Alpine Adventure through Germany, Austria & Switzerland - September 5 - 15, 2013

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Our group was amazed of the beauty of our three alpine country tour throug Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our tour started with the imperial festival in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best preserved medival cities in Germany. More than 1000 people celebrate the life of the middle age and time stages of the city of Rothenburg. Our day ended with a great Night Watchman Tour and our group members were impressed with the history and stories our Night Watchman had to tell.

Munich was our next stop. Here we had a fantastic city tour with our guide Michael. He had a wonderful passion to history and art. We visit the Nymphenburg Palace which is still home of the Wittelsbach Family. You doesn't know about the Family Wittelsbach. They are the last remained family members of King Ludwig I. and II. In the evening we took the U-Bahn (subway) from our hotel which lied directly infront of the Oktoberfest grounds to the Marienplatz. We enjoyed dinner at the world-famous Hofbrauhaus with authentic traditional Bavarian music and dance.

The next morning we drove just north of Munich to Dachau. Here we visited the former Nazi concentration camp which is now a memorial and museum of the dark time of Germany. Some group members described the place as a very dark and still informative memorial. One of our travelers said that if you touch the walls of the building you feel the pain of the people who were fighting with their faith to survive. More than 35,000 people were found from the Allied Troops at the end of World War II. Ed took the group now to Salzburg and our group got the first touch of the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. In Salzburg we enjoyed a great city tour including the Mirabell Gardens, one of Austria's oldest Cathedral and cemetary. The next morning we took part of a tour of the Palace Hellbrunn also known as the Water Play Palace of Austria. We then drove into the Lake District of Salzburg to St. Wolfgang via Mondsee. After a great lunch at the lake and an impressive visit of the church we drove back to Salzburg for some free-time. In the evening Ed surprised the group with a Sound of Music performance at the Stieglkeller just below the Fortress Hohensalzburg.

Another day awaits us as we traveled back into Germany to Oberammergau but before that we visited a salt mine in Berchtesgaden. Until today they have 40 miners working inside the mountain and produce more than 40 Million tons of salt every year. Afterwards we took a 25 minutes bus tour to the Kehlsteinhaus, also known as Eagles Nest. On top of the mountain Ed met an 89 year old former German who lives now in West Virginia. He told a lot of good and dark stories about the World War II and about his life after in the USA. He was very lucky that we was kept from the USA troops instead of the Russian troops as he lost several friends who were kept from the Russians. Now it was time to drive through the Austrian Alps via Innsbruck to Oberammergau with some rain in the air.

Our first visit this morning was at the Palace Linderhof. The only Palace/Castle which King Ludwig totally finished during his short life. After another amazing scenic route over the Ammersattel Pass we arrived at the Castle Neuschwanstein. The fairytale castle which Disney copied for the Cinderella storry. In the afternoon we visit the Wieskirche with its amazing Rocco architecture.

On Thursday we drove to Switzerland via the small poststamp country Liechtenstein. After a short break we drove further to Wilen. Our hotel directly at Lake Sarnen we had a breathtaking view to the Top of Europe - Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau.

Another day with great weather await us as we drove over the Brunig Pass to Lauterbrunnen. Here we visit an amazing waterfall inside a mountain. Ed discoverd the power of water as he saw over 20,000 liter running down per second into the valley. Before lunch time we took a cogwheel train from Lauterbrunnen to the Kleine Scheidegg. On our way up to the mountain we enjoyed breathtaking and incrediable views to the Top of Europe with its amazing glacier formations. Fresh snow covered the tips of the mountain and cow bell sound everywhere made this trip to an unforgettable experience. On top some of travellers went of hiking or enjoyed the fantastic views to the mountains. For those who went hiking found even Edelweiss and took some memoriable pictures. 

On our last day in Switzerland we continue to Lucerne. Here we took part of a brief city tour and after our boat tour over Lake Vierwald-staettersee we took the oldest cogwheel train from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm. On top we could see Germany on the North, France on the West, Austria on the East side.  A beatiful view to the south with snow covered moutains was memoriable.

As each tour needs to end somehow and ours ended with a dinner at the best authentic Swiss restaurant in Zurich. We enjoyed a Swiss Fondue and Raclette and celebrate an 80 year old birthday from one our travelers.

It was time to say Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu until next year for our Alpine Adventure 2014.