Another fun day riding in the Swiss Alps with Werner. 

Monday 6/5/13

This morning Suzanne was coming out for the ride with us so Werner scheduled an easy ride along the lake's edge to where we had our first stop yesterday. The plan was a cup of coffee, then a leisurely ride back home.

Here I need to tell you a little story so you'll get an idea of how nice a person Werner is. As we left the building one of Werner's neighbours was going upstairs. She was an elderly lady, with a walking frame, and carrying her shopping. When Werner saw her he immediately took her shopping and put it in her apartment, then carried the walking frame up as well, then made sure she was OK before we left. Werner is one of those people that after you've spent time with him, you feel the world is a better place. As I've said before, it's the people that make this trip so special.

Werner bought the perfect bike for a casual Sunday morning ride. His BMW HP2 Sport. I hadn't had a good look at one of these before and it oozes trickness, and 128 bhp! Very nice.

It was time to roll.

Push bikes are very popular in town, and there are plenty of places to park them.

A little more Swiss architecture.

Here we go.

Little Swiss houses dotted the landscape everywhere.

A quick photo stop along the way.

The view was like this in every direction.

Werner's beast at rest at our coffee stop.

Ah! More coffee.

Back on the road after our coffee break we rode through a little town where Werner pulled over. He said he had forgotten that the Vitrinox factory was here and asked if we'd like to have a look. Of course we said yes. Vitrinox make the very well known "Swiss Army Knife". I was given one of these for my twenty first birthday (Yes, they did make them that long ago) and I still have it and use it frequently. They are an extremely handy tool to have. Inside there were all sorts of goodies, and we weakened and made a few purchases.

Toy shop.

With the day's shopping out of the way it was ride, ride, ride. Werner decided to take us up into the "hills" for a look. Werner's definition of hills and mine are obviously VERY different. In my world hills don't have snow on top of them, or ski lifts, or ski lodges. I would call these mountains. Maybe it's just me.

Hills eh?

Before we knew it we were climbing another mountain and hitting the twisties again.

Another typical village scene.

Yippee!

It was about here that Werner's bellowing, carbon fibre tail pipe disappeared into the distance and we didn't see it again until he stopped at the top. At the top Werner did tell me he's been riding these roads for more than forty years and knows them very well. I think he was trying to make me feel better.

He also showed us a bit of road where he crashed twice in about a hundred metres. He lost it on a corner, then not thinking got back on the road and nailed it, but his tyre was full of mud and grass, so he lost it again. Oops.

No, it wasn't one way.

Could you ever get tired of looking at views like this.

Then after a few switchbacks and zig zags we were at the top.

This is mid spring?

 The ski runs are closed.

What goes up, must come down.

Once we were back on level ground Werner took us to Engkeburg to the Kloster's Monastary, that he said we must see. This stop was unplanned, but wow, was it worth it. The Monastary is one of the most amazing religious buildings we've seen on this trip. It is absolutely breath taking inside and like nothing we've seen before. 

Unfortunately there were no photos allowed inside, so here are a few Suzanne stole from the web. Take a look...

Walking back to the bikes we found a new friend for Suzanne. This little Pomeranian was apparently Swiss Champion for a few years. I think he has left his best days behind him, along with a lot of his fur.

Who says advertising and promotion doesn't work? We saw this and realised we "needed" a veal sausage.

Expensive signage works.

We were laughing about the sign and explained to the owner that it was the reason we stopped. He told us it cost two thousand Swiss Francs, but his business improved by about fifty percent after he got it. It was a good purchase.

Werner and I tucking in.

We finished our day with a ride back along the lake. For a "casual ride with a few hills" it was a bloody fantastic day.

Once we were back at the apartment Werner had a meeting to attend, so Suzanne and I went shopping for dinner. We keep being told that Switzerland is soooooo expensive. We are finding that prices here are pretty much on par with Perth. Unless, you are talking alcohol. Take a look at the photos below. The prices are in Swiss Francs, which are about the same as Aussie dollars.

Perth price $6.99.

Perth $6.99.

Perth $59.95 on super special.

Perth $59.99 on special.

To top things off, twenty roses are about fifteen euros.

Werner arived back at the apartment and Suzanne cooked up a nice dinner which we all enjoyed. Then Werner started talking about buying a Tenere to keep in South Africa to ride when he visits there. I suggested he rode one from Switzerland down there. That would be an adventure. Werner said he wouldn't do a trip like that by himself...and so the seeds of another trip were sown.

It was another great day thanks to our wonderful host Werner. Thank you for everything Werner.

Tomorrow we plan to head across to Lichtenstein for a look. It's so close we just have too.