July | 2014 | Brumablog

July 26, 2014
by Bruce & Margot 2 Comments

From “Big Bang” to Northern Italy!

After visiting the Olympic museum in Lausanne, we drove into Geneva and found a good campsite right on the lake about 20 minutes from downtown with a large contingent of German campers in attendance which turned out to be a great bonus for cheering on Germany to their big World Cup win. We enjoyed a warm sunny day looking around the city centre checking out the waterfront and admiring the great selection of exclusive personal banks available to us if we’re ever in need. Geneva itself is a very beautiful and business-like city but I have to say that the most exciting part of Geneva for us was our fascinating tour of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) just outside the city on the French border. This truly amazing international project of gigantic proportions is the largest and most complex machine ever built by mankind. The particle beam accelerator smashes protons together to recreate conditions similar to the “Big Bang”. In doing so scientists attempt to prove and disprove theories of physics that could provide key answers to the origin of the universe and lead to a single Universal Theory. The specific details of this machine and it’s potential discoveries are truly mind-blowing and if you read more about it, you could be easily fooled into thinking it’s just good science fiction.
We burst into Italy driving through the 10 km long Mt. Blanc tunnel and into the beautiful d’Aosta Valley. Italy has been a real “change-up” from northern Europe as things seem a bit more random and laid back south of the Alps. The locals have been very friendly and we’re quickly adjusting to the casual Mediterranean influenced lifestyle. Milano was a big and bustling city with some very interesting sites to see like the worlds largest Gothic Cathedral across the square from one of the most prestigious high-end shopping malls in Europe. The old castle was cool as well. We were very impressed with historic Verona and even managed to squeeze in a visit to the home of Juliet (of Romeo & Juliet) which has become quite a popular tourist attraction. But the best part of Verona for me was a walk through the beautiful 2000 year old Coliseum (3rd largest in the world) that’s still in active service featuring world class performances throughout the summer.
We lucked into a great campsite on the peninsula across from Venice in a place called Punta Sabbioni. We bought a metro transit pass for the bus-like ferry system and have spent the last four full days exploring Venice and Islands. You cannot help but be impressed with this place, it really is magnificent and romantic too, if you don’t mind sharing it with a few others. When Bert and I were here in the fall of 72 the streets were mostly empty with the exception of a few guys selling freshly roasted chestnuts. Today, Venice reminded me of a busy shopping mall in Edmonton on the 24th of December minus the panic purchasing. Margot really enjoy all the Murano glassware shops and I enjoyed the air conditioning they provided. Despite the large crowds of international tourists and all the street sellers trying to earn a living, it really is a very impressive and exciting place to be that we’ll always remember with fondness. And then the rain… on wash day!

Road Ramble:

You may be wondering why you keep seeing us dressed in the same repeating set of clothes week after week but you’re just too polite to make a nasty comment or ask why. Overall I think we did a good job of packing “flexible” clothing for the different seasons with the concept of layering in mind and I think we carried over the right quantity too. We tend to unpack and utilize certain clothes that work best for the present weather conditions but when they are in need of laundering, we have very limited space available in the motorhome for storing dirty clothes. Therefore, we try to launder our clothes regularly and then conveniently hang them back up in the handy dandy closet for quick reuse. It looks bad in the photos, but it is practical.
Doing laundry on the road has been a bit of an issue for us. Most of the campgrounds have at least one washer and dryer available but they are often busy (summer especially) and are very expensive. Two loads can easily cost $25 dollars or more to wash and dry with no guarantees about the condition of the clothes when finished. We can’t quite figure out why staying clean is so pricey over here but we do understand why so many people tend to use clothes lines. I’m sure we could have bought and paid for our own machines by now, if we could only figure out how to drag them along with us. By the way, I had almost forgotten how nice it is to climb into bed with freshly washed bedsheets that were dried in the warm sunshine.

July 12, 2014
by Bruce & Margot 2 Comments

Fun and Excitement in the Swiss Alps

Despite major amounts of rain lately, you might say that Switzerland has been a highlight for us. Continual breathtaking alpine panoramas with lush green slopes looking more like groomed parks than typical farm fields. Quaint villages sprinkled about between immaculate lakeside cities like Geneva, Lucerne, Zurich, Bern, Montreux (with its amazing medieval castle “Chateau de Chillon) and Lausanne (the IOC Olympic Capital) all add up to one impressive and very beautiful country. The Swiss people are friendly and helpful and we have been treated wonderfully. The only downside so far has been the inflated cost of just about everything and the somewhat limited camping availability compared to neighbouring countries. We were told the minimum hourly wage in Switzerland is very high and that’s why a simple cup of coffee at Starbucks can cost about $8 with a pizza and beer for two costing about $100 Canadian. We tend to eat at the motorhome as much as we can and shop the supermarkets for our culinary inspiration. Margot has done a fantastic job of learning to cook a variety of interesting and tasty dishes in the limited motorhome space. Campground choice has been limited and sometimes nonexistent, like in Basal and Davos. The famous ski resort village of Davos has special meaning to me as this is the town I worked in for a part of the winter of 1972 at the Davoserhof Hotel. So I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t spend more time showing Margot around because of the limited camping issue. Sneaky street camping was not even a remote possible considering the preparations that were under way for the yodelling contest. Now you may be thinking “Big Deal!”… and you’d be right. This small alpine town, in two days time, was about to host 10,000 yodellers from around the world and 100,000+ supporting spectators. You can imagine the temporary infrastructure going up to handle all this and the resulting organized chaos in the streets as we drove into the village. Parking was tough but camping was impossible so we headed over the mountain to Klosters where Bert had worked (and learned to ski like a pro) hoping, but unfortunately not finding, a place to camp. We had to quickly move on before darkness so it looks like a return visit to Davos/Klosters is now on our bucket list.

Road Ramble:

Since my first ramble stated off on the topic of “Safety”, I can’t think of a better topic than “Health” for my second one. We were in a Zurich and it was late, about 1:00am and a large group of us campers were sitting in a designated viewing area beside the lake watching the World Cup Soccer “shoot-out” between Holland and Argentina on three big televisions placed on posts in the water. To expedite my late trip to bed, I grabbed my floss, and while watching the soccer action, I began the mindless task. Bad safety judgement on my part; as the intensity of action on the screen grew, so did my flossing, Just as the Dutch scored the winning goal, I felt that awful sensation of a rough tooth from under a now missing dental cap. Margot grabbed a flashlight and we scoured the grass for my dental work to no avail. I went to bed excited for Holland and ticked about my tooth. It must have been a good balance because I slept well and when I awoke, I give the ground search one more try in the brilliant sunlight. After a few minutes of working a strategic “search grid”, I amazingly found my tiny white “cap” nestled in the grass about ten feet away from where I was sitting (Wow!). We were told that dental work in Switzerland was very expensive so we decided to drive back into Germany where we found a very kind dentist. He actually specialized in tooth implants but after hearing my sad story he took pity and invited me into his chair. He was a pro… Zip-Zap! he had everything back to normal and we were on our way with a dental bill of only 46 Euros. Considering our free Stellplatz for the night and a cheap diesel “filled-up”, we actually broke even on the ordeal. Yes, It’s a happy ending to this frightening story, but I end with this dental safety warning to all of you… do not floss your teeth while watching horror movies or gripping sporting events.

*Driving over Fluela Pass just East of Davos*

*Stopping at the summit to admire the natural Swiss beauty… and the motorcycles too*

*My Hotel Davoserhof with the fantastic “Jacobshorne Ski Resort” directly behind… and above!*

*Davoserhof restaurant where I worked six days a week with time off for skiing, everyday*

*The original 500 year old Davoserhof Hotel was my winter home*

*And, the “Postly Club” a few doors down the street was a great place to hang-out on weekends*

*Parked outside the train station in Klosters near where Bert worked and skied the winter away*

*Fantastic panoramic views around every mountain corner*

*Watched Holland win the world cup of soccer here, as I “Fla-lost” my dental cap into the grass*

So… *from our tranquil Zurich campground, a quick dental detour to Germany; then onward to Lucerne!*

*Looking down on a beautiful Lucerne canal from a little neighbourhood park*

*The famous “Chapel Bridge” in Lucerne. It’s the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe*

*Built in 1360, it’s the oldest truss bridge in the world. A perfect place to escape a rain shower*

*We loved strolling through the beautiful streets of Lucerne*

*Plenty of magnificent artwork around… according to Margot*

*A large “Tunnelling Mole” outside the “Transportation Museum” – beside our campground*

*Small beautifully groomed farms puzzled together forming a quaint and parklike landscape*

*Driving along a typical back road that ran directly through this well kept farmyard*

*Overlooking the river Aare from “old town” Bern*

*Beautiful multi level gardens to the rear of some magnificent mansions*

*Western gate with its extraordinary 1530 clock tower. Albert Einstein’s family home on the left*

*Einstein wrote his Annus Mirabilis papers here changing how we understand the universe (E=mc2). That must be his “Smart Car” out front*

*Montreux is at the east end of Lake Geneva. Famous for it’s Jazz Festival every July*

*And, Château de Chillon. The incredibly interesting offshore medieval island castl*e

*It’s roots date back to Roman times and this was *Margot’s dad*‘s (Gramps) favourite castle*

*Olympic Committee Headquarters and Museum in Lausanne. “Faster- Higher-Stronger”*

*Our campground in Geneva. Admiring our neighbour’s nice motorcycle trailer*

July 3, 2014
by Bruce & Margot 1 Comment

Bavaria and “Road Ramble”

The original intent of Bruma Blog was twofold, first to keep family and friends informed as to our whereabouts and secondly to function as our travel diary. This second objective may explain the somewhat excessive use of photos and some particularly unique descriptions. I’ve been asked however to include some other travel related experiences, tips and trivia to the blog. Therefore, l’d like to introduce “Road Ramble”. I’ll try to include Road Ramble at the end of some blogs and thrill you with completely unrelated, unorganized and random thoughts of our day to day motor-homing experiences. Margot tells me she has lots of them… and I know she’s anxious to share them. As for any “nuts and bolts” content regarding in-depth information on specific topics like “electronics”, I’ll prepare a specific blog sometime in the future to address such details.

Road Ramble #1 – No better way to start a ramble than with safety. Personal safety and security is always a concern for us as we travel about and we tend to be very cautious in handling ourselves as well as our cards, cash, and documents. So you can imagine how disappointingly surprised we were when I became the victim of a “Pick-Pocketer” at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. Waiting innocently in the rain for our tour to begin, we took shelter under an awning with a small group of tourist looking types. Taking a second closer look, I did notice a few guys in the pack that didn’t really fit the “Rick Steves” image of a tourist and instinctively put my hand inside my left pocket to cover my iPhone. Our tour completed and just as we were leaving I reached into my right pocket to pull out my change purse but it was gone! Having used it for a coffee purchase just prior to the start of our tour, I immediately new what had happened. Those socially defective, but talented thieves, were so fast and smooth I had no indication of being robbed… and then they vanished like ghosts. Luckily for us it was only my small sized change purse containing cash-only that they got as we keep all our high value items under much tighter “Money Belt” control. Never the less, they earned about a hundred dollars for their devilish deed that day and we got a relatively mild reminder of how important it is to be constantly diligent of potential opportunities for these professional crooks to exercise their skills.
After that experience maybe I’m the wrong guy to be giving advice on travel security but, what we have found works well is a good quality money belt for additional cash, credit card, drivers licence, passport and any important documents. For daily expenses we carry in our pockets a small change purse loaded with adequate cash to cover the basics for the day’s outing and that was usually between 50 and 100 Euros. Essentially, this “cash only” purse becomes a sacrificial target – in a pinch… so to speak. For all the other “stuff” we carry around, like iPhones and camera, the best security solution is a good travel vest or cargo pants with secure pockets that require some sort of physical manipulation to open. Like this fashion or not, you’ll probably see us wearing both of these stylish accessories in the future.

As an interesting side note, we’ve discovered that cash is definitely the preferred method of local commerce and often the only method of payment, as credit cards are not accepted in many smaller establishments. We find ourselves therefore having to carry more cash then we normally would and not feeling very comfortable about that. Of the two cards we use, Visa is accepted most often and American Express is rarely accepted (Master Card also seems popular). Gas stations often accept credit cards but some of them only with a higher than cash fuel charge. Our bank cards at the ATM cash machines worked well with only minimal service charge at our own bank affiliated Euro banks. Other independent banks charged various amounts more for their service charges.

Below, I’ve added some pictures of our trek through Bavaria as we head towards Switzerland. Starting with photos of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle near Fussen and ending them at Hitler’s infamous, but beautiful, “Eagle’s Nest” near Berchtesgaden, Germany on “Canada Day”.