CENTRAL EUROPE
SWITZERLAND
Walking from Hilterfingen to Oberhofen. These charming Swiss towns in the Alps are full of castles, clock towers & quaint houses.
This fabulous castle is just one of six you can visit on Lake Thun (pronounced Toon). A luxury cruise ship, serving delicious hot meals and spectacular views, takes passengers around the lake, making stops at each town.
These beautiful ships are run by steam engines, so shiny and polished they looked like they were put into service yesterday. The one we were on has been operating since 1905 without interruption.
Interlaken is a delightful town nestled in the Alps, offering unparalleled mountain views, and access to the Jungfrau, its highest peak. A marvelous station has been built atop the Jungfrau known as the Top of Europe.
The Top of Europe includes a museum, a scientific weather station, an Ice Palace inside the glacier and plenty of cafes & coffee shops.
For those willing to brave the cold (below zero even in July & August) this mountain top offers a snow lovers playground with sleds & guided hiking trails to the nearby (?) peaks.
AUSTRIA/HUNGARY
Vienna, a capitol city filled with art, music, history and pastry/coffee shops. After a few days here you realize you could spend a lifetime and not see it all.
The Kaerntnerstrasse (main street) is pedestrians only and runs through the heart of the city, linking the Opera House to the River. This view is from the sixth floor, glass elevator of a modern department store. The old and new are blended seamlessly together.
Also on Kaerntnerstrasse is the traditional Gothic style Cathedral, which is undergoing a facelift. (Note the scaffold on the spire and the bright green and white roof on the left). Cleaning and maintaining these magnificent structures is a labor of love and a tremendous expense, but it really brings them back to life!
The beautiful Danube is not so blue! It's a major artery of commerce and transportation. It even connects Austria with Hungary twice daily by hydrofoil! However, we opted for a peaceful day cruise on the River and then traveled between the countries by rail.
Budapest, capital city of Hungary, as viewed from our hilltop hostel. The end of Communist rule is only the most recent transition in a long and colorful history.
These three and four car tandem trolleys provide a main source of public transport in Budapest. Still showing signs of restraint and deprivation, there is a noticeable difference between the formerly communist nations and the thriving cities in the rest of Europe.
This elaborate bridge and a major customs building across the river, were designed by Gustav Eiffel with the same elegant iron work as his famous tower in Paris.
GERMANY/BAVARIA
The tower of Kaiser Wilhelm Cathedral has been left standing since it was bombed during W.W.II as a reminder of the devastation of war. Around it is a monument and visitors center, but it can never blend in with the modern buildings now surrounding it.
This view of the reunited Berlin is from a restaurant on the top floor of a major department store. We were delightfully surprised by this city of the future. It has 2 or 3 times the land area of Paris and is one of the greenest cities in Europe. Parks, shopping and public transport join the East & West and very few visible signs of the separation remain.
Berlin is also the construction leader of all Europe, with not only more buildings going up than any other city, but more height, more glass, more imaginative designs than any where else. This photo of modern building construction really captures their spirit of "pushing the envelope" with new styles and techniques.
Our favorite sight to visit was this marvel of engineering, a water clock. Standing 3 stories high in a shopping plaza, the yellow-green liquid flows from the tube on top into the thirty flat beakers on the right, at precise two minute intervals. When these are all filled, the liquid flows to the 12 globes stacked on the left, filling one each hour. The real fun occurs at 12 noon & 12 midnight, when all the globes are rapidly drained to a reservoir below and the process begins all over again. These events always draw a crowd.
The fastest train in Europe, the German ICE (inter city express) travels at 220 miles per hour. We rode this one from Berlin to Hanover. The Ice does not cross borders, but always stays in Germany.
The German ICE trains provide spacious, luxurious, generally uncrowded interior compartments which exemplify the epitome of train travel in Europe for the year 2000 and the new millennium.
King Ludwig II is famous for his Neuschwanstein Castle which Disney used as a model for Cinderella's Castle in each of his Theme Parks. However, few people know that King Ludwig built several other castles such as Linderoff, shown here. This small, intimate castle was originally a hunting lodge. The original wood rafters and fireplaces have been blended into a magnificent, elegant décor.
Ludwig added the beautiful formal gardens with fountains and gold statuary, but he also left a rustic lodge with a massive tree growing up through its roof. On the grounds around the castle Ludwig created his own fantasy land complete with an cave 'grotto' where Wager's operas were re-enacted with piped in music and colored lights. The King could watch, or become a character in the story. It's clear that Walt Disney 'borrowed' quite a few ideas from this eccentric, romantic King.
HOLLAND
We were privileged to stay in this traditional thatched roof home of our friends, Hannie & Abel Koomen.
Holland is surrounded by so much water, we tend to forget it borders on the Atlantic Ocean. The Koomen's home is only about 3 miles from this beach.
The canals of Amsterdam provide major transport arteries to the sea and also are home to thousands who live on their boats. In recent years a series of Barrier Islands have been created at the edge of the North Sea because there is such a shortage of land for the growing population.
Sailing runs in the blood of all Dutchmen, according to Dr. Abel Koomen, shown here with traditional 'brown sailed' boats. Perhaps that's why the Dutch settled New York (New Amsterdam) and New Zealand years before the British arrived.
This quaint little village on the Zidersee allows no vehicles because it was built with narrow streets many years before cars were invented. However, this amble harbor on the Zidersee is the hub of the town's activities.
This old style double cantilevered wooden draw bridge is still operational and adds to the charm of the village.