Sorry I have not had internet for some time but am alive and kicking!  Here are my latest updates.

Venice 13^th July

 I am sitting here in our camping ground, red wine beside me looking across the water at Venice.

Since my last post we’ve walked the Plitvice Lakes.  Fortunately the weather was a little cooler.  The boardwalks and trails provided access to the forested areas and the 16 lakes ranging in colour from azure to green, grey and blue.  Last time I saw a water snake.  No such luck this time or any brown bears that supposedly inhabit the forest.  However, the picturesque scenery more than made up for that.  Off to explore Venice tomorrow.  

 14^th July

Venice is as charming as I remembered.  Did the usual touristy things- The Basilica di San Marco (which houses the remains of St Mark which two Venetian merchants stole from Alexandria – very enterprising of them!), caught the vaporetta to Murano, window shopped.  The boys had a VERY expensive beer -15 euros (that’s each beer!)  We also went to an excellent show called ‘Venezia’ which covered the history and traditions of Venice through a dramatic presentation and surround projections. We were fortunate to be there on the Fiesta de Redentore” which culminated with a huge fireworks display.  Think World Cup and triple it and that’s being conservative!  Pretty spectacular.

16 – 19^th July - Hello from Switzerland the land of knives and watches!

Lovely to return to one of my favourite places in the world.  After all what’s not to love – cobalt lakes ringed by magnificent mountains, candy coloured or wooden chalets with window boxes full of brightly coloured flowers dotting the lush, green hillsides or clustered together creating quaint little villages.  With the cooler temperatures we’ve had the bikes out again and used them to see the sites of the beautiful medieval towns of Lucerne and Bern. And yes the scenery takes your breath away.  No more so than the Interlaken region.  We again stayed in the Lauterbrunnen and used this as a base to explore the area.  The sheer rock faces and towering mountains leave one in awe.

On our first day here we rode to the Timmelbach Falls where the water corkscrews through ravines and potholes shaped by the swirling waters inside the mountain.  20,000 litres a second pours down from the glacier and it is something to watch Mother Nature at work.

Day two we caught the early bird cog train (as it’s cheaper) to ‘the top of Europe’ – the Jungfraujoch.  Not a cloud in the sky. On the way up we were able to see the north face of the Eiger in the viewing window.  (Last time it was shrouded in cloud) Although it was brilliant sunshine at the top, we were all glad of our buffer jackets (thank goodness for Kathmandu and Macpac! – yes we ‘40 somethings’ keep them afloat).  Of course the view was breath-taking.  This year is their 100 anniversary so we received a special ‘centenary railway passport’.  Always good to get something free!  We decided to walk part of the way back.  We wended our way down walking next to alpine meadows full of wild flowers while we gazed up at the glaciers and mountains accompanied by the sound of cowbells tingling. (honest they still use cowbells).  Quite magical.  Just like I imagined Heidi’s world.

On our last day we again did an early bird deal (cheapskates you say - more money to spend on nibbles and wine we say).  We cable-cared to another peak called the Schilthorn.  Great panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and three tallest local mountains - the Eiger, Jungfruajoch and Monch).  Scenes from the James Bond movie’ On Her Majesties Secret Service were filmed there.  (That’s the one where the baddie gets munched up in the snow machine and stared George Lasenby)  It also has a revolving restaurant which we just had to visit and have a hot chocolate.  Off to Germany next.