In July my parents packed their bags, earplugs, and sunglasses, folded themselves up into some comfy oversized airplane seats (those airlines need to stop being so kind to our knees!) and made the hop-skip-and jump over a continent, ocean, and some more land. And after one very long run-on sentence, they arrived mid-day to drop their bags and quickly be thrown on bicycles.
I gave them a tour of a few places around the city, and did my best to keep them awake as long as possible. Success! They made it through dinner. We lucked out with some good weather and were able to enjoy a couple dinners on the terrace.
Friday, I took the day off work. We hopped on the ferry and took a bike ride North—one of my favorite pastimes here.
Ended the day with a lovely canal cruise:
On Saturday we met up with Ignasi, Rachel, and Anne (Rachel's mom happened to be visiting the same time). After hitting Noordermarkt to get some nibbles we hit the boat for a tour of the city. We wove through the canals of center, made our way to the Ij Brewery, and checked out the Red Light District on our way back. Quite the tour.
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It's of course not a proper day unless Dad is fixing something. What's this? Oh just helping a lady figure out what type of oil she needs for her boat. What were we doing? Drinking beer. Watching.
After a few days wandering around Amsterdam it was time to hit the road. Trajectory: Switzerland. Via: Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. After putting on many kilometers, the first night we got in quite late to Colmar. And were pleasantly surprised to wake up to a very charming little town. Quite touristy, but I don't care. I'm a tourist!
Hopping back in the car mid-morning, we made our way south to Alsace. On our way we stopped in a little town, Fessenheim, hoping to find the house of my Mom's distant relatives. No luck finding the house, but did find some tombstones with the family name.
In Alsace we stayed on the top (nearly) of Grand Ballon. Great sweeping views of Germany. We learned over dinner that the front line went right up over this mountain, and if you know what you're looking for, you can still see remains of trenches in places. Crazy.
The next day we woke up, went for a little hike, and then drove down to Bouveret on Lake Geneva where Mom celebrated another year:
The next day we dove into the mountains. First stopping to check out Leysin, a tiny town my Mom did a study abroad program in back when she was in high school. After some hunting we were able to find her old dorm. Perhaps looking a little more haggard than it once was, but still pretty neat.
We took a beautiful scenic drive through the valley from Leysin up to Interlaken, then turned south toward Lauterbrunnen.
Parked at the Schilthornbahn, packed a overnight bag, and took the cable car up to Gimmelwald.
Here we go!
The Pension in Gimmelwald:
Low ceilings!
Dad serenading the mountains:
A super happy and friendly cat. He got to go hunting in the fields all day. Not a bad life.
Woke up and lucked out with a clear day. Took an amazing hike:
Picnic time. Just awful.
Got views of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau all day:
And of course, it wouldn't be a trip without a little bit of Miss Mays. Rachel was doing a Switzerland trip as well with her visiting mom, so we coordinated to cross paths one of the nights. Exchanged our stories and hiking tips.
Three munchkins:
Next stop: the lovely Appenzell. We checked out the town and grabbed some beers from the local brewery. Then hopped on the cable car up into the mountains.
Oh hello fairytaleland. Berggasthaus Aescher, hugging a cliff. This place was amazing. Literally tucked into the mountains, you take a short hike from the cable car to get to it. No road access. Since the place has a good bar/restaurant, a lot of locals will actually hike up to it for dinner and drinks, and hike back down with headlamps late in the evening. Not a bad date.
Even more snug sleeping quarters than the previous night:
The barn:
The chorus of sheep bells was the soundtrack to this magical place. And oh, what's this? Just a little treat:
Completely delicious gut-bomb dinner, the a local brew:
Adios Aescher, Appenzell:
That day we started heading North. After a stop for lunch in Kreuzlingen, we made our final destination Hotel Garni Kurpfalzhof, a hotel just outside of Heidelberg. Great hotel. The owner let us know there were fireworks happening in Heidelberg that night, and gave us some tips on where to park, and the best viewing spots. We settled for the bridge view:
The next day we headed back into Heidelberg to check out the quite impressive castle:
View from the castle looking down on Heidelberg:
And before you know it, it's Sunday, and time to hit the autobahn and make some tracks back to Amsterdam. 7 days, 2200km+, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Germany. Phew! What a trip!
