Adventure in the Alps

Sunday July 12th, 2015 we arrived in Munich late at night from Madrid (continuation from Pamplona trip).  We stayed at a hotel near the airport and in the morning rented a car and set off on our driving adventure through the Alps!  Our first destination was a 3 hour drive to Zurich, Switzerland.  Once there we walked around the beautiful city city, along the river & Lake Zurich.   

We walked up to a lookout point with great views over the city and the river...

After awhile we had some drinks then decided to go out on the cruise on the lovely Lake Zurich.

It was an 1.5 hour ride and we enjoyed some more drinks while taking in the gorgeous view during sunset.

The next morning, Tuesday July 14th we left Zurich to head off to our next destination...Innsbruck, Austria.  On our way out of the city we drove along Lake Zurich and from the freeway I spotted the Lindt Chocolate factory.  Of course I  made Brian take the next exit to go back!  There wasn't a tour to go on but a huge store with lots of different truffle flavors we hadn't had before.  We did a pick & mix to try different ones.  (Good thing we had a cooler bag along to keep them from melting in the car!  It was still very hot, in the 90's)  

As we drove along the countryside it was just beautiful.  Eventually we came upon lakes between the mountains and stopped to look around.  These were still in Switzerland...

After a couple of hours we arrived in Liechtenstein which is the 6th smallest country in the world with only 61 square miles and approx 37,000 people.  We walked around the town center of Vaduz...  

and then went to the Hofkelleri winery which has been the Prince of Liechtenstein's winery since 1436. 

There were some pretty good size grapes on the vines!

We did a tasting of three of their wines made mostly from pinot noir grapes.  They were all pretty good so we bought a bottle to take along to enjoy later in the trip.

The Prince and royal family still live in the Vaduz Palace which is situated up on the hill overlooking the town and vineyards...

Once we left the winery we took a drive up to the palace. Here was the view looking back down...

After leaving Liechtenstein we arrived 2.5 hours later to Innsbruck, Austria.  

On the way in we drove along the Inn River.

Innsbruck is a very colorful city situation among the Alps. 

After our arrival we found some beer and dinner at a brewhouse that was recommended to us earlier at the winery.

Below is the Golden Roof in the old town center which is very famous for being completed back in 1500 and was used for the Emperor to watch tournaments and events in the square.

The next morning we bought an Innsbruck Pass and took a ride up the mountain.  We rode up in a cable car and stopped at all 3 levels to get out and look around.

The views were incredible views from the hills which are ski slopes in the winter. Being there made me itch to ski again so bad! It seemed like not long before we were on our ski trip in Chamonix.

Next we used our Innsbruck pass to go to Swarovski Crystal World. The factory was on the grounds but what we were able to see was more like art museum. Still neat to see some large crystal sculptures (not a lot of pictures)... 

Later in the afternoon we looked at a few churches then did a beer hop/progressive dinner at a few different places.  Our last stop had a great view along the river. 

The next morning, Thursday July 16th we left Innsbruck to head to Bled, Slovenia.  On the way just 30 mins outside of Innsbruck we went through Jenbach and had to stop! This was a place where a story I've heard my whole life took place...My parents were on a trip there back in the 80's and they got separated at the train station on the way to Salzburg. My Mom had gotten on the train and my Dad was just steps away on the platform as the train came up and stopped so quickly that he didn't get on in time.  She had his ticket and luckily had just given him his passport and wallet back so he was able to buy a new one.  Of course these were the days long before cell phones so Mom was forced to wait about 5-6 hours on the other end in Salzburg before he eventually arrived on another train!

We continued our journey driving through the Alps for another 5-6 hours with a few stops...

 Eventually we arrived in Bled, Slovenia, my 30th country by 30!  Bled is a small resort/holiday town with Lake Bled in the center and a magical looking chapel out on an island.  It quickly became one of our favorite places we have visited.  Shortly after we arrived we decided to go down the alpine slide which is on a ski hill there and to get to the top you ride the same chairlifts that are used in the winter.  It was really fun and a neat view overlooking the lake.   

Brian getting ready for take off!

Such a fun ride down...

The next morning we rented a row boat for an hour to go out and see the the island.  It was early but already so hot out but I had such a nice driver :) Poor guy was pretty sweaty...

"How much further?"

Getting closer...

We made it!

Such an unbelievable place.

Next we were off to the beach to cool down and relax and go for a swim on the other side of the lake.      

So breathtaking...

By about 3:00pm we were hot so we decided to leave the beach and went to check out Bled Castle up on the hill on the opposite side of the lake.  

There were great views from this perspective and seeing the lake and island.  It was just below here where we started from in the row boat that morning.

  There were 2 weddings taking place and the scene felt like a complete fairy tale.   

Later that night after we ate we were stuffed and decided to go for a walk.  We ended up going all the way around lake which is almost 4 miles!

Saturday July 18th after breakfast we said sadly goodbye to Bled and started the drive to Salzburg, Austria.  On the way out we saw tons of traffic backed up for miles headed into Bled.  This reminded us of traffic like on the way to the cabin in Minnesota.  On the way to Salzburg we stopped at Lammerklamm Gorge.

The views were well worth the stop.

Once we got to Salzburg we checked into our hotel which was up on top of mountain overlooking city. Then we headed into the city center and found ourselves at the Augustiner beer garden with some steins and a bite to eat.

Next we walked along the river and took the cable car up to the fortress for great view over Salzburg...

 Later that night we enjoyed our wine from Liechtenstein at the hotel as well as saw a very nice sunset.  We had dinner outside at our hotel but unfortunately it rained part way through so we had to move inside.  A great evening though!

Sunday July 19th we left Salzburg and since our flight wasn't leaving until 8:00pm from Munich which was only a 2 hour drive, we made the most of the day and hopped small German towns along the way.  Here was one of them along a very nice lake...

Such a nice marina and another very nice hot summer day!

At the end of this adventure we agreed that the Alps in the summer are just as beautiful as the Alp in the winter! :)