Appenzell to Kea- September 2024

Panorama hotel deck

Look out for that rock, Loraine yelled, I glanced quickly to the 500 foot drop to the right, we were picking our way down a precarious dirt road on a greek island to an isolated beach, driving in first gear, with full breaks, negotiating haripin switchbacks with no side rails.... We were off on our 5 year wedding anniversary trip to Switzerland, Zermatt, and along the way discovered a hiker's paradise...called Appenzell. In story book fashion this place has it all, spectacular scenery, great trails, free train and tram rides with your Appenzell pass and lots of history. We had booked the Panorama hotel, deciding the name signified something special. Upon arriving in the town from Zurich by rail, we had to amber our way out of the city up some winding roads and paths, carrying our backpacks to get there. We had decided before this trip to go the bare minimum of clothes and keep the packs under 18 pounds. Living in 2 shirts the whole trip was quite the challenge, let alone the undies! The hotel lived up to its name with an encompassing view of the valley below, surrounded by trails. 

View out the balcony

Aescher Hut and restaurant

Robert our excellent host gave us a rundown on what to do and see, he said, " tomorrow you should go see Aescher, it's good weather, and according to the NY Times, one of the top 10 places to see in the world." I knew there was a reason we came here. So the next morning we took the train and then a tram up to Mt. Ebenalp to discover some history. 

The journey starts about 100 meters down the path where you enter into the Wildkirchli caves. These prehistoric caves harbored human remains including sabertooth tigers, hyenas and cave bears over 30,000 years old. Discovered in 1906, and later verified as stone age tools by archeologist Elisabeth Schmid in 1959. It was evidence that prehistoric man lived above the valley region.

prehistoric cave
animals-cave bear

Elisabeth Schmid

900 different
animals + humans

Around the corner from the caves dangling on the edge of the cliff is the Aescher hut.  Wedged on the side of a 2,000 foot granite rock face there is a full palate of beers and food to enjoy while gazing over the edge to the valley. Originally built as a stopping point to see the caves in the 1800s, it is now one of the most visited tourist sites in Switzerland.  

Great path to hut

Appenzell's myraid of trails 

Aescher Hut 

So the first part of the trail was a gentle decline to the caves and hut, but get ready, the next part was a rugged 1,500'  zig zag drop down to Seealpsee lake. After reaching the lake we stopped for a delicious alpine lunch overlooking the lake valley, and took a picture with our friend Bob before we headed back. 

The path to Seealpsee lake

Cruiser Bob

The hikes in Appenzell are multifaceted and diverse for day hiking. There are 3 valleys, each with its own distinctive flavor.. and with a characteristic hut for lunch at the top or along the trail. Each valley is accessible by the the local train, bus, or tram. In Kronberg valley they had an Adventure park for kids and crazy adults, so we decided to take a toboggan ride down the side of the mountain.

Mt. Hober Kasten is the local
favorite for hiking

Follow the "Yellow sign trail"

Trail to Kronberg region

Even the cows like the view

Darn thing was fast!

1 minutes video-give it time it should load-press play

ZERMATT: Arriving by train to Zermatt always seems like an entry way into the magic-like feeling of Disney. There are no cars on main street, carriages taking some people to their 5 star hotels, and eventually you see the iconic view of the omnipresent Matterhorn. This time we had rented an Airb&b on the outside of town, with a patio view to die for. Once settled in we were off on a tour of the historic slate supported houses, a few beers and the mouth watering pizza at Grampi's restaurant. 

Carriages down Main street

MATTERHORN VIEW

Breithorn Peak at 13,661'
people look like ants

A storm was moving in two days, so the next day we decided to go to the top of the Zermatt valley via 2 trams, only cost $130 each -wow-no free passes here! Turns out it is was worth it, and the top tram is a launching point for serious mountaineers going to the summit of Breithorn peak, 4,164 meters (13,661'). You can do Breithorn peak with a guide and no prior mountaineering experience, but you will more than likely be tied to together at some point if there is questionable weather. The wind was swirling when we arrived to the top of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise tram. They warned us they may have to shut down the tram at any moment. Loraine went into the restaurant to grab a seat and hot chocolate, smart move by the way. In the meantime I decided to go walk the snow covered basin to the summit area... wrong! The 30-50 mph gusts went piercing through my clothes like little knives, I didn't bring the right outfit for this little adventure. Chilled to my bones, I went back inside and climbed the interior of the complex to an outside viewpoint of the Breithorn peak, with its stunning view, one can see the ant-like people scaling the peak up the backside (kind of reminded me of Half Dome in Yosemite). Once back inside the complex the hot chocolate never tasted so good. At the top of the tram you will find summer skiers on the glacier, and even some runs down to Italy. Just a quick climate change note... In 2023 the glacier lost in this region was 4% of the volume, the second biggest loss ever after the record loss of 6% in 2022, enough to make Switzerland and Italy renegotiate their country boundaries and to redraw them, so they can each be responsible to maintain the region.

The start of my jaunt

Stunning views in every 
direction

VENICE: Some things don't change and the enchanting, romantic city of Venice is one of those places. Stepping off the train we wondered the passages with our backpacks, of course Google Maps tried, but we lost connection several times, only to make it more interesting. As we strolled over the bridges, we watched the gondoliers adeptly guiding their gondolas through the narrow canals. The multi-color tapestry of the buildings bring life to the area like no other city. Once we found our hotel we went down to the Grand Canal to have a drink and watch the action. Loraine, having never been here before, was fascinated to see how well the boats, ferries and gondolas could negotiate the myriad of water traffic without hitting each other. 

Now that's a beer

Dinner on the Grand canal 

Rialto bridge

As sunset approached I decided to get a picture from the Rialto bridge only to comeback and find Loraine, who was strolling along the canal, getting groped by a local Italian man. I heard, "oh, is that is your husband? let's make him jealous," gee I was only gone a few minutes. Come to find out, Loraine thought he was a restaurant recruiter as he was pointing to his mouth... you need food, and proceeded in his Italian ways to grab her hair, kiss her on the neck while trying to rub her tummy. I laughed, Loraine didn't think it was funny and was ready to take him down. But he finally released his hold and she ran into my arms... well, that's the way I remember it :). 

The only problem with Venice is it is loved to death by the masses of tourists, even the water bus ride was like being stuffed in a can of sardines. And forget San Marcos Square, you couldn't even go into the main area with the deluge of tours. So we found a side street with a cute little boutique hotel where the gondolas would float down one by one along a narrow canal, sometimes being serenaded with music. So how do the Gondoliers get under that bridge you ask? He tilts the whole boat sideways, and then slides under it by an inch or two... fun to watch.

Gondoliers negotiating
a bridge

Boutique hotel by
 San Marcos square -with canal

Slovenia: 6 train rides, 1 bus ride and a taxi, and just like that you are in Slovenia. We decided to take the back entrance to Lake Bled, one of the countries top tourist spots. Unfortunately, we didn't realize this was a throwback train ride to the past. The first thing that happened as soon as we entered Slovenia, all the Italian train crew had to get off. We were sort of escorted to the next train. The train itself, looked like it had been used in WWII, but had been painted giving it some character. 

We befriended a starving
med student-Ana

The doors didn't quite shut between cars...and then along the way they stopped at a station and ordered us off and onto a bus, we said what? I was little concerned as I was thinking back when this area was called Yugoslavia and part of the eastern bloc. Later we find out it was for some rail construction along the tract. We met Ana, a bright young German med student on the train, who was quite pleasant to chat with. She had just won a lottery for a Eurail pass to travel Europe free for one month at her school, and was on her last leg to Bled to meet some friends. So we looked out after each other trying to figure out what was happening and made sure we all got on the rights trains, etc.. As we hugged the ravenous canyons I sort of wondered where we were going... no overhead signs in the train or diagrams to get your bearings. The last time I had been in Slovenia was on the way to Russia to climb Mount Elbrus. I remember seeing from the train a sickle carved on the hillside, and being searched by the police in the middle of the night. But that was in 2017, and even though it has been awhile since Slovenia had its freedom, it still ranks in the bottom 25% in the world in cost of living. Finally reaching Lake Bled after 7 1/2 hours of travel we found a taxi, bought Ana some snacks and ice cream, then gave her a ride to her hotel, she was very thankful. 

Lake Bled is a top tourist destination for a reason... it's gorgeous! Settled in a mountain valley with a picturesque lake, a church in the middle on an island, and a Castle (another old church) up on the edge of a cliff. 

Lake Bled with Castle in
background

View of Lake Bled from
the Bled Castle

Lake Bled area with the 
Julian Alps behind it

Vintgar gorge

Dinner spot overlooking lake

Lake bled is another hikers paradise, the problem is the difficulty to get where you want to go to hike. 

In hindsight it would have been better to rent a car in Ljubljana, the capital. This way one can drive to the surrounding Julian Alps, for which the area is known. And the Alps are an easy drive about 20-45 minutes by car. The public transportation is minimal to get to the hiking areas, and buses would take many hours to get there. Bicycling is an option if you like danger. The dirt path ride around the lake is safe, otherwise you are on winding on 2 lane roads with the fast drivers zooming around the curves. The next day we headed out by taxi on a 20 minute ride to see a major tourist site:Vintgar Gorge waterfall canyon, with suspended bridges along its side and dark blue water. Putting on our helmets we followed the path on a 45 minute walk to the end.  Thunderous cascading water flows underneath the bridges, as you inch your way along the ravine.  At the end of the path we saw walking signs back to Bled.. and said  to each other, "what the heck let's give it try." Going through forests and villages we wandered for miles until we found the path to climb up to the famous medieval Bled Castle. With its stunning view of the lake below, it harbors a pretty cool museum with lots of history of the ancient people who lived in the region, and had a whole exhibit by an artisan on how to make classic bows for archery. On the last part of the hike we met up with the path that leads around the lake and tried to decide whether we should rent a bike or not. We walked...

Look ma, no hands

Our last major train ride for our Eurail Pass was to the city of Zagreb, Croatia to see the famous waterfall lake region call Plitvice. 

Plitvice lake region

The Plitvice National Park is Croatia most famous tourist trap. There is an impressive array of waterfalls that seem to be falling out of the sky, dancing on the precipitous cliffs and floating on the lakes. Through the park is an intricate network of pathways between the lakes, many are on elevated planks, which makes you feel like you are walking on emerald water with trout swimming below. One could easily wander this region for 4-6 hours. This is important to know if you are taking a 2 hour bus ride to get there and back. On top of that you need to get your tickets ahead of time through an agent, I recommend Viator on the internet, this way you don't have to wait in the long lines. 

Floating paths on the lakes

Go the opposite way  

Coming from Zagreb, the trick is to get off on bus stop #2 at the other end of the lake and go backwards on the trails. Why you ask? The crowds are horrendous, guided tour after tour of elderly people making their way down to the falls. It's like Yosemite on steroids! Going the opposite way, takes care of that, since the boat ride across the lake goes both ways, and there is a small crowd for the opposite direction. 

Off to Greece. We decided it was easier to fly to Greece rather than take a 12 hour train ride to Athens. Over the years I have heard a lot of bad things said about Athens, such as: too crowded, dirty and a major prejudice against Americans.  Not so, crowded yes of course, there is one the greatest historical monuments there. But the minute you walk off the subway from the airport the streets are full of life, with beautiful Jacaranda trees, lots of shopping, and colorful buildings and people. We were lucky our hotel, the Attalos, was only a few walking blocks away and had a cool rooftop bar (with lots of Ouzo) on the 7th floor, with a breathtaking view of the Parthenon.

Rooftop bar and
the Parthenon

Socrates meets 
Confucius, what would 
they say today?

City center of Athens

Where else can you 
find Penis bottle 
openers?

I find these days when I travel that history is just as interesting as the landscape.

So I decided to go back in time and try to see what the ancients were thinking. I ordered the book, "Gang of Three"The Gang of 3 for my phone. I found it fascinating to learn about the early stages of critical thinking by our forefathers; Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in 400-300 BC. This is where democracy had its base, which was later picked up by the Romans and later adopted by the U.S. and the Europeans. This is where the concepts of virtue, honor and honesty were discussed at length by Socrates on city platforms. 

This is where people would listen to the great orators and major philosophies transpired (of course this is western civilization, all this was addressed by the eastern civilizations at various times). During these times it seems Greece was always at war with various groups, mostly the Persians, but luckily they had an alliance with the fierce warriors of Sparta. Socrates was even a warrior, and respected by many as he fought in battle after battle. This was time when observational science started, and deductions were made, and Aristotle was documenting over 500 species of animals while tutoring the young Alexander the Great. So visiting the Acropolis (ancient city) where the Parthenon exists today, was a transcending experience for me. I even tried to redefine our modern day take on some of these major concepts. I did come to one conclusion: when social media ie. Facebook came into the game (2004), everything changed; no accountability, no face to face interactions, and you can say pretty much what you want with a no FACT CHECK system in place. So I say shame on Facebook (Meta) and Tik Tok, for not setting up strategies to deal with these issues.  On a recent episode of 60 minutes, election officials said you should stay off both of these sites during the election this week, since they will be full of  misinformation. 

The Parthenon dedicated to the goddess Athena

The Acropolis, represents a city in ancient Greece. In Athens it refers to a fortress on a hill above the city protecting it, and houses the famous Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom- Athena. It was built in the 5th century celebrating a victory over the Persians. Over the years it has been a christian church, and later a Mosque after the Ottoman empire invaded and took over Athens. The Ottoman's used it as a munitions dump and in 1687 as fate would have it, there was an explosion which severely damaged the structure. Luckily, since 1975 various  restorations projects (the white marble portions) have returned some of its splendor.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus
concert hall in Athens

  

On our tour up to the Acropolis, we passed remnants of hospitals, and a famous concert hall-the Odeon. Nowadays, the restored Odeon Of Herodes is where famous musicians come to perform everything from operas to rock and roll. Athens was quite the joy to visit and walk around, especially at night when it had cooled down. There was a plethora of fine dining, and as you walked down the inviting alleys greek music filled the air. In Athens there are many types of dessert speciality shops. No not Baklava, a gelato type ice cream. The ice cream shops have various themes and exquisite choices of the best ice cream ever! 

Yummy!

Hans and Gretel ice cream shop

So many Choices....hmmm

Island of Santorini: The foreigners favorite stop, along with party island Mykonos. But nowadays it is overrun with busloads of tourists on tours, once again loved to death. We still managed to find some quiet spots on the beaches and take a wild ride on a Catamaran for a sunset cruise. The beach down from our hotel is called the black sand (really rocks) beach. No problem, Loraine would rather have rocks anyway and she spent the morning finding her very special rocks she could connect too. 

I found it!

The mountain cliff city of Oia

We headed off to the city of Oia for the sunset cruise, our pickup driver was telling us all the water on the island is filtered from the ocean and delivered to the various storage areas on the island, and that's why the hotel faucet water taste so bad. Upon entering Oia there were gobs and gobs of people in the center city, and the dock was so crowded with tourists you could barely find your way on the catamaran. On the cruise we stopped along the way to do some snorkeling in the crystal clear water, why is it so clear?.... no nutrients therefore, no reef, hardly any fish etc., devoid of most life. They have pretty much overfished the Mediterranean Sea. I was disappointed in the famous greek food which included fish. All the fish on the menus (and in Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia) is basically a fish called Breen, and it is farm raised in pens off the coast of Greece, and tastes.. you guessed it- bland and tasteless... so stick to the sea bass on the menu. We sailed back to Oia to see the sunset, but now there were gusts of winds up to 25 mph, with big swells, which tossed the catamaran around. The captain decided to crank up the rocknroll music as the waves splashed over the sides and soaked most of the tourists, made my day. 

Wild ride on the CAT

Sunset :)

Port below Fira

Fira: We took a bus ride up to the capital of Santorini called Fira.  I will have to say, even though loaded with tourists it is a pretty cool city with its white draping houses and hotels dangling off the cliff's edge to the port below.  A fun shopping venue with spectacular views at every turn on the mountain top. We took the tram down to the port below to do a little more shopping and then walked up the 858 steps to the top. Very cool except for one thing... DONKEY POO. For decades they have been hauling people back up to the top via donkeys, even though there is a tram. The steps were disgusting with excrement and the poor donkeys looked beat up and without being too anthropomorphic, had a sad look in their eyes. 

Fira, looking down to the port

Poor donkeys

So the last couple stops on our travels there were few foreign tourists.  Not very many people have heard of these places even though they are close to Athens. The first was Sounio beach, about an hour south of Athens, close to the monument of Poseidon. We rented an Airbnb overlooking the water with Panos as our host. Panos does everything for you. He set up our taxi pickup from Athens, met us at the entry, gave us a list of restaurants, quite the host... and lived right next door. Sounio is a quaint, quiet little beach near the port city of Lavrio. Isolated on the point you have to take a taxi 2-3 miles to town to buy food or eat out. Panos set that up too. One of the fun things to do besides drinking beer at the beach bar is watching the older Greeks floating in the water,  sometimes in big circles chatting to each other while treading water. What a fun way to spend time with your friends and get some exercise outdoors. 

Veranda on the Airb&b

Nice to wake up too

Sounio beach and bar

Kea Island: Only a 1 hour ferry boat ride from Lavrio you find a different kind of hiker's dream in the mountainous Island of Kea (pronounce Kia). Where 1000 year old "footpaths" lead the way to secluded beaches and ancient ruins. We decided early on to rent a car since there is minimal public transport.

Triton Ferries

We went to the local Lion rental company and rented our soon to be hero...Spartacus-- a white, Suzuki-fiat-like car with a manual shift. On our first day we drove Spartacus

Spartacus could go anywhere!

to the north part of the island and then decided we should go to the drop dead gorgeous beach of Spathi, only a 25 minute dirt road trip according to the brochures and the lady at the front desk. Well, that's only if you take the right road. So before you know it, Loraine is yelling, " watch out for this and that,"as we swerved around the hairpin curves on a treacherous backroad. It's been a long time since I have driven a stick shift, let alone dancing around curves in 1st gear, with the brakes pressed hard and of course no side rail if you make a mistake. After about 40 minutes of dodging rocks there it was! A crystal clear bay with warm water, out of the way of civilization. Once we played and snorkeled in the water for awhile we noticed none of the cars were coming in the way we did. So we watched as they left the beach and saw the normal easier dirt road to exit...kind of boring. :)

Spathi beach

The road out looking back

 crystal clear

On the way back to our hotel we decided to go through the mountain top capital city of Kea Island. Perched on a hillside, Loulida was built away from the water in the center of the island on the slopes of the hills of Kastro and Myloi. This location helped to protect its citizens from yet another invasion. Its colorful cobblestone streets and varied neoclassical architecture makes you feel like you have gone back in time. 

Colorful cobblestone
walkways

Capital of kea- Loulida

On the last day we took Spartacus on another little adventure, going south this time looking for a nice  little place to have lunch on the beach and then head off for what turns out to be one of the highlights of the trip. Once we found the trailhead entry we headed down the rocky footpaths to the ancient city of Karthea. The island is loaded with these dirt and cobblestone footpaths, built in 7th-6th centuries, many of them have walls and lead to ancient cities, or isolated beaches around the island.

Footpath map

Rock walls on the paths

Footpath network

Donkey bringing supplies
down the footpath.

Karthea existed from 530-288 B.C. and was of the four ancient cities on the island. The area contained an Acropolis with another parthenon-like building to the goddess of Athena, an amphitheater, many  public buildings, wells, and was walled off for protection. Right next to it is a stunning beach with 2 bays for the landings of ships. Unfortunately, we left on the hike down there at 4 pm, kind of late since it gets dark at 6:30. We made it down there by 5:30, took a quick look around and short dip in the ocean.. then hustled back up the rocky path to the top just before dark.  Whew!

Beach at Karthea

Parthenon at Karthea 
Well, it was time to say goodbye to our adventure, 30 days of carrying backpacks on trains, planes, ships, taxis, buses, and trolleys. The contrast from Switzerland to Greece was astonishing. The incredible people we met along the way, the history, the terrain, the friendly faces -for the most part, remind us we are all one species, on the same journey, finding our Karma and passing it on to others. 

Saying goodbye for now :)