The Alps - Switzerland and Austria

Switzerland was one of my favorite places yet. Everywhere were mountains. Mountains covered with trees, mountains with massive rock faces, and mountains that soar into the heavens with jagged summits that could pop a balloon if one were to make it up that high without bursting. There wasn’t any need for us to travel on scenic routes because the highways were scenic. They go up, down, across, and often times, through the mountains with tunnels as long as five kilometers every fifteen minutes or so. GPS Jack eventually guided us off the highways onto roads that brought us through picturesque towns nestled in valleys where the sun doesn’t shine until noon because the mountains on both sides are so great. The houses in the towns, for the most part, are huddled together as if to keep warm during the harsh winters. Every town had its fair share of cows all bearing the bells so characteristic of Swiss cattle. I’m not sure which aspect of the farms we recognized first as we approached the towns; the smell of the cow shit or the sound of the bells. Call me crazy but I somewhat enjoy the smell. We continued up, down, across, and through the mountains until we made it to the city of Davos. Even though it isn’t the right season for skiing just yet, it was obvious that Davos was a major resort town. There were multiple gondola stations that go up to the top of the mountains right from the center of the city. Also, the sides of the streets were not only used by people on bicycles but people on custom rollerblades made to resemble skis. They even had their ski poles with them. We tried to find a gondola to take us to the top of a mountain to maybe eat or just enjoy the views but they seemed to all only be open in the winter.

When we left Davos on the road to Austria, we went through the Fluelopass. I might have misspelled that. This is where I climbed the mountain next to the road and took the amazing pictures. As we got closer to the pass and higher in elevation, the mountains had less and less trees on them. They were the nicest colors, basically the colors of thanksgiving. The road itself was at an elevation above 2000 meters and most of the mountains were at least 500-1000 meters taller than that. It was like driving through Franconia Notch in New Hampshire except three times better. After I climbed halfway up one of the mountains next to the parking lot where Papa was, we had a nice meal at the restaurant.

Innsbruck, Austria was our next stop and we made it there around sunset. I didn’t know that the Olympics were held there twice. We didn’t go looking for the Olympic stadiums and such, but we did take a ride into town to walk around and get something to eat. We ended up eating at McDonalds. You’re probably saying, “Why the heck would you do that?”. Well, we hadn’t eaten at one since we started our trip so we wanted to see what they were like in Europe. Also, it was nice to have a meal that wasn’t so expensive. It wasn’t that different. It was right in downtown Innsbruck so there was no drive-through. The dining area was very long and narrow and the ceilings were arched giving it a very old look. There were a few differences on the menu, for instance, they had chicken wings, waffle fries, and a few more flavors of milkshakes than we do in America. The mountains in Austria were no less spectacular but it didn’t seem like there were as many as in Switzerland.