This year was different – I had time for another holiday and I took the chance – this time with my family. I haven’t been with them for 6 or 7 years, therefore it was getting interesting ;-) In the end it turned out as a very good time with my parents and my younger brother Robert. We had a lot of fun and a relaxing time.

BTW: Largo di Garda is a kind of a second homeland, we’ve been there sooo many times – we keep going there. I really really like it. The landscape is great, the leisure activities are endless and the tourism is OK by September. The water direct in front of your tent or caravan, great mountain hiking possibilities, superb climbing area in the north, mountain biking and race cycling on great side roads … … … to be continued!

During this holiday I was reading some scientific journals and Harry Potter 4 (yes … I did). Also I was cycling with my brother quite often! Thankfully my endurance enhanced a lot due the holiday in Switzerland, as I needed it here more than anywhere else. I won’t get into more details, as we rotational read, cycled, swum, had fun and ate, besides relaxed, slept and dreamt – but that was all – *hehe*. Ah, no climbing this year!

You can investigate some pictures if you are interested. Especially the cycle tour pictures can be interesting, whenever you would like to go there with your racing machine …

Sadly, also holidays end. We had a lot of fun and we really enjoyed every single minute. Thanks Dani for that great time!

The last day we packed everything and before we drove home, we decided to visit some popular cave/grotto: The “Höllgrotten”!

The way back home wasn’t that easy. The road to Innsbruck was closed, as some mudflows destroyed roads 1.5 weeks ago. We finally went back on the Autobahn over Lindau and Munich …

That’s all news from our Switzerland holiday … bye!

Our last tour: Around the Vierwaldstättersee, well with a shortcut from Gersau to Beckenried by a ferry! It was a nice tour, but the best part was definitively the north bank of the lake! Also worth to see is Luzern – I loved it for the beautiful ambiance … we had a break there to refresh.

Tourinfo: Merlischachen – Küssnacht – Weggis – Gersau – Beckenried (by ferry) – Buochs – Stans – Stanstad – Hergiswill – Horw – Kastanienbaum – Luzern – Merlischachen

After that day somehow I was exhausted. Can’t really remember the distance, it was not the farthest, but I was glad to be back at the campground. After a “bath” in the lake and a long long shower, we went for a great dinner at a wonderful evening!

We woke up, looked out of the tent, spotted the lake, the great landscape and a sunny weather. Locals recommended us a tour around Zugersee, so we did. It was a tour with approx. 50km, just a very relaxing day.

The evening was different. We wanted to see sunset from a specific point, and it was almost too late, so we really sprinted with our cycles towards this place (I avoided to wear a heart rate monitor ;-)

It was great! Look some photos yourself!

Time is up for Lago Maggiore and we moved on! It wasn’t too hard, as the weather changed again. So we drove north towards Luzern, also passing the Passo del S. Gottardo, which was great, as the weather north the mountain-chain was more than perfect. The only problem was finding a campground at Vierwaldstättersee. Why’s that? Well, 1.5 weeks before they had the worst floods since 100 years, therefore all campgrounds were closed. That’s not quite true, the most beautiful place just opend again and we were the first who were allowed to camp close the lake! That was definitively great, as we had an amazing view! Whenever you visit Vierwaldstättersee in the heart of Switzerland, follow the road from Luzern towards Küssnacht, and you’ll find Merlischachen – it sooooo great there! After we pitched the tent, we went for a 20km bike tour in a wonderful landscape. It was like a dream there …

We woke up, didn’t expect much, and it was the best weather we had so far. Great.

So we went to the lake for breakfast, ate a lot, ’cause it could be a long long day *hehe*.

Our bicycle-tour today was: Minusio – Musalto – Locarno – Ascona (great!) – followed the quayside to Porto Ronco – right hand side towards Ronco – Losone – Golino – Intragna – Tegna – Locarno – back home. About 70km and around 450 meters total altitude gain. Whoever has the chance for this tour, DO IT! It’s just amazing. We really loved that great view over the lake, the great roads (sadly also a bit dangerous – no bicycle lane – spirited motorists!) and the feeling. Check out the pictures we’ve taken – it’s worth a try ;-)

Just after Ronco (or was it still in Ronco), there is a perfect restaurant with the best view over the lake (at least that was said!). Of cause we had a break there, ate a bit and enjoyed the rest of the tour!

In the evening we did a race-cycle photo shoot and savoured an ice-cream!

PS: Not to forget! In the morning, just after we started our tour, we visited the local airport of Locarno. I am just too fascinated by sport aeroplanes, esp. gliders, that we had to go there :-)

Another day, another rain. !”§$%%$’=!§”$%(=!”§%

Well, we hung around Locarno, wrote postcards and drunk Cappuccino :D

Nevertheless I went for a cycle tour in the late afternoon. It was heavily raining, but somehow it was great. You don’t need to cool your body down and this extra bit of energy you can spend on your pedals! It was great. I cycled about 30km in an hour, a great feeling. In the meanwhile, Dani went for a run.

Both of us, obviously, were quite hungry and we cooked under a roof of the campsite. Was very relaxed ;-)

A wonderful weather and a wonderful new day.

We had a sunbath at the beach the first time and afterwards a small but great cycle tour around Locarno. Of course there was a breakpoint at a Cappuccino “filling station” ;-) Back at the campground, Dani even took a bath and swum in “Lago Maggiore” (for me it was too cold, what a wimp).

A great dinner followed!