Furka pass and Lucerne

When driving from Zermatt to Lucerne the drive is just beautiful - AND scary. Yes I said scary referring to the Furka Pass.  We of course didn't know what we were up against because we were following our trusty GPS :) The photos really don't make it look nearly as scary as it was. If you search the youtube videos they show you a bit more and how incredibly curvy it is. The scariest part is the road is very narrow and there are no guardrails, just a couple cement boulders far apart on the side of the road so you can literally look straight down the mountain and it is FAR down! yikes. At times we even passed big greyhound buses on this road and that was the craziest part. We would literally have to reverse it until we found a larger curve or place to pull off so the bus could pass. Luckily Alo was driving of course - I would have had a panic attack! ha. 

The Furka pass was in the James Bond film Goldfinger. If you click HERE you can see a clip from the movie (it's featured in the beginning). Also, HERE is another video so you can sort of see what it's like. Alo and I just love this ladies accent!

 

If you click on the photos so they are larger you can see the tiny roads above and in the pic below (right side of Alo) 

Even though the drive was probably 3 hours or more we enjoyed every second in the car. The things you get to see and the tiny towns are so cute. The grass was such a vibrant green and all the cows are just so darn happy! Alo and I decided they definitely have the happiest cows in the world :) We had to stop so Alo could get some cheese!

 

Lucerne was our first "big city" in Switzerland but we loved it. Certainly a very different feel like than the countryside of course (which was our favorite!).  It really doesn't feel that large and pretty easy to cover the sites in a day.  The city was filled with tons of young and hip young people - there must be a big University of some sort right where we were.

The Chapel bridge is one of the main sights in Lucerne. It's a wooden bridge that dates back to the 14th century.  It's Europe's oldest wooden covered bridge as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. How gorgeous are the flowers hanging off the side?! 

 

We drove to Engelberg for the day from Lucerne to see the show cheese factory.  It's a cheese shop and show cheese factory located in a monastery.  You'd think being from Botetourt with so many farms I would have seen the process of making cheese before but I haven't! It was neat to see the assembly line that goes on all day long over and over to produce their signature cheese (it was like a Brie cheese).  Inside the shop you can also order food as well as buy so many different kinds of cheeses.  I wish I had taken a photo of what I ate because it was SO yummy. It was a piece of thick homemade bread with white wine, pear and bacon smothered in cheese. Trust me it was amazing! Alo tried the local sausages with their cheese inside which were tasty too. All around a great day at the cheese factory :)

After stuffing ourselves with lots of yummy cheese we headed to Richard Wagner's house in Tribeschen on Lake Lucerne.  He was a famous German composer who lived in Tibeschen for six years.  You would surely know his one song he composed - the Wedding March - as a kid you may have sang it "Here comes the bride - all fat and wide" haha. His home was nice but the views were just wonderful since it was surrounded by a large piece of land sitting right on the lake with views of the mountains as well.  The most fun part about the museum was that we suddenly heard loud horns playing, looked out the window, and saw a bride and groom arriving with a small party of about 10 people. I guess they decided to have a tiny reception with champagne and snacks at Wagner's house. Very cute and intimate idea - except for all the random visitors like us who got to stand by and peak into their pretty day!

Alo pretending to be a composer - he thinks he's so funny!

Below is the Lion Monument in Lucerne.  It was built to honor the Swiss guards who were killed in 1792 during the French Revolution.  Mark Twain said the sculpture of the lion as the "most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world".  

Off to Lake Brienz! 

Something about this photo I just love. Can you see the teal blue lake in the background?  It's not Lake Brienz but a small lake on the way - I had never seen a lake like this in my life - my kind of lake! :)

  

Snow in August?

Alo and I took the train from Venice to Milan and then picked up our rental car and were on our way to Switzerland! I had heard from many people how beautiful the country is, especially my Aunt who had traveled there years ago, but it wasn't until we were there that I could truely understand how stunning it is.  The views of the Alps and the countryside are just absolutely jaw dropping.  I've never in my life seen anything like these mountains. It makes all the other mountains I've seen look like hills :)

Our first stop in Switzerland was Zermatt, the small town located at the foot of the famous Matterhorn.  The Matterhorn's summit is 14,690 ft high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps.  We stayed at Alpen Lodge up on the hill and just LOVED it! The lodge had a perfect view of the entire town and the Matterhorn.  At night it got so cold because we were at such a high altitude and we were visiting in late August. I can't even imagine what winters there feel like! The quaint town is so charming and cozy. No cars are allowed so when you visit you must use the train and leave your car at the Tash station about 20 minutes away.

A must DO if you go to Zermatt is to take cable car up to Glacier Paradise. The views on the way up are just amazing and getting to experience the snow capped Alps while being so close to the top of the Matterhorn is a once in a lifetime thing (unless you plan to hike up there yourself and are an experienced hiker!).  They also offer year round skiing due to the high altitudes which is pretty cool if you are a ski enthusiast.  Alo and I hiked down for about 3 hours after we went to the top of the mountain and then took the cable car the rest of the way down. Being so close to the Matterhorn peak and seeing it's incredibly steep rocky northern face makes it so hard to believe hikers actually attempt such a dangerous summit.  In the town of Zermatt at a small church there are graves surrounding it of those who have died attempting to summit the Matterhorn and their stories etched into their gravestones. 

The whole experience for us was just so great.  We have SO many gorgeous pictures that trying to pick some to share in the blog was quite challenging. We have traveled to many different places and this one is at the top of our list for sure!

In the cable car heading up the mountain...

 

 

Hiking down the mountain - some of the views...also the big peak in all these pictures is the Matterhorn in case you didn't already know!

<3

If you look closely you can see the town of Zermatt at the foot of the mountains...

Sunrise at the Matterhorn

 

 

The glaciers were massive!

 

I found Santa's sleigh in August!

 

Fondue for dinner...Switzerland = perfect excuse for cheese at every meal!

Can you read the restaurant's name? Cafe Du Pont - who knew DC opened one up in Zermatt?

 

The photo below was at the Brown Cow Pub - highly recommend - HUGE cheeseburgers and great atmosphere and affordable prices compared to alot of the fine dining. Can you tell how happy we were to have a great burger?! (they don't really exist in Tunisia)

 

Until next time...farewell Zermatt - can't wait to see you again someday!

 

Next stop - Luzern!

Venice

  

The second stop on our trip in August was to Venice. We took the train from Milan to Venice and it was so easy and definitely the right way to go. It's about 2 hours and ta-da you are there right in the center of Venice. We stayed at a little boutique hotel, Locanda Ca La' Vele which I would highly recommend.  We were able to just walk from the train station but will admit pulling my suitcase up the steps/bridges over the water wasn't the easiest but well worth the money saving! 

 

 

Venice is such a unique gorgeous little city. The streets are tiny and of course there are no cars just the power boats and gondolas. Gondolas are the traditional flat bottomed Venetian rowing boats with the cute little men in black and white stripped shirts rowing them (pic below). Unfortunately the gondolas are SO expensive - like over 100 dollars for a 45 min ride around - we just couldn't bring ourselves to waste that moola so we just watched from the steps instead :)

We visited the St. Mark's Basilica and the bell tower located in the Piazza San Marco square. The most memorable part of this afternoon was when I finally found the first canoli in Italy here - yipeeee! It did NOT disappoint! yum - Love them!

Some sights around town...

On Rialto bridge at night before dinner!

Chianti in Italy - this is for your Ash! ; )

More gondolas - they are everywhere!

Venice is known for it's glass making which is predominately done on the island of Murano.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get over there but we did still get to see shop vendors blowing glass where we were. They sell glass all over Venice in forms of lamps, glasses, jewelry, pretty much anything you could imagine.

Masks have always been the main feature of Venetian carnivals. They sell venetian masks all over town and the ones on the street aren't nearly as intricate and made in China - so basically not authentic at all. But they also have many small shops inside the tiny streets who make each mask by hand - obviously these are the real Venetian ones you'd want to purchase. Due to the nice salesman and his passion for mask making and his patience as I tried on all of them for fun - I decided to purchase one. You never know when you might need one right?? When in Rome! ops i mean Venice :)

 Ciao Ciao! Next stop Zermatt, Switzerland!