Coming up to the toll booth for the 11 mile long tunnel that goes through the mountain that you see here. Quite a glacier up there.
On the other side of the tunnel.
Trip to one of the oldest castles in Europe. Well over a thousand years old. Chillon Castle.
Inside of castle.
Went for a ride to see a national park that is supposed to be awesome. We drove several hours to get there and had our brown bag lunch at this closed place in the mountains where we determined that we were lost and off track. When we finally got to the site, it was very overcast and when we got to the overlook that was supposed to be the awesome view, it was totally fogged in. Went back to the car just in time before it started pouring down rain.
Really?? All the way here and we cannot see anything because of the fog?
June 18 - 23, 2015 - Drove to Zurich, but on the way decided to do a side trip to Tasch, Switzerland and Zermatt, Switzerland to see the big mountain ranges including the Matterhorn. Drove 3 hours to Tasch and hopped on a train to Zermatt since no vehicles are allowed in Zermatt. Very nice quaint town that is very expensive. From there hopped on another train, a cog wheel train to go up to the peaks where you have a view of 24 mountain peaks over 13,000 feet. Wow!
On the way to Tasch.
In Tasch.
Train station going to Zermatt.
In Zermatt.
On the cog wheel train on the way to the top of the mountains.
The Matterhorn.
Matterhorn.
One of the stops on the way up.
At the top of the mountain. Views all the way around.
Views from the terrace.
AT the top of the world.
After leaving Zermatt, we headed towards Zurich, Switzerland, about 4 hours drive. It started to rain as soon as we left Tasch and continued. We got about 3 hours down the road driving through the mountains, when we got to a point that the road was closed. It was getting dark and we had to find another way to get there without help as everything was closed in the little town that we were in, our navigation wanted to keep us going down the road that was closed. We had already been through a high pass that was very heavy fog, rain and difficult driving on mountain roads that had sheer cliffs without guardrails. It was very difficult. After we decided on the road to Chur was the most viable option, we set out again to go over another pass when it is dark, foggy and raining. Our trip now ran about 4 hours longer than expected and it was late at night. We finally got to Zurich around 11 pm and had to deal with another detour when we were near our destination. Got to our apartment around 11:30 pm and had difficulty getting into the apartment. Had to call the manager to come there and let us in. Even that was filled with problems. Finally got into the place around midnight, totally exhausted.
Going to Zurich through the mountains.
Picture of the road ahead.
June 19 - Went for a drive to see Reinfalls, which is supposed to be awesome. It was!
June 20, 2015 - Went for a ride to Lucerne, Switzerland. Rained off and on all day, but still a very good trip. Walked across a wooden bridge that was over 400 years old. Pretty bridge and great views over the lake in town. Overcast day.
Went to a nearby town that had a memorial to the Swiss fallen soldiers. It was originally done over 200 years ago, but still commemorates the fallen. Quite an amazing site. The detail and size of this carving of a fallen lion carved into the mountain. It is huge and extremely detailed. Impressive.
June 21, 2015 - Today's field trip was to the town of Lauterbrunne, Switzerland where we went to see the mountains and the highest and longest waterfall in Switzerland.
June 22, 2015 - Went for a ride today through Austria to Germany to the castle at Neuschwanstein. It is the castle that Disney used as a design for the castle at its parks. Very pretty countryside and castle.
From town.
Neuschwanstein castle.
From up around the castle.
Up close at the castle.
