TRAVEL DAY

Traveling to ROME.

We were up early this morning. We finished packing and fixed coffee to enjoy on the balcony before leaving. It looks like today will be a very nice day in Cinque Terre.

We carried the heavy suitcases down the 5 stories and were on the platform by 08:00 waiting on the 08:30 train to Le Spezia where we would connect on Eurail to Rome at 10:07.
it took us about 5 hours but we finally made it to Rome. We found our hotel pretty well and just got back "home" from dinner at the Piazzi Navona where we indulged at a sidewalk cafe across from the statue. My Parmesan Chicken was great! Debby's Cantonelli was very good. Afterwards we had homemade ice cream as they claim, "made in their laboratory".

We made our way back to our room and are almost ready to retire for the night. Sightseeing tomorrow! Yea.

CINQUE TERRE

MANAROLA, ITALY
Cinque Terra
Wednesday, September 19, 2012

WOW! Awesome place! We decided yesterday that today would be a day of rest and relaxation. We slept in this morning as long as we could. Debby and Nancy headed for the grocery store and picked up some food for our kitchen and breakfast. That farm girl, Nancy, cooked up some ham and eggs! Good girl!

It rained most of the morning. It wasn't a downpour or anything like that; a lot like an Oregon rain. Later on we took a stroll around town and along the ocean cliffs. The city is built on hillsides; very steep walkways and streets (if you can find a street). Most all the buildings have apartments above the first floor; those are the stores and restaurants or shops. The cliff side rock formations were most unusual! I had never seen anything like it. It appeared like some serious volcanic upheaval occurred probably sometime during the Codgerzoic Period or, perhaps, even before.

We decided to sit down for lunch and picked one of the busiest restaurants on the street. An old Codger theory is that the busier the restaurant the better the food! If you go into a restaurant at high noon and nobody's in there...Codger beware, I always say! Anyway, Nancy and I chose a Pasta dish with Scampi. Debby had a Ravioli dish while Ron chose some Prawns. As we have Red Lobster in mind, we anticipated food that looked like what we are used to seeing. Well, when the food came.....I hope I can post a picture of this stuff.... we about fell out of our chairs! Nancy and I had a plate full of gooey looking pasta dough, mostly cooked, lying in an oily red sauce, with 3 Scampi sprawled out on top of the heap, belly up like three drunken sailors! They were as whole as when they were pulled from the Ocean,about 4" long, not counting the 3" whiskers hanging over the plate! Their pitiful little beady eyes just looking at you as if to say, "How COULD you?".

After we recovered from lunch, we took a train ride up to the 5th city, Monterosso to take a look around. This city is closest to the beach, actually HAS a beach, and is a bit different than Manarova where we are staying. It was late and we didn't stay long, but had an ice cream cone and took a few pictures.

Back in our apartment, Nancy cooked up a delicious meal of pasta noodles with spaghetti sauce, salad and bread. I ate all of mine because I was very hungry! It was all good!

Leaving Gimmelwald

Traveling today...
September 28

Our final day in Gimmelwald. We were downstairs for breakfast at 07:30. Several guests were leaving today including a couple from Portland and two from Arizona. In order to get to Interlaken where we caught our train to Bern, we rode the Tram, then a Bus, and a Commuter Train. Whew!

It's now after 7:00 PM. We've been traveling all day and changing trains a few times. We still have one more connection to make tonight. It's going to be a tight one to make as we need to buy a commuter train ticket and have about 5 minutes in which to do it! We aren't sure that's going to work. But there is another train after that one. It puts in to Cinque Terre later than we like, but, hey, nobody's perfect!

Later.......
Well, the train thing didn't work out as we had hoped. We had to wait another hour in La Spezia which got us into Manrova (one of the 5 cities that make up the Cinque Terre) about 11:15 pm.
Our apartment is on the 5th floor. Lugging our luggage up five floors at nearly midnight was a sight to behold! But we met our host, Loranza, and he gave us the 10 cent tour and handed us our keys.
It was a looooong day of traveling and connecting the 7 trains and one Tram to get here! WHEW! But, it's all good! We're here!

Traveling to Gimmelwald

To Gimmelwald ... and Beyond!

After saying our goodbyes to out hosts we boarded the morning train bound for Zurich, Switzerland. The 5 hour ride was smooth and quiet in our First Class car. We sat watching the scenery change as we passed farmland, lakes and rolling hills. We got off in Zurich and hopped on board another train heading for Bern. Two hours later we arrived, only to hop aboard a new train heading for Interlaken.

Once we reached Interlaken, we has to find an ATM to purchase Swiss Franks, pick up some groceries, drop off the extra luggage we are carrying for our Cruise in a few days, and purchase tickers to go on up to Gimmelwald. The small commuter train pulled into the station and we found ourselves in route to Lauterbrunnen. From there we boarded a local Bus to take us to the Lauterbrunnen Cable Car that took us to the Tram stop at Gimmelwald.

By the time we got off the cable car, it was dark. We had a hey day trying to find our hotel! But 15 minutes of dragging our suitcases up the street, we found the Mittaghorn Hotel (named after a snow capped mountain towards the South).

Glimpses of high mountains tease us as we await daybreak to see what kind of world we got ourselves into!

But what can I say? It's Switzerland! Right? It's all good!

Gimmelwald Hiking

Gimmelwald.
September 17

Today we opted to not have the continental breakfast that Walter the Innkeeper gives us each morning from 07:30 to 10:00. Instead, we each paid 85 Swiss Francs, less a small discount because we have Eurail Passes, plus 20 Francs each to pay for breakfast, and headed for The Schilthorn, elevation 10,000 feet, to have breakfast in the rotating restaurant. This spot was made famous in the James Bond movie, IN HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. They have memoribilia all over the place, including monograms on the dishes! They even show clips from the movie in a special showing room!

From Gimmelwald, elevation about 4300 feet, you must catch another Tram to Murren. As you exit you climb onto another Tram to an anchor point on another mountain called Borg, where we changed Trams onto the final leg to The Schilthorn.

We had a good breakfast buffet (European style) and we sat watching the scenery go by as the restaurant rotated at the speed of one rotation per hour. After a couple of hours we left and rode back down to Gimmelwald.

We decided that today would be a free day. Debby and Nancy opted to walk around Gimmelwald and see the sights, including seeing the little school house, now closed, and to visit with some school children as they commute on the Tram between Murren and Gimmelwald for lunch!

I was hankering to take a serious hike, so Ron came with me and we headed up the valley towards the headwaters of the River that flows down through the Lauterbrunnen. As we approached the box canyon that ended the valley, we opted to take another trail that became a steep climb towards the North. It was an awesome hike although much longer and harder than we would have liked. But we were treated with superb views and vistas! All in all we had a 6 hour hike across streams, meadows, hills, forests, ridge lines and down into steep canyons. We walked along meadows where cattle grazed peacefully; each wearing a bell arounds it's neck that rang its individual tone with each movement of the head. As they grazed, the combined ringing could have been inspiration for Mozart!

We ended our hike at Murren as it was easier to find and from there we snagged a ticket on the Tram to Gimmelwald. The girls must have missed us because they had Pizza waiting!!

Gimmelwald

NOTE: The following BLOG was written entirely by Debby and Nancy:

Mike and Ron are up there in those Swiss mountains hiking so Nancy and I took took the big sightseeing tour of Gimmelwald . After the GRUELING 5 minutes, we sat down to recover by ordering our 2nd round of fruit and chocolate fondue. The guys would want us to do this!
So we are talking about our stay here in Gimmelwald and we will let you listen in.....

Nancy..."That is sure a quaint place we are staying in.....every step you take, every door you open has its own creakI "

Debby..."Yes. When have you ever stayed a a hotel with no keys and a shared potty down the hall?"

Nancy..."I took my first pay-as-you-go shower yesterday for the bargin price of 1 swiss franc....however for those of you that know Ron Pinkerton you know he figured out a way to get 2 for 1!"

Debby..."Oh, really....
and what about no curtains on the windows?.....oh well , no one can see in on the second floor up here on this mountain".

Nancy......."It is so amazing to wake up in the morning under our down comforters to the sound of cowbells!"

Debby....."Yeah, like the wild cows we saw up on the hike yesterday!"

Nancy....".Debby, milk cows aren't wild."

Debby...."Well, they were out in the woods and not at the barn ."

Nancy.....(sigh). .."Cows don't live in barns except in the movies!"

Debby...."Oh " (I'm a city girl)

Nancy....."Let's talk about my adventure!"

Debby...."Yes , I am glad you are here to tell the story!"

Nancy..."I let Mike talk me into jumping off a cliff, thousands of feet in the air to sail over the Swiss mountains to the valley below with a stranger (Fabian ) and a parasail!"

Debby...."Yeah, cause I'm a chicken!"

Nancy...."After seeing my life pass before me, I was finally able to open my eyes and enjoy the breathtaking view! And good looking Fabian made it more pleasant!!!"

Debby....."I'm totally impressed ! The scenery is incredible from here too. Riding the cable cars is similar....they are just attached!"

Nancy....."Really, if you say so........."

Debby and Nancy...."The scenery is so incredible pictures or words can not do it justice.
It does not even seem real!
Our God is an awesome God!"