July 3, 2017. Monday. Zurich, Switzerland. I’m currently sitting in the lobby of the first hotel we’ve used on this trip: a Hotel Ibis, a cheap European hotel chain. We were in four different countries today: Austria, Germany, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland — many beautiful miles logged in the Alps. I love water and the ocean, but these mountains move me in different ways, for sure.

It’s been a fun past few days, but I decided to take a break from blogging while we were with our friends in Austria. Friday morning we spent the morning and early afternoon seeing more of Venice. We all decided we just really like that city, even if it is somewhat of a pain to get around quickly! The food and sights were amazing.

Around 2 pm on Friday we headed towards Innsbruck, Austria, which took us past Verona (of Romeo and Juliette fame) and up through the northern Italian Alps into Austria. Our good friends Andreas and Michaela Eyl and their four kids were kind enough to host us for three nights in their flat. We got to know them before our families were complete in the early 2000s, so it was really nice to have everyone meet each other. Despite their busy schedules, we got to hang out quite a bit. On Saturday morning we walked from their flat (5 minutes) to the trailhead that would have (if we had the time and stamina) taken us straight up the towering mountains right at their doorstep. Innsbruck is nicely nestled in between huge Alp ranges to the north and south, in a long valley with the Inn river running through it. Almost everywhere you look you see the Alps.

We hiked up part way and then took the gondola up the entire way, which was both expensive but breathtaking. The clouds hid most of the view of the city, but the north-facing view was astonishing, with just rows of granite peaks in the distance. In the afternoon we explored the old part of the city, which is also really lovely.

Sunday after attending their church (he is a pastor), we had a proper Austrian meal and climbed up to see the Olympic long jump stadium. We were lucky enough to see a skier make several jumps. That evening we saw the musical version of Everyman / Jedermann, which is very popular in Austria (and the Eyl’s son was a child extra in it).

On Monday morning (today) we said our goodbyes and drove up through the northern Austrian Alps into Germany to see the Schloss Neuschwanstein — the huge castle that inspired the Disney castle you see in Florida and at the beginning of every Disney movie. The weather was not so great to start but got much better as the day went on. We were lucky to meet up with Jo’s dad and his wife for a few hours at Neuschwanstein, which included a nice luncheon.

By mid-afternoon we were on the road again, destination Zurich, Switzerland. We intentionally chose the slower route through the Arlberg Pass, which meant some pretty sketchy secondary roads perched high above the valley floor with no railings and busses coming head-on! But there were also wide, flat, and gorgeous valleys lined with towering peaks that we all enjoyed, too.

We also took a little detour into Lichtenstein, which was very picturesque.

Once in Switzerland, the route south of the two large lakes was really impressive in the late evening sun. The initial approach was driving straight towards a wall of jagged peaks — with no clear route through them! At one point we stopped to take in the views along the Walensee and had some lovely views across the water.

We arrived in Zurich at 9:30 pm — having taken longer than was necessary, but having really enjoyed the scenery all day. Below is just a sampling of the sites from the past few days.

Peace to all.