All Good Things...

Dear Friends,
This is one of the final posts on Swissterical, at least in its current form.  You see, this morning we're repatriating to the US.  Our company is moving some people around and we are returning to Houston.  The last few months have been hectic--a home visit to Houston, figuring out everything we need to do to exit Switzerland, etc. and CW will write more later, but the day of leaving is upon us.

It's bittersweet.  We're happy to return home, but it's been a surprise not being here longer.  There are so many things we didn't get to do.  And so many friends we leave behind.  Yet we look forward to a new chapter back in Houston and reconnecting with our friends there.

Our schedule today is as follows:

0600: Wake up
0650:  Hand Radar over to the transport people--he's already gone and will actually be on a different flight from us
0900:  Pick up at hotel.  We have 15 bags to check plus carry-ons.  It will be exciting.
1200:  BA flight to London
1420 (LN time=-1 from GVA):  BA flight to Houston
1830 (Houston time = 0130 GVA):  Land Houston

Then we get a rental car and probably a taxi (because all of the bags will never fit in one car) and head to a hotel.  Radar should arrive sometime around 2000, hopefully none the worse for the wear.

Tuesday, we do a home inspection and then go to closing.  We'll have cleaners come in the afternoon.

Wednesday, we should be having rental furniture delivered as well as a washer and dryer.  Should be our first night in the new maison.

Thursday, our stuff from long-term storage should arrive and we'll get internet installed.

Friday, more stuff installed and then we have to buy a car--probably a Honda Odyssey.

It's been busy and stressful for us.  Please pray today goes smoothly, as does tomorrow.

And wish us "Bon Voyage."

CW

The Great European Road Trip: Days 8 and 9

And so we said good-bye to Salzburg without much looking back and started on the journey home.  One last stop before we head back to Geneva and that was Füssen in Bavaria, home of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle built by King Ludwig II.  Fussen is about 4 hours away from Salzberg and the German highways make it easy.  Did you know the mini-van can get up to 160 KPH without any problems?  And we were still getting passed!

Main shopping street in Füssen

We arrived in Füssen in the afternoon and checked into our guesthouse.   We're out in the country--about 5 km outside the town.  And we're in between the clock tower and a horse farm.  So we have both auditory and olfactory benefits.  

Füssen from across the river

There's not a whole lot in the town of Füssen itself.  Somewhat like Salzburg, if it weren't for the two castles of "Mad King Ludwig," Füssen might not be on the map.  There are the remnants of a medieval city here, including parts of the wall, an old cathedral and a castle/fortress.  But you can walk the town, which CW and SoulSwisster did, in about an hour and a half including time for browsing in some of the many stores.  Of interest on the main shopping street is a Woolworth's complete with picture of F.W. Woolworth (and a lot of text in German we couldn't read).

Hohenschwangau, Ludwig's childhood home

CW in the courtyard of the castle in Füssen

You can barely see it by late in the day

But of course, the main draw is Neischwanstein, only a few km outside of town.  Almost 23 years, CW promised SoulSwisster that he would take her to the real fairy tale castle she loved so much from their visits to Disney.  Checking the fine print, however, it seems he never actually promised that she would see the castle.  It's been foggy and rainy with a few snowflakes for the last couple of days, a definite bummer considering our expectations for a beautiful view of the castle.  Nevertheless, we persevered!



















There are three attractions in the areas--Neuschwanstein (Ludwig's castle), Hohenschwangau (the castle close by where he grew up) and a museum dedicated to the Bavarian kings.  None of knew that there had been so many kings of the Bavarian region--they date back to the Middle Ages.  In later years, they were instrumental in turning Munich into a cultural and artistic center of Europe.

It was supposed to look like this!

The foggy entrance to Neuschwanstein

Ludwig, as it turns out, was a bit of an odd duck.  He assumed the throne when he was 18 near the end of the U.S. Civl War upon the death of his father and is portrayed as being unprepared for the responsibilities.  During the late 1860's and early 1870's, regions of Germany, Austria, and Prussia were in conflict.  One issue was whether or not to establish a German Empire.  Ludwig eventually supported this idea and suggested that his uncle, Wilhelm, become the first emperor or kaiser.  This effectively ended the independence of the Kingdom of Bavaria, something from which Ludwig never recovered.  Instead, he withdrew into a fantasy world.  Ludwig loved the idea of chivalrous medieval knight and was enthralled by epic operas of Richard Wagner, particularly Lohengrin and Der Ring des Nibelungen (from which we get The Valkyrie).   Murals of scenes from these and other operas adorned almost every wall of Neuscwanstein.

Although Ludwig's building projects were funded by independently, he was heavily in debt as a result of his building.  His family, from whom he'd borrowed and who viewed his building as an unhealthy obsession, eventually had him declared insane and deposed him from the throne.  While it's unclear whether there were any true issues with Ludwig, his younger brother Otto had already been declared mentally incompetent and sources all agree that that was an accurate assessment.

One of keys to Ludwig's popularity today is his mysterious death.  On June 13, 1886, only three days after he'd been declared unfit to rule, the bodies of Ludwig and his physician were found floating in Lake Stamberg near Munich.  No marks were found on Ludwig, but the doctor's body indicated a struggle.  Ludwig's death was ruled suicide by drowning, but no water was found in his lungs. To this day, no one knows if he was murdered, died accidentally, or did, in fact, kill himself.  His death was truly unfortunate--Ludwig had imagined tow other castles for which plans had been partially completed.  His family never built them.  Nor did they actually finish Neuschwanstein which had several other features planned.  Ludwig lived only ~170 days in his fairy tale castle before his life came to its tragic end.

Onward through the fog

 

The castles are amazing, though they move you through very quickly.  The artwork is fantastic and some of the technological inventions were quite advanced for his time.  Unfortunately, no photos are allowed either.  So we have relatively few pictures of a very interesting day.

"Before" at the ice cream parlor

"After"

We did, however, stop at a local store on our way out and we are now the proud owners of a cuckoo clock.  CW is happy to report, however, that it does have an automatic shut off for darkness!  We may put it in the guest room and turn that feature off! :)

Our cuckoo clock!

We also found a wonderful ice cream parlor back in Füssen.  It had the best menu we've ever seen and the ice cream was fantastic.

The Great European Road Trip: Days 6 and 7

Na shledanou Praha, Guten Tag Salzburg!

Panorama of city from the fortress

We left Prague and headed to Austria, another long long drive.  It's been misty the last several days and Day 6 was no exception--we even kept our snow siting streak alive, albeit only with a few flurries.

AAB on the main shopping drag

Salzburg is known for two things:  Mozart and the Sound of Music.  Without them, the city would still be a nice stopover at the feet of the Austrian Alps and there are some interesting sites close by-Hellbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Austrian bishop-rulers and is known for trick water fountains.  Eagle's Nest, Hitler's vacation get-away, is nearby as are some interesting-looking salt mines.  Unfortunately, at this time of year, they're all still closed.  Too cold and too much snow.   And given the mist, even the countryside doesn't offer much allure in early April.  So we were left with the city itself.

Salzburg is situated on the Salzach river and the original settlement dates back to the Roman era.  The name itself means "Salt Castle" and comes from the mines mentioned earlier which gave the region its fame.  Construction on the castle that dominates the high ground was begun around 1400 and continued for 600 years throughout the reigns of various bishop-princes who were both the secular and religious authorities in the early 1800s.  In fact, Salzburg wasn't incorporated into Austria until about 1816.  Today, the city has a population of around 200,000 including about 15,000 students studying at the many specialized universities.

After arriving, we got settled in our hotel and went out for a walk.  Our hotel was near the main shopping street, which CW would describe as being a strange hybrid of Rodeo Drive and Bourbon Street.  Cheap souvenir shops hawking everything Mozart (and by everything, we're even talking about rubber ducks with the characteristic Mozart red coat and wig) vie for one's attention with Loius Vuitton, Hillfiger, etc.  And in between are restaurants and even an Irish pub advertising 40 different whiskies [SoulSwisster wouldn't let CW add that to the itinerary :( ]

Our horse drawn carriage

Couldn't be happier!

Day 2 dawned and we were up early.  Our first stop was next to the old cathedral, which seats about 20,000.  There, we found the horse carriages lined up and waiting for us.  We had to wait a few minutes because there was a strict rotation and the guy who was 'next-up' didn't speak English.  But his partner arrived and they switched places in the queue and off we went.  Our driver turned out to be a football fanatic(real, American football) and is a Patriots fan.  He was quite disappointed in Brady's performance during the playoffs this year and told us Brady's best days are behind him.  When he heard CW was an Eagles fan, he said our best days were way behind us!  He did a very nice job taking us around the city.  It's amazing that even in the 'new' part of town, the buildings are 300-400 years old--older than the US.  Salzburg, like most of Germany and the Czech Republic, has a very strong Catholic heritage.  Religious symbols and paintings abound.  And of the 42 churches in town, only 3 are Protestant.  This tour was the highlight of the day for SwissSis, who was in ecstasy at being so close to horses.  She even got to ride up front with the driver for a while. AAB also did, but didn't enjoy it nearly as much--too smelly for him.

AAB explaining the finer points of baseball
to our football-loving driver

SwissSis was very happy to see
Mozart's birth house

We visited Mozart's birth house/museum next.  The museum takes up quite a bit of space. Though, in reality, his family rented only three rooms on the 2nd floor.  His father was an accomplished musician who recognized Mozart's and his sister's early genius.  Mozart and his sister were actually the only 2 of 7 children to survive childhood.  Mozart himself had two sons, but these two never produced children of their own.  The museum stated that contrary to some of the wild portrayals of him, Mozart was a responsible father and husband, devoted to his wife.  He did, however, rack up significant gambling debts and towards the end of his life as the economy of Salzburg soured, his financial situation was poor.  The museum also says that it's unlikely that Mozart's rival at court, Antonio Sallieri, had anything to do with his death despite the popular portrayal in the movie Amadeus.

Mozart, Mozart, and more Mozart!

From the museum to shopping.  SwissSis and SweetSwissTeen wanted to go look for traditional Bavarian garb and so we were all dragged into a dress shop.  After what seemed like hours, the budding Marias were properly outfitted.  We'll have more official pictures soon.  They tried to convince CW and AAB to buy lederhosen, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.  No yodeling for us!

Wait til she starts wearing it around town!

We took a cog train up the hill to the fortress ("EPIC fortress" by AAB's standards) and did a quick tour.  It's quite impressive and is the largest fortress in Europe.  Salzburg appears to have mostly escaped damage during WWII and the fortress is intact.  One of the interesting things is that it had an organ and the bishop-prince used it in the morning to awaken the townspeople to their labors and then again at the end of the day to let people know it was time to sleep.

We finished the day with a nice dinner and then walked back in the dusk.

Overall, Salzburg was nice, but not as nice as Prague.  We wished we could have seen some of the attractions open later in the spring and perhaps someday we'll return.

FYI--there is no crystal in Salzburg.  SoulSwisster definitely disappointed!

One of the many old churches

The horse fountain

A piece of recently added modern art.  Our carriage-driver described it as having their "own mini-Obama." 

A happy horse-drawn camper

In the carriage with the fortress on the hill behind them

Look-it's Heidi!

AAB climbing out some of that pent up energy

Ahh--where are the GQ editors when you need them?

AAB in the fortress prison.  "Get me outta here!"  He's actually listening
the audio tour

Fortress and old town by night

The Great European Road Trip: Days 4 and 5

Well, we're slipping a little.  Didn't manage to get an entry in yesterday and I've already received complaints that some are "stuck in LEGOland, so we'll try to make amends.  And since we're doing a day and a half in Prague, we'll combine two and count ourselves good!

Crossing the border--don't forget your highway sticker!

Prague is about 4 hours away from Aalen, our stayover.  We were awoken by the sound of the church bells peeling at 0700.  Which turned out to be a good thing because we needed to get on the road.  It's a long drive, but it's on good highways all the way.

More snow showers

We listed to a portion of a commentary I have that includes a bit of Czech history in it--the giving away of the Sedetanland prior to WWII.  This area was a mountainous region bordering Germany containing all of Czechoslovakia's defensive fortifications.  Hitler coveted the land as well as the Czech's formidable arms manufacturing capabilities, but given the Czech's defensive situation and strong army, he knew he could never take the region by force.  So he embarked on a propaganda war.  There were 3 million ethnic Germans living in the Sudentenland and Hitler instigated a terror campaign against them from inside Czechoslovakia.  He then screamed bloody murder about Germans being mistreated and how he needed to go in and defend them.  The Czechs, of course, had nothing to do this with this.  But the old maxim--Tell a lie big enough and loud enough and people will eventually believe--was tailor-made for Hitler.  The media bought it hook, line and sinker and began proclaiming that it was the Czechs who were a threat.  They must give up the land in exchange for peace.  They must 'return' the land to Germany (even though it hadn't been theirs!)  The British and French threatened to abrogate mutual defense treaties with the Czechs unless they gave up the land 'for their own good.'  Finally, the British PM Chamberlain and French PM Daladier begged Hitler to take the Sudetenland to keep the peace and after an 11-hour peace conference, he 'reluctantly' agreed.  The Czechs weren't even involved in this conference and the Czech PM Benes said bitterly, "We have been basely betrayed."  Six months later, in March 1939, Nazi Germany rolled through the rest of Czechoslovakia and the country, deprived of its defensive fortifications, fell without much of a fight.  Note to Washington--appeasement NEVER works.

Our hotel--At the Green Grape

AAB and SwissSis settle into the hotel.

Today, Prague, the Czech capital, is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Europe.  We're staying at a hotel called "At the Green Grape" in an old part of town.  As we got close to the hotel, we were waved over to the side of the road by two policemen.  We knew it couldn't be because we hadn't gotten our highway tag (friends had warned us about that).  But they used a mirror under the car, had me get out and open the hood and back, and then let us go on our way.  We got to the hotel about 2 minutes later (the streets were not built with minivans in mind!) and asked why--apparently, we're the next block over from the American embassy.

In any case, the hotel is a building from the 16th century and it's been modernized, but keeps old world charm.  It's a great place to stay--about a five minute walk from the castle (if you go the right way--more on that later) and 10 minutes from the famous St. Charles bridge.

On the St. Charles bridge

SweetSwissTeen's back was bothering her after the drive, so the rest us ventured out and left her to rest.  We walked down our hill and out across the St. Charles bridge.  AAB, SwissSis and SoulSwisster have decided that CW will no longer be known as CW, but as "Super Tourist," with his special weapon, "the camera of doom."  It's not that funny.

Death rings the bell.

We made our way to the old square and stopped by the Astronomical Clock, one of hte most famous landmarks in the city.  In fact, SwissSis told us she'd learned about it from one of her "39 Clues" books, an adventure series that the kids love.  Every hour, it performs a little show--one observes "the procession of the Twelve Apostles: on the hour, every hour, a small trap door opens and Christ marches out ahead of his disciples, while the skeleton of death tolls the bell to a defiant statue of a Turk."

In front of the clock

Remember we wrote about Christmas markets?  Well, here in Prague, they have Easter markets as well and we enjoyed the large one in the town square where they not only sell crafts (some fabulous handpainted Easter eggs), but cook traditional food including sausages and a special sweet bread that's made in the form of a hollow cylinder called "trdelnik"--don't ask us how to pronounce it!

Crossing the bridge

We walked back home and on the way, got the kids dinner.  It's hard to imagine that one of the key elements of civilization is the siting of  a Subway sandwich shop, yet our quest to find Subway's everywhere in Europe (except Switzerland) continues to be successful.  This enabled CW and SoulSwisster to go out for dinner at a Czech restaurant called Besedec, where we had beer-baked ribs and goulash plus some Pilsner Urquell.  Fantastic!  Afterwards, we strolled the bridge again and took more pictures.

Statue of St. Wenceslas

On Tuesday, we awoke, had a wonderful breakfast, and headed off to the metro to get to a tour of the city.  Sadly, this tour was a complete waste of time and cannot be recommended.  We did learn a little about the city and the patron St. Wenceslas (from the British carol--the guide said it he wasn't a king and wasn't all that good), and we did to get to ride on a boat on the river, but other than that, it's not how we would have chosen to spend time while SweetSwissTeen's back was feeling well.  Yet, we did make it back to the square and SST got to see the clock show and engage in one of her favorite pastimes--shopping for jewelry.  This time for amber, which is apparently a good buy here.  She found a very pretty cross and SwissSis found a pendant.  We had no idea amber came in blue and green in addition to yellow and orange!  And AAB sweetly offered to buy SST's necklace for her.  A wonderful contrast to when they're at they're at each other's throats!  :)

Bridge and castle in the background

SST needed some rest, so we dropped her at the hotel and proceeded up the hill to the Prague castle.  There are (apparently) two ways to go.  One is a very easy ramp, the other is a set of stairs.  CW picked the stairs because he misread a sign (it was in Czech, after all).  At the top, we turned left, instead of right (at least he was consistent in following the signs) and we ended up going the wrong direction.  Twenty minutes (and much loud abuse) later, we got turned around and headed in the right direction.  We didn't make it into the castle because it was too late, but did get into the cathedral which is just fantastic.  CW took a large number of gargoyle pictures--they're all different.  We also climbed the 287 stairs to the bell tower for some amazing views of the city.

Getting the directions right?

Tonight, we relaxed and went to "Cowboys," which bills itself as Prague's newest and best steakhouse.  We don't know if the claims are absolutely true, but the meal was great and the waiter was extremely friendly.  CW had a glass of Czech wine (yet another discovery) that was quite good.

Back to the hotel.  Everyone is tired from the walking, so looking forward to a good night's sleep!

Oh, and for those keeping track--yes, we saw snow yesterday and a lone snowflake today (SoulSwister claims it was dust, but CW saw it melt), so we're 5 for 5.  Winter is still here!

Are we lost?  (Again?)

Czech vocabulary (phonetic):

DoBREEden:  Good day/hello (formal)
YayKwee:  Thank you
ProSEEM:  Please
NasKLADanAu:  Good bye

In front of the castle.  Like the British guards in London,
these guys don't smile either.

The Cathedral inside the castle grounds.

One of the beautiful stained glass windows.

At the top of the bell tower.

One of the many cool gargoyles.

Telephoto of the castle