European Vacation - 2009

In August of 2009, Theo and Jeff flew to Zurich and then drove through eastern Switzerland to Nauders, just across the border into Austria. We spent three days in Nauders and then drove on to Soelden, in the Oetztal valley, where we spent another three days. We returned to Zurich and spent a day walking through the shopping and university districts downtown. We then returned home.

This was mostly a hiking vacation. We did five fairly strenuous hikes (of from three to six hours duration each) up and down mountains during the trip. We also ate a lot of very good food. Despite the daily workouts, we both gained a few pounds from the big breakfasts, the pastries, the kaisershmarren (pancakes and apples or berries) and other excellent desserts.

Despite having our luggage delayed a few days, this turned out to be one of our very best vacations. We made some friends, had great hotel stays, took some superb hikes, and generally had a wonderful time.

Below are some pictures and descriptions of the trip.

The first few pictures are some general impressions of the scenery - lots of flowers and rushing brooks and castles: beautiful sites and pretty good weather.

This castle was in Nauders.

Pictured below is the town of Nauders, as seen from a field above. This picture was shot during our first hike. The hike was a guided group tour up into the mountains, with many stops to discuss, taste or otherwise understand the herbs, weeds, flowers and bushes along the way.

The group consisted of our guide, Babsi, and a German, three Belgians, Theo and Jeff, who took the picture below.

As we got up into the mountains, we experienced some beautiful views back into Switzerland. Below is a view of Martina, Switzerland and the Inn River, as seen from an Austrian mountain. We were also very close to Italy and we took a drive around Italy's Lake Resia while we were in the Nauders area.

During this Nauders hike we ate lunch at an overlook from which we could see all three countries. Interestingly, the trees looked like green pasta in Italy, green money in Switzerland and green apple strudel in Austria.

At one point in this hike, we walked through some old war trenches that had been dug by the Germans, dropped down into a cave and came out the other side to an overlook that dropped off a few thousand feet. At that overlook, one of the Belgians took the picture of Jeff and Theo below.

Looking down from the overlook, we could see the cross on a peak below. Babsi's father was the one who put the cross in place a number of years ago.

Another view of Nauders, as we returned down the mountain ....

This view below gives you a sense of the pastoral beauty of the land.

After three days, but only one hike (since we had to wait a couple of days for our hiking boots and trekking poles to arrive), we drove on to Soelden. Our first day we took a gondola up a mountain and then hiked back down. Soelden is pictured below.

A hiking route had been suggested by the hotel staff. We took a different, tougher and longer route. After a few hours it began to rain hard. Just as we were dragging ourselves back into the hotel, the staff was planning to send someone to look for us. They had assumed we were inexperienced hikers (and old to boot) and might be having trouble. [After our second hike way up to a restaurant on a different mountain, they knew otherwise. We may be old, but we're tough!]

Here's Theo coming down the mountain on that first hike - and before the rain.

Our path took us through some rocky terrain, as you can see below.

On our second day in Soelden, after a lunch of wiener schnitzel (Jeff) and mozzerella cheese and tomatoes (Theo), we took a long hike up the mountain to Kleblealm, where we had some Kaisershmarren (pancakes) and Spezi (which is Pepsi and orange Fanta mixed together). Theo was dressed for the rain or the sun, whichever appeared - and they both did.

Below is a view of our hotel complex, which is most of the buildings you see in the foreground. The complex had five major buildings, an indoor/outdoor pool, a spa and assorted restaurants, bars, etc. It was a superb place for a vacation.

On one of the days, we took a ride deeper into the valley to Vent, Austria. On the way, we saw this picturesque church, with the mountains in the background.

Below is a view from the church, looking back down the valley from which we had come.

Our third hike in Soelden was up yet another mountain to another restaurant. This is a view along the way, looking back down toward Soelden.

Here's our small group in the mountain restaurant: Theo, Jeff, Antonella, Pieri and Boris the guide.

This is a view as we left the restaurant, with the clouds starting to roll in. This is our favorite picture from the trip!

Here are Theo and Boris leading the way down.

On the day we left Soelden, we stopped in the northern part of the Oetztal valley to hike up to Stuiben Falls, the highest falls in the Tirolean Alps. Here's Theo taking a rest along the way.

Below is a picture of the upper portion of the falls, taken from one of five lookout areas along the hike.

Here's a view of the lower portion of the falls.

Coming back toward Zurich, we stopped for lunch and a walk around St. Antons am Arlberg, Austria. This town is a very popular ski resort, but seemed a bit commercial for our tastes. We continued on to Zurich and spent a day walking around that city.

Below is a view of Zurich from the university.

Here's a view looking west from a bridge near the Zurichsee.

Here's another view from a different bridge.

Zurich is truly a beautiful city and a great place to shop if you have more money than you know what to do with. We didn't, so we didn't buy anything other than lunch.

This trip will be memorable for the hikes, the people, the way we were treated at the hotels, the tremendous scenery, our lost luggage, and our day-long trek through Zurich. All in all, a terrific vacation!

Theo's Hiking Pictures from around the World

Theo and Jeff South have, since 2002, vacationed in various mountain ranges around the world, where we can hike to waterfalls, lookout sites, mountain tops, high altitude restaurants and other places of interest.


These are pictures of Theo taken in Austria, Canada, the United States, and Switzerland from 2003 through 2008. (Jeff took most of the pictures.)

This is Theo in 2003 on the way up the mountains to the west of Achenkirch, on the Achensee in Tirol, Austria. We rested at this waterfall, which was not far from the standalone bellowing cow (for which there is a story for another time.)

Further up the mountain above Achenkirch, we bumped into this German couple who were vacationing at a farm, working the animals in the morning and hiking in the afternoon. On our hike, they spotted some wild chamois/"gemsen" (goat-like antelopes - or antelope-like goats) and pointed them out to us. The Germans had long conversations with us in German, most of which we didn't understand, but that didn't slow them down any. A nice couple ....

Also in 2003, we visited Kitzbuehel, Austria and stayed at the Hotel Erika, an unusually architected, three level building that was painted a pleasing pinkish/orange color. We were invited by the hotel owner (Uschi is in the picture below with Theo) to join a group of other hotel guests for a mountain hike. We fell in love that day with hiking in the mountains. The hike involved taking a chairlift well up a mountain and then hiking across six or seven miles of mountain paths. On the chairlift, Theo held on for dear life while watching the Swiss woman in front of her doing casual calisthenics. We snacked at a hutte (mountain restaurant) and rested our feet in the stream you see in the picture.

The picture below is from 2003. It shows Theo with her back to the valley in which lies Bad Hallstatt, Austria, a restored renaissance town on a lake. We started a hike back down to Hallstatt but quickly retreated back to the bahn, when we were accosted in a swampy area near some falls by hundreds of mosquitoes, against whom we had no protection. This whole area was beautiful.

Here's Theo in 2004 high up a mountain above Maurach, which is on the Achensee in Tirol, Austria. We took a bahn up to this point and then hiked further up the mountain. Note the clouds in the valley below her, but it was sunshine on the mountain itself.

Here's a view as we headed further up that same mountain. Later we worked our way down a very rugged trail all the way to Maurach, taking over three hours of stepping stone by stone down most of the trail. Theo and Jeff both fell several times and we were pretty bruised at the end of the day. But, it was beautiful!

Here's Theo that same year in front of a castle-like hotel across the lake from Gmunden, in the lake country of northeastern Austria. We went to Gmunden to look at tableware - but only ended up buying a ceramic rabbit.

Below is a wind-blown Theo squinting into the sun alongside the lake just south of Seewalchen, which is also in the lake country to the east of Salzburg. This was a beautiful day. The following day we went to an oompah band competition and heard some great music. We also stayed in a superb hotel just north of the lake in Seewalchen and had a terrific fish meal that evening. Seewalchen was gorgeous, with some marvelous old buildings and lots of swans, geese, ducks and other sea birds on the lake.

This is Theo in 2004 carefully climbing down a rocky path from a hutte above Mayrhofen, in Tirol, Austria. This hike involved a bahn ride halfway up the mountain, then three hours of hiking up to the hutte - a good meal and some fun with several horses that kept trying to climb up on the hutte patio to eat the food of the hikers who were sitting there. The hike down was rugged. When we got down to our car, we discovered that Jeff had lost the keys, but there was a note on our car indicating who had found the keys and where they had been left.

Below are Jeff and Theo at the Krimmler Wasserfaelle, at Krimml, Austria in 2004. There are three major waterfalls that drop hundreds of feet. The hike up to the top took about an hour and a half (and the path was blocked for a while by a herd of semi-wild goats). Then we hiked another hour or so up a long ascending valley, eventually eating a good breakfast-like meal at a farmhouse in the valley.
The hike up was of medium difficulty and we were encouraged along the way by a Scotsman to "finish the climb to the top" for him, since he was part of a tour and had to return to the bus before reaching the top of the falls.

Now shifting countries, this is Theo in 2004 standing in front of a small lake that borders the mountain teahouse above Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. She loves this teahouse and we visited it again in 2007.

Below is Theo at Maligne Canyon, just outside Jasper, Alberta, Canada. We had completed a four-hour hike around Maligne Lake, where Theo had been spooked in a remote part of the trail by a very curious doe that came close to investigate us. Maybe the doe had never seen people before, but we were not bears or wolves and thus not a threat to her. Nonetheless, the presence of the deer caused Theo to turn around and head back at a faster pace than she had been going - maybe in case some grizzly came looking for the doe?

Here's Theo below Angel Glacier, south of Jasper. You don't see the glacier, but you can see the accumulated residue that had fallen below the glacier.

Theo and Jeff, with Lake Louise in the background.... Note the unique reflections in the water.

Florida

In 2005, Theo and Jeff vacationed on Sanibel Island in Florida. We did some hiking in a nature preserve on the island, during which time we saw many exotic birds, lots of alligators and the island's lone, twelve-foot long crocodile, which had been unseen for a week, but which we nearly stepped on. Fortunately, it wasn't hungry.

Here's Theo reading a display case that described some of the plants and birds in the preserve.

Here she is, seemingly relieved that the croc hadn't been much interested in her.

In 2006, we moved our home from Ohio to Virginia. In late September 2006, we spent a few days hiking along the Blue Ridge Mountain trails and the Appalachin Trail - staying at a bed and breakfast in Harrisonburg, Va. One of our hikes took us down to seven different waterfalls. Here's Theo in front of one of them.

This is Theo with the autumn colors of the Appalachians in the back ground.

On one of our hikes down from the Blue Ridge Parkway, we came to this waterfall. A couple of youths from the Netherlands took this picture for us.

On a particularly sunny day, Theo wore this floppy hat as we hiked. However, she didn't necessarily want her picture taken ....

Switching countries, again....

In 2008 we traveled to Norway. We drove across the mountains from Oslo to Voss on a more southern route (Drammen, Kongsberg, Edland, Roidal, Odda) and back on a more northern route (Voss, Flam, Gol, Fagernes, Gjovik.) We did some hiking, but less than we had planned, due to some food poisoning that Jeff got at an otherwise great four-star hotel.

Below is the Dalen Hotel, wherein we stayed the second night. Theo is just heading out to hike with Jeff around a bordering lake and through the small town of Dalen. There's a great hole-in-the wall restaurant in a grocery store across the street from this hotel, if you ever have the fortune to visit Dalen.

This is the view looking out the rear of the Dalen Hotel. Of course, when you go, Theo probably won't be standing in front of the picnic table.

Just north of Dalen, Norway, we hiked up to this famous spot, which has a view that has apparently been the objective of many dignitaries over the years. There is a large display case a few yards to the right of where Theo is standing that describes some of those dignitaries and the situations that led to their being at this site.

Throughout Norway, we came across stave churches. The one below (that's Theo in white) is near Oye, which is in central mountains halfway between Voss and Oslo.

This is Theo on a ferry crossing a Fjord just south of Voss. You can't see the ferry, but you can tell from the picture that the views were pretty spectacular.

Please continue to monitor this blog. We will be adding more pictures of Theo.