Isabel & Stephanie – Page 2 – Ultimate Europe Trip

Salzburg

3 Comments / Salzburg / Isabel & Stephanie / July 9, 2022

We spent the last two days exploring Salzburg and the surrounding area. We boarded the train in Innsbruck to find it filled with people traveling with (and consuming) cases and cases of beer. At first, we thought there must be some sort of Austrian holiday we didn’t know about (it seemed odd for that many people to be consuming that much beer at 10am on a Thursday outside of the US). Our search for holidays left us empty handed and it took us until we were getting off (when we noticed most of them also had camping gear) to realize that the most likely explanation was that they were going to a music festival. That time, we were correct. Apparently Salzburg hosts a famous music festival every year that happened to be this weekend.

When we got out of the train station, we were greeted with dark storm clouds threatening to drench us. Luckily, we made it to the hostel without much more than a drizzle. We agreed that didn’t want to test that luck, so we decided to stay in and get our laundry done before we checked in. When the laundry was done, we checked in, put everything in our lockers, grabbed rain coats, and set off to find lunch. At that point, it was a little late for lunch so we ended up at a Ramen restaurant (the only thing we could find that was open).

After lunch, we braved the storm and set off to explore Salzburg. We started at the Mirabell gardens which has a beautiful fountain, lots of gorgeous flowers, some cool statues, and the Do Re Mi steps from sound of music. After the garden, we continued wandering through the city and spent awhile in the old town before heading over to the Gherkin statues and then heading back over to the hostel. We got a few things organized and dried off before heading to a grocery store to grab dinner and get an early night.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we did not get much sleep. People came back from the festival and made a ton of noise at 3am and then got up and made more noise around 6am. By the time we got up, we were exhausted and so our first stop was to get more coffee. With coffee in hand, we boarded a bus to Berchtesgaden, Germany which is home to the Salzbergwerk salt mines.

At the salt mines, we were provided with jumpsuits to wear and then we climbed on a mini train which took us down into the mine. After the train ride, we went down a very long and very fast slide even deeper into the mine before walking through to learn more about the salt mining process and the history of the mine. Part way through, there was another slide down to get to the mirror lake which which was incredible. We got on a boat that took us across the lake before getting on a funicular to go back up toward the higher level of the mine. At the top of the funicular, we got back on the train to exit the mine. Overall, we had a lot of fun and learned a lot about mining. Unfortunately, they don’t allow pictures in the mines, but it was really cool and they had a lot of light shows and videos throughout the tour.

Since we were in Germany, we decided to each order a different kind of sausage for lunch, one of which came with a pretzel and the other came with fries. We liked both but preferred the Bavarian sausage over the Wiener sausage and enjoyed both the pretzel and the fries. After lunch, we hiked part way up the mountain to get a view over the city and made friends with some sheep in a pasture next to the trail. The view was amazing and the sheep were adorable.

The bus ride back was surprisingly shorter than the ride there. We grabbed food at the grocery store on before spending a little time wandering old town some more (this time in the sun). Our lack of sleep was catching up to us, so we headed back to the hostel to take a quick nap before dinner. We gave ourselves another early night to try to catch up on some sleep which helped a little more this time.

This morning, we got up early and hopped on a train to Vienna. We have officially checked into the hotel and are about to go explore.

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Top of Innsbruck

2 Comments / Uncategorized / Isabel & Stephanie / July 7, 2022

We took a slightly slower morning to try to catch up on some sleep before heading out to get to know Innsbruck. Our first stop was the grocery store next door for breakfast which we enjoyed before heading over to Hofgarten, a beautiful park with amazing views of the mountains. It was a very nice start to the day (the fact that it was shady didn’t hurt either). We followed the sound of a violinist out of the park and into the old town where we sat on a purple bench to listen for a little bit before continuing through the town.

We wandered through the town, looked in some of the shops, and admired the colorful buildings. In the city center, we climbed up the 134 spiral staircase steps and through a window to get to the top of a tower overlooking the city. It had amazing panoramic views of the city and the mountains surrounding it. For most of the time, we even had the top to ourselves and we enjoyed the view for awhile before climbing back through the window and down the spiral staircase.

At this point, it was lunch time so we found a pub nearby and got food and beer. It was delicious and nice to be able to get a meal for a reasonable price again. After lunch, we wandered a little more in the direction of a post office where we bought a box to ship home and free up some space in our bags. Once we had the box, we headed back to the hostel to pack it up and then back out to a post office to ship it. Hopefully everything will arrive safely and we will be able to enjoy having lighter bags.

After shipping the box, we headed directly for the funicular which we rode up the mountain before switching to a cable car to take us the rest of the way up to the top of Innsbruck. From the top, we could see all of Innsbruck and wished we had had more time to hike down. Instead of hiking in what would’ve become dark, we took the cable car and funicular back down before heading to get dinner and get ready for bed.

See you later, Switzerland

2 Comments / Zurich / Isabel & Stephanie / July 6, 2022

Our last day in Zurich, actually our last day in Switzerland, was primarily filled with wandering around to see more of the city. We slept in and had a slightly slower morning before grabbing our bags and heading to the main train station. We had to go through the station to get to center city so we decided it would be easiest to put our bags in a locker to save time by not going back to the hostel.

We were then able to wander freely and headed directly for the Chinese Gardens which were in a park just outside of old town Zurich. The first thing we saw in the park was lake Zurich and headed right to the water (without even noticing the Chinese gardens to our left). There were boats and a great view of the city which we enjoyed for a second until we started paying more attention to the ducks and other birds. A dad and (toddler) daughter duo biked up and started throwing loaves of bread to the ducks (yes I meant loaves, that wasn’t a typo). We didn’t understand throwing pieces that big, but we enjoyed watching the ducks all come over to eat.

When we realized we were running out of time, we decided to actually go see the garden like we intended to and we’re happy to find it right behind us. We had a great time wandering through the gardens and loved all of the detail in the architecture and seeing the pond with all the different colored fish.

Instead of going all the way back, we took the tram to the edge of the old town and walked back through so we could see the Opera House, more of the river, some shops, and some of the churches. When we got back to the grocery store near the station, we picked up food for lunch and had a picnic outside the national museum before going back in to pick up our bags and catch our train.

Unfortunately, there was a crash which caused our train to have to take a detour which caused our arrival to be delayed an hour, but we have officially made it to Innsbruck and got dinner and beer before getting organized and ready for bed.

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Into the Black Forest

3 Comments / Zurich / Isabel & Stephanie / July 4, 2022

We weren’t very happy with our initial bed placement, so we asked for a different room. To our luck, we ended up getting a free upgrade (from a mixed 6 bed dorm) to a 4 bed dorm which we had to ourselves last night. They told us there would be other people coming tonight, but it was really nice to have a night with a room to ourselves so we could watch some of a movie (we had to rewatch Sound of Music before getting to Salzburg) and get a good night sleep. We were smart enough to grab food and coffee for breakfast when we were at the store last night, so we had an easy breakfast waiting for us when we woke up.

After a short train ride, we ended up in old town Zurich and had a really good walk around the city to see some of its popular sights. We got off at the station right before the center city so we could walk in and initially just wandered around looking at the stores and restaurants. When we got to river, we were a little more intentional with where we were walking. Our first stop was the top of Lindenhof hill which has a gorgeous view over the river and the city. From there, we continued down the water a little farther before crossing the river and walking back toward the main station. On our walk, we saw lots of cool buildings including St Peter Kirche (a cool clocktower), the Grossmunster (church with twin towers), the Swiss National Museum, and the Lindt Museum.

Before heading to our tour, we stopped at a grocery store to pick up sandwiches, apples, and pretzels for lunch before making our way to the bus station. We booked a bus trip to the Black Forest and Rhine Falls which gives us free time at both stops. The bus ended up being really cool with windows on the ceiling and tvs that were streaming a video from the front of the bus (what the driver was seeing). Our tour guide was also amazing and gave us lots of information about Switzerland as a whole as well as information about what we were passing along the way. Some of the things she pointed out were the airport, the university hospital, a vineyard, and an apple orchard. We passed into Germany with ease, the boarder nothing more than a small river.

In Germany, our guide pointed out the nuclear power station and the breweries in the Black Forest (there are about 1000) before also giving facts about Germany. We learned that most of the Black Forest houses are built with long roofs to protect the house in both the summer and the winter. Soon before we arrived at our first destination, we passed the Schluchsee Reservoir which provides water for all the nearby towns and is also a popular place to go for water sports as well as hiking and biking.

Our first stop was Titisee-Neustadt which is a town in the Black Forest that has about 11,000 residents and was named after a king that visited the town and loved it so much that he gave the town his name. The bus parked on the side of the highway and we followed a trail into the town where we first stopped at a Cuckoo clock stop for a demonstration. We got to see a series of clocks that showed the progression from wood clocks to the current cuckoo clocks and the mechanics inside of cuckoo clocks. It was really interesting and fun to learn about. I think the most interesting fact was that the cuckoo clocks were initially built by farmers in the winter when they needed another source of income and it was a family business because each family member specialized in their own piece of the clock which, when put together, made a beautiful cuckoo clock.

After the demonstration, we had some time to explore Titisee, walk along the lake, and try the famous Black Forrest cake (delicious!). We were very glad that we got to spend some time there, it is a gorgeous small town right on a large lake in the Black Forrest. We met back up with the tour group just in time to watch the wall of the cuckoo clock shop (which is actually a functional clock) coo and sing in the next hour.

We headed back up the trail to the bus and got lots more information including getting to see the Feldberg mountain which is popular for hiking and biking in the summer and skiing in the winter. Our guide also told us that the pine trees (which are clearly very tall and strong) were used in the ship building industry in Holland. We also passed a very cute yellow building that we were told is a typical Black Forrest brewery.

As we approached the Rhine Falls, we got a glimpse of the falls. We both rushed for cameras, and Isabel got hers first. She handed it to Stephanie who had the window seat and as she went to hit the button, a train blocked the entire window. By the time the train passed, there were trees blocking the view. It was annoying but also a little funny how bad the timing was.

Regardless of the missed picture, the better view was down from the water. The bus parked at the top of the hill and we went down to get on a boat ride that goes right up next to the falls. The view was amazing and it was so much fun. After the boat ride, we quickly went into the souvenir shop before taking a few final minutes to enjoy the falls. Then we had to board the bus to head back to Zurich.

The bus ride back was shorter but did include a shortcut back through Germany. We were primarily passing fields and farms including lots that were full of sunflowers. Until about 5 minutes before we got back, I would’ve said it was an uneventful ride. Unfortunately, one of the girls sitting at the front of the bus couldn’t make it the last 5 minutes and puked all over the bus. The smell was enough to make it unbearable and we couldn’t get to the bus station fast enough. We were off that bus (via the back door) before the door even finished opening and did our best to forget about it while we walked over to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner.

We made delicious sandwiches and had chips with hummus and a large piece of watermelon which we enjoyed before heading up to get ready for bed. We are no longer alone in the room but our roommates seem quiet so hopefully we get a good night sleep. Tomorrow, we will spend most of the day in Zurich before heading to Innsbruck.

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Geneve

3 Comments / Geneva / Isabel & Stephanie / July 3, 2022

Yesterday, we took a train from Interlaken through Bern to Geneva. After dropping our bags at the hostel, we headed out and found a nice sandwich place for lunch where we got bagels with cream cheese and lox.

We booked a 24 hour city pass, so we stopped by the tourist office to pick up the brochure and ask a few questions. Our first attraction was a little train tour of the old town which started next to the river at the end of lake Geneva. The train crossed the bridge into old town and totally surprised us when it went off the road and onto the sidewalk. From there, the train headed through the park before of heading back into old town and then back over the bridge.

When the train was over, we walked around by the river for awhile and spent some time on a small island that had a cool glass art piece that was created by smashing a glass plate. After the island, we walked a little farther and got onto a boat for a tour from the lake before we went back to check into the hostel and change for our next stop.

Our pass included entrance to a private beach and pool which we agreed would be a really fun and relaxing way to spend the afternoon and to cool off from the heat. The beach ended up being covered in rocks which was painful to walk across, so we didn’t spend a lot of time on the beach. Instead, we spent more time in the pool enjoying the cool water and the break from the heat. When we started getting hungry, we got out, dried off, changed, and headed to get dinner. We ended up at the same sandwich place because we were already hungry and knew it was good.

We got to bed easily with minimal disruptions, but unfortunately the morning was a little less smooth. Something we’ve yet to understand is why people think it’s okay to blare obnoxiously loud alarms in dorm rooms at 5:30am, but we made it back to sleep after it was turned off.

In the morning, we set off to find a grocery store to get breakfast. The three closest stores we walked to were all closed, so we ended up back at the hotel and paid for their breakfast buffet. They have a really cool pancake maker that drops the batter onto a track that cooks it as it moves down the belt.

After breakfast, we headed over to the UN buildings and the Ariana museum. Unfortunately, the UN buildings are closed on the weekend (and don’t offer tours for groups less than 15 people during the week), so we couldn’t get in (or even getting into the grounds), but it was fun to see from the outside and we had fun with the fountains.

The Ariana museum of glass and ceramics was really cool to see. We couldn’t take pictures but they have a really cool exhibit of different ceramic pieces that are displayed with a mirror behind them and a one way glass in front so the mirrors reflected off of each other, but you could still look in from behind one of the mirrors.

We spent a little time wandering through the bit of the garden we could access before hopping on a bus back toward the water. We got off at Jardin des Anglais which had beautiful hedges including a clock and a bumblebee. We also took a ride on the Ferris wheel which had a great view over the city and the lake.

Again, when we went to find lunch, the fact that it was Sunday proved to be difficult. We ended up at the only open restaurant we could find where we shared pasta and a salad before heading back to the hostel to get our bags and get to the train. We are currently in Zurich where we cooked dinner and relaxed for the evening (and are about to go to sleep).

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Rainy day

1 Comment / Interlaken / Isabel & Stephanie / July 2, 2022

We had big plans for today which all disappeared when we looked at the weather forecast. Of course, the one time the predictions were correct was when they predicted a thunderstorm. Instead of hiking and paragliding, we ended up taking a slower day to relax, plan, and eventually explore more of the city. We had a really nice walk around the other side of Interlaken and then headed back along the river and through the park to the hostel.

After getting a little more organized, we headed back out to the grocery store and picked up food to cook for dinner. While we were cooking, we also did laundry, and then ate before heading up to pack our bags before bed.

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Top of Europe

4 Comments / Interlaken / Isabel & Stephanie / June 30, 2022

The biggest cultural difference we’ve noticed between Switzerland and the other countries we’ve visited is that people actually wake up early here. Everyone in our room was up before 7 and we went down to breakfast to find it very crowded before breakfast had even started. We filled up on breakfast and then made sandwiches to bring with us for a snack/lunch later.

The next part of our journey was a long series of transportation. First, we took a bus from the hostel to the train station. Then, a train from Interlaken to Grindewald where we took a gondola up to Eigergletscher where we boarded another train up to Jungfrau. The entire journey had insane views of the mountains, but our favorite had to be the gondola which is described as the “most modern cable car experience” and takes 15 minutes to climb to the top of the mountain. We even saw cows on the mountain side below us! It was also crazy to feel the temperature dropping as we climbed higher and higher on each leg of the journey.

At the top, the first thing we went to see was the overlook to try to get a panoramic view. Unfortunately, there was a storm coming in this evening so the clouds were already starting to form. The view that we did get was amazing, but it wasn’t panoramic (we were still happy because the view disappeared less than an hour later). After the viewpoint, we went back inside to warm up and headed toward the ice palace.

Along the way, we went through a cool tunnel covered with stars that led us past a giant snow globe and some fun facts about the construction and history of Jungfrau. At the other end of the hallway, we entered the ice palace. We slid along the ice floors past ice sculptures of penguins and dogs and an ice bar and the squirrel from ice age frozen with his acorn. It was a lot of fun and we loved seeing all of their creations. We were starting to get cold so (because we are so smart) we decided to go out into the snow to see the very top of the mountain. At this point, the clouds had come in even more so there wasn’t a lot of visibility but it was really cool to see the flag on the top of the mountain and see the snow and ice and a few glimpses of nearby mountains.

From there, we headed inside to see the shops and restaurants. The coolest one was the Lindt store which had you walk through chocolate making explanation before you got into the shop. It also ended up being the only place we bought anything and we were very happy about it.

After walking through the rest of the building, we headed back to the train station and took the other route down. Instead of the train to Eigergletscher, we took it a little farther to Kleine Scheidegg where we got off and explored for a bit (and ate our sandwiches) before hopping on the next train which took us to Lauterbrunnen. We were hoping to get off at the stop before and hike in but it started raining and we didn’t want to get soaked so we stayed on the train till Lauterbrunnen.

Luckily the rain hadn’t quite made it to Lauterbrunnen yet, so we had time to explore. We made it down to the waterfall before turning back. On our way back to the station, we couldn’t resist getting Bratwurst from the stand on the street (which had a line of eager customers both times we walked by). As soon as we tried it, we knew exactly why there was a line and were very glad we opted to get our own instead of share one.

After a relaxing ride back to Interlaken, we headed back to the hostel for a short break. We were lucky we did because soon after, it started hailing pieces of ice, some of which were as big as dimes. We waited until we were sure it had stopped before heading back out to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. We brought them back to the hostel and cooked chicken, broccoli, and potatoes to have with watermelon for dinner. It was amazing and we enjoyed it all before heading up to get ready for bed.

Top of Interlaken

1 Comment / Interlaken / Isabel & Stephanie / June 30, 2022

We arrived in Interlaken to gorgeous mountains in every direction. We were out of clothes so we quickly did laundry before dropping our bags.

We were hungry but didn’t want to waste any more time so we went to a grocery store for lunch and got some cheese, salami, crackers, and watermelon which we ate at a bench outside the store (and outside the train station). Soon after we started eating, an older man sat down on the bench next to us and was trying to tell (or maybe ask) us something with hand gestures but we couldn’t figure it out. A little later he left and then showed up again with his own piece of watermelon.

When we finished lunch, we headed over the funicular and went up to Harder Kulm, the highest point in Interlaken. It has an insane panoramic view of the entire area and we loved getting to see Interlaken from above. We hiked up a little higher to get to another viewpoint and a butterfly landed on Isabel’s leg and then climbed onto her finger. We also spent some time sitting by the restaurant enjoying the view before heading back down to check into the hostel. After moving our bags to the room and checking out more of the hostel, we went to explore Interlaken. By then, most of the stores had closed but we wandered into a few and got to see a lot of the city before heading to dinner. The crazy thing was that the man from lunch was waking the opposite way, saw us, and waved at us.

At the suggestion of one of the hostel receptionists, we went to an authentic Swiss restaurant that wasn’t too far away and shared a cheese fondue and a plate of rösti with chicken and peppers. Both dishes were amazing and very filling. We were so full that we had to add a short walk in before going back to shower and get some sleep because we knew that we had a very early morning!

Chilling with einstein

4 Comments / Bern / Isabel & Stephanie / June 29, 2022

We gave ourselves time to sleep in, but had a difficult time because of all of the clock towers that go off every hour in Bern. When we decided it was time to get up, we went back to Aldi to grab breakfast and coffee and ate back in the hostel’s lounge.

After breakfast, we went to the markets which just happen to be held on Tuesdays. We started at the produce market and looked at all the fun fruits, vegetables, and plants they had. Then we went to the other end of the block to see the traders market where we looked at jewelers, hammocks, clothing, woodwork, and lots more. It was really cool but we somehow resisted buying anything.

When we had seen everything at the markets, we went to find the last two fountains which weren’t too far away before hopping on a bus to go see Bear park (which seems to be the most famous attraction in Bern). It’s essentially a big pit in a small park which houses three brown bears that are considered to be a sort of mascot for the city. It was cool to see but also a little sad because the bears didn’t look very happy (but that could be because so many people were watching them try to nap). While we were in the park, we also found a bench with a statue of Einstein so we had to take a ton of pictures with him.

Our next destination was Gurten park which is at the top of a nearby mountain and had AMAZING views of Bern. We took a tram to the bottom of the mountain and then a funicular up the side. The reason we wanted to go was because they have a coaster along the side of the mountain which we really wanted to do. Luckily, the weather cooperated because we had a great time on all 5 runs. We got really fun GoPro videos of Stephanie’s runs. While we were on the mountain, we decided to also explore everything else we could find up there. It was definitely set up to be activities for kids, but that didn’t stop us. We climbed on the giant playground and played with a really cool ball machine where you have to help guide a ball through a track by performing different tasks along the way. We wanted to go on the little train but we decided we were too big for that one (it looked like it was designed for 3 year olds). We had a great time and stayed until we were starving and decided we needed to go back down for lunch. We took the funicular down and took a cool Timelapse of the journey down which shows great views of Bern.

In our search for places to eat that were less expensive, we found a sandwich place that had excellent reviews so we decided it sounded like the perfect quick lunch. The reviews were right and it was exactly what we needed. On the way back to the hostel, we ran into Aldi to grab some yogurts to go with it and then ate back in the hostel. Late afternoon showers must be a thing here because as soon as we finished eating we heard another clap of thunder and it started pouring. It felt like the perfect opening for another quick nap on the couch.

When we woke up, we were happy to see that the rain was done so we grabbed our stuff and took a quick bus over to the Rose garden, another popular spot in Bern for a great view of the city. We wandered through the flower gardens and sat on the ledge overlooking the city taking it all in until we realized we had to go back before the grocery stores started closing. Our first stop was to a chocolatier because we wanted to try some Swiss chocolate. Then we headed to the grocery store and grabbed some Ramen, a chunk of watermelon, and beer and brought it back to the hostel. While we were eating, we heard music outside so we looked out the window to see a circus performance happening in the streets outside our window.

Overall, we had a great day and really enjoyed our time in Bern. We are currently on the train heading to Interlaken!!

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Hallo Switzerland

2 Comments / Bern / Isabel & Stephanie / June 28, 2022

The train ride into Switzerland was gorgeous and we loved looking out the windows to mountains and very cute small towns. Once we reached Bern, our hotel was a very short walk into the old town (it’s in the perfect location). We dropped our bags and then decided to stop into the Aldi next door to grab yogurt and blueberries for a quick snack.

The Old Town of Bern is full of gorgeous fountains that you can find. Our hostel had a map of their locations so we took a picture and decided we would find them all. In the process, we gave ourselves a very nice tour of the old town.

After making deciding on a path that would pass all of the fountains (marked on the map), we set off admiring lots of churches and clock towers and bridges along the way. The fountains are so cool as they are all unique and very detailed.

We finished our loop and counted the pictures to make sure we had hit them all and realized that we only had 9 pictures even though the list had 11 names. We looked back at the map and realized the map only had dots for the 9 we had found, so we looked up the other two names and realized they were the opposite direction. Since we were starting to get hungry, we decided we would get food and find them later.

There is a Swiss restaurant a block from our hotel that looked popular and had good reviews so we decided to give it a go. The menu was entirely in German with pictures of every meal. We asked if they had an English menu and they did but it had much less detail than the German menu so it was still a bit of trying to pair the English with the pictures to figure out what we wanted to eat. Isabel ended up with chicken wrapped in bacon and Stephanie ended up with beef with 3 sauces, both served with fries. Luckily we were both very happy with what we ordered and really enjoyed it, but we will definitely be spending more time at Aldi because Switzerland is expensive!

After lunch, we went to check into the hotel and moved our bags into the room before checking out the rest of the hostel. They have a very cute lounge area with a cool view so we decided to sit on a couch facing the view for a few minutes and ended up both falling asleep. Soon after falling asleep, we were awoken by a loud clap of thunder right before it started pouring. We agreed that neither of us really wanted to get soaked so we stayed in for a little longer and make some plans for the rest of Switzerland.

It finally stopped raining just in time for us to run down the street to a grocery store for some food. We decided to try a different store we had passed on the way to the hostel which looked like it had a larger selection. It worked perfectly and we filled ourselves up. We still wanted to see the last two fountains, so after dinner we went out to find them. Mother Nature must have had other ideas though because it was raining again. We decided the last two would have to wait and instead went up to get ready for bed.

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