Black Forest

A walk in the Black Forest— Viking style. 

Well, frankly I could have been in the north Cascades, except for the cuckoo clocks. 

And John’s wish for Black Forest cake has now been gratified.

Speaking of food. It is wonderful and plentiful on the ship, although there can be long hours between meals. We’re moving into a new weather patten now with rain and thunderstorms. 

Spent some downtime relaxing in our stateroom this afternoon. Nice! Now gearing up for the nightly social dinner and entertainment. 

On the river

We had another jam-packed day Saturday, starting with a scenic train ride from St. Moritz to Chur. Then a final “lunch at your leisure” which turned out be delightful at the city art museum cafe. We had the sweetest young waitress who spoke perfect English. In these heavily touristed areas we’re visiting, people take one look and speak English with total ease. It does make a person feel slightly ashamed. 

After lunch, a walking tour of historic Chur, the oldest city in Switzerland, founded by the Romans. But of course, people inhabited the area thousands of years before they showed up. Among many other interesting things, I learned that Chur was the setting for “Heidi.” Who knew? Grandfather, Peter, the goats and all that. 

Then back on the bus yet again for a 3 hour ride to Basel, where the ship was waiting along the Rhine. We were dead tired by then, but the Viking service is so luxurious— in just a few minutes we were in our balcony stateroom. (Glad I splurged a bit on that.) 

Only having been on one ocean cruise, I wasn’t sure what to expect! But the Viking longship is more like a floating hotel than a boat. At dinner, everyone sits at communal tables so it was a bit intense and loud. People were excited! As for the river, everything seems to happen slowly and quietly. Last night we watched from the top deck as the full moon was rising. Magical. 

We took a tour of the Black Forest this morning. 

Wifi is a bit dicey so more later. 

Switzerland

 

There is this sense of unreality being in Switzerland. Especially after the chaos of a big Italian city. 

I hesitate to use the word “Disneyland” but could it really be this pristine, this charming, this clean, this scenic, this law abiding, this well organized? The list goes on and on.

We’ve had phenomenal WiFi at both the Milan and St. Moritz hotels. John says the upload is 60 times faster than home. And Twisp is dial up compared to this. 

I can even post short videos:

What incredible weather for the most scenic part of the trip. That’s about to change (rain and thunderstorms next week for the cruise) but Switzerland has been perfect. Would be sad if the Alps were socked in!

We thoroughly enjoyed the gondola ride, and had a nice lunch at the top. 

I had traditional weisswurst mit kartoffel. When in Rome. (John showed more self restraint and had soup.) 

But of course, the mind-blowing views were the main attraction at the top. 

We had a bit of rest this afternoon which was nice. Dinner tonight is “at your leisure.” 

Another big day tomorrow and the last of the extension tour. We take the train to Chur in the morning, then a 3 hour bus drive to Basel where we board the boat on the Rhine, in time for dinner. As usual, eating late for us but we’re getting used to the new schedule.

As for jet lag. The down duvets and silky soft pillows must have finally done the trick last night, and able to fall asleep at a relatively normal time instead of tossing around until 2 am. 

As for blogging, I suspect the Internet will not be quite so snappy on the riverboat. I’ll check in if and when. 

So Auf Weidersehen for now. 

Yesterday, cont.

 

We arrived in St. Moritz last night and checked into the Reine Victoria, a historic Art Noveau Hotel that opened in 1875. Named after the British queen, it was one of the leading hotels in the 1890’s hosting European high society and royalty for music and balls. Now popular with tourist groups like Odyssey, Viking and enormous Japanese tours.

Our Viking tour director distributed the key cards (nice) so we headed straight to our room and threw open the window to let in the alpine air and birdsong. In a few seconds, my Merlin app lit up with eight different species. All lifers. The Eurasian Blackbird (like blackbirds everywhere) was the most talkative.

St Moritz is a luxury resort town by a lake in the stunning Engadin Valley. And I mean luxury. Dinner was “at your leisure” Viking’s euphemism for you get to buy. We were exhausted frankly, it was late (for us) but we found a “casual” pizza  restaurant across the street. Our Milan tour guide warned us that Switzerland was expensive: two bowls of vegetable soup, two salads, two drinks $120 please. A once-in-a-lifetime experience here. 

Speaking of that, this morning we take one the highest gondolas in Switzerland (10,000 feet.) It is a spectacular morning, not a cloud in the sky, We have really lucked out on the weather so far. 

More later. 

Lakes, wine, alps, trains, oh my

How much can you pack in one head spinning day, starting with a short stop along Lake Como in Northern Italy. 

 Followed by a wine tasting and formal lunch in the ancient wine growing area of Lombardy.

The first “appetizer” course of local cured meats. One serving. Whoa.

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Followed by a fresh buckwheat pasta in cream garlic Gorgonzola sauce. Bread and cake. Wine with each course. Delicious but heavy on an insanely hot afternoon. Discovered we are lightweights, because no one at the table had trouble polishing it all off.

Then back on the bus to Tirano and the Bernina Express train station.

I could spend the morning trying to put into words the mind boggling trip across the high Alps. 

Arrival

 

Oh happy sight. After the chaos of massive Frankfurt Airport and immigration (plus jammed bus rides to and from the planes out on the tarmac) nice knowing our bags made the plane for the short flight to Milan. 

We were met at the airport by a Viking rep who quickly arranged private transfer to our hotel in the heart of Milan. Viking is known for their good service. We had a very quick driver to put it mildly. He did the hour drive in about 45 minutes. Neither of us slept on the long flight from Seattle so it was heaven checking into the cool hotel.  

BTW. We are in the midst of an unseasonable heat wave, with temps in the mid 90’s and high humidity. 

Simple pizza for dinner…

Then a night of awful, wide awake tossing and turning for me. Finally exhaustion took over and I got in a few hours before the alarm went off. The downside to organized tours is no la-di-da sleeping there’s a strict schedule.

And flying east, the jet lag is especially brutal in the morning. The espresso machine in the room helped jumpstart the day. 

Our hotel is just steps away from the Galleria and truly magnificent gothic Duomo, which took 600 years to build. 

We had a guided 3 hour walking tour of central Milan this morning before it got too hot and crowded. 

Our local guide, born in Milan…

I could spend days here exploring the city.  Not to mention the food. 

Gelato and fruit for lunch on this scorching hot day. Perfect and all we needed after this incredible hotel buffet breakfast.

Some nice gooey Gorgonzola for breakfast?  

Tomorrow is a big day. The suitcases need to be in the hallway by 7 am, then we take a bus to the northern Italy Lake District before heading to st. Moritz Switzerland in the afternoon on the Bernina Express, the most scenic line. And the sun will be shining in the Alps!  There we will spend the next 2 nights. 

Internet is great here in Milan, and I’ll try to check in again if time permits. 

Ciao.