The Lacey Invasion: Germany and Switzerland

Day 101 - 106

After catching up with Fleur in Munich the night before, we had a slow start the next morning with a fairly sluggish run around the Munich gardens to shake off a slight hangover.

The big event for day 101, however, was the arrival of Bronwyn into Munich airport and discovering the path we would follow for the next 3 weeks as we travelled through Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and then back to Munich. 

With the busy schedule we had set out for us, the blog took a severe backwards step so we have decided to regale you all with some of the better pictures on our journey rather than a bunch of text.

The first morning of our trip outside the local bakery in Bad Bayersoein. We picked up a loaf of fresh bread for breakfast and also discovered that the Germans have a severe issue with wasps in their bakeries. From this day forth, every bakery we went into had a bunch of wasps tucking into the sweet pastries. The locals didn't seem to mind as they still purchased the wasp infested goods.

Side note: Great semi-wild camp spot just outside of town with power for a Euro a night!

Only a couple of hours into the trip and Claire is playing practical jokes! On this occasion she surprised Fleur with her retractable umbrella, which finished only centimetres from her face.

Side note: Fleur had already started wearing Claire's clothes.

Inside the Landsberg Church - some amazing architecture, frescoes and confession booths.

Luke a little excited to be in the town of Fussen. 

The girls quite excited to see each other. 

The Neuschwanstein Castle which the Disney castle was based off.  Not as impressive as we expected, but worth the half hour walk up the hill nonetheless.

Stopped for the night in Austria at our first paid camping location and getting ready for dinner.

The gang touch down in Chur, Switzerland. 

We parked up alongside the river in Chur for a fantastic lunch of hotdogs. Luke managed to eat four of the weiners - fat bastard!

Top of the Oberalppass in Switzerland - one of many passes we would frighten Bronny with over the  next 3 weeks. She was so scared on this one that she was caught biting down on a pen as we rounded the hairpin bends to stop her from screaming!

Standing out in shorts and t-shirt didn't last too long at 2046m and approaching Autumn in Switzerland.

The girls letting go at the top of Oberalppass. Fleur managed to purchase herself a new hoody in Garmisch, which she is sporting in this photo. She's still wearing Claire's trackies though.

Camped up in Vitznau, Switzerland. The grounds were perched on a crystal clear lake and at the base of some stunning mountains. The campground even had a swimming pool, which we took advantage of and Luke won the freestyle and breastroke 30m swim.

Just outside a ritzy hotel at Interlaken, Switzerland. 

The amazing green and turquoise waters of Interlaken that separate the two lakes.

Luke about to start the Jungfrau Marathon - a gruelling 42km run to the base of the Eiger (and uphill all the way). On this occasion he has decided to wear thongs for their breathability.

Quite possibly the best nachos ever made on earth - The Lauterbrunen Nacho (by Claire and Fleur).

View from our campground in Lauterbrunen - wedged between two massive peaks.

Some crazy rock sculpture in Lauterbrunen or that Rock Guy from The Fantastic Four?

The Jungfraubahn Alpine Railway, which takes you up to the highest train station in Europe at over 3000m.

A quick stop in a very scenic part of Switzerland before we headed up another pass.

Bronny on a mission for a 'Hot Drink'!

Hiking up to the base of the Eiger on a fantastic sunny day. For those of you that don't know what the Eiger is, it's one of the most technically challenging mountains to climb and also call 'The North Face'.

Lake near the base of the Eiger.

Going the more extreme route to the Eiger, which wasn't so popular with Bronny (despite the happy photo).

This is kind of why Bronny didn't like the extreme route so much.

Walking up the side of one mountain to the base of the North Face.

The girls scouting out a suitable lunch location.

Not a bad place to have lunch, with the Eiger just ahead of us in clear view.

Hawkeye providing directions on how to get down the mountain.

The rock behind us was a exhibit showing the climbing gear from each decade since the Eiger had been scaled. I wouldn't want to be using the ropes from the 1930's.

The quintessential Swiss cow - complete with massive cow bell. Not far from here is the finish line for the Jungfrau Marathon - it took the train about 50 mins to get to the finish line and the eventual winner only 2:59 min.

The Jungfraubahn heading back down the mountain.

Hot air balloon passing over the valley near Zweisimmen. Claire and I rode up this hill for about 30mins before our lungs packed in and we had to roll back down at 80km/h.

The lovely ladies posing for a photo in Gruyeres - the home of Gruyere cheese and meringues.

Looking down on the church from the Gruyere's castle. One thing that we didn't know was that the creator of 'Alien' came from this town and they had built a bar with an Alien theme just nearby, where people could sit in Alien looking chairs. A bit out of place for such a cute Swiss town in my opinion. Sci-Fi Freaks!

The beautiful Lake Geneva.

Chateau du Chillion on Lake Geneva.