Romance of the Rhine and Mosel - Switzerland 2

Hi, On our third full day in Lucerne we took an optional trip to view the Alps.

Our first stop was the picturesque village of Brienz (above and five below).

The town is located on Lake Brienz (above and below) and

is known for its wood carving. This wooden girl was outside a carving shop.

Our next stop was Interlachen. This is one of the older elegant hotels in the town.

Across from the hotel was a park with some vibrant flower displays.

This is one of 72 waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

At Lauterbrunnen we boarded a meter gauge rack train for the trip to Kleine Scheidegg. Gears hanging down from the train engage the rack between the rails (looks like a stretched out bicycle chain) to the train up the steep grades. 

At Kleine Scheidegg there was a restaurant with some interesting statues outside, and ski runs.

Even though there were lots of clouds we did get some nice views of the Alps. Here is the Eiger.

After lunch we traveled down the other side of the mountain we had climbed that morning, ending our rail trip at Grindelwald Grund where a bus met us for our return to Lucerne.

On the trip down the mountain the weather began to clear providing some nice views of the Alps.

Here are two views in Grindelwald Grund (above and below) where we left the train. From here we took a bus back to Lucerne.

Thanks for looking.

Romance of the Rhine and Mosel - Switzerland 1

Hi, In early April we joined friends Cathy and Jim Kleeman on a river cruise on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers with a pretrip to Lucerne, Switzerland. I'll begin these posts with coverage of the first 2 1/2 days in Lucerne.

The afternoon we arrived we took a short walk around our hotel. It was located only 1/2 block from the Reuss River which flows into Lake Lucerne out of the photo just to the right.

The next day also was on our own so during the morning we did a little more exploring of the area near our hotel.

That afternoon Cathy, Jim and I walked to the Lion Monument. This bas relief statue of a crying lion memorializes the hundreds of Swiss Guard who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution when and armed mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

Along the north bank of the Reuss is a pedestrian mall featuring restaurants and hotels.

Chapel Bridge is the most famous bridge in Lucerne. Built in 1333, much of it was rebuilt following a fire on August 18, 1993.

This view shows the inside of the roof covering the bridge.

Lamps in Europe can be very interesting.

On April 10 we had a walking tour of the old town. I stopped to take photos of one of the many swans and got separated from the group.

Meanwhile Ruthe stayed with the group and took the photos above and three below.

The group toured the city hall

and then crossed the Reuss River into the Old Town.

Decoration of buildings is common.

Here is a view of the Chapel Bridge from the north bank of the Reuss River. Near the far side of the bridge is the Water Tower, a fortification from the 12th Century.

This structure is from the previous railroad station on this spot. I am standing just outside the new station. The structure serves to welcome train travelers to Lucerne.

There were many old steam launches docked along the lake being prepared for excursion service.

In the late afternoon we took a one hour ride down the lake. Above, our group is boarding a modern launch.

The scenery is, as expected, beautiful.

Upon leaving our launch we took a cable car up a mountain. Going down we would use this cog railway.

There was a hotel and restaurant at the top the cable car.

We were greeted by this man playing a local horn.

While we ate dinner we were entertained (above and below).

The gentleman on the right was our tour guide for the entire trip.

After dinner there was an opportunity to take some photos as the sun set.

I thought the cog railway track created an interesting pattern as it descended the mountain.

Thanks for looking. 

Spain and Morocco - Final, The Alhambra

HI, On Day 12 I travelled from the port of Malaga to the city of Granada to visit the Alhambra. Ruthe remained on the ship as she thought walking around the Alhambra would be too difficult.

The Alambra was the summer palace and gardens for the last Moorish dynasty to rule in Iberia. It was built during the first decade of the 14th century. This is a view looking out from one of the many windows.

Most of the gardens are a reconstruction so apparently they thought it was OK to build this outdoor performance area.

The gardesn are broken up into sections.

There are some interesting interesting details and

tile work.

Some of the areas have fountains.

Here we are looking from one area of the palace to another.

We left the palace for a bit in late morning. Here are some views in the vicinity of the palace.

This the courtyard of a the palace of Charles V.

In the afternoon we reentered the Alhambra. Here we found typical Moorish decorative carving and painting of the walls (above and one below).

This is an iconic view.

More typical decoration.

Our last day was spent on a few sights in Malaga. As I looked at the photos I did not find anything worth sharing so this is the final post for the trip.

Thanks for looking.