Heading East

After picking up our car in Lyon, we have been heading east. First a campsite in the  south of lake Geneva and then two nights just south of Zurich. Here we made contact with two couples who are friends with one of our daughters. For two nights we were regaled by genuine and near genuine Swiss!

After a hair raising trip through the Austrian Alps we camped at Unterpefuss. The trip though the alps was spectacular. One can only imagine what it is like in winter. Jagged rocks, mountainous crags, winding roads and all the while, spectacular views made this a memorable journey. 

Now we are headed for Wien and Bratislava- these capitals are very close.

Wien/Vienna was flooded with tourists. This always makes me uncomfortable as I feel it is a huge imposition on the local population. Bratislava was more low key. There were tourists but they weren’t overwhelming the city. We loved the castle and churches as well as the architecture of the old town. The castle displayed the history of Slovakia in a very engaging manner.

We travelled further east to Orsava Castle. The countryside is beautiful but even the back roads are clogged with semi trailers. While in this area we also travelled to Krakow to visit the salt mines at Wieliczka. Tourism on a large scale again. The mines were fascinating but unfortunately our guide seemed bored with the whole task and her English was difficult to understand. The group behind us had a guide who was dramatic, enthused and engaged with his followers.

We are now heading south through Hungary to Romania.