Switzerland
June 9 - 12

Crossed northern Switzerland in a few days. There were a few key towns and sights we wanted to see. Spent some time in each of those areas and enjoyed the relaxation. Here's the pictures. (Oh, and there's a few brewpubs again on another page).

Back in Geneva, Voltaire's estate doesn't open until June 18th so all we could do was look over the fence. Would have been interesting.

Likewise the Geneva Auto Museum wasn't open yet. They were laying carpet and moving cars into the building but we snuck in anyway and wandered around for an hour.

When was the last time you saw a Gogomobile?

Or a 60s Opel Kapitan?

This is a 1955 Mercedes Benz Adenauer. There was one in South Bend in the 60s.
The Studebaker dealer, Newmann-Altman was the MB importer at the time.

Go ahead and guess. It's a Humber Super Snipe.

We passed the Sbarro factory in Neuchatel. They make odd cars
and the front-yard display of a Swiss Carhenge is as odd as they come.

Solothurn is a modern town that has kept the old city center pretty well intact. Of course it's filled with many shops and restaurants. This formula is the European version of the renovated downtown pedestrian district in the US.

Street xylophone players (much better than the guy on the ship).
Although most of their songs were show-off standards, they played a mean
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

At Neuhasen am Rhine, the Falls of the Rhine drop 70 feet over a short, rocky rapids. They've fully exploited the best views and even have a boat service to the biggest rock in the middle of the falls, where you can climb stairs to the top for pictures. (There's two boats in this picture, one near the rock). Looked wet.

Terry, peering into the front door in vain.

Appenzell is a "quaint" town who's people resist change. Sort of an Alps Amish community. Supposedly. The buildings are certainly stereotypically Swiss but on Saturday, at least, it's a tourist trap of Lancaster PA proportions, just a lot smaller.

As we walked from the car park to the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany, a blimp went overhead. What timing. This blimp crossed our path the day before as it was on the way to cover the Tour de Switzerland bike race (which we missed seeing by an hour).

The museum had recreations of parts of the Graf Zeppelin, lots of dirigible history, and even displays about local businesses including Maybach and ZF transmissions.

Yes, Lakehurst was mentioned quite a few times. Usually in a phrase such as "and then, after Lakehurst, NJ, production/research stopped". Displays and history continue through the US Navy Los Angeles class dirigibles which were used until 1961.

This is a model. Not a real Zeppelin hanger.

The last remaining engine pod from the Graf Zeppelin.

Found a ferry that crossed the Bondersee (Lake Constance) and couldn't resist.

As we entered Lichtenstein, a short-lived thunderstorm ended and a fabulous rainbow appeared.

As soon as we could pull over, the countryside exploded and the sun
hit the mountaintop. Need a panorama? Here's one.

The Swiss landscape across the Rhine from Lichtenstein. A panorama of course.

Misc. notes.

• On the way to Neuhasen am Rhine, the road went through Germany for about 5 miles, a surprise to us. First time we've been asked for our passports - entry into Barcelona even was control-free and the France-Switzerland borders were just waive-throughs. In fact, we crossed that border once without noticing at all. Many border crossings aren't manned at all.
• Found a GPS unit but they want 1600€ for it. Bah. Still can't find a car compass.
• In the small town or Rankweil, Austria, Bob watched the early morning movements at the train station. A local job kicked cars through the passenger station. While passengers were standing on the platforms. While passenger trains came and went. Yike.
• If that wasn't enough to drain the blood from Bob's face, a brakeman stood inside the tracks and actually between the car's bumpers while the engine shoved a car in to make the coupling.
• At one pub, they had pretzels on the table and then charged you 2.30€ for each one you ate. In fact, once we got charged for a piece of bread we ate from the basket on the table. Surprise.
• Many vineyards run up and down hill. For some reason they don't contour plow, at least grapes.

Best foods:

• A crisp, breaded schnitzel stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, ham, and yellow pepper.
• 2 big 1" thick pork tenderloin "medallions"  in a mushroom and pepper herb gravy. Worth writing home about.
• Pasta and potatoes covered with cheese and grilled onion, then baked. Served with apple slices on the side.