PalQ

Fun, fun reading!
Re: Panoramic cars - they are often in first class only but when on regular trains they don't have a surcharge i believe but Swiss rail officials have often told me that you should reserve one to be guaranteed a seat in these potential 'ovens' as you describe them in the beating sun.
Thus i think if you have a first class pass you can sit in them if they are not already reserved or occupied without any fee.
Panoramic cars on Glacier Express, Bernina Express, etc. may have different policies.

kwren

thanks PalQ! I'm glad you're enjoying my trip report

Your explanation makes a lot of sense, thanks for that too. I had been told to reserve if I wanted that car, but at a very inflated rate (from a US company). The extra cost didn't seem worth it for a regular train line so I didn't and figured I'd take my chances. I wasn't even looking for a panoramoic car - it just happened to be the first car on the train so I happily went inside. The car was empty and we had our choice of seats anyway. If the conductor had made a stink, we would have moved, no problem, but it was better that he just looked at our passes. By the way, those cars are really beautiful and have magazines hanging by the windows. We were impressed.

I do think that I would reserve if I ever wanted to be in a panoramic car on the Glacier Express or some other line in which I would was taking the ride for the view - I imagine those cars could fill up quickly on such lines.

By the way, they have shades you can pull down when it gets too hot, but that sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?!

eurogals

When my husband and brother/sister in law arrived in Lauterbrunnen to stay at the Silberhorn, I proudly led them up the steep hill with stairs to the hotel only to discover the nice paved road on the left. Thought I was the only person that would ever do that. Now I am feeling better that others have done this too.


I am just loving your report. Brings back memories of my trip last September.

Sue_xx_yy

Loving your report. Sorry you lucked out with the weather so often, but I'm glad you mention it. We met someone in Muerren who was actually debating whether to go up to the Schilthorn that day (which was clear) or "leave it till tomorrow." NOOOO! We said, you grab the weather when you've got it!

kwren

That was definitely one thing I learned this trip - NEVER NEVER put off something you can do outside if the weather is good...no matter how tired you may be!!! (Stay tuned for my Eiffel Tower report )

Hey Eurogals - the gravel path up above was even better than the stairs wasn't it?! We were tired AND dirty by the time we reached the Silberhorn. In retrospect, wouldn't it be nice if they would put up some sort of sign directing us to the road?

TexasAggie

Hi kwren,
Thanks so much for the report, LOVE all the detailed information! We are headed to Salzburg in late May next year.

kwren

TexasAggie - Still 3 days to go in Salzburg so stay tuned (and a great way to put off folding 3 weeks of laundry and cleaning the house!) Glad you like the details - I was wondering if I was going to put people to sleep thus the increasing use of smileys to wake them up

TexasAggie

Hi kwren,

The details are most appreciated so no more worries about putting people to sleep - this is a fabulous report

-fellow fan of the smileys ;-)

kwren

eurogals

Yes, a sign would have been welcome. Silberhorn - this way up.

kwren

August 1 More Salzburg
Today was the day we reserved seats on a boat ride up the Salzach River to the Hellbrun Castle (all free with Card). (We made the reservation through the tourist bureau when we bought our Salzburg Card. They recommended taking the boat there, but coming back by bus which would be a much shorter ride.) The boat was small and outfitted with special motors to help it get upstream against the very strong current, they explained during the ˝ hour ride. A bus was waiting for us at the end to take us to the castle, a beautiful yellow building.

Of course the draw here is the trick fountains planned by Marcus Sitticus many years ago. He had the castle built for his enjoyment (ie. fun at his guests’ expense) and the tour started at the “Prince’s Table”. This table had a specially built well in the center which he filled with water to keep their wine cool. His friends would sit around the table on the stone stools and if they started to fall sleep from too much to drink, the water would come on and spray up through the seats and around the table to wake them up. We had a good demonstration of this with a family of volunteers – it was a riot! (Of course Marcus’ seat was not rigged up to the water)

There were various rooms and grottos with the hidden sprays, statues – oh, I should stop here not to spoil all the fun, but believe me – it WAS fun! You never knew when you would get wet!
There were also tiny vignettes which moved by water power by water wheels behind the walls and others which played music from movement of water and air.

After the tour, we walked through the grounds with the tiny hedges cut in scrolling designs. The kids were getting bored, so we gave them the ever-ready ponchos “just in case”, their Salzburg Cards, and instructions on how to find the bus back to Salzburg, and walked them to the entrance of the zoo, which was connected to the grounds. (Remember our 17S was with us so we didn’t feel we were taking a big risk allowing them to do this alone) We followed the Fodor’s advice to climb the hill to see the Folk Museum and it was great (but don’t they do anything at ground level in Europe?)…it had old Austrian furniture, traditional clothing, various styles of artwork, old musical instruments and music of the Toby Reiser Band (hey – didn’t they come in second to the Von Trapp Family Singers in the Sound of Music concert at the end of the movie?), and of course a great view of the Hellbrun grounds and the Salzburg Fort.

We had no problem taking the bus back to Salzburg – it was just down the street to the left from the entrance and around the corner and easy to find. We were excited to be on our own (don’t tell my kids!) We stopped at St. Peter’s Cemetery (how romantic!) – the Sound of Music cemetery scene was modeled after this one with the vaults and wrought iron railings along the sides. Each grave had a delicate wrought iron marker on it and all had flowers or ferns decorating them. Nannerl, Mozart’s sister, was buried in a communal grave there. There was a little Catacombs there too so we went. I have to admit it was not interesting at all to us, but at least the card had given us free access.

So, what to do now – I know! How about eat!!! We headed to the Hotel Elephant, a Fodor’s favorite, and ordered a Salzburg Nokkerl, a local specialty. It took ˝ hour to prepare. So, what to do in the meantime??? I know! How about some wine!!! Anyway, the Nokkerl was light, fluffy and delicious and huge! It’s true that it should be shared between 2 (or even 3 or 4!). It’s a type of soufflé/meringue made with egg white, sugar and flour and is served with a small pitcher of fruit sauce. If I can ever figure how to attach pictures to trip reports, I’ll show you my picture. Yum!

We took our time and eventually realized it was absolutely pouring out! Oops! What about the kids! Oh well, it didn’t seem so bad after the wine (bad mom!) At least they had ponchos! We finally left in the rain to do a bit of souvenir shopping and continued to the “Viva Mozart” exhibit at the Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum in the Mozartplatz. Audio guides were included and it was in interesting exhibit about his life, friends, compositions and tributes to his life.

The rain was starting to let up by now so we walked back to the hotel where we found the kids. They had had a great time at the zoo, and then the Natural History Museum and were relaxing. We joined them until it was time for dinner and our next adventure.....the Augustiner Bier Stube.

We took a bus to the Mulln Monastery, descended a huge staircase (we were the only people doing this so we were a bit nervous that we shouldn’t be there, but we forged on anyway) and were met with a long hall of I suppose you could call it an Austrian food court. A long row of eateries with deli-type items, sausages, Knoedeln, cheeses, pastries and so on. We each selected something to eat…pizza, Knoedeln (like a huge dumpling in sauce), wiener schnitzel sandwich, salads, bratwurst, pastries, all for under 25€. None of us likes beer except my husband so he got the smaller size mug of beer (2.50&euro, after rinsing out the mug at the mug washing station, imitating someone who seemed to be in the know. Supposedly a monk filled the mug from a wooden keg but he didn’t look like the monk I had seen on a bridge in the long brown robe - he was just dressed in normal clothes. There were enormous rooms filled with people in various stages of drunkenness. We avoided the smoking room which looked like the Schilthorn once the clouds rolled in, and actually found – tah dah – a non-smoking room at the far end of the hall where we watched people drink multiple super-sized beer mugs.

kwren

(continued)
It’s amazing the tables could hold all that crockery! It wasn’t the best food of the vacation, but it was good and an entertaining evening. My husband was even hoping to go back another time, but I nixed it in favor of better food the next night. We walked back along the river for a bit, and took the bus back the rest of the way, stopping at Hotel Stein to have ice cream on the rooftop overlooking the city. Unfortunately, everything out there was drenched from rain (what a surprise) so we stopped at an ice cream stand for double scoops.

That was it for the day – we dropped into bed once again, although half of what we did today was relax on boats, busses or at tables around the city.

next - Hallstatt, the salt mine tour and the lake country

kwren

I'm on a roll tonight!

August 2 – Hallstatt and the lake country

We got an early start today to pick up our Opal Zaphira from Avis and traveled through the countryside southeast for an hour and a half to Hallstatt. It was a pretty little town perched on the edge of a large lake. We went straight to the funicular which afforded a great view of the area, and walked up further to the building where 2 piece suits are provided for the Salt Mine Tour, this supposedly being the oldest salt mine in the world. We were also surprised to see one of those penny machines – the ones where you put a penny (.05€ in this case) turn the handle and a picture is printed onto the stretched-out coin. 2 of my kids have collections of these coins so of course we had to get each a Hallstatt ‘penny’. It cost a euro to do this.

We all walked 350 meters into the mine, 80 meters below the surface and slid down 2 slides used by miners for years to reach the depths of the mine. (2nd slide is supposedly the longest salt mine slide in the world) Everyone’s speed was clocked and posted to the amusement of the growing crowd. I saw speeds of 13 km/hour up to 24 km/hr (we won’t discuss the characteristics of the slowest people), but the tour guide impressed us all at 38 km/hr. Show off! The process of salt mining was described using many different formats so I think it held the attention of everyone. Interesting stuff. (Don’t worry – I won’t go into that much detail!) The one bit of false advertising is when they talk about the man who was found dead following a mining accident preserved in salt many years ago. It certainly sounded like he was preserved to see during the tour, but it was not to be. He was been carried out of the mine and buried and no one knows where he is now. There was a big build-up to this and it wasn’t really necessary. I suppose they have to use that draw to get people to make this longer trip. Anyway, to get out everyone squeezes on the little train the miners have used, straddling the benches.

There are other salt mines closer to Salzburg – “City of Salt” – such as Hallein, which was not recommended to me by anyone and at Bertchesgaden which was mentioned to me as a good mine back in Salzburg numerous times. We wanted to get into the lake country so we chose Hallstatt, but I think I would try the mine at Bertchesgaden instead if I were going just for the salt mine – they have the slides, the train ride out and a boat ride on the underground lake and I think someone told me that it was the biggest salt mine. Maybe someone else can comment on that if they’ve ever been there.

We drove through the lake country after that and it was all that I’ve heard it would be – just breathtakingly beautiful. We came upon a little town called St. Gilgen on the edge of Wolfgangsee and decided it was time for ice cream. What a cute town! We walked around and admired the colorful buildings all jumbled together any which way. There were flowers in most every window and many of the buildings had designs painted on the fronts. It was a treat to walk around. As pretty as the town was, the lake was even more beautiful and unbelievable in the colors of Carribean waters, I kid you not. I never saw a lake like this in the blues, turquoises and pale greens all alternating together. If we had had more time I would stay in a gasthaus there for at least a night and go out in an electric boat, play the miniature “golf” on tabletops using a pool cue to hit the ball, and take the mini cable car ride up the mountain for the view. Another time! There were a lot of tourists, but all seemed to be relaxed. I could handle that.

Since we didn’t end up fitting in the Sound of Music Tour we had planned on, we continued on to Mondsee to see the church where Maria and the Baron got married. (We were doing an abbreviated “personal” SOM Tour for my daughter through the week to make up for missing it) Mondsee was also pretty with all its pastel buildings. It was only a half hour back to Salzburg from there via the autoroute, so we had plenty of time to relax before dinner.

And dinner was special…I had gotten us tickets back home to the Mozart dinner at the St. Peters Stiftskellar Baroque Hall, recommended by who else – Fodors. The dinner courses prepared as from Mozart’s time alternated with musical selections by Mozart played by a string quintet and sung by 2 young opera singers:

Selections from Don Giovanni
Lemon cream soup with cinnamon
Selections from Figaro
Capon and vegetables with polenta and truffle cream of sage sauce
Selections from the Magic Flute
A light frozen cheesecake with raspberry and lemon sauces, whipped meringue cream and cocoa sprinkled on the plate in the shape of Mozart’s silhouette.
(Drinks were extra)

The whole event lasted 2 ˝ hours and took place in a beautiful hall with painted ceilings and gilt décor. Very pretty, delicious food and wonderful music and even the kids enjoyed it. It was a splurge at 138€ for a family of 4, plus a student price of 40€. This was advertised at out hotel so I suppose again I didn’t need to reserve from home, but you never know what things sell out in advance. I also don’t know if we ended up paying more to reserve from home. Not matter. We went to bed happy once again. Thanks for that recommendation whoever made it.

Next: NOT!

kwren

Aug. 3 to the weather, or, 99 cent ponchos are useless in torrential pouring rain

We left in a light sprinkle to see a nearby church and to go to the market by the Mirabell Church. There’s not much to say other than at our farthest point from the hotel, the skies opened up and there was torrential rain. (I was still interested to see a stand at the market where ostrich-sized eggs were being sold next to regular chicken eggs). We got back to the hotel and hung 5 people’s worth of dripping clothes up to dry – love that large bathroom - and decided to just stay in and play some games with the kids.

That idea lasted all of a half hour when I said to my husband time to get out - let’s do a dessert run. He thought I was nuts, but then again I AM his travel agent, so off the two of us went.

First stop Café Tomaselli at Alter Markt. We sat on the covered terasse and the pastry lady came and put down a huge tray of pastries right in front of me. I drooled over them all for a bit, pointed at one which looked appealing, but she had the nerve to take the tray away. They weren’t all for me? My husband had a coffee concoction with Mozart liquor and whipped cream.

Next stop Café Sacher. (Hey, how did my computer know to add the accent marks without being told???) This was a place to behold with red velvet banquettes, sparkling chandeliers, lots of gilt, ruffly white curtains. It was crowded so we sat at the end of the bar which was perfectly shined brass. The menus were on little wooden handles. We split a Sacher Tart – what else? – which came with unsweetened whipped cream. To die for.

Still pouring as we trudged back to the Gabby when we couldn’t wait it out any longer.

Sick of walking in the rain, we went across the street back to Zum Fidelen Affen for dinner. The one waiter’s name is Cheese – it’s embroidered on his shirt. If you go there, ask him about it! The best of the meals were the Monkey steak – grilled pork on rosti with tomato, mushrooms, bacon and cheese, the mushroom ravioli in cream sauce special, and the Rindsgulasch, my favorite of the evening, a delicious meat stew with dumplings served in its own copper pot.

Back to the hotel to get organized to leave tomorrow.

kwren

I should have told you that it was actually fun sitting in a cafe watching people in the rain. What a variety of umbrellas! I can tell you that many of the tourist Mozart umbrellas were way too small or were being blown off a couple of the supporting rods. They were probably in the trash that night. There were quite a few huge plaid ones - very pretty - and seeming to hold up to the wind.

Even in the rain, I am easily amused!

kwren

August 4 travel day

After some last minute sightseeing (almost forgot to visit the Mirabell Gardens – very pretty and a hot spot for wedding photos! – and then my daughter and I went to the toy and musical instrument museum – focused mainly on dolls and their houses complete with all the millions of tiny trinkets which I love, toy cars, trains, with an area of old cameras and instruments – ˝ hour wasn’t enough time for us to study the details), we checked out of the hotel. We were so surprised when they gave us 2 bags of Mozart chocolates and a bottle of Mozart chocolate liquor! Such a considerate touch and really a surprise! That Gablerbrau is high on my list when I get parting chocolates!

We drove to Innsbruck using some back roads to be able to enjoy the towns and scenery along the way, getting stuck in a traffic jam caused by construction, dropped off the car at the airport and checked in to SkyEurope to Orly. This was pre-hand-search days and the security check was the old “walk-through the metal detector” check and took about a minute. Not much to do at that small airport so we bought some pastries (when bored always turn to food) and waited. The flight was comfortable and on-time. In true no-frills style, you had to pay for any type of drink. The clouds were amazing that evening - certainly more beautiful above than from down below (I tend to be an expert on clouds now) We were thrilled to see the Eiffel Tower waaaaaaaaay in the distance as we landed. Ahhhhh Paris! Excitement was rising, except we were to first drive the opposite way.

I bought a carte telephonique at the airport and thus began the most frustrating part of the whole trip – those phone cards! It was easy to use the international card in the little packet, but I never did get the normal phone card for France to work. Every time I inserted it into a phone, it would say ‘credit exhausted’ or ‘card not accepted by this phone’ or some such phrase. I’ve used them before with no problem and don’t remember having to validate them or do anything special before the first use. I’d love to hear from anyone who knows about this.

Then on to the car. I already have a post about the sorry shape of this “upgrade” to a BMW! Excitement turned to dismay… All dented, scratched, stained, filthy inside and out (where is the rain when you need it most?!) , and a huge gooey melted area in the trunk carpeting. Yuk! But the car ran well which is the most important thing. We set out with our Mappy.com instructions to St. Loup de Naud.

Who writes the English for Mappy.com anyway??? It was the worst and so hard to understand. We pulled the road at around 8:30 to call the Gites owner to tell him we were slowly on the way. Nothing was open at all for a bite to eat where we were (kids have a way to be starving at the most stressful times) so after the phone call, and I am so embarrassed to admit this, we actually – oh my God – had our very first meal in France at – it’s so hard to say – McDonald’s!!!! Talk about depressing.

OK – so it wasn’t as bad as all that in the end, once I got over the idea of it. They actually have a really delicious Salade Ocean, like a Salade Nicoise and I survived, even happily. Of course everyone else got the requisite burgers and fries. We managed to get on the wrong autoroute after this, I write nonchalantly. Europcar was “kind” enough to give us a tiny map of all of France with the southern outskirts of Paris covering about a 1x1 inch square. Who knew we could have used a detailed map with our Mappy.com instructions in hand? The biggest problem is all of a sudden there is a sign with about 5 or 6 towns you have never heard of, no ‘Route 95 N’ or ‘81S’, just towns and maybe a small road number which is not on the map and you have to make a split second decision. We made the wrong one, but before long, we saw a sign to Provins so we took it. Well, we made it to St. Loud de Naud at 11:00 pm, a tiny, tiny town about 10 minutes west of Provins. We had been told to look for the Gites de France/Antiquités sign as we entered the village. What we hadn’t been told is that there are no street lights in St. Loup de Naud, and that the sign was not posted at our point of entry. We were laughing slightly hysterically at this point. How can you get lost in a 2-street village? We left and re-entered this village from every direction until, yes, there it was, a tiny sign illuminated by our lights at just the right angle. We found La Ferme de la Haute Maison just outside of the village. Jean, the proprietor was waiting for us with his 2 dogs and showed us to our building and made us tea, a good start.

Briefly, this was a 300 year old house with a recently renovated barn. The rooms were beautiful with beams and different antiques in each room. We were the only ones there that night so we had a tour of all the rooms, but all 5 were fully booked the following night. There was a little kitchenette where Jean prepared breakfast, but which we could use, and in the sitting area a chess set which thrilled my kids. Our room had a very comfy queen bed and a loft with 3 singles. The bathroom was huge with a tub, detachable showerhead (down low) and no curtain or door. Quick lesson to the kids on how to clean up without drenching the bathroom and we were set to go (to bed).

FainaAgain

Kwren, your report is wonderful, thanks for sharing! Brought back my memories of Switzerland!

kwren

Glad you're enjoying it Faina. I didn't know how much time it would take, but I'm enjoying reliving it too!

(Also trying to shorten the entries when possible - I know it's getting long, so hang in there everyone)

kwren

August 5 Part 3 – French Country side and Fontainebleau Forest

Breakfast at our Gites (Bed and Breakfast) was typically French – baguette and croissant, but the biggest croissant I have EVER seen. We ate outside and Jean delivered coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Afterwards, we took the 45 minute drive to the Forest of Fontainebleau, after stopping at the tourist bureau near the chateau for maps of the hiking trails. There are many different options, one being a flat bike trail between Fontainebleau and Barbizon, hikes to artists ateliers in Barbizon, extensive 3-4 hour hikes in the forest, rock-climbing trails. They seem to have it all at every level. It is recommended that people park at the train station to start their hikes, but we prefer to go to a parking area within the forest near the Hippodrome, especially since we did not want to hike all day. We followed the blue trail through the woods and around tremendously huge boulders. The kids loved it! They scrambled over the rocks and climbed the boulders and ignored our warnings that the rocks could be slippery from the clinging moss and blankets of pine needles on some surfaces.

We went on happily for ˝ hour when the unthinkable happened. I won’t go into great detail, but I saw my 12S slowly sliding down the side of a boulder and then drop through thin air between some rocks. That was the most sickening feeling of my life. He was a bit bruised up with a bloody nose, but basically OK. He had also bumped his leg so it was difficult to think of asking him to continue in case it got worse (it didn’t) so he and I hiked back and the others went on to the planned viewpoint. It’s a beautiful hike and I would certainly do this again (and so would 12S). These things happen, but it could have been a lot worse so anyone doing hikes OVER boulders, please take the proper precautions, especially on mossy surfaces.

Next: the medieval town of Provins is lit up by hundreds of candles

kwren

(Aug 5 – continued) Provins
After relaxing a while, we decided to go to Provins for the “Lueurs du Temps”, an evening festival in which candles are used to light up all the streets of the old town and castle, musicians play in the square, the museum is free from 8-10:30 and the restaurants stay open till midnight. The town was abuzz when we arrived. We decided on Le Petit Ecu and ordered the Traditional Menu for 20 €. I chose the ham éclair, a hot cheese-filled éclair wrapped with a slice of ham. Delicious! Then bavette steak with peppercorn sauce and mushrooms, and for dessert chocolate crème brulee. The seafood salad and lamb courses were also wonderful, as was the Tarte Tatin. My 12 year olds have the Menu Enfant for 7€ with veal Cordon Bleu, frites and chocolate mousse. A bargain! (Aren’t the French kids menus great?!)

After 2 ˝ hours of eating and people watching (and waiting and waiting for the check), we went to the museum to see typical midieval items and a cool skeleton key collection, and toured the Tour Cesar, the castle. It was like being in another time – big empty stone rooms with incredibly thick walls, vaults really, small passageways, circular stairs, small window openings, all illuminated by candlelight. I can’t imagine seeing it in the daylight, and it was fun imagining living like that without electricity, wary of attacks. There were a cello and violin being played in the main room and really set the atmosphere. The nice thing was that this evening was for tourists, but mainly French tourists.