Like Melbourne, Auckland has lots of bays, inlets and islands. We've been making use of the ferry system to explore a couple of them. The city is attempting to expand its fledgling metro rail system, so may streets are torn up with that activity, and only 1 of the 3 metro train lines are running. The bus system works well, however, and we were able to make effective use of it to buy a bike for my upcoming Auckland to Christchurch bike ride. New Years Eve here was fun, as there was an amazing fireworks display
Alexandra will be heading back to the Philippines next Wed, and I will depart on my trip on Thursday Jan 9, morning.
Click here for route map .
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Down Under, another Summer Solstice
We touched down in Sydney, and immediately flew to Brisbane, which is directly north, but has a 1-hour time zone shift, because they did not adopt daylight savings time, and Sydney did.
We spent the next 3 weeks meandering our way down to Melbourne where we spent 10 nights before flying down to Auckland, where we are now.
Highlights of our travels in chronological and geographical order (North to South) :
Tambourine Mountain area: Several parks and some lovely waterfalls. Unfortunately, most of the streams that have rock pools for swimming had too little water to swim in, but the rain forests were beautiful (80% of the original Australian rain forests vanished after Europeans arrived), and the Koala bears, cockatoos and other wildlife unique to Australia were very interesting.
Central Coast Area:
Especially enjoyed the laid back coastal towns of Port Macquarie, and Port Stephens / Nelson Bay areas.
Sydney:
It's surrounded by water. This strikes you when visiting the Sydney Tower Eye. We enjoyed the city life, restaurants, and parks, especially the Botanical Gardens, and various municipal ferry rides up the river.
Melbourne:
The highlight of our stay was a visit to Phillip Island, where we went to see the Penguin Parade, which occurs after sundown. Click here for video. We also got to watch pelicans being fed, and seals nursing their pups
(a boat ride out to an island with thousands of seals.) and playing in the water.
Spent Christmas in Melbourne. then off to Auckland on Dec. 28.
We spent the next 3 weeks meandering our way down to Melbourne where we spent 10 nights before flying down to Auckland, where we are now.
Highlights of our travels in chronological and geographical order (North to South) :
Tambourine Mountain area: Several parks and some lovely waterfalls. Unfortunately, most of the streams that have rock pools for swimming had too little water to swim in, but the rain forests were beautiful (80% of the original Australian rain forests vanished after Europeans arrived), and the Koala bears, cockatoos and other wildlife unique to Australia were very interesting.
Central Coast Area:
Especially enjoyed the laid back coastal towns of Port Macquarie, and Port Stephens / Nelson Bay areas.
Sydney:
It's surrounded by water. This strikes you when visiting the Sydney Tower Eye. We enjoyed the city life, restaurants, and parks, especially the Botanical Gardens, and various municipal ferry rides up the river.
Melbourne:
The highlight of our stay was a visit to Phillip Island, where we went to see the Penguin Parade, which occurs after sundown. Click here for video. We also got to watch pelicans being fed, and seals nursing their pups
(a boat ride out to an island with thousands of seals.) and playing in the water.
Spent Christmas in Melbourne. then off to Auckland on Dec. 28.
The last of the Northern Hemisphere - Executive Summary
I took a long break from updating the blog after finishing the bicycle trip in Madrid. The first item of business was to sell the bike. Happy to say, I sold it for about 100 euro less than I paid for it (200 E after accessorizing). That turned out to be reasonably inexpensive for a 1-month bike rental.
Alexandra joined me in Madrid on Sept. 25, and we remained in Madrid for about a week before departing by train to visit:
Segovia (2 nights) : Highlight - Cathedral
Toledo: (2 nights) : Highlight - Jewish Quarter
Valencia: (5 night) : Great aquarium, bike friendly, fabulous beaches and good restaurants
Then rented a car to get us to Seville by way of:
Granada
Cordoba
and finally departing to Porto, Portugal from Madrid, which we reached by high-speed train from Seville. A few nights in Porto, followed by 5 wonderful nights in Lisbon finished up our stay in the EU, just before our 6-month French visas expired. We high-tailed it out of the Schengen area on Sat. Oct 20 to Casablanca. Had a lovely dinner with Alexandra's friend, Wendy, from Cebu, who works there. Then proceeded to Rabat to visit Soukaina, who invited us to join her family for dinner. We met her and Chaymae, her sister at the Hassan Tower.
They live across the river in Sale. In spite of the gathering dark storm clouds, we took the "ferry" (a large row-boat) across the river, and got soaked by a violent downpour just after disembarking. We were soaking wet, with our destroyed (from wind) umbrellas by the time we got to their house. They lent us some dry clothes, and her dad spent most of the time we were there trying to iron my jeans to dry them out. Dinner was a feast of Lamb Tajine, sweets, Tea, and wonderful Moroccan hospitality.
Alexandra still wears the pink pajama bottoms that Chaymae gave her.
We then took the train from Rabat to Marrakesh. Stayed there for 5 nights, then left for a 1 night stopover in London before flying back to SFO.
Arrived in SF on November 1 and settled into an AirBnb in Mountain View for the next 10 nights. Checked in on the house. It's still there. Then departed for DC to visit my nephew and d'Niece (Baltimore). Then took the train to Philadelphia, did a drive-by in Allentown, where I grew up, and then went to a family friend's 90th birthday in Phila before departing for Denver, where Janine, our daughter, now lives. We spent her birthday there and had Thanksgiving at my cousin's place nearby, then departed for the new new world, Sydney, Australia.
Alexandra joined me in Madrid on Sept. 25, and we remained in Madrid for about a week before departing by train to visit:
Segovia (2 nights) : Highlight - Cathedral
Toledo: (2 nights) : Highlight - Jewish Quarter
Valencia: (5 night) : Great aquarium, bike friendly, fabulous beaches and good restaurants
Then rented a car to get us to Seville by way of:
Granada
Cordoba
and finally departing to Porto, Portugal from Madrid, which we reached by high-speed train from Seville. A few nights in Porto, followed by 5 wonderful nights in Lisbon finished up our stay in the EU, just before our 6-month French visas expired. We high-tailed it out of the Schengen area on Sat. Oct 20 to Casablanca. Had a lovely dinner with Alexandra's friend, Wendy, from Cebu, who works there. Then proceeded to Rabat to visit Soukaina, who invited us to join her family for dinner. We met her and Chaymae, her sister at the Hassan Tower.
Alexandra still wears the pink pajama bottoms that Chaymae gave her.
We then took the train from Rabat to Marrakesh. Stayed there for 5 nights, then left for a 1 night stopover in London before flying back to SFO.
Arrived in SF on November 1 and settled into an AirBnb in Mountain View for the next 10 nights. Checked in on the house. It's still there. Then departed for DC to visit my nephew and d'Niece (Baltimore). Then took the train to Philadelphia, did a drive-by in Allentown, where I grew up, and then went to a family friend's 90th birthday in Phila before departing for Denver, where Janine, our daughter, now lives. We spent her birthday there and had Thanksgiving at my cousin's place nearby, then departed for the new new world, Sydney, Australia.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Madrid - end of bike trip
Sunday 9/16: Biked about 65 miles from Lerma to Valladolid, which is a significant-sized city that has direct train service to Madrid in case I was ready to give up ... which didn't happen... Many stores and restaurants are closed on Sunday, so dining options were limited.
So... on Monday I rode to the small village of Coca where I had a lovely B&B overlooking the main town square. Not much to do in Coca.
Tuesday I headed out for Segovia, a major tourist stop. I stopped for breakfast in Nava de la Asunción... and yet again encountered a parade. It was a festive but short affair, after which many of the band members dropped into the bar I was having breakfast at .
Apparently this was just one event in some major affair, as the main road was totally cordoned off to through traffic, and I had to push the bicycle and myself through the fence to continue (detours were not well marked).
Arrived in Segovia ... tourists are everywhere. The top 2 attractions are:
Segovia Cathedral
and, the Romans, being great builders, built a huge aqueduct that runs through Segovia.
So... on Wed. morning, I headed out for my last riding day... which was to San Rafael, about 40km from Madrid, where I took a regional train to Madrid and settled into my hotel a vender mi bicicleta y la espera de la llegada de Alexandra, who is returning from a month in the Philippines.
Total bike trip stats: 1200 Miles, 36,000 ft total vertical.
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| Hamburguesería Gigantes - the name says it all. |
Tuesday I headed out for Segovia, a major tourist stop. I stopped for breakfast in Nava de la Asunción... and yet again encountered a parade. It was a festive but short affair, after which many of the band members dropped into the bar I was having breakfast at .
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| Typical Municipal fountain |
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| These are common in Spanish villages, and allowed me to survive while only carrying one 750ml bottle |
Segovia Cathedral
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| They build their cathedrals BIG in Segovia. |
Total bike trip stats: 1200 Miles, 36,000 ft total vertical.
Friday, September 14, 2018
Entering España
Sun 09/09: Stayed an extra day (Sunday night) in Arachon, since it was raining. This afforded a nice opportunity to ride up to the waterfront to sample the local seafood.
Decide to take train to Bayonne on Monday, which involved a 12 mile bike ride back to Biganos. While waiting for the train, I got myself a haircut... I´m noticing there´s less and less hair to cut these days.
The French town, Bayonne, bears no resemblance whatsoever to its New Jersey namesake.
On Tuesday (9/11) rode into Spain. Noticed the difference right away. The towns were a little more hard-scrabble in Spain, but the larger cities (like San Sebastian) were very much on par with similar-sized French cities.
My hotel (Parma) was directly across from a huge public beach and right next to the main bar-restaurant area. Like similar towns in France, much of the ¨Old City¨ was pedestrian only. Lively bar scene. Lots of young'uns.
Wednesday´s ride was to Segura, a very small 1-hotel town.
On Thursday, I rode out of Segura, which started with a long climb
then a little descent close to the town of Olazagutía. Google Maps then directed me into a dirt road (it does that sometimes) While trying to find a way out of that one, I kept hearing what I thought were gunshots. I headed into town, and discovered the sound was firecrackers. I asked the lady at the bakery what was going on. She said ¨festival¨
I asked what the festival was about... she said ¨eating and drinking¨ My Spanish was insufficient for a follow-up question... so I left it at that.
I am now in Vitoria-Gasteiz where I had a nice dinner of Tapas and beer . Most dinners here are at bars that serve little sandwiches and skewers etc. They eat late too... kitchens don´t typically open until 8:30 PM.
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| Excellent Mussels and Frites at Le Routioutiou in Gujan-Mestras |
Decide to take train to Bayonne on Monday, which involved a 12 mile bike ride back to Biganos. While waiting for the train, I got myself a haircut... I´m noticing there´s less and less hair to cut these days.
On Tuesday (9/11) rode into Spain. Noticed the difference right away. The towns were a little more hard-scrabble in Spain, but the larger cities (like San Sebastian) were very much on par with similar-sized French cities.
Wednesday´s ride was to Segura, a very small 1-hotel town.
On Thursday, I rode out of Segura, which started with a long climb
I asked what the festival was about... she said ¨eating and drinking¨ My Spanish was insufficient for a follow-up question... so I left it at that.
I am now in Vitoria-Gasteiz where I had a nice dinner of Tapas and beer . Most dinners here are at bars that serve little sandwiches and skewers etc. They eat late too... kitchens don´t typically open until 8:30 PM.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Along the west coast of France
Tuesday 9/4
After leaving Vannes, I headed east to Nantes, a sizable city with a good network of bicycle lanes, nice restaurants, etc.
On Wed. I headed south to stay in La Roche-sur-Yon, then Rochefort on Thursday night. Nice towns, but nothing particularly memorable. I mostly enjoyed the fine fud,
From Rochefort, on Friday morning, I biked to Royan to take the ferry to Soulac sur Mer. See:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k95mH1pxwBwWcjgyZKuaKurpby4YTQV8&usp=sharing
From there it's been bike path all the way. My lodging was an AirBnb in the small lakeside town of Hourtin in one of about 6 motel-like rooms that Nathan, an interesting chap from Wales, built. It's about 50m from the bike path that runs all the way from Soulac to Arcachon, which is where I am now.
It's raining this morning,,, and the Best Western here has provided me with a laptop which has enabled me to update the blog. Allegedly it will clear up a little after noon, so I can make it to my next stop.
After leaving Vannes, I headed east to Nantes, a sizable city with a good network of bicycle lanes, nice restaurants, etc.
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| Canard |
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| Strawberry Tart |
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| Profiteroles |
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k95mH1pxwBwWcjgyZKuaKurpby4YTQV8&usp=sharing
From there it's been bike path all the way. My lodging was an AirBnb in the small lakeside town of Hourtin in one of about 6 motel-like rooms that Nathan, an interesting chap from Wales, built. It's about 50m from the bike path that runs all the way from Soulac to Arcachon, which is where I am now.
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| All Bike Path (paved) all day |
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Through Belgium back into France
It's coming on Fall. My last night in Luxembourg was in the charming town of Clervaux. It was below 50 on Sunday morning, so I bought me a bright yellow running jacket and proceeded to ride to Liege, Belgium.
The central square in Brussels is very impressive... see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Place#Buildings_around_the_square
For dinner, the rabbit was tough, but the profiterole was sweet.
Then, on to Amiens. They too have a Notre Dame cathedral, which also has a light show at 10... but unlike Strasbourg, they project the show directly onto the face of the cathedral, ending with a recreation of the original colors, which have faded over the centuries.
.
Rouen was the next stop. Again, very impressive Notre Dame cathedral, said to be the inspiration for the cathedral Notre Dame in Paris. It's huge, and, as in the other towns with huge Notre Dame cathedrals, the light show starts at 10.
From Rouen, rode to Deauville (Fri. 8/31), then onward to the Normandy beaches where D-Day marked the beginning of the end for Nazi occupation of France and other Western European countries. My main stop was Arromanches-les-Bains. The Nazis had correctly determined that if the Allies were going to try to drive them out, they would need to bring equipment and supplies from England into France, and would need to control a port, so they occupied and heavily fortified all existing ports along the French coastline, and would blow up these ports rather than have allied forces control them. They Allies determined that they only way around this was to construct their own port quickly after the initial landings, which they did by pre-fabricating much of the port in England, then towing it across the channel, and installing it in Arromanches-les-Bains. It's known as the "Mulberry Port" see:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mulberry
It was a remarkable feat of engineering, including a floating roadway where ships could unload in deeper water, and drive tanks, trucks etc. onto the beach to supply the invading forces.
Caught a train from Bayeux to Vannes late Sunday afternoon.. On Monday rode out to visit Mathilde, who lives in the countryside about 15km from Vannes. Her dad, Thierry, has an amazing machine shope in the garage, where he rebuilds custom wheels, among other things. He also built major portions of their house. From her place, we biked around the countryside, doing a 35km loop which included a lunch of buckwheat galettes (a local Brittany specialty) for both the main course and dessert.
I rode back to Vannes, and about an hour after getting back Mathilde, Thierry, and Valerie (mom) drove into the city to take me out for Mussels in the Vannes harbor area.
I updated the bike tour map this morning.
The next day was rainy, so I took the train from Liege to Belgium, and had a decidedly unhealthy
lunch of fries at Fryland
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| Belgian Fries for lunch at "Fryland" in Brussels |
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| Profiterol |
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| Notre Dame in Amiens |
.
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| Passed by this on my way back from dinner. Inspired me to look up Mathilde, one of my favorite AFS students from last year, who lives in Brittany. |
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| Rouen Cathedral Notre Dame |
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| it's so big, can't get it all in one shot |
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mulberry
It was a remarkable feat of engineering, including a floating roadway where ships could unload in deeper water, and drive tanks, trucks etc. onto the beach to supply the invading forces.
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| Section of floating roadway. |
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| Caisson which was used to block the waves. |
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| Excellent profiteroles in Bayeux for lunch. |
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| Bayeux Cathedral |
I rode back to Vannes, and about an hour after getting back Mathilde, Thierry, and Valerie (mom) drove into the city to take me out for Mussels in the Vannes harbor area.
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| Huge fish at Vannes harbor |
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| Harbor in Vannes |
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| L to R: Thierry, Valierie, yours truly, and Mathilde |
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| Add caption |
I updated the bike tour map this morning.
Friday, August 24, 2018
Munich to Luxembourg via Strasbourg
Sat. 8/18: Left Turkenfeld (suburb of Munich), where Alexandra's sister lives. About 4 hours later, had my first flat, which looked like a pinch flat (occurs when you hit a bump with an Under-inflated tire). The leak was on some ridges on the tube, so, the patch was destined to leak.
All bike shops are closed on Sunday, so getting a new tire or tube was not an option.
Within 3 hours of heading out from Gunzburg, it was leaking again. I was about 1/3 of the way to Stuttgart when I decided to head South to Ulm to catch the train. By the time I got there, the tire was really flat.
The earliest open bike shop in town opened at 11, precluding any full day of riding, so I hopped another train with the new tire, and spent Monday night in Freudenstadt as scheduled and had some decent German food for dinner.
All bike shops are closed on Sunday, so getting a new tire or tube was not an option.
Within 3 hours of heading out from Gunzburg, it was leaking again. I was about 1/3 of the way to Stuttgart when I decided to head South to Ulm to catch the train. By the time I got there, the tire was really flat.
The earliest open bike shop in town opened at 11, precluding any full day of riding, so I hopped another train with the new tire, and spent Monday night in Freudenstadt as scheduled and had some decent German food for dinner.
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| a light German dinner in |
On Tuesday, arrived in Strasbourg, France... a country that is serious about fine food.
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| Great to be back in France!! |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg, France |
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| Carousel in the square a few blocks from the Cathedral |
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| Along the Marne–Rhine Canal biking from Strasbourg to Sarrebourg |
Friday (8/24) arrived in Luxembourg city. The city festival / fair is going on right across the street from my hotel. It's huge!
Glad my hotel (Best Western) has a computer that's not "locked down" with that hideous kiosk software, so I could write this blog using Remote Desktop via my computer in Palo Alto. French keyboards have Q where A is, M where ; is, W where Z is, A where Q is, and the @ sign is accessed by an ALT key +0. the period and all numbers require shift. It turns out that when you use remote desktop, the keyboard functions like a US keyboard. Makes typing the blog much less painful.
It's unlikely I'll find a computer that's this open any time soon, so this may be the last entry for a while.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Getting Ready to Ride
I am in Munich in the lobby of the Hotel Metropol which is a few blocks from Munich Hauptbahnhof.
I just bought a used Giant bicycle. Finding a used bicycle with a suitable small frame is a challenge in this country of Aryan giants. Most of the bicycles for sale are 58cm frame size or larger. My inseam translates into 50cm of smaller. Fortunately, there was a bike on the German EBAY site I found a few weeks ago. Since there don't seem to be any short bicyclists, the thing was still there at Haveabike.
Alexandra and I both went schlepping around to the 2 used bike shops. I found a suitable rack for the panniers, and a pump at another shop, and assumed I would take it back on Wednesday. Unfortunately my assumption was incorrect, because Wed. was "assumption day" here in Bavaria (the Catholic part of Germany), so almost all shops were closed.
I just bought a used Giant bicycle. Finding a used bicycle with a suitable small frame is a challenge in this country of Aryan giants. Most of the bicycles for sale are 58cm frame size or larger. My inseam translates into 50cm of smaller. Fortunately, there was a bike on the German EBAY site I found a few weeks ago. Since there don't seem to be any short bicyclists, the thing was still there at Haveabike.
Alexandra and I both went schlepping around to the 2 used bike shops. I found a suitable rack for the panniers, and a pump at another shop, and assumed I would take it back on Wednesday. Unfortunately my assumption was incorrect, because Wed. was "assumption day" here in Bavaria (the Catholic part of Germany), so almost all shops were closed.
Long story short, I now have the bike. The rack's on it, and I'll be ready to roll on Sunday morning.
Click link below for the route plan;
I don't plan to post very often during the bike trip, as composing on the phone is a royal pain.... so check back in a month if you're interested.
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| My vehicle for the next month |
Kandersteg, Oeschinensee, Bonn, Vevey and back to Zurich
Monday 8/6/2018:
A drive from Emmetten to Interlaken, stop for lunch, and to load up on Laderach (best chocolate ever), and we arrived at our lovely hotel in Kandersteg, a bucolic Swiss Alps town in a valley surrounded by mountains. On our first full day in town, we took the cable car up to Oeschinen Lake, a beautiful Alpine lake surrounded by cliffs and waterfalls.
The next day, another cable car and more magnificent views at Sunbiel ...
The next day, (Thurs 8/9) we headed over to Bonn. Actually we stayed in Fribourg, which is about 1/2 hr. commuter train from Bonn. A lot cheaper.. but has its drawbacks. The first of which most of the restaurants there were closed for summer vacation (from last week of July to last week of August).
The good news is that the heat wave had broken by the time we got down from Kandersteg, so our non-A/C room was just fine. This hotel tends to be booked by Chinese tour busses, which arrive in the afternoon, and depart in the morning. The main issue there is their Internet service can't handle the peak load, and it crashes and burns... so I was off-grid for most of the time we stayed there.
So... we schmeid around Bonn for a day, then did a day-trip to Vevey, which is a lovely town on Lake Geneva. Then next day, we went back to Zurich to
A drive from Emmetten to Interlaken, stop for lunch, and to load up on Laderach (best chocolate ever), and we arrived at our lovely hotel in Kandersteg, a bucolic Swiss Alps town in a valley surrounded by mountains. On our first full day in town, we took the cable car up to Oeschinen Lake, a beautiful Alpine lake surrounded by cliffs and waterfalls.
And lots of cows with bells
We rented a rowboat and did a grand tour of the waterfalls.
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| Ducks on a log |
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| Herd of white goats, with full udders, on the top of Sunbiel |
The good news is that the heat wave had broken by the time we got down from Kandersteg, so our non-A/C room was just fine. This hotel tends to be booked by Chinese tour busses, which arrive in the afternoon, and depart in the morning. The main issue there is their Internet service can't handle the peak load, and it crashes and burns... so I was off-grid for most of the time we stayed there.
So... we schmeid around Bonn for a day, then did a day-trip to Vevey, which is a lovely town on Lake Geneva. Then next day, we went back to Zurich to
- resupply the Chocolate (Laderach)
- Catch our train back to Munich
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