirt and two flavors of schnapps) in the early hours of his 63rd year

High on Kitzbuhel, June 25, 2010

Rita had checked with our hotel in Innsbruck to see if we could arrive a day earlier than planned due to our schedule still being out of whack from our cancelation of Munich. They were full and so we looked at the map to see what was on the way to Innsbruck. We settled on Kitzbuhel as it would be nice to go and explore an alpine resort since the weather was so nice. Rita programmed TomTom for Kitzbuhel town center and we started out on the 90 minutes drive.

Kitzbuhel was colonized by the Bavarians in the late 6th century and was granted the status of a town in 1271. It belonged to the duchy of Bavaria until the early 1600's when Emperor Maximilian conquered the area for Tirol. It went back and forth for several centuries until the Congress of Vienna in 1809 formerly granted the region to Tirol. Mining was an inportant factor in the regional economy for centuries and the way Kitzbuhel's old town looks today dates back to the mining boom of the 16th century. In 1875 the railway arrived and summer tourism took off. But Kitzbuhel's tourism claim to fame is to be the home of Franz Reisch, the founder of skiing, who took his first run down Kitzbuhel Horn mountain in 1893. For those of us who love to ski, thank you Franz

Arrived in Kitzbuhel without any problems and parked the car just outside the old town walls. We walked around and Rita checked out a couple of hotels before finding one that suited our tastes and budget. We checked-in and immediately headed out to explore the town. After a nice lunch in one of the many outdoor cafes, we headed for the Hahnenkamm Gondola and took it to the top and hiked around the many trails for a couple of hours. It was truly spectacular to be at 1700 meters on such a hot, sunny day and hike around in the alpine meadows enjoying all the panoramic views of the mountains and valleys. After coming back to town, we showered and went for dinner at a very nice outdoor restaurant for a traditional tirolian dinner with a very nice Austrian white wine. We were both definitely ready for a good nights sleep.

Old Town Kitzbuhel's main street

Top of Hahnenkamm looking down at Kitzbuhel and across at Kitzbuheler Horn Mountain

St. Maria Church on top of Hahnenkamm Mountain

Rita and Geoff in the Alpine meadows on top of Hahnenkamm Mountain