Today the route took us out of Switzerland and briefly into Germany, to have a small taste of the Black Forest, before entering France.
Time for stage two of the tour, the local bus to the cable car terminus. From here, there are three stages of cable car. After stage two, most of the group choose to take a diversion, and go tobogganing down the mountain side. The toboggans run in a chute, and at the bottom, the driver, plus toboggan, are towed backwards to the top.
The final cable car ride, took us to the top of the mountain, but unlike the previous two days, we were in the cloud, and unable to see the apparantly marvellous views. But the best was yet to come, from the top we decended in the steepest cog railway in the world. It is an amazing 35 minute ride, with gradients that get to 48%, and a brilliant way to end the fun day.
Could we have two perfect sunny days in a row, driving alpine passes? Yes, it appears we could: today was another wonderful mainly cloudless, hot, sunny day. Leaving St Moritz we popped over a barely noticable pass, the Majola (Pass 7: 5955ft,1815m) before crossing into Italy and heading over the Spluga Pass (Pass 8: 6932ft, 2113m) where we crossed back in to Switzerland. Avoiding the main road we also avoided the San Bernardino Tunnel, instead taking the San Bernardino Pass (Pass 9: 6775ft, 2965m)
It was not clear which of the last two we were meant to take, or indeed which one we were on until the road became cobbles. Surprisingly they are in the process of cobbling the entire ascent – who knows why, the cyclists must hate them for it. Eventually we rattled our way to the top and ticked off Pass 10: 6860ft, 2091m.
Down the other side we found the pretty village of Andermatt were we stopped for refreshments before setting off to climb the Furka Pass (Pass 11: 7992ft, 2436m). From the top the you can see the road snaking down, then along the valley floor and a road climbing out the far end of the valley. Was this to be our route?
13 apline passes in two days: not knowing the altitude of the valleys we cannot say how many metres we gained and lost over the two days and we certainly did not count the hairpin bends; but the weather was wonderful, the views were stunning and the driving experience fantastic.
Today, the fun began: Matrei am Brenner is at the foot of the Brenner Pass thus our alpine passes day began immediately. We took the B182 to enjoy the drive, while alongside or above was the motorway with all the heavy trucks grinding slowly up the incline. Pass 1 was completed at 4495ft 1370m and we crossed into Italy, dropping down to Vipiteno and then on the S44 over the Passo do Monte Giovo (Pass 2: 6870ft, 2094m) and down to Merano.
From Merano we headed for Sponding where the Stelvio Pass begins. Fortunately Laurence in his TR5 and I had a fairly clear run without slow traffic in front and so enjoyed a wonderful romp up the hairpin switchbacks, a truly fantastic drive. (Pass 3: 9045ft, 2757m)
The Stelvio Pass is the second highest paved road in the European Alps and as you go over the top you skirt a corner Switzerland. The 60 hairpin bends on this pass make it one of the most challenging roads in the world.
And so we arrived at St Moritz, at the end of a fabulous day's driving and enjoyed a walk around the lake that we last walked on, in the middle of winter.
Being woken during the night with more thunder and heavy rain, we were quite apprehensive about our chances of seeing the Alps. However the scattered low clouds present when we awoke cleared quickly and we were privileged to see the Alps and drive the passes in glorious sunshine all day.
We had been well advised that the way to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle was to be at the ticket office when it opened at 8 a.m. and secure a place on the first English speaking tour. So, we were duly there at the head of the queue when the ticket office opened its doors and were able to secure places on the 9:20 tour.
The castle, the inspiration for Disneyland's castle and featured in a number of films is the busiest tourist attraction in Germany so it is well worth making the effort to beat the crowds. When we got back down to the village it was overrun with tourists and the car park was practically full. (There are 4 other parks, but this one was the closest to the ticket office.)
it was built in the late 1800s by King Ludwig of Bavaria who, tragically, only spent 176 days living there before his untimely and suspicious death. The castle was never finished, the third floor remains unfinished to this day and the castle was opened to the public a mere 6 weeks after Ludwig's death.
It really is worth the hassle of procuring a ticket and climbing the track from the village (you can take horse-drawn transport if you are feeling particularly lethargic) as the interiors of the finished rooms are stunning.
(Mary's Bridge) for a view of the other side of the castle with the valley beyond; we were terribly disappointed to find the entire side of the castle that was presented to us wrapped top to toe in scaffolding and plastic sheeting,
Garmisch-Partenkirchen and on to Wallgau. Wallgau is terribly attractive with the murals on the shops, hotels and restaurants that are built in the traditional Bavarian/Swiss/Austrian/alpine style.
We drove down the side of Achensee were we found a coffee shop to take a break; looking out over the lake and the Alps beyond. On to Schwaz where we stopped for a wander around before taking the scenic route over the hill to Matrei am Brenner and our lovely hotel for the night.
The morning began driving from Luxemburg (provence of Belgium), over the border into Luxemburg (country) where we used the motorway to skirt around Luxemburg (city) then across the border and into Germany for what was supposed to be a fast run across Germany on the autobahn.
Our first deviation from the proscribed route was to Landau where we had a quick look at the Romanesque church before enjoying some refreshments in the square. Then back on the autobahn for a few more queues before heading off to find the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery complex.
This was well worth the detour as it is a really attractive village set within the Monastic complex, most of which can be seen for free, the only payment required is to enter the Monastery proper, and we were there on a beautiful day so it was at its picture-perfect best.
Our early start was not really early enough to get us to the ferry at Dover with adequate check-in time but after a rather rushed journey to Dover, we sat on the quay for an hour longer than we should have due to delays caused by technical problems the previous day.
However, we were entertained by the centennial re-enactment of Bleriot's flight across the channel as the restored replica of Bleriot's plane flew overhead before landing at Dover.
la Patrouille de France (the French equivalent of the UK Red Arrows) was performing their routine for the French side of the Bleriot celebrations enabling us to enjoy a free show while we waited to disembark.
just before the border with Luxemburg.
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