We left BackRoads and Cortina
D’Ampezzo with Vlad as driver for Milan (C talking a lot to a stranger), another night at the Milan Hilton and
then a long train ride to Lucerne to start the Tauck part of the trip. As I
write this at the end of the trip, I realize I had unrealistic expectations for
the trip with the boys. They were both totally engrossed in their screens
(book for one and game for the other). There was no curiosity about what
we were seeing or going to see, no questions asked, and little enthusiasm
for anything. However, once we were with the other kids in the group after
a couple of days of warming up, there was lots of enthusiasm about
doing things with the other kids.
Our hotel in Lucerne for three
nights was the Schweizerhof, an old classic with a rock ‘n roll attitude (a
current description). It is right across the lake from the Bahnhof, walking
distance to the covered bridge. For dinner we walked away from the festival
crowds to a Spanish restaurant called Bolero. Th1 liked it.
Speaking of
food, I won’t mention it but once more because the breakfasts were
all pretty much the same great buffets European restaurants have, the
dinners were usually late and long drawn out affairs, and the boys subsisted on
some combo of noodles, pizza, and burgers for most meals.
Sunday- On our own we went to the Museum of Transport,
which is massive. We could easily have spent a day there. We met up with the
Tauck group and did a “get to know you” exercise. Our leader is Anna, a very
tall Austrian. She is funny and sounds like a female Arnold S when she talks.
Then we did a little walk around Lucerne with the Tauck group.
Monday- Mount Pilatus (6957 feet) via cog rail road. Nice hike along the flower
path in the clouds. We could not see the valley. We did see an ibex up close.
Maybe the same Alpenhorn guy was there as in 2015.
After lunch we took a gondola down the mountain for two activities. Th1 and
I went on a summer toboggan. I wasn’t even scared. Th2 and Connie went on a
suspension rope park. You used gloves to slow you down, the gloves didn’t fit
well, and Theron wanted it to be using carabiners. They went the wrong way only
once or twice.
Dinner was on our own. We got to the Pickwick pub just in time for it to start
pouring rain and some aggressive tourists took our table inside so we were
outside under an umbrella. A nice guy who looked a little rough around the
edges offered to swap tables with us so we only caught rain that was slowed by
two umbrellas.
Tuesday- this was a day of busses, boat, and trains. We walked to the boat on
the lake, crossed the lake (I got my picture taken driving the boat), got on
our bus for an hour ride to Andermatt, then the 5 hour Glacier Express train to
St. Moritz. Spectacular views but lots of rain and cloud cover. The kids
started to warm up to each other over card games. Th is the youngest but
found a friend Luke who is 12, and older Th became friends with Cameron who is a rising
senior.
Wednesday- St. Moritz (elevation 1772 m or about 5000 feet). Somewhere in all
this I picked up a cold and am staying home today. C, T, and T are riding a
cable car up to Diavolezza (9000 feet), then hiking another hour up to a
glacier (scary thinking about the glacier . Tho opted for mountain climbing
class. Lunch at the cheese restaurant was a favorite because of the girls vs
boys Olympic Games afterwards. Cross bow, multi Perón cross country skis. After
lunch, there is a mountain bike ride back to the hotel that Tho took. Early
dinner of pizza, the boys and me .
Today the boys will learn the scout motto Be Prepared. Both went off without
enough clothes for the weather. I was way wrong- my staying home made the
weather warm up.
I just now read ahead about tomorrow. I guess I should have read the book
earlier. It is the white water day. I sure hope Austria is having a heat wave
in Innsbruck.
Thursday- On from Switzerland to Austria and the Aquadome Hotel after
Area 47. Area 47- a huge water park with a 27 meter dive platform, a blob, a
slip and slide ski jump kind of thing and everything else, plus climbing wall, white
water rafting down the Inns River (about 50 degrees and chalky). It seemed like
every possible teen in the 12-17 age range in Austria was there. Tho went on
the rafting with the older kids and The and Connie went with the younger
kids. I hear The nudged one of the mom’s off the raft. Then we spent the
night at the Aqua Dome hotel- modern architecture, impossible to find one’s way
around the facilities, horrible pillows, wonderful pools, and breakfast.
Friday- T and T decided to skip today’s tour of the Innsbruck Olympic facility
and the town itself so they can rest and use the gym and pools. We stayed with
them. Connie and I went for a walk with The for about an hour around
Langerfeld and he spotted a couple of little trout in a drainage ditch.
Tho went to mini golf and
the the gym. The to the pools. I tried to fish without a hook and “caught” a
couple of brook trout. Then it started raining hard. For the evening we all
went to the Outzi park, a place on this Austrian side that examines the ice age
man found by some hikers in 1991 on the Italian side just over the mountains.
We had dinner and yodeling on the site. C was in her element with the
accordion.
Saturday-
a long drive to Munich to the Bayerisch Hotel, a walking tour with Michael (one
of the best guides I have ever had), farewell dinner.
Sunday- Airport and home at long last.
Comments- I don’t like duvets in summer in un airconditioned rooms. I don’t
think I got more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. Coffee- Italy best then
Austria, then a distance to Germany and more distance to Switzerland. Towels-
Italy’s were thick, the others thinner. Spas and sauna- not much on the all
nude policy.
Look back at Wednesday where it says somewhere I picked up a cold. On Monday back home I read emails from John, Cliff, Nancy K and a couple of others. I noticed what they were relating as Covid symptoms was very like my "cold". Hmm. Tested positive although I was over symptoms in three days. So we postponed the trip twice because of Covid only to catch it on the trip. C followed me by a day.
