Europe2013: June 2013

Sunday, 30 June 2013

Day 16 Sun 30th June Montreux Switzerland

Day 16 Sunday 30^th June Basel Switzerland

After having our final breakfast on the ship we sadly said farewell to the crew and fellow passengers and looked forward to the next part of our adventure. We are setting off today on our 5 night tour of Switzerland.

We got a taxi from the ship to the station in Basel and thought we had been ripped off. The ship said it would be about 20 euros and it was actually 49 euros. We did have a BIG taxi to take the four of us and our luggage BUT!!!!

The start of our next adventure began when we tried to negotiate the German speaking Basel station. I had already researched which train to go on and without too much trouble we caught our first train. We had 2 changes on the way to Montreux but it all worked out very smoothly. We were told all we had to do is look at our arrival time for each station and we would know when to get off. The Swiss trains NEVER run late. The scenery became more and more breathtaking as we quietly sped through mountains and past lakes on our tilt train. The sun was shining brightly and it was quite warm.

We arrived safely in Montreux and our hotel was right opposite the station. The hotel overlooked Lake Geneva and although we have a mountain view room we were very happy with our rooms. Montreux is the most beautiful place. The hills come down to meet Lake Geneva and all along the waterfront (for miles) is the most beautiful walk covered with Palm trees, flowers and gardens. Paul & I walked for ages. Lorraine & Murray went for a boat ride on the lake.

Apart from being beautiful Montreux is EXPENSIVE. We ate pizza’s at an Italian restaurant and before we knew it, it was 9.30pm and not dark.

Montreux Station

Our Hotel

view coming in to Montreux on train

Motorway leading out of Montreux

sculpture made of old bikes

Day 15 Sat 29th June Black Forest and Colmar

These photos are in the wrong order .

Our last full day on the ship and we have another huge day ahead of us. We awoke to, you guessed it, pouring rain!!!! We had breakfast and were off on our excursion to the Black forest. It was hard to appreciate the beautiful scenery through a fogged up bus window covered in rain. We passed through several beautiful villages as we wound our way up to the Black Forest. Parts of it reminded us of driving through the Black Spur but with different trees. We stopped at the cuckoo clock shop and had the most beautiful piece of Black Forest cake and yes, we bought a cuckoo clock!!! The rain spoilt the views and photography but not the day.

We were barely back at the ship for lunch and we were off again on another bus excursion to a beautiful town called Colmar (France). Finally the sun was out. We drove through fields of corn and many fruit trees. Some of the cherry trees were HUGE. We were glad we didn’t have to pick them. The town of Colmar was amazing as each town we have visited has been. It’s hard to imagine how old they are.

Our final farewell dinner was wonderful and we said goodbye to the many friends we have made on cruise

The beautiful Artistry II

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Designer of the Statue of Liberty was born in Colmar

The speck on the top RH corner of roof is stork's nest

The lumix zoom at work again. Unbelievably the stork nest weighs 1000 kg or over.
The mating pair stay together for life and return to the same next each year.
The church considers it good for the community to have the nest on their church

Farewell dinner - entree Lobster Tail

With the gorgeous and bubbly Dewi, our waitress

Farewell to our friends Liz and Trevor from Birmingham in UK

Vineyards on the way to the Black Forest through the rain

Storks nest on top of church. If you look closely you will see a camera. The stork has an internet sight
and people can track the movements of the stork family including the birth of the babies