Day 18 - Guten morgen Heidi, Guten nachten Peter (29 Dec 2022)

29 December 2023 -  Exploring the coutryside around Lucerne 

We woke up in the alcove of an Alpine farm chalet. This is the closest to authentic Heidi, I've ever felt. I pushed the weather -beaten shutters out, struggled a bit to slide the window up, aaaaaaa...fresh Swiss mountain air. Aromas of fresh bröchen (our hosts had already been to the backery to pick up the rolls) coffee and bacon(yes - they are pork farmers!!) called us down the three flights of stairs. Eventhough their english is a bitty bit, Mary and Walti, went out of their way to make Arno and myself feel welcomed. 

We asked Alana and Philippa to walk up to Esabe's house, from where they were staying for the night. Gabrielle and hubby were still not up after all the cheese and kirsch of the previous night(Arno also had a bit of a slow start, he-heee.) They did not know how to operate te coffee machine (no one does 'instant' here) and only found two pieces of bread....they were not sure if they could eat it for breakfast or not... 

Once the parentals could tear ourselves away from our breakfast spread, we were way behind schedule. The younger members of the family were not impressed!!! 

Elsabe and Hugo advised us to go for a walk at Bürgenstock. It was about 40 minutes from Meierskapel. We drove around Lake Lucern or as the locals call it: Vierwaltstättersee The name of the lake has its origins in the four historical "forest sites", the three original cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden and the canton of Lucerne, which together surround Lake Lucerne. Switzerland is a federal republic.'Cantons' are areas we would call 'independant provinces'. The 26 cantons are united in the Swiss Federal Constitution.

The rolling, NOT covered by snow, hills were so calming to the soul. Arno had to navigate an intricate, highly sophisticated parking payment system, but after that, we were free to roam the hills. The altitude was affecting a few ladies in the party more than others. The vistas over Lake Lucerne were worth every effort!!!

Our day in Switzerland just had to include a visit to a chocolatrie!! Unfortunately we could not get a booking for the Lindt factory, but Aeschbach Chocolatier was a very unique experience. This family run factory has been designing delicious treats for 51 years. We learned how chocolate is manufactured, while watching the chocolatiers at work through the glass windows. Fascinating. While I was admiring the craftsmen and women at their trade, the rest of the family were induding into the free samples of all flavours and shapes of chocolate. The chocolate-coin-spitting-donkey was a hit, even with the semi-adults in our crew!!

Expensive choclate does not do justice to rumbling tummies though. The cheapest option was to buy a few baguettes, some cheese nad ham and do car-lap-footlongs. We only got to the eating part once Arno conquered his second carpark-payment challenge of the day!! This time we were stuck in an underground parking garage.....

 Traveltip: always have a sharp knife and a plastic plate(alternative- plastic lid of ice-cream container) handy in the car. I also travel with four small plastic cups in a set. One always needs a cup!!

Last on our to-do list for the day was to take the kids to see the beautifully decorated bridge over the river in Lucerne and the Löwenstatze, chissled out of the rock-wall behind the church with the two towers.

 (On our first white Christmas adventure, Dec 2001, Arno and I spend a day in Lucerne. we had an interesting experience, where Arno got off the bus and myself not.....in the days before roaming cell-phones.... Life is beautifull!!! Now it was our time to be the tour guides to our children! Feeling extremely blessed) 

We found the Europeans very aware of their carbon footprint. This was noticable in the reduction of christmas lights everywhere. In 200, the snowcovered knobbly trees, dressed with thousands of fairylights leading up to the iconic church, provided a very dramatic prelude. I did miss that 'drama' in 2023. Luckily the Davidic star suspended between the two towers was still lit up. Just magical!!

Back in Meierskappel we were treated to a wonderful Mexican dinner. What a blessing to have somebody prepareing a meal for you!! Thank you Elsabe and Hugo!!

Day 17 - From Sneeballen to Raclette and Kirsch, BIG Mountain Feast (28 Dec 2022)

28 December 2023

 Rotenburg ab der Tauber(Germany) via Vaduz(Lichtenstein) to Meierskappel(Switzerland)

The northern morning drew with not even a spot of snow...rather too hot for the end of 2022.  We were still clutching our palms together in prayer for a change in the weather, but things were not looking too great.

Arno went for a invigorating run on top of the old city wall. Well, the weather actually prooved to be excellent for sighseeing...so after a most generous German breakfast, served by the 'biker's wife', we checked out of Hotel Gasthoff tur Linde. We still had a few photo's to take and a few souvenirs to be collected!! 

So Rotenburg is famous for a very spesific (nowhere else in the world to be found) delicatessen, called  "Schneeballen", snowball in English. It is is a deep-fried shortcrust pastry.The name give justice to this round snowball-like shape, about 8-10cm in diameter. Traditionally it was covered in white cofectioner's sugar. It is also known as a Storchennest (stork's nest). Today Schneeballen comes in al sorts of flavours, with dark chocolate, nuts or whatever the baker's hand fell on, as centers to the dough-ball. Onced baked, it gets covered in icing sugar, chocolate of caramel. The displays in the baker's windows are a crowd-stopper. It defo stopped us!! We purchased a coffee flavoured one and of course a chocolate one. The taste, I presume depends on the quality of bakershop you purchase it from...ours were quite dry, but such a unique taste experience.

After hitting a few famous instagram-photo spots, we waited for the clock tower on the square to struck the hour. A display of music and dancing figures entertained us from above. Since this was our last stop in Germany, I just had to aquire a few samples of Penninger Echt Bayerischer Obstler, short for 'appel adn pear schnaps'

Die traditionellen Obstsorten für einen bayerischen Obstler sind Äpfel und Birnen. Durch die natürliche Reifung auf bäuerlichen Obstwiesen erhält das verwendete Kernobst ein intensives Aroma. Nach dem Brennen wird das Destillat noch etwa ein halbes Jahr im Eichenholzfass gereift und entwickelt dadurch einen reifen, harmonischen Geschmack.

Just before midday, we joined the other travelers on their way to the slopes of Austria and France on Highway 7, headding south. We added Östenreich to our list of countries visited for this trip, by stopping for fuel and buying some gifts for our host families of the night.

Next on the to-do or places-to-visit list was a stop in Vaduz, which is the headquaters of The Principality of Lichtenstein (albeit small, another country we crossed the boarder of). Now for all the 'Princes Diary' watchers, we agreed upon one thing - Lichtenstein must ave been the inspo for the movies.

This pipsqueak country is located in the heart of Europe’s alpine region, between Switzerland and Austria. It is home to around 38,500 peeps. Covering an area of 160km², it is the fourth-smallest state in Europe and the sixth-smallest in the world. Inspite of its compact size, the Principality of Liechtenstein offers everything you could wish for: mighty big mountains , a vibrant cultural scene, cute alpine villages and plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs.

We really had a hard time finding the access road into the coutry...we keep on missing it on the motorway!! Not much was happening in Vaduz at the time of our visit. Either the peeps were siesta'ing or it was a public holiday. BUT...we found the tourism office and we purchased our mandatory little fridge magnet. After a few cartwheels and handstands done in the deserted parking garage, we were on our way for the last streach....into BIG BIG mountain coutry.

We navigated around Europe's beloved sumer holiday destination, the Bodensee, direction Zurich.  Philippa had a wish to visit the Lindt chocolate factory, but unfortunately mama left it too late.... Luckily, there are OTHER chocolate factories in Switzerland, so we consoled her, with a: 'We will go to a chocolatrie'... she was not totally bemused with this...but nou ja...

Switzerland-big mountain coutry for sure. Those Alps are just breathtaking; the motorways through the mountains - enginering crafts, and the turquoise lakes.... Concerning though, was the lack for snow. Unbeknow to us, Europe was experiencing a unpresedented winter 'heat-wave'. Temperatures rose with more than 20 degrees and even the snow on the high mountains started leeking into the rivers. There was absolutely nothing we could do about that.

 

Our drive along the Walensee and the Obersee, took us around the Zugersee to our final destination for the day: Meierskappel. We arrive around  6pm at Elsabe and Hugo Stalder. Elsabe is one of my dad's cousin's. Although we have been staying with them in the past (last time was about 13 years ago) she had to give us directions again… Surprisingly, it all came back to me, as we negotiated the little streets of the farm village of Meierskappel. Their cosy wooden house has been build by themselves 20 years ago. They have now separated the house into two living units, since their sons has started their own families. Everything in Switzerland is just so well set-out, planned and structured. It's a mind-set of order!! 

They have invited two other couples to join us for dinner who were also our hosts for the night. Gabriella and Vusi(a farmer) would host Alana and Philippa. Nina and Thomas stayed with Elsabe and Mary and Walti ('bacon' farmers) were hosting Arno and myself. We had a very traditional meal of raclette(melted cheese, scraped off the BIG CHEESE, dripped over some steamed potatoes.) 

Something sour needs to be eaten with this rich dish, so gurgens, pickled mini-mealies, onions and salad provided the balance to this meal!! Not to mention the most delisious dessert. Well, and of course the white/red wine and kirsch (very strong cherry 'whiskey'). 

It was a super welcome to Switzerland. An evening of meeting new friends (they have all accompanied Elsabe to South Africa for a trip or two), trying to understand each other (only Gabriella speaks English….the others…..not that much!!) and just enjoying the warmth of a Swiss style hospitatlity.