It’s raining again…
The camping had gone quite well and we set off in bright sunshine toward Lake Constance. The wind was behind us and we made good time, which was just as well as behind us clouds started to grow and soon we had our jackets on to keep us warm as the sun was overtaken by them. We crossed into Litchenstein, then into Austria – stopping off a cup of coffee and a cake that didn’t require a down payment and 5 monthly installments to follow, and then back into Switzerland, probably the most expensive country in the world. We saw a car get a parking ticket £360. Two coffees £10 and a camp...
Read MoreTilly Tilly Bang Bang…
After Ilanz the Rhine heads through a gorge along with the train but the bike route goes over the top of the mountain to meet back up with the river at Tamins. We decided we’d hop on the train for this short section and save our legs as some of these hills are 15% and are for the hardcore mountain bikers not us. Or maybe we’re wusses as Ben tells me. The train journey is well worth it, winding back and forth along the bank of the river giving spectacular views of the river a few feet away. The guards on the train were the usual helpful souls passing our panniers down to us and...
Read MoreScream if you want to go faster…
“Reed!” Shouted the lady in the hotel at Andermatt as we walked in the front door in a very German Kommandant like manner. “Jarvohl”. I should have replied but being a bit taken aback at being shouted at the moment you walk through the front door when you know Linda is still outside, I timidly replied ” yes”. “Follow me to your room” she continued curtly and we complied immediately. The room itself was very nice with a brand new bathroom (always a hit with Linda) and our hostess was actually very nice once she’d frog marched us to our...
Read MoreWe’re nearly there…
We awoke in Zurich, having taken the night sleeper from Amsterdam, to be greeted by the fresh mountain air that is Switzerland. No, hang on, that’s not quite right. We got off the train to be greeted by a station that was so smokey it actually had a mist hanging over it. It stank of cigarettes and we almost felt we’d gone back go the 1970’s on some time train, but no, this is Switzerland which advertises it’s clean mountain air but greets you with smell like a stale ashtray. A few days earlier we’d cycled from Orford to Harwich, got the night ferry and then...
Read MoreOur next adventure is about to begin…
So, what is it? Well, we’ve decided to head to the land of cuckoo clocks,Toblerone and mountains – Switzerland and with the snow falling heavily and our destination, Andermatt perched at the top of the Gotthard pass at 2000m currently basking at a balmy -14C what else is there to do but… get our brand new tent out and camp. I know, crazy! When we planned this trip the weather at Andermatt was a cool but comfortable 12C and we thought hey ho, an extra blanket and we’ll be fine. But with the weather changing we’ve booked hotels instead. So, are we finally set to...
Read MoreGoing Ape!
We got our money from Nat West as Barclays ATM was out of order and popped into M&S to see if they had any Cornish crackler, they didn’t so we went to Morrisons to get cheddar, passing numerous vans advertising Strongbow, John Smiths, McVities and Walkers crisps, sent a couple of post cards from a the Royal Mail Post Office, avoided all the cafes selling Bacon and Eggs and British Fish and Chips, made sure we said ‘Gor Blimey Govnor’ a lot and asked a British Bobby what the time was. Welcome to Gibraltar, a little England in a sea of Spain. This is a weird but...
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