Thursday May 27 - Neustadt - Engelburg Swizerland

Today we awoke to another day of rain, so we decided to make a little change in our routine. Manfred headed the bus south through the eastern part of France, and then back into Germany into the Black Forest. We had planned on going to an open air museum, but this would have exposed us to 100 KM of road construction, not to mention heavy rain. Instead, after driving for almost 3 hours, we made this first stop at a wonderful Cuckoo clock facility which also served light lunches and wonderful Black Forest Cake. The demonstrator who hails from Wales displayed cuckoo clocks from the original ones that had to be wound every 8 hours to their ‘top of the line’ clock that sells for 4000. On the side of the building was a wall mounted clock that had a cuckoo and dancers that performed every hour and half hour.

Then were off to the beautiful Tittisee Glacial Lake just a short time down the road. We enjoyed a bit of a walk about and the chance to complete any lunch that was required. The lake is 1.3 square KM and up to 20 meters deep. In winter it freezes enough to allow ice skating.

We then drove into Switzerland and to the Rhine Falls –a beautiful scene with a large waterfall and a beautiful walk. We were entertained by a family of swans, mallard ducks and countless fish – all waiting patiently for any crumbs dropped from the walkways. A number of us went to the top of the falls where we were treated to a wonderful view of the falls from a different angle, and an old mill.

Then we were off to our evening’s lodging at the beautiful Ramada Regina Titlis Hotel in Engelberg. This is a delightful resort town at the base of the mountain – not too different from the town of Whistler. The scenery is spectacular, and the road is full of hair pin turns and steep grades.

After a lovely chicken dinner we were all ready to hit the pool, hot tub or just a quiet evening with a glass of wine. Tomorrow we go up the mountain!