18 April 2015 - From knee deep snow to warm spring sunshine in a day!

Waking to the sound of rain and the river running by reminded me that I was in Switzerland!  What a lovely slow morning it was!  My sister made me pancakes in bed and plied me with cups of tea! Luxury!  We also spoke to our parents and our other sister, who is still in Australia, so it felt like a family sort of morning!

Heidi country

 The rain was still quite heavy as we set out for our first little walk down to the river and across the suspension bridge!  The river was raging but so clear.  Little wildflowers, which have been in bloom for a few weeks in Germany are just showing their flowers here.  In the alpine regions, spring takes a few weeks longer to manifest.

Loads of fun on the suspension bridge

Liquid ice!

Early signs of spring

Croci!

The rain slowed down and finally stopped.  We gathered a bit of a morning snack/lunch and drove up and up through very old alpine villages.  Some of our drive was nearly completely obscured by dense fog but we pushed on, hoping that there would be a break in the clouds and a bit of blue sky and there was.

Road to beauty!

 

The road, closed last week where could drive this week, was still banked up with snow and still a bit slushy.  The sun was just deciding to peek out when we sat on a dry bit of road for our morning tea!

Well, it was a dry spot for our picnic!

AND the clouds cleared!

Wild and lovely.

Fairly sure, this little guy had been sitting there all winter.

It really was so lovely as the mountain tops were visible in patches and again we had the company of a raging stream.  We could hear marmots calling  and see some tracks but the little creatures were not going to let us see them today!

The other side of that ridge is Austria!

Bridge dance

Cold enough for gloves and scarf

In summer the kids play in the icy river!

Selfie time!

 The alpine air was cold and we were dressed appropriately and it was special to share it all with my sister.  Our descent was less foggy and quite clear in places so we could appreciate the view.  We stopped at a tiny village, St Antonien.  The tiny little church, built in1493, and restored since was peaceful and much less ornate than the big Catholic churches we have seen of late.

Evangelical church of St Antonien - all the community notices were pinned to the outside walls - as they would have been in day of old!

Simple blonde wood church.

Ancient door - truly looked like a dungeon door

The café there was closed but not too far down the road was a cupboard!  In the cupboard was THE most delectable home produce in the form of cheese, sausage, preserves and various baked goods.  The sign on the cupboard said : "Baked goods restocked on Saturday" and the aroma when we opened the cupboard told us the baked goods were fresh.  We came away with some cheese and birnbrot (pear bread) and a nuss schnecke (nut snail) - needless to say, I peeled away at the scroll of nuts and dough fairly rapidly and I think I'll remember that and the birnbrot above all else, as the taste of Switzerland  - divine!

Farm produce cupboard!

Leaving the hidden valley!

We drove past Liechtenstein and into Austria and off to the town of Bregenz.  Bregenz had sounded sort of cute, by the lake and we had thought coffee there would be a good idea, but it was fairly disappointing as far as coffees go and not very appealing on our brief first glance.  We finally found a park opposite the station and couldn't quite work out whether we were already in Germany or still in Austria - dumb tourists, eh?!

Pretty much sums up Bregenz for us!

We said farewell at the station and I felt as it I had been away for a week!  It was so lovely to spend time with my sister.  The train journey was efficient and clean and when I got off at Bermatingen, it felt as if I were coming home!  My feet were still wet in my shoes from walking in deep snow this morning and yet warm bright spring sunshine greeted me as I alighted the train!  The colours of spring were so vibrant after the greens and browns of the alpine zone which was just remembering what spring was all about!  It would be true to say that I felt a little shellshocked having travelled through so many countries in a day and gone from alpine snow and freezing ears to warm sun and spring flowers!

 

Bregenz Bahnhof - farewell!

Luke peeked out of our window when I rang the door bell with a joyous welcome.  Everyone was happy and calm and it was great to be back.  I am so very grateful to Karl for giving me the "weekend off"  to visit my sister.

Being a Saturday night, we watched a movie.  This time it was The Truman Show.  We all enjoyed it and Karl and I who had seen it by chance years ago enjoyed rewatching it.  Tim knew the movie well because he had studied it at school and we didn't reveal the plot to Annika so she could enjoy the full impact of the movie.  Once the plot was known, we explained it to Luke who also enjoyed but though it was very unfair.  It got a tick from all of us!  And to think, next Saturday night, we'll be in France!!