Vacation 2015 - Day 12, Part 2: Meiringen and The Reichenbach Fall

After checking in at Camping International Lido in Luzern, we got back into the car and set the course for Meiringen, and Conan Doyle country.

The main reason for this outing was to visit the Reichenbach Fall of Holmes/Moriarty fame, and to get up there, we had to take the cogwheel train up the mountain.

Two tough chicks on the train

The trail going up

A couple of views from the lower part of the trail.

Another tram on the trail.

And the acxtual, genuine Reichenbach - none of that Robert Downey castle-on-the-Niagara nonsense.

The mandatory proof that we were actually there.

The basin at the bottom - and another small waterfall.
The proper name is actually the Reichenbach Falls, in plural.

Lea is posing as a certain investigator.

And persuaded her dad to do the same...

If you look very carefully, you may be able to locate a light spot about 1/4 in from the left side, almost at the horizontal middle axis.

That is actually a æarge star, marking the spot from where Holmes was believed to have fallen to his death with Moriarty.

Another angle

Lea is perpetuating the stunning view from the trail leading to the top of the falls

I tried to capture the 'star' from above.
You may be able to spot it just above the middle of the picture.

I just cannot get enough of sights like this.

Meiringen

The top falls

A foot bridge spanning the top of the long fall

Does it get much better?

At this point, my family wanted to go back, but I decided to complete the walk to the site of the fatal meeting.

Tread carefully!

 And I got there!

I wouldn't want to take a dive here...

Another view of Meiringen

Going down

Some impressions of Meiringen. This town has made sure to make the most of its connection to Victorian literature!

With most senses well fed, it was time to drive back to Luzern and prepare supper...

Vacation 2015 - Day 12, Part 1: The Road to Luzern

Closing in on the St Gotthard Pass

 

Vacation 2015 - Day 11

Back on the road, driving through northern Italy on our way to Switzerland, we had a stop for lunch.

As you can see, we tried to make full use of any shadow, as 'only mad dogs and Englishmen...'

Weather was, as during our entire vacation, very nice, and very, very hot.

 Whenevet we made a stop, and were staying near the car, we opened doors and windows in both the car and the trailer, otherwise it would be like entering an oven after only 10 minutes.









Here we have passed the border, and are just outside Lugano. The Alps are looming over the horizon.

Some landscapes shot from the car.

For the night. we found a nice little camping site in Gudo, near Bellinzona, Camping Isola.

It is situated just on the banks of the River Ticino, and a long, very narrow road leads from the main road down to the camping site, and we almost prayed to the powers that aren't, not to meet any traffic on it.

Nice shadowy site with grass under large trees, a small restaurant, pool, and a food store.

Grass means ball!

Sunset in the mountains

Bordering on the camping site was a property with some tiny ponys.

Almost set for the night

Vacation 2015 - Day 10

The last full day at the camping was used for relaxation - and the midday heat was best avoided by the kids in the trailer, resorting to intellectual activity.

We had been to a store in Sottomarina, and I had got a couple of Italian beers, so I spent some of the afternoon tasting them.

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised, as Italian beer is not something we hear a lot about in Denmark.

This rather large bottle of relatively strong double-malt beer from Peroni almost made me fall asleep sitting in a chair in the front awning.

Very good taste, but probaly better consumed in connection with a meal of some sort.

Well, I enjoyed it thoroughly!














The second course in this untimely drinking feast was another ½ liter's worth of slightly less strong brew from Moretti.

This one tasted even better, although none of them, in my opinion, beats the Moretti La Rossa Malto Brunito double-malt I bought on our second day in Sottomarina.

For the sake of completeness, I include the back label of the La Rossa beer (the red one down below).

And, as it was a lazy day, I did not take any more photos, as nothing interesting really happened.