What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Travelling independently by car allowed us to adjust our schedule and we picked a sunny clear period to visit one of the major draw cards for French tourism - Chamonix ! We were absolutely spot on in doing so, because going up the famed Aiguille du Midi (Needles At Midday) could be a dicey business, as high winds could force the closure of the famous cable car at the very last minute and of course a clear blue sunny day up Mont Blanc added 10 times the colors and spectacle of this famous European mountain range. 
Having encountered some of the well known atrocious rainy/sunny/snowy 4-seasons-in-1-day pattern in Switzerland, the weather gradually stablised as we said goodbye to the charming and friendly city of Martigny after spending a sunny morning climbing up the city castle of Chateau de la Batiaz; where the strategic location of Martigny all became apparent because we could see miles of gentle valley all around us, leading in all four directions, thus making this city an important transport hub. We came through the Mont Blanc Tunnel from Aosta to the charming village town of Chamonix. Chamonix surprisingly retained much of the village vibe and leisure pace, considering it had been a magnet of a year-round tourist spot for Summer hikes and Winter sports. We stayed at a modern log cabin look-a-like (multi-levels) just 5 minutes' walk from the cable car entrance of Auguille du Midi but the nice lady at the ticket stall told us we could not buy tickets in advance for tomorrow as the cable cars might not run because of the high winds ! Yikes !

Luckily a bright almost wind-less blue morning greeted us the following day and we bought our tickets to go on the 16th cable car of the day (about 30 minutes after buying the tickets) and were stuck with a large group of muscular Asian Mama who elbowed their way in all directions to get to advantageous view points inside the cable car ... ha hum ... The first sensation which awaited us at the top was in fact, a drop of more than 30 degrees, from a mild 25 C at the starting point to a wind-chilled -10 C up at the peaks ! We were prepared with woollys alright but we saw backpackers wearing flimsy T-shirts trying to pull up their ankle socks up to their shins to cover their bare thighs ! (They ended up in the warm coffee shop for most of their sight-seeing ...). All around us was stunning snowy peaks framed against a cobalt blue sky, with dramatic glacier gorging deep into the mountains of Mont Blanc - truly one of the most photogenic places we had ever come across. There were also adrenaline-filled sports addicts with their skis and ice climbing gears who braved the descent back down to Chamonix, zig-zag-ing across the steep fields of blanketing snow ! We spent a good 6 hours up at the peak and took a picnic lunch at the midway point (Plan Du Auguille) and that was one of the most interesting and spectacular days in all our journeys. The fun did not stop there as the following day, we hiked up to the view point of Glacier Des Bossons and managed to witness and videoed a mini-avalanche (see video above !). We said our fond farewell to this lovely spot in the world and drove on to the Black Forest of Germany and had the famous Gateau as a mid-morning coffee break one day before flying back home from Munich. The Black Forest Gateau was a fitting reward for such an adventurous journey !

On the eastern side of Switzerland where insurmountable mountains rose to great heights, one could only travel from one side of the mountains to the other by going through a number of man-made passes consisted of a series of sharply curved roads and numerous never-ending tunnels and on one occasion, we even had to take a car-train for a half-hour journey from Realp to Oberwald ! We motored on four main scenic mountain passes : 

 

 

When we were at university, we had a good friend who studied Linguistics, majoring in German, she hipped hopped her way into the kitchen one day and announced to the world, in her wide-eyed, animated, excited ways that she would be spending her "gap year" in the Austrian Alpine town of Innsbruck. We kinda just nodded in acknowledgement (or was it commiseration and sympathy ? I forgot ... ) and wished her the best; thinking the poor girl would be stuck in a cold strange town with no friends, no heating and mostly doing photocopying in a freezing Austrian library. Well, ignorance held no bounds - yeh, Innsbruck could well be the BEST European town to spend a "gap year" ! Sorry for our oversight, Lindsay !
Having picked up our car from Munich Airport, we drove for about 2 hours, passing an Autobahn joint to dig in to a fried salmon steak and roasted potatoes and not forgetting to buy the Austrian Vignette (Austrian Road Tax Plate) or risk a big fine ! At first, Innsbruck looked just like any Austrian towns with featureless suburbs and underwhelming corner bar cafes; as we drove further into town, we discovered a town flanked on both sides by the beautiful Tyrol Mountains and the picturesque River Inn thundering through the heart of town. We settled ourselves on the western side of town and enjoyed an hour's brisk morning walk to explore this enchanting town. Starting from the famed Maria-Theresien-Straße, the main street composed of both car and pedestrian traffic, we happily got lost in the many quaint cobble-stone streets which inevitably almost always, led to the famous landmark structure of Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) - essentially an ornated balcony for the royals-past to observe and enjoy festivals, musicals and other regal events. Even the blue sky returned, which left us with a beautiful impression of this interesting, young and energetic "gap year" town !

Having driven for an hour or so westward from Innsbruck, the scenery became even more mountainous and as the roads twisted and turned, we entered the Princedom of Liechtenstein without so much fanfare than a lonely un-manned boarder station with a low-key metallic board indicating in elegant letters - Liechtenstein. Yes, we had reached one of the smallest countries in the world, with a population of less than 40,000 spread across an area of 13 km by 13 km, almost a third of the size of Singapore or Phuket ! So, we drove slowly (!) to take a good look at this country, passing through the train and bus stations of Vaduz, the capital and having found a free (Sunday) space in the Vaduz Parkplatz, we spent a good 2 hours wandering around Vaduz, ogling at the camera-clicking tourists, observing the lack of local people apart from the shop keepers and cafe waitresses and admired the Gutenberg Castle atop a steep hill at a distance and at last we found a vacant parking lot to indulge in a picnic lunch. Memorable country yet nothing much to remember, so on we drove.