We arrived in Lauterbrunnen after 3 days in Como, Italy. We were ready to do some hiking in the Berner-Oberland area and stayed at the Alpenrose Hotel in Wengen. It is a well-kept, clean family hotel in Wengen in the neighborhood right below the train station. We love the charm of Wengen and it was a good central location for our hiking. We love training down to the Oberland Hotel restaurant and enjoying the view on the deck and their delicious raclette and rosti. We could not believe how crowded the area was even in mid-September. My husband and I have both retired in the last few months and thought that traveling in September would be less crowded than during the summer months. We were wrong!
We bought Berner-Oberland train passes that were so easy to use....just hop on any train, show your pass and you are on your way. We loved the ease of using these passes!
The weather was not the best....we had partly cloudy days and rain would come in every afternoon about 5. It is the mountains and I guess you will always have some form of rain.....it snowed on us as we hiked the Kleine Schiedegg trail. The last day we were there the sun came out and we had a beautiful clear day ALL DAY! We took a nice side trip to Interlaken on the one day that it was rainy and overcast all day and that was a nice diversion.
We saw a wonderful mountain tradition while in Wengen....the local families were moving the cows down from the mountain paths and paraded them through town with their bells and flowers on their necks. It was a treat to hear those bells and see the families with little ones leading these herds through the main street in Wengen.
It was a nice 4 days in the Alps and we were glad we had put these days in our itinerary.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11341 posts
How lovely! I am glad you spent a few days so you got some variety. Aren't you lucky you got to see the cow parade?
Posted by
OP
Franklin, TN, USA
874 posts
Yes Laurel! We had no idea we would get to see this and it was delightful! Even the shop owners in Wengen seemed excited to see it go by.
Posted by
OP
Franklin, TN, USA
874 posts
Part 3 of our Northern Italy trip was spent driving to Milan to turn in our rental car in and then training to Venice. Turning in the car was relatively easy....that is usually as trying as anything you do when you rent a car.....and we caught the train to Milan Centralle train station. What a ZOO! It was Thursday late afternoon and was CRAZY.....we had no idea this experience would be so stressful. A panhandler promptly met us at a ticket kiosk, tried to help us buy tickets and we finally got him to leave us alone. We are car renters so train stations are foreign to us.....and Italy is so confusing. The lines were awful...and no one would help. Even the train employees would wave you off if you asked a question. We figured out how to stand in line for a number to see a ticket agent at a desk...and then we finally got help. No one explains to you how to read the ticket and discern the coach you are on....got on the wrong car TWICE and realized what we had done wrong. Got settled on our seats to Venice and were finally on our way. This kind young Italian sitting across the aisle from us must have seen us trying to read our maps and used his laptop to get directions to our Venice hotel. Thank goodness for him! I should have done more homework preparing to walk off a water bus to our hotel in Venice! It was dark and I still do not know how we found it......MIRACLE. We stayed in Hotel Campiello and it was perfect.....clean, great location, well-priced...we were pleased that our choice turned out so well. We were both charmed with Venice.....family members had warned us that they did not like Venice but we did. The gelato at Grom was to die for....and the charming shops along the allies and canals were beautiful. The city has so much beauty around every corner. We bought tour tickets to St. Marks Basilica to avoid lines and were so glad we did. What a site! We also took a walking tour of Venice and that exposed us to the best way to get to the Rialto Bridge. We took the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doges Palace and liked that it got us past long lines there and to the Bridge of Sighs.....I would ALWAYS recommend getting tickets ahead to avoid lines of any kind.....standing in line takes up valuable touring time. We took the elevator to the top of the bell tower and loved seeing Venice from above....we went early and avoided any lines.
We took a water bus one of the afternoons we were there to Burano...we were not interested in Murano and glass but I was eager to see handmade lace as I sew. I think my Burano trip was the highlight of this entire 2 weeks! I got to see the ladies make lace and bought some beautiful pieces to sew with. The brightly colored houses are a treat for a photographer.....it was a nice afternoon break from the crowds of Venice. I also loved seeing the lovely linens and handkerchiefs in shops of Venice and bought lots to bring home and use as children's collars. It was a treat for a seamstress!
We caught a water bus back to the train station early the third day.....stood in the pouring rain as we drove through the canal! (truly a memory for me as the church bells rang)...and caught our train back to Milan.
Posted by
OP
Franklin, TN, USA
874 posts
The last stop on our Northern Italy trip a week ago was Milan. We trained into Milan from Venice. We stayed at Hotel Star which I would highly recommend. It was well-priced, very clean, had a great location and Vittoria at the front desk was a wealth of information. We were only a few blocks from the Duomo so spent time the first day touring it and walking on the roof. We felt the elevator ride up was well worth the extra euros. It was an amazing view! We loved walking around the Vittorio Emmauelle shopping mall....easy places to get a bite to eat in a sidewalk cafe. We toured the Leonardo da Vinci museum right there at the exit of the shopping mall walking toward La Scala. It was open on Monday and we felt it was such a great museum. We were so glad we toured it the day before we went to see The Lord's Supper the next day. The museum does a great study of the painting, helping prepare you for what you will see. The next day we took a nice neighborhood walk through the Brera area where there was a nice street market and great shops. I loved the local jewelry made at the Tita Boutique at Via Madonnina 13. It is a small local artist. We spent the afternoon at The Lord's Supper on a Skip-The-Line-and Apertif tour to see the painting. It was beautiful. After seeing the painting for 15 minutes the tour took us on a tram and walking tour of the castle, the duomo and La Scala. It was nice to conclude our tour of Milan with this tour.
We liked Milan......it is a busy city and does not have the charm that Venice does but is still an Italian city worth visiting.