Although showers were predicted for this day,
we managed to skirt any showers that occurred. So we remain with the roof down,
and bundled up at times and shedding clothes at other times. Driving through the Austrian Krimmi Valley,
we skipped the paid parking and paid fee to see “one of the biggest waterfalls
in the world” (remember we have Yosemite). This falls has been commercialized
so much, with restaurants, junque, and as above, a cost to park and visit the
falls. Our photo are from a free distance.
Lunch was again at McDonalds, where we ran in
to John and Gail (Americans) , and later Liz and Dave (British) stopped as we
were leaving. A lot of fun is made of us
for stopping at McDonald’s, but we can get a quick lunch, reliable taste for a reasonable
price. Everything is super expensive in
Europe, food and liquor and petrol.
Visiting the Swarovski Crystal World was on
the agenda for the day, but based on Trip Advisor comments, we decided to skip
it and instead visit Innsbruck. However, Innsbruck is a very large city, so we
drove through it and continued on our way, ticking Innsbruck off our list of
things to ever do.
We arrived not terribly early at the very old
Post Hotel in Imst, Austria where we enjoyed a glass of Austrian wine, then
headed out for an Italian dinner with the group. It was nice to have a lighter
dinner that took only two hours.
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| 8 of the 11 cars on the trip |
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| Post Hotel, Imst, Austria |
Saturday was the “Pass” day with us
crossing 5 passes, and having breakfast
in Austria, lunch in Italy and dinner in Switzerland. We managed to leave the hotel by 9 AM and the
day was already becoming lovely and warm. It was about 60 miles before we
started the Stelvio Pass run, going over the Reschenpass first.
We had been warned that Stelvio Pass would be
extremely busy on a Saturday, be very careful of bicyclist’s and motorbikes and
other cars as we ascended and descended this famous pass.
As we started up the pass, we were surprised
that there were few cars coming down the pass, although every turn I had to
turn around and look up to be sure no one was coming.
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| Looking down Stelvio Pass |
We stopped for Liz and Dave who were stuck by
the wayside about ½ way up the pass , engine boiled over, waiting for Joe and
Dan in the van to assist them. After
being assured they were okay, we traveled onward. As we almost reached the top,
we heard that the pass was closed down the other side for a Bike Race until 2
PM. It was about 11:30. So we had the
choice to turn around and go the valley route, or wait until 2 PM and the race
over.
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| Waiting at the summit |
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| Elaine at the Stelvio Pass Summit |
We chose to have a bite to eat, and wait it
out. It was an uncontrolled mad house at
the summit, no one directing anything.
But we survived and enjoyed the ride
down the other side, which was very busy, with cars, bicyclists, and motorbikes
all heading down and soon cars, bikes and motorbikes heading up against us.
What we had expected all along for the ride over the pass.
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| St. Mortiz |
After several more passes through the Italian
and Swiss Alps (Passo
del Foscagno, Passo
Del Bernina and Julierpass),
we made it to our very unique hotel in
Lenzerheide, Switzerland,which was crafted out of old farm buildings (HGTV-
like just think what you can make out of this abandoned farm). It is very well
done and most fun to be in such a place with cows (with cow bells) and chickens
and other animals around.
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| Hotel |
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| Our Building- lower right 2 windows |
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| Our bedroom- most comfy beds |
Dinner was at the hotel restaurant with the
group.
Today is a “Free”
day in Lenzerheide. As the Morgan was
very filthy, we headed out to find a car wash, which we managed to find 11 km
away.
After cleaning the car, we headed down the hill to Chur. We had also hoped for a laundry day, but had to settle for doing a few
items in the basin and hoping they dry.
It is another beautiful day in the
Swiss Alps and a pleasure to just be able to take it easy. Dinner was with new American friends, living in London, at a local restaurant at an early hour.
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| Cows interested in the Morgan |
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| Morgan in the Alps |
After returning down the hill, we headed for the "old town" of Kitzbuhel to walk around. Ice cream called to us, so we enjoyed ice cream and a beer.
