Chamonix

Wednesday 10^th July Chamonix

We were up at 6.30am and away by 7am so that we did not have to pay any parking fees. Today we were heading for Chamonix.  Avoiding the motorways we took  the road along the lake. Our early start had meant we had not had breakfast so we stopped for this in the pretty village of Zweisimmen before continuing to Saanen and Gstaad. Gstaad obviously had something big going on today, with people patrolling the streets. We had only come in for a brief look so we did that and then turned around heading for chataeu- D’Oex befeore heading heading up the Colle des Mosses mountain pass. Again the scenery wsa beautiful and we stopped to watch two eagles soaring on the thermals. We came out of the pass via Leysin and Aigle (with its beautiful chateau). We continued to Martigny (twice as Mike took the wrong road) and then took the mountain road to Chamonix. We had our lunch high over the Rhone Valley; here the road sellers were selling local apricots. I must make a list of all the fruit we have been able to buy. Along most of the route we had seen snow capped monutains but it was not until we were near Chamonix that we could see mont Blanc and the neighbouring peaks plus the many glaciers that are visible here.



We parked Buster in a car park that was free for the first hour but we were a minute late returning! During this hour we had a quick walk through town to the Tourist information office for our usual fill of maps and local info. We reparked the van and discussed our plans for the next few days. By now we were once again in the  midst of a heavy thunderstorm but once it had abated we ventured out with our brollies for a slower tour of the town. 

Whilst on this walk Jacqui remembered that Sarah Stirling now lived in Chamonix. We contacted her and made arrangements to meet up later that evening in her home in Le Lavancher which is situated about 10 mins from Chamonix. We had a quick pasta supper and then headed up to Sarah and Damien’s little cottage for 9.15pm. There was a good parking spot for Buster so we stayed the night. We had a lovely evening and did not end up leaving till after midnight with the offer of supper made for tomorrow.

Thursday 11^th July. Chamonix.

It was a beautiful morning. All the peaks were perfectly clear – good for walking. We drove Buster to Le Tour about 10k away and took the very steep route up the mountain. The first part was through beautiful flower meadows, pink, yellow, blue white and purple colours surrounding us. Unfortunately they were all being mowed down for hay – for the cows.

We walked for a couple of hours and then cooled our feet in a fast flowing glacier fed stream whilst we ate our lunch. We lazed in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. We had been invited back for supper by Sarah and Damion so we called into the local supermarket for some beer, wine and van provisions before heading back to La Lavancher.

That evening we had a lovely supper: mixed hot salads and couscous followed by strawberries with greek yoghurt and greek honey but more importantly it was great to talk to two young people about their lives in Chamonix.

Innsbruck and travelling to Lake Garda

Sunday 30th June Innsbruck

We left the village of Krimml after breakfast. We took a beautiful drive through the mountains on the Gerlos Pass, stopping off at various points to look at the lovely views. It was worth paying the  8 euro toll on this road. We stopped for coffee just outside Zell am Ziller and then continued to Innsbruck.

It was a lovely sunny Sunday and Innsbruck was very busy.  We found it impossible to park in the city centre so we drove back out to the edge of town and parked in a leafy street.  Back to the ‘park and ride’ scheme. We got the bikes off and then cycled back into the centre.  Innsbruck is a lovely city to wander around and today with its mountain backdrop and sunny weather it was especially so.  Our first stop was the Hofburg – a Hapsburg palace and from there into the medieval old town.  The highlight here is the gothic oriel built for Emperor Maximillian 1 known as the ‘Goldenes Dachl due to its 2657 fire-gilt copper tiles.

From the centre we could see on the outskirts the ski jump known as Bergisel. It was designed by an Iraqi architect Zaha Halid. It looked fun so we decided to cycle up to it. It was a good climb on the road and we were both hot when we got there.  We stopped for a breather and to take in the wonderful views.

Cycling back down was more fun! We passed a beautiful church, a hotel made famous for the few days that the 13 year old Mozart stayed with his father before a concert, the Hofkirche and the Volkskunst museum. The latter two being fine buildings.

It was about 4pm when we were got back to the van so we got some more euros to fill up with LPG and diesel (knowing it would be more expensive in Italy) and headed off for the Brenner Pass. We had a lovely drive in the evening sunshine through the Pass and then up and over the mountains through Vipitens and the Passo di Monte Giovo. However, it was a tiring drive for Mike and we eventually found somewhere to pull off the road near St. Leonardo surrounded by a beautiful meadow and a babbling brook. Next morning we were woken by a tractor brining its two churns of milk down from the farm for the milk tanker. It was a very rural picture.

Monday 1^st July Travelling to Lake Garda

After breakfast we continued our beautiful drive through the twon of merino and then the Passo de Palada. On this mountain pass we were able to fill up with water and we also found a lovely picnic area to stop for coffee.  It was obviously a favoured walking trail area with lots of walks signposted but only a few visible hikers.

For lunch we stopped at the picturesque town of Molveno which sat on the edge of beautiful lake with more stunning mountains in the background.  It was difficult to park here as the majority of the car parks had low height barriers (designed to keep out motorhomes). The only spot suitable for motorhomes cost 22 euros for parking and overnight stay but as we only wanted to stop for an hour we weren’t going to pay that. We eventually found a car park that had ‘no motorhome’ signs but no height barrier so we went in there and had our lunch on the lakeside.

After lunch we continued our drive arriving in Lake Garda mid afternoon.  We had not identified any campsites before arrival and now we were in high season. We tried a couple of places and then found one we liked at the top end of the lake in Riva del Garda. It cost 30 euros a night including electricity and wifi and it had its own little beach area right by the lake.  It turned out to be a lovely place to have our morning coffee and to sit to watch the world go by.

We spent the afternoon by the lake and in the evening we walked into the town centre. It was quite ‘buzzy’ with all  the people there. It was also the Garda Jazz festival and we picked up the end of a film about a French jazz musician. We then walked back to the campsite along the lake in the dark managing to get in before the back gates closed at 11.30pm.

Italian Lakes

 Tuesday 2^nd July Lake Garda

Today we planned to cycle  part of the way around the lake. It was a hot humid day so we packed plenty of water along with our lunch. The first part of the ride was on a cycle path shared with a lot of slowly meandering tourists. This slowed us down but the when the cycle path ended we were able to cycle quite fast for about 90 minutes reaching the lakeside town of Malcesine.  There was a castle in this town and what fascinated us was the account of a naval expedition through the mountains (Yes I meant naval!) where the venetians transported frigates and other vessels to the lake to surprise the Milaneses forces.

The town itself was lovely to wander through with its cobbled alleyways and tourist shops. We had lunch here, by the lake and then pedalled home.  It only took us an hour to cycle the 9 miles back. We made ourselves a cup of tea and took out onto our private lakeside beach and then I went back into the van to catch up with the blog.

After supper we walked back into the town, this time picking up a free concert given by a quartet of 3 mandolins and a guitarist. It was lovely to listen to their music in the warm evening air.

Wednesday 3^rd July Lake Iseo

There had been a spectacular thunderstorm in the night with lightening illuminating the mountains in quite an eerie fashion. However, it was a dry and humid morning with a lot of cloud cover. We packed up and got ourselves ready to explore the opposite end of the lake. Our first stop was the town of Garda. We had a walk through the town and our lunch here before moving on to Sirmione. Here parking was limited and expensive so we drove through and decided to move onto Lake Iseo. We found a good parking spot here and walked down to the Tourist Information office by the lake to pick up maps and local information.  After walking around we stopped at a bar in the Square in the centre of the town overlooking the lake. Mike had an ice cream and I had a prosecco based cocktail. Both were very good. Then we went back to the van for supper and walked back into town later in the evening to watch the night life.

Thursday 4^th July Lake Iseo

In the morning we moved the van to somewhere suitable for all day parking and then got the bikes off. Today we intended to explore the lake. We caught the 9.30am ferry to Monte Isola. This is recorded as being the largest inhabited lake island in Europe but I am not that convinced of the statistic as the circumference of the island is only 9km and Mike and I toured this in about 40 mins and it didn’t look that inhabited. As we had got ridden around the island so quickly we had about an hour to wait for the ferry to take us on the next leg of our tour.  It was very hot and Mike had a quick doze in the sun.  The ferry took us to Tavernola on the west side of the island but stooped off at various places on route so we had a good look at the surrounding lake towns. After landing at tavernola we cycled the 20km or so back to Iseo. It was a very hot day and when we stopped for lunch between Predore  and sarnio it took little persuasion for me to jump in the lake. The water temperature was around 20c so it was lovely and refreshing.

By late afternoon we ready to set off for Lake Como. We had identified a campsite outside of Lecco but when we got there it was full. The first time this has happened to us – high season effect? This actually turned out well for us as further down the road we found an ‘area de sosta’  in Mandello del Lario where we ended up staying for two nights for 10 euros (much cheaper than the campsite). Once parked up we walked down to the lake side and found a ferry office which gave us details for our planned trip to Bellagio for tomorrow.  We also found a lovely Italian bar with wifi where we stopped for a beer whilst catching up on our e mails and ended up having a pizza too.

Bellagio

 Friday 5^th July Bellagio

Mike went off to get bread first thing and then with lunch made we headed for the little port to catch the 10.30am ferry to Bellagio. This took about an hour on the boat and it was a lovely trip. Beautiful weather, lake and mountain scenery plus all the interesting lakeside villas. We spent the whole day at Bellagio as the earliest boat back was 4.30pm. It is one of the most picturesque places we have visited on our trip. By the afternoon we were uncomfortable hot and the only answer was to get in the lake. We came out a bit ‘weedy’ but it was worth it.

Back at the van we sorted out washing and headed for the laundry. Later still we went back down to the lake where we knew we could pick up wifi and skyped Millie.

Saturday 6^th July

Lake Como to Lake Lugano to Lake Maggiore

It was time to move on again. We set off early and headed for the town of Como where we stopped for coffee and a walk around a small market where we bought bread. We then headed for Cernobbio to see Villa D’este but we did not stop here. Onto Laglio where George Clooney has a house. Mike was very keen to see this so we had to stop on the upper road and take the bikes off to cycle down into the village. Mike proudly found George's house and very nice it was too. Someone was in but we didn’t see George although Mike thinks he might have seen him on a bike a few minutes later. It was a hard, hot climb back up to Buster and then we were back on the road. We left Lake Como at Menaggio  taking the road through the hills, coming down to Lake Lugano at the top end of the lake. We travelled through Lugano and stopped for lunch at Port Teresa.

It gets very confusing here as to whether you are in Switzerland or Italy as we crossed the border more than once on our travels. We eventually stopped in Italy north of Lucino. It was a wide laybay, with picnic area and wonderful views of the lake. It was a beautiful spot. It was a bit of a scramble down to the edge of the lake but it was hot and both Mike and I went for a swim to cool down. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing Keele work  and Mike set up his telescope.

Zell am See and the Krimml Falls

Friday 28th June

It was raining rather hard when we awoke. We got off early - never like to hang around when we are not in a proper designated camping spot and made our way round to the end of the lake to a pretty campsite we had identified the previous day. It did not matter too much that it was raining today as Jacqui had planned to do some Keele work which meant Mike was left to do the laundry and other useful but boring jobs.

By 4pm the rain had eased and we were both desperate to get out of the van. We decided to walk the 2km back into the town centre on the lakeside path. The temperatures were somewhat lower than we have been experiencing recently and we were missing Hungary's warmth. There were also clouds of small flies that we had to avoid but they didn't appear to be biting insects. Zell am See has changed so much over the past 25 years. From being a small alpine village it is now a large bustling town but one of the biggest surprises for Jacqui was the number of Arab families that now live here. They must have been settled here for some while as there were many arabic shops and restaurants visible too.

A unique nesting box

Jacqui's mission for the afternoon was to find the 'Stadtwein' ,the hotel that she had stayed in (twice) many years ago. Despite the changes to the town she vaguely remembered its position. It remains a very traditional hotel and we enjoyed the glass of beer and wine we had there along with some memories before we headed back to the van. It was once again pouring with rain and we hoped the weather would be better tomorrow for our trip to Krimml Falls.

Saturday 29th June

We left Zell with low cloud in the skies but no rain and headed off for the waterfalls which were about an hour away. The Krimml Falls are the highest in Europe at 380m and the 5th highest in the world. In summer the water falls at 57,000L per second but this drops to around 300L per second in the winter due to lack of melt water and the fact that the precipitation falls as snow. 

We arived in Krimml to find a typical tyrolean village and found somewhere to park. It was going to cost 6 euros for the day or 8 for an overnight stop so we decided to stay for the night. What's more for that price free cake and coffee was thrown in by the local hotel.

As we got out of the van we could already hear the thunderous noise of the Falls in the distance. The Falls are in three tiers and it is a steep climb to get to the top.  (There is a taxi option for some of the way for those less able/more wealthy). However the Falls were a magnificent sight and walking up was definitely our preferred option. It took us 2.5 hours including our lunchstop which we had on a bench surrounded by beautiful wild flowers. The mist created by the falls creates a lovely green ecosystem - lots of ferns and mosses to be seen.

The Krimml Falls are also of historic note and the following excerpt explains how the path over the falls was used by Jewish refugees after WW2  as an escape route.

The Krimml Tauern Pass was one of the decisive bottlenecks during the escape of 5,000 Jewish men, women and children from Eastern Europe in 1947 when they fled persecution and the threat of death. Their destination was a new homeland–Palestine.

In 2013, the historic escape route from Krimml to Kasern was named National Park APC Peace Trail. So as to remember the events of those days and the people who helped the refugees, seven commemorative plaques were installed along this route.

Summer 1947, 2.00 a.m. Groups of Jewish refugees–each of between 150 and 200 from a total of around 5,000 men, women and children assembled at this very spot. Awaiting them, a fifteen hour trek on foot. Their goal–Palestine could only be reached by means of this illegal flight. Their lands of origin in Eastern Europe had been transformed into graveyards for many of their friends and relatives. Even

after the end of World War II, they were still being persecuted. The only remaining escape route by summer of 1947 was the arduous trek over the 2634 m high (8641ft.) Krimmler Tauern Pass into Italy. All other routes out of Austria were closed due to political pressure from Great Britain, the ruling power in Palestine. 200,000 Holocaust survivors were accommodated in the so-called “transit camps” in the city and province of Salzburg. One of the largest camps was “GivatAvoda” (still existing today as the Wallner Barracks) in Saalfelden, from where refugees were transported in trucks to Krimml.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of this exodus, the peace initiative Alpine Peace Crossing was founded in 2007 by Dr. Ernst Löschner. The first memorial crossing took place in the presence of ten Jewish contemporary witnesses and the, by then, 94year old Marko Feingold, who had initiated this

freedom route for the Jewish refugee aid organization Bricha (“Flight”).

Jacqui's legs were aching by the time we got down from the Falls  but not so tired as to prevent her from getting to the Hotel for Apfel Strudel. After our tea we explored this quiet village further and then returned to Buster where we had an early night but not until a game of scrabble had been played.

Hellingblut and the Hohe Tauern National Park

 Wednesday 26th June, Krumpendorf to Helligenblut (Hohe Tauern National Park).

We were up early as otherwise we would have to pay for car parking again after 8am. We used the adjacent public toilets to empty our loo and fill with water. Our destination today was the Hohe National Park via the Glossglockner National Park. We left Krumpendorf and followed the lake to the end. We took the 100 road, green route of course, and then dropped down to the 111 via a lovely mountain road. This time the mountains to the south were following the border between Italy and Austria. 

Mountains separating Austria from Italy

The route was so picturesque. We stopped for coffee near Hermagor and while Mike made the coffee Jacqui went to the field below which was a 'pick your own' strawberry field. Jacqui picked a small 500gm punnet - no facilities for Jacqui to make jam here. 

Strawberry fields

We then continued our journey driving north through the Iselsberg pass to Winklern were we stopped to pick up some maps from the tourist information centre. We were now on the 107 'The Grossglockner High Alpine Road'. It was stunning. We stopped for lunch where we saw a sign for a waterfall, the Jungfernsprung Falls. After our rolls we walked up to view the waterfall which was lovely. It is very hard to capture the power of the water as it cascades down the mountain.

Jungfernsprung falls

 This car park had a 'no motorhomes' sign for overnight parking so we decided to stop on a campsite in Heiligenblut.

Picturesque Helliganblut

 This was another picturesque mountain village with snow appeal mountains above. From here there was a 2 hour walk to the Gossnitzfalls. It was an easy trail through lovely alpine pastures and pleasant woods. The waterfall was very impressive, thundering noise and lots of spray.

Helliganblut Church

 We also passed Kachlmoor which is a swampy area formed due to an avalanche after the the receding of the late ice age, plasterze glacier (12,000 years ago). All along the trail were little notices forming 'Natura Mystica' they were all interesting notices about how important it is to accept biodiversity and protect nature. That evening we went out for a drink into the village but found everywhere deserted, spooky!

Our peaceful campsite in Helliganblut

Thursday 27th June, Hohe National Park.

Hohe Tauern National Park

It was a beautiful clear morning and looked good for a day in the mountains. We packed our lunch and paid the campsite fees and set off. We left  Helligenblut and set off for the Kaiser Franz Josefs Hohe visitors centre in the Hohe Tauern National Park.

Kaiser Franz Josef

 It was a beautiful drive up the mountains although we were a bit surprised to have to pay 33 euros for the toll road in the park. Our plan was to walk the Gamsgrube Trail which takes you along the route of the largest glacier in the Austria and the Eastern Alps, the Pasterze.

Pasterze Glacier

 It also gives wonderful views of the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria at 3798m. There are also other peaks well over 3,000m. 

Mountain peaks in the National Park

Unfortunately the path was only open for a couple of kilometres which consisted of 5 tunnels through the mountain. We took the path and then retraced our steps back to the visitors centre and then decided to head down to the glacier itself for a closer look.

Pasterze Glacier close up

 The walk was marked difficult, for professionals only but Mike forged ahead and Jacqui followed. The trail was very steep and contained a lot of loose shale - down did not seemed to bad but Jacqui was a bit worried on how she would cope with the accent. The scenery was very desolate, large expanses of dirt, silt and stones littered the landscape where the glacier had been in the past. It was very interesting to see how much it had receded since 1980 with markers showing you previous levels at 5 yearly intervals. 

Walking on the Glacier

At the bottom, next to the glacier, you could occasionally here the glacier creek as it slowly moved down the mountain. 

Walking on the Glacier

The other highlights of the day were the beautiful flowers including 'spring gentians' the marmots which hibernate 6-7 months each year but were out enjoying the sunshine and seeing the Ibex briefly on top of one of the closer mountain tops. 

Waiting for Jacqui to catch up

Spring gentians

Cheeky marmot

We walked for 5-6 hours and were pleased to get back to the van at about 4.30pm. We continued on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road and were surprised to see a lot more snow on the other north facing side. We followed the road down through deep areas of snow to Zell de See which Jacqui had last visited skiing 25 years ago and we found a suitable overnight camping spot near a sports centre where we could stay the night. We then drove round the lake and visited a few camp sites for ready for tomorrow's night stop over.