Austrla is quite extended east-west. It was 4 hours by train from Salzburg to Vienna. It would be the easternmost extent of my travels until I reached Finland later.
I think I met David, a native of Maine, at the pension where we were both hoping to stay. We agreed to share accommodation to save costs, and toured Vienna together. Of course Schönbrunn Palace was a must-visit.
We joined the tour and this is one of the elaborate rooms. They related the story or myth of a concert where the child Marie Antoinette helped the prodigy Mozart to his feet after he had tripped. Mozart is reputed to have said: Princess, when I grow up, I will marry you. Perhaps that would have been a better alternate universe for both of them.
We also took in other sights, such as the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses many famous classical paintings.
Another museum we visited was the Belvedere, which has some famous Klimt works. The grounds were extensive.
St. Stephen's Cathedral with its distinctive roof tile pattern. This landmark would become very recognisable to international TV audiences after 1994 due to Inspector Rex.
It is located in the central area of Vienna, Stephansplatz.
In the area is Trześniewski, a shop which makes small but delicious open-faced sandwiches. At 5 schillings each I had a few.
In the evening we ate at a keller where they served giant wiener schnitzels larger than the plate. It went well with the beer.
Possibly the same night, we went to the Prater (no pictures unfortunately), and looked at the Johann Strauss' statue in the Stadtpark.
On our last evening, we visited some a wine garden in the Grinzing district, with a view of vineyards and the Danube.
David had discovered that he could cross into nearby Czechoslovakia and visit Bratislava. At the time my passport wasn't valid for the other side of the Iron Curtain and also I had to stick to my itinerary to cover the ground I wanted on my railpass. We said exchanged addresses and said goodbye. He was to board his bus and I to take a train to Germany. This is the last photo in the roll, of the end of some public entertainment near an underpass. The banner says: Culture Without Barriers.
I spent a night in Liechtenstein to be able to say I had been to that small country, my third one in Europe. I remember entering the country on a postbus from the nearest station in Switzerland. It went over a bridge and voilà I had crossed the border. The water from the tap in the youth hostel was the freshest I had ever tasted anywhere.
I don't remember much about the country. Looking at the surroundings, it resembled Swiss countryside. That's probably why I don't have any pictures of it. But I mailed some postcards from there for the novelty.
Salzburg has an alpine border with Germany, so I took a trip up the Untersberg by cable car and had this view over the city. This part of Austria is actually north of German territory.
The ski slopes are used in winter but of course bare in summer.
Even so there were large patches of snow and I made some snowballs. Prior to that the only times I had seen snow were on a trip up Mount Wellington above Hobart, and a ski trip to Thredbo.
It looked pretty formidable above the snow line.
This part of Austria is close to a finger of German territory that includes Berchtesgaden, a famous mountain resort.
View from the mountain refuge.
The friend who gave me an introduction to the Swiss couple was born in Austria and she asked to look for some clover and run 3 steps on it, barefoot. I reported my results on a postcard: ouch, ouch, ouch. I was joking of course. She also asked to to look out for edelweiss. I don't think I saw any but there were other lovely flowers on the mountainside.
When I arrived at Salzburg, it was in the evening. I was outside the station wondering where to get accommodation. A lady approached me and a couple of teenage backpackers, a girl and her brother, if I recall, saying: come with me I have accommodation. She didn't look sinister and anyway I was too poor to be worth kidnapping. She bundled us into a chauffered Mercedes-Benz. It turned out that she ran an upmarket B&B and was happy to take in backpackers at a reduced rate rather than let the rooms go empty at the end of the day. I had a room to myself and it was one of the most comfortable places I stayed at, and there was a sumptuous breakfast the next morning. There were many English speaking guests at breakfast. Some had come to see places used by The Sound of Music. Salzburgers don't like the kitschy association but this B&B wasn't embarrassed to show a video tape highlighting the places that featured in the movie.
I also took a trip down a salt mine, after all that's what the Salz in the name means. There were the usual explanations and demonstrations of how the salt used to be extracted.
I also visited Mirabell Palace, with its geometric gardens.
And these dwarf statues.
A closer view.
Finally, Salzburg is associated with Mozart and they haven't shied away from taking advantage of the connection. The house where he was born is a landmark, the shops sell Mozartkugel (chocolate balls), and all kinds of Mozart branded merchandise.
In Zürich I stayed with friends of friends, H and T, who lived in Binz. a settlement to the west of Zürich, on the shore of the Greifensee, not Zürichzee. It didn't augur well on the bus because I wasn't sure where to get off, and when I finally reached the stop I had to squeeze past dismayed passengers with my backpack. But H and T soon put me at ease.
H showed me around the area, including a meadow with wild though small strawberries.
He also took me on a couple of excursions on the weekend, one was to the Rhine Falls, near Schaffhausen, through which poured an impressive volume of water.
I remembered that Sherlock Holmes had a confrontation with his nemesis Moriaty in The Final Problem, and wondered if these were the falls. Seemed too low to me. But those were a different set of falls, the Reichenbach Falls, which do exist, but are closer to Bern.
On another excursion he showed me Habsburg Castle, which is where the House of Habsburg began in the 11th century. Later the Habsburgs went to rule large swathes of Europe.
One topic of conversation I had in common with my Swiss hosts was the comedy film The Swissmakers, which had been screened in Sydney a couple of years before. Despite or perhaps because of its satirical nature, it was one of the highest grossing films in Switzerland.
I cooked an Asian dinner for my hosts and friends of theirs on my last or pentultimate night with them. While collecting ingredients in the Globus department store in the city, I took the chance to buy a Swiss Army Knife, a Victorinox, and have my name engraved on it. That knife has served me faithfully all the years since, although these days I have to be careful not to pack it in hand luggage on planes.
Unfortunately there are no pictures of Zürich city in this collection, although I took many during other visits in years to come.
It was also in Zürich that I received a poste restante aerogramme from my friend in Singapore saying that he could not join me on the second half of my travels as I had suggested. So all that rush through France was unnecessary.
From Lake Thun I headed west in my zigzag journey through Switzerland. To my mind, Geneva was and is associated with international organisations, Swiss banking and in general, high cost of living.
Incidentally, on the lakeshore promenade, a plague marks the spot where Empress Sisi, who we read about back in Corfu, was assassinated by a knife-wielding Italian anarchist.
Geneva has a pleasant location by the eponymous lake. The Jet d'Eau is emblematic of the city.
I stayed at the youth hostel, which was very convenient to the centre, just a short walk. I noted that the kitchen rules stipulated that you could only use the provided pots with the electric stoves. It was for good thermal coupling and efficient use of electricity. Very organised people, the Swiss.
Folks relaxing on the lake shore at sunset.
The golden hour.
Some senior and junior residents on the lake.
Interlaken is, as the name suggests, situated between two lakes, Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. The lake cruises were included in the Eurailpass so I made use of that. From Interlaken one can see the Jungfrau. This photo appears to be an attempt to capture it from a walking path near the town.
The banner Jungfraustrasse seems to confirm that this picture was taken in Interlaken. I guess I overnighted here, but I don't remember much about this part of my trip. There were no memorable encounters with characters, just superb Swiss scenery.
Looks like a normal park, except for the alpine setting.
More mountain scenery.
Finally, pictures from the cruise. I suspect I only took one lake cruise, probably Lake Thun, due to the lack of time.
The view from the prow.
Next up, Geneva.
After reaching Martigny, I proceeded directly to Lucerne which is smack in the middle of Switzerland. I had a hard time working out in where the picture was taken as trams are common in Swiss cities.
Lake Lucerne.
One of the reasons I went to Lucerne was to ride the Pilatus railway, the world's steepest cog railway. The views are supposed to be terrific from the top, but the summer haze had made them less than crystal clear. Maybe that's why I don't have more pictures from there.
It was noticeably cooler at the top and I took a pleasant walk in the woods.
Back down in the city, this is the famous Kapellbrücke, a wooden covered bridge spanning the lake. A large part of it was destroyed in a 1993 fire. Subsequently it was restored, but the centuries-old original interior paintings were lost in the fire.
A nearby city resident.
The view on the road bridge.
I don't remember what building this was. I must have liked the ivy-covered walls.
I had noticed that a cog railway service, the Mont Blanc Express, linked the towns of Chamonix, France and Martigny, Switzerland. How could I pass up a chance to see Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, and now also the EU, up close? I would also be passing near the meeting point of three countries, the third being Italy. Surely a more scenic way to enter Switzerland than via Geneva.
I remember a trudge up a hill to reach the youth hostel but it was exhilarating because of views like this.
I spent a night in the hostel. This was typical of the scenery there. The Alps and Switzerland never disappoint.
The next day I took the cog railway from Vallorcine over the border to Martigny, in the valley depicted. This railway is not part of the SNCF network, so the trip was not covered by the Eurailpass. But it was worth every franc. Another thing I had noticed was that the timetables of SNCF and the Mont Blanc Express were synchronised. Clockwork, as they say.
So finally I was in the Confederation of Helvatia.
