Archive for the '2005 Switzerland' Category

Back home

Thursday, September 1st, 2005 at 10:34 pm

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

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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!

by Markus

Around Vierwaldstättersee

Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 at 10:19 pm
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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!

by Markus

13th day: Zugersee

Tuesday, August 30th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
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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!

by Markus

Vierwaldstättersee

Monday, August 29th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
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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 …

by Markus

Best day so far!

Sunday, August 28th, 2005 at 11:43 pm
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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 ;-)

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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 :-)

by Markus

Rain & Thunderstorms

Saturday, August 27th, 2005 at 11:37 pm
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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 ;-)

by Markus

Tour Locarno

Friday, August 26th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
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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!

by Markus

8th day: Lago Maggiore

Thursday, August 25th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
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It was another rainy day, and it was time to go! We drove Lugrin – Montraux – Martigny – Sion – Sierre – Brig – Simplon – Domodossola (great small, typical Italian road!) – Locarno (Lago Maggiore).

Looking for a campground started with shocks: hyper modern campgrounds, *****, 50-70 sFr, not what we were looking for! In the end we found a place which was OK (of course it was hard to top our great idyllic campground from Lugrin.)

Now, what you don’t expect – do you? In the evening it started to rain again – unbelievable!

by Markus