Interlaken, Switzerland

Mon 15th – Fri 19th Sept

We're engaged! I don't know how Bevan found the strength to bend down on one knee after our aching legs had spent the past week hiking in the Alps, but on Friday he surprised me with a gorgeous ring while we were eating a picnic lunch on the Grosse Scheidegg trail.

After spending 5.5 months living in a tin can the size of a dining table, I still can't figure out how he managed to hide the ring this entire time. (Because trust me, I was keeping an eye out whenever the van needed cleaning!)

But even if Bevan hadn't picked one of the most beautiful areas on earth to propose, Interlaken would still top my list of most memorable places to visit and one of the best weeks of my life. The entire region is stunning, with fairytale views that defy your imagination around every corner.

Atop Mt. Shilthorn

Tuesday – Mt. Shilthorn
The weather had been playing up through the weekend, so we'd been in Switzerland for over 4 days and had yet to see a single mountain. Starting to wonder if they were just in the postcards, we opted for a gondola ride to the top of Mt. Shilthorn on our first hiking day. The fog was clinging to the valley making visibility less than 20 feet, but the tourist office insisted we'd be well above the clouds with an amazing view at 2960 metres.

The gondola ride to Mt. Shilthorn

It wasn't easy to get there (nor was it cheap!) but 2 train rides and 3 terrifying gondola rides later we were standing at eye level with Europe's tallest peak – the Jungfrau. Bevan's panoramic photos sum up the view that my words could never do justice.

View from Mt. Shilthorn. The wider mountain on the left is Jungfrau.

Wednesday – First to Bussalp
Miriam had sworn that the Swiss weather would clear up, and she was right. We awoke on Wednesday morning to a gorgeous blue sky without a cloud in sight. Anxious to make the most of the good weather, we opted for a 4 hour hike from the top of First (2168 m) to Bachalpsee lake, climbed the Faulhorn (2686 m), then finally descended down to Bussalp (1792 m).

Hillary in front of Bacalpsee lake (2265 m)

Again, the views took our breath away and what was supposed to be a 4 hour hike took us 6 hours to complete. We were a bit slower than some of the folks with fancy hiking boots and poles but the extra 2 hours were mostly spent snapping photos, chasing marmots, or practically skiing down the snowy trail.

This is the hike that killed us but when we finally came crawling to the bus stop complete with mud stains up and down my back side thanks to a nasty spill on the way down, we were smiling from ear to ear.

Swiss pig

Thursday – Schnyigge Platte
Every muscle in our bodies was screaming from Wednesday's hike but we'd forked out over 100 pounds on week-long rail passes so we decided to try an “easy hike” at the top of Schynige Platte (2068 m).

Who rates these hikes?? I admit it wasn't technically difficult and practically paved in some parts but it was far from a flat hike. Once again, a 2 hour hike turned into 3.5 hours as we hobbled along a knife-edge ridge overlooking the Interlaken valley. What none of these trail signs factor into their hiking estimates is that you can't just walk along without stopping to gaze and gasp at the view. No rest for the weary today.

Hillary overlooking Interlaken

Friday – Grosse Scheidegg
The day started off normally enough and we were careful to pick a hike based on elevation climbs rather than the amount of time it would take to walk. The hobbling started at Grosse Scheidegg (1961 m) as we gazed down into the valley below and dodged cows determined to block our path.

Cows on the path from Grosse Scheidegg

But the main event was lunch. We were busy watching some small avalanches spill down the snowy peaks across the valley when I turned around and everything went glowy fuzz as I realised Bevan was on his knee in the mud. It was perfect and when we finally composed ourselves from the excitement, tears and hugs, he slipped the ring onto my finger.

The spot where Bevan proposed

Oberdorf, Switzerland

Sat 13th – Sun 14th Sept

On Saturday morning, the rain started pouring down in Zurich to compliment our hangovers. Not that little pitter-patter that annoys you when you can't decide whether to take out your umbrella or just hurry up to the tube station. This rain defied the invention of gore-tex and wellies.

Rain sucks, but it's even worse when you live in a van. Suddenly we were flung back to our first days in Portugal where our rain coats, shoes, socks and clothes just never dried out until the rain did. There's no where to hang up wet items except above where you're sitting, which means the seats are soon wet from the dripping. And then the leaks returned. I guess all of that heat in Croatia had melted our rubber sealant and suddenly we were pulling pots and pans from every cupboard in an effort to keep the carpet and cushions from getting wet.

So our timing for visiting Bevan's friend Andrew and his family couldn't have been better. Andrew, Miriam and their daughter Sophie live in Oberdorf, Switzerland, about a 40 minute drive outside of Bern. We pulled up and literally ran into the house – and what a welcome relief! The house was huge, heated, dry and they even had WiFi, a washing machine and dryer, and an incredible view of the Swiss Alps.

Reeling from shock at being indoors again, we settled in for a delicious evening of guzzling Australian wines and chomping into Andrew's famous spaghetti bolognaise. When dinner was done, we didn't even have to go outside to use the toilet or wash the dishes. It was heaven and exactly where you'd want to be in a terrible rain storm.

Zurich, Switzerland

Fri 12th Sept

We had to pick the most expensive city we've visited to get rip-roaring drunk. Maybe it was the weather, the lack of enthusiasm in sight-seeing or maybe just the altitude that made us delirious but we walked into a pub at 3:30pm and didn't stumble home until 8 hours later. Yes, we saw the lake, the river and browsed the shops in the Aldstadt but that's about it.

Or maybe we could blame it on Paul, Bevan's former colleague who moved to Zurich a few years ago. We were planning to meet him for a drink after he'd finished work but we're a little out of touch with work life reality so we assumed that meant 5pm. Hence the 3:30pm “let's go to the pub a little early” plan. Paul found us stumbling slurry drunk at 8pm and it only went downhill from there. So I have about 5 photos from Zurich. Seemed like a lovely town but I'm only qualified to recommend my favourite pubs.

Zurich

The Romantic Road, Germany

Fri 5th – Wed 10th Sept

The Romantic Road is Germany's most popular tourist route and runs 366 km through Southern Germany from the city of Wurzberg to Zugspitze, Germany's tallest mountain peak. We had planned to spend 2-3 days doing the route, but ended up taking 6 days despite cutting out quite a few towns. I guess we could blame it on the van, but in hindsight there were definitely a few towns I wish we had skipped and spent more time in others.

Below is a quick run through of where we stopped and the harsh yet honest opinion of each in case you'd ever be interested in doing the route as well.

Day One

Wurzberg – Being day one and all, we had no idea what to expect or how much time to spend in each place on the route, so we arrived just before lunch and finished up the city within the afternoon. We probably could have flown through it a lot faster and moved on, but we'd already parked up at a camp site so we made the most of it. The view from the castle was worth the trek, but be careful to take the northern approach as we had a very long walk up the wrong way from the river. Prince Bishop's residence was definitely the highlight of the day, but we skipped paying the entry fee and just enjoyed the gardens since the building was under renovation.

Taking a break at Wurzberg's Residence Palace

Day Two

Tauberbischofsheim – We beat most of the tour buses and had the town to ourselves, literally. It was a Saturday morning and not a shop was open, but the town was really cute and we had fun browsing through the narrow empty streets. We only spent about 45 minutes here before we'd seen everything and then moved on.

The main square in Tauberbischofsheim

Bad Mergentheim- Definitely the highlight of the day with slightly more to see than Tauberbischofsheim. It was more crowded but the river, shops and cathedral were gorgeous. We even caught a glimpse of a wedding in the main park.

Jester statues in Bad Mergentheim

Lauda-Konigshofen - Couldn't find it! So no comment!

Creglingen – Tired of searching for parking, we decided to skip Weikersheim and Rottingen with the intention of camping in Creglingen and cycling back. No such luck thanks to the weather, and the fact that our camp site was actually 3km out of town, uphill. We only made it to Creglingen but loved visiting one of the fortifications that was later converted into a house. A tiny woman by the name of Margaret lived in the narrow building for over 60 years and it's now a living museum of her life. Truly amazing and it feels like you're visiting a fairy tale or the woman who lived in a shoe.

The smallest house I've ever seen - Creglingen

Day Three

Rothenburg ODT - After visiting Rothenburg, I wondered why we hadn't just driven here straight from Wurzberg. We lucked out and landed in town on the same day as a medieval festival so the town was filled with locals in costumes selling all kinds of yummy bratwurst, pretzel and beer guzzling treats. It was literally like stepping back in time to visit a feudal town from the 1500's and I'm determined to get back here for the X-mas market – one of Germany's best. We foolishly only fed 2 hours worth of coins into the parking meter and we were parked 30mins from town, so this would be one of those places I wish we could have stayed all day but left too early. I'll be back here again!

Wandering Rothenburg's charming streets

Schillingfurst – Couldn't find the castle! So no comment!

Feuchtwangen – We jokingly referred to this town as F*#k'dwagon while searching for road signs but I think our nick name summed it up in the end. Not bad to look at from the car windows but I wouldn't bother stopping.

Dinkelsbuhl - Another gem of a town, and made even better by the fact that our camp site was only a 5 minute ride from the centre. We parked up, then peddled into town just in time to watch the sun setting over the moat. It was beautiful and a perfect ending to the day.

Dinkelsbuhl's main street

Day Four

Nordlingen Im Ries – This town got a lot of hype on the route map and recommendations from people we ran into on the streets but we must have missed something. Sure, the wall that runs all the way around the city was a lovely walk (that takes around an hour) but there really wasn't much to see because we were physically standing on the main attraction. After York and Dubrovnik, I didn't find this city wall all that impressive or worth the effort.

Nordlinger's aldstadt

Harburg – Everyone comes here to see the castle, which is dead impressive. But it was Monday and didn't you know that all tourist attractions are closed on Mondays? Even from the outside it was worth a look around but we decided to walk down the incredibly steep hill into town to kill some time. I'm so glad we did, as I doubt most Romantic Road tourists bother. There was a lovely little white foot bridge made of stone over a river, all overshadowed by the castle. Although there wasn't much to do in town, it was still fun to wander the streets and just appreciate the scenery.

Harburg

Donauworth - Donauworth is known as one of southern Germany's most attractive main streets. It's also pretty damn steep. We had a quick wander around but again it looked very similar to everywhere we had been.

Bridge statues in Donauworth

Days 5 & 6

Schwangau & Fussen - Schwangau & Fussen were definitely the highlight of the tour. It's all about castles & mountains here, and chances are that most Germany travel books will have a photo of Neuschwanstein castle on the front cover. Or you may recognise it as the model for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle. Needless to say, there is plenty to do in the area and we spent 2.5 days cycling around Fussen, hiking for incredible views of the castles and just enjoying the clear weather and beautiful surroundings.

Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau

Nuremberg, Germany

Thurs 4th Sept

The rain was pouring down as we arrived in Nuremberg, but fortunately our camp site was just a stone's throw from the reason why we chose to stop here: the former Nazi rally grounds. I never really realised that the massive monuments and stadiums from Hitler's propaganda movies actually existed, nor that they had all been built specifically to house the Nazi rally parties from the early 30's onwards. They're still standing, although a bit in ruins, but there's more than enough left to get a very good picture of what went on here.

Map of the Nazi Rally Ground ruins

The site is enormous and even the new Nuremberg football stadium that seats over 50,000 spectators only takes up a small corner of the grounds. You could fit around 5 stadiums in the area that Hitler had set aside as the headquarters for his party get-togethers. The buildings included massive stadiums for parades and military demonstrations, fields filled with bunkers for housing all of the party members, and an enormous Congress Hall which was never completed but now houses the Dokumentation Museum. To build his vision, Hitler had a large city recreation area bulldozed and filled in some of the local lakes but today the area has been returned to its former natural beauty, with the exception of the eerie ruins that now serve as skate parks for the local kids.

Nuremberg's Dokumentation Museum

But the star attraction is the Dokumentation museum in the former Congress Hall. It takes you through the entire story of how Hitler gained power in Germany, as well as explaining the Nazi rally events held here to gain support throughout the country, and finally ends with the Nuremberg trials where a very tiny percentage of the Nazi party was tried and hanged for War Crimes. We didn't get a chance to explore the old town due to the rain, but the rally grounds alone were well worth the short stop.

View Nuremberg Photo Album

Plzen, Czech Republic

Wed Sept 3rd

Plzen is the home of Pilsner beer and its most famous export, Pilsner Urquell. Kristin & Pete had recommended a lovely camp site near the town, so we decided to stop through and make a day of exploring the brewery and surrounding areas. Unfortunately we only made it as far as the brewery. The tour was excellent, but the sampling in the beer hall was even better. We ended up eating platefuls of cheese and pretzels, drinking pint after pint of beer and even sticking around for 65+ dance night where all the local senior citizens came out for some square dancing. Hugely entertaining, but we did have some rather sore heads the next morning.

View Plzen Photo Album

Prague, Czech Republic

Sun 31st Aug - Tues 2nd Sept

I've fallen in love with Prague. And having visited here before, this visit meant no feelings of guilt if I didn't see the inside of a single museum. Just enjoy and indulge.

Day one – shopped til I dropped. My wardrobe was in dire straights, especially since I'd chosen to pack 3 pairs of linen trousers/shorts and one pair of jeans. One lesson I've learned on this trip is that linen wears out rather quickly if you wear it every single day for 5 months in a row, especially when you are not blessed with thighs that don't rub together. I was down to one pair of shorts and one pair of jeans. Everything else was now crotchless and required either matching underwear to appear as part of the trouser, or constantly remembering not to bend over in public.

Charles Bridge at dawn

It wasn't that I was being cheap. Of course all of the trouser ripping had to happen in Eastern Europe where I wasn't familiar with any of the stores and most clothes fittings happen on the street in markets. I'm just a little shy.

So after one day in Prague, the van closet had clothes piled to the ceiling and Bevan's wondering why I'm in new trousers and new T-shirts and new dresses. If it's really a problem, I'll happily burn my crotchless trousers to make more room. (Don't tell him I already did – there really is no room left!!)

Watching sunset over the Vltava River

Day two – another day of solo sight-seeing while Bevan took photos. I snuck off to the mall and found my first Starbucks since Vienna 3 months ago. Never has a Caramel Frappuccino tasted so good.

With no museum or cultural obligations, I picked out a neighbourhood and spent a few hours exploring the Little Quarter by the castle. It's beautiful here and even possible to find a few streets that aren't mobbed with tourists. I also discovered the Vrtba garden where 5 euros will buy you incredible views of the castle, cathedral and surrounding neighbourhood.

Prague Cathedral from the Charles Bridge

Feeling a bit knackered from the previous day's shopping bonanza, I met Bevan for some excellent Mexican food at The Cantina and indulged in an amazing strawberry margarita, then we slowly continued exploring unknown streets while making our way to Red Hot & Blues – a New Orleans inspired restaurant in the Old Town. I nearly cried with happiness over the buffalo wings (they tasted like the real thing!!) and the live hillbilly blues music made the evening a real treat.

I still love Prague. Neither of us wanted to leave and if it weren't for the crowds of tourists, we might still be there.

Tourists waiting for the Astronomical Clock

View Prague Photos

Brno, Czech Republic

Thurs 28th – Sat 30th Aug

Relaxation in the countryside. No agenda, no list of must-see attractions and no hordes of tourists on holiday. We found a lovely camp site just outside of Brno, located at the end of a long lake with boat rides into town instead of a subway. But instead of ticking off the big sights, we only spent a ½ day in Brno preferring to enjoy the surroundings of our camp site instead.

It was everything you've ever dreamed of in a country town. Narrow empty roads winding over rolling hills of vibrant yellow hay that contrasted perfectly against the blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. It looked like a Windows Desktop image.

Our camp site was just outside the local village, which meant grocery shopping or visiting the doctor for Bevan's hand involved a ten minute stroll down a tree-canopied dirt path next to the river. There wasn't really anything to do here except relax, admire the neighbours' vegetable gardens, run the dirt roads along the farmer's fields in the morning and watch the pheasants fly over head. Plus the local restaurant made such amazing mafioso pasta that we went back 3 nights in a row to order the exact same dish.

View Brno Photos

Auschwitz, Poland

Wed 27th – Thurs 28th Aug

I've been sitting here trying to think about what to write that could possibly do justice to the millions of people who lost their lives, or irretrievably lost their faith in mankind in this place.

I could write pages and pages about what I learned at Auschwitz – Birkenau and how the image of a young 13-year old girl with her head shaved and tears in her eyes will never leave my memory. Or how the 40,000 kg of human hair piled along the floor, entire buildings filled with shoes, and stacks of baby clothes made me and others start crying in the middle of the tour. Or how the ponds next to the crematoriums still have human bones visible amongst the piled ashes of those who were sent to the gas chambers.

This plaque is placed at the end of the rail tracks, between two of the crematoriums and gas chambers. There is one written in every language of the people who were murdered here.

It was no longer just some story I'd read about in History class. While walking through the hundreds of stone and wooden barracks, reading about the atrocities committed here and witnessing the evidence of such large scale “assembly line” mass murder, I just kept repeating in my head, “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.”

Rail tracks at Birkenau that led to the gas chambers

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Krakow, Poland

Sun 24th – Tues 26th Aug

So....sick....of...sight-seeing. No....more....castles. No...more...museums.... PLEEEASE.

I never thought I could tire of touring European cities but 5 months of seeing one UNESCO world heritage site after another and I've reached my limit. We arrived in Krakow feeling completely burnt out and uninspired, especially since Lonely Planet said the main attraction was another bloody palace.

So if you're not the castle or museum type, here's what made Krakow stand out:

• Wieliczka Salt Mine – who thought you could spend 3 hours underground looking at salt? Well they've managed to do it and make it interesting! Salt statues, huge caverns, and even a huge chapel all made entirely out of salt. There's even a bar and restaurant 130m underground.
  


Chapel made entirelz of salt in the Wieliczka Salt Mine



• Krakow's Kazmierez neighbourhood was previously one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe but nearly completely desecrated by the Nazis in World War II. Many of the original buildings are still standing and you can really get a feel for the hustle and bustle of this once vibrant neighbourhood 60+ years on. It was also the set for filming Schindler's List.

• I could have cared less about seeing another old town square, but Krakow has managed to retain a community feel with it's market stalls, folklore dancing and the Cloth Halls. Plus we found what may have been the yummiest sausages of the entire trip here.

Pigeons in the old square

• Whatever you do, do not get injured or need a doctor while you're in Krakow. Or at least have plenty of time available if you do. We were sent on a wild goose chase around the city with no one wanting to help us or claiming that we needed a surgery. Two hours of waiting and a very nice doctor prescribed Bevan with anti-biotics to fight the infection in his hand, then sprayed the wound with incredibly stingy anti-septic and sent us on our way.

Bevan all bandaged up

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