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| 08-17-2013, 06:17 PM | #1 |
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Dackel's Swiss Alpine tour...
Last week I needed to get out of town... to relieve some stress. So... I headed South for the Alps - I have always loved and felt at home in the Alps.
And when you think of the Alps... one thinks of Switzerland of course!  So that is where I went. I really had no set agenda. I only knew I wanted to drive as many Alpine Passes as I could - and I also wanted to go check out the Swiss city of Zermatt. This may sound silly... but I once owned a Porsche in Zermatt Silver... so I wanted to go see this city since I was gonna be in the area. More on that little detour later. My plan was to head for Churs, Switzerland from Imst, Austria. Drive a few Alpine Passes along the way and end up in Zermatt. It quite did not work out that way. lol  I think one of the great things about living in Europe is that for the price of (a few) tank(s) of gas... you can really get away from your home area. In just a few hours you can pass thru two or three countries and be somewhere you have never seen before. I like that!  Some of my best vacations or get-a-ways have been these last minute impromptu road trips. And who doesn't like a good road trip!?!? For me... getting there has always been better than where your going(headed). I really like to get out and explore Europe. I hope that anyone who has the chance, would do the same. So get out there!!! The weather wasn't perfect as I left home base here(in Northern Bayern) it began to rain a little bit. By the time I had crossed into Austria... it really started to come down. My plan was to drive down to Munich, then head towards Garmisch and over the Fern Pass. I headed towards Imst and onto the Austrian Autobahn. By the time I got to Imst... what started off as rain became a full downpour storm, with lightning and thunder. Up until that point I have never seen lightning strike the side of a mountain - but I did that evening! In the middle of this downpour I come across three BMW test cars in convoy driving the other direction. The first two cars were prototype MINI countrymans done up in that yellow MINI swirl camo. But the third car was a bit intriguing... it was bigger and more boxy AND it was done up in WHITE swirly camo... so that means it was a BMW product. (i3/i4/i8's are done up in blue camo swirls, FYI). The MINI's were curvy, but not the last car was very box like. It also had two round big headlights and they were kind of high up on the body. Something I had not seen before. I later talked to a friend of mine who works for BMW AG... he told me it was a new hybrid test car... three cylinder turbo with electric drive. This will be something we will see more of. At the time I thought it was the new FWD 1er... but it was too big to be a 1er. I guess we shall see in time. Anyways.... onto my tour. By the time I got thru that thunder storm(which btw is kind of rare over here in Germany - we don't really get severe weather like we do in the states) I started to look for a hotel for the night. I headed in the direction of Nauders, Austria... but in the end I ended up staying in Pfunds, Austria. After visiting a few small hotels in that town... I was about to give up and driver further... when I spotted a hotel I missed. It looks brand new and sure enough it was! In fact it was only 22 days old!! I found my hotel for the night. Best of all it was dirt cheap at 44 euros per night, including breakfast! http://www.sonne-pfunds.at/en/Now onto my photos... Dackel Some of the Passes I drove... Fern Pass, 6465, Austria Flüela Pass, Susch, Switzerland Furka Pass, Oberwald, Switzerland Oberalp Pass, 7189 Tujetsch, Switzerland Grimsel Pass, Oberwald, Switzerland Klausen Pass, 8751 Spiringen, Switzerland Susten Pass, 3863 Gadmen, Switzerland Pfunds, Austria http://www.sonne-pfunds.at/en/ My great new hotel for 44 euros/night. What a nice place! traveling on the #28 road from Davos to Chur...* Flüela Pass, Susch, Switzerland Flüela Pass, Susch, Switzerland Welcome to Davos... some Swiss sweets at the local bakery... WHAT a road!!! Yea... the Swiss let their cows walk all over these mountain passes - so watch out! the famous Swiss Alpine cows. Note how the front legs are shorter than the rears so it can climb the steep Alps... Yes... that is snow/glaciers, in August!! This was one of the best Passes I drove. So pretty and so wide open and safe. But there was a Polizei presence up there. Only 80 kph in all of Swiss.  Heading towards Zermatt... almost there... And then the road ended! Well... it really did not end. But when I got to the village of Matterhorn, Switzerland... I discovered that you can not drive into Zermatt! You must take the train there!! I was like WTF? Well... I continued to drive in on the road my Navi/GPS guided me in... but as I reached the city... I saw the signs telling you that all forms of machines(cars/motorcycles/trucks) are banned! Man was I pissed. Well... I reversed direction and started my search for a Hotel for the night... And my little Swiss hotel for the night... really quite nice. http://www.glocke.ch/ Hotel Glocke, Reckingen-Gluringen, Switzerland the view from my room at night... the morning wake up view...
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| 08-18-2013, 07:06 AM | #2 |
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man-made dam... and the look at the dam from the base... heading North... Saint-Nicolas, Switzerland Yes, that is a waterfall!! WoW! one of the many Alpine lakes up atop of the Passes... a look at the waterfall from the "other side" of the tunnel... DANGEROUS road ahead! (and it was!!) How beautiful!! This was Sunday, so it was "flea market day"! YuP! Buses come up these Alpine Passes too! Heading back home via Austria... Happy to be back in Austria... cheap fuel and decent prices for everything. Switzerland is nice... but everything costs so much more than in A or D. and some videos...
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| 08-18-2013, 08:06 AM | #4 | |
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Sorry dude - I just needed some cave time alone that weekend.  I'm thinking about going back here in late September. Maybe we can get a "small" group of euro 1Addicts together. Dack
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| 08-18-2013, 10:55 AM | #6 |
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Great trip David and some of those pics are just amazing....makes me wonder.... have I been there and how comes I didn't notice that beautiful scenery at that particular spot.
So for me it's like driving along ....again  |
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| 08-18-2013, 11:22 AM | #7 |
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Everybody in every Car Forum seems to do a "Pass Strassen Tour"
 Man... i am jealous! Great Pixx! Thanks for sharing, David 
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| 08-18-2013, 11:34 AM | #8 |
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Thanks for posting and sharing. Just great....
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| 08-18-2013, 11:56 AM | #9 |
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Great pictures and you got to love the cows.
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| 08-18-2013, 04:47 PM | #11 | |
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Well Rudi, as Wade says... "driving like we do"... we are kind of busy driving when we are all blasting thru those Alpine Passes - to look at the scenery. Thats why sometimes I like to go back and drive at a "slower" pace - stopping more often. Even driving alone... I still miss some really gorgeous views sometimes. I think we need to do another "Dackel's Tours AG" sometime soon!
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| 08-18-2013, 08:58 PM | #13 | |
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Beautiful pictures, Dack
I've always wanted to visit oversea areas - but money has always been an issue to do so The architecture and how different everything looks compared to America is amazing...I've always enjoyed seeing those kind of sights
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| 08-19-2013, 12:28 AM | #14 |
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Dack, always a shit ton of knowledge and a shit ton of pics, lol. Great photos man, looks like you had a great time.
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| 08-19-2013, 07:04 AM | #15 |
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You don't know how long it took me to load all the (nice) pics.
 I think you should upload them on a better site that doesn't compress the quality, they'd look much better. I've been on few "Passes" in the past in Schweiz and Austria, don't know their name though. LOL. |
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| 08-22-2013, 08:05 AM | #16 |
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some new videos are up(!)...
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| 08-22-2013, 09:18 PM | #18 |
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Europe is so much more beautiful with its natural environment compared to this awful cement jungle here in NY. I have many relatives in Germany, the mountain views never stop amazing me.
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| 08-22-2013, 10:03 PM | #19 |
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BEAUTIFUL! I just got back from being in Europe for 2 months and every time I came close to the mountains I said to myself, damn I wish I had my BMW or Harley here
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| 08-24-2013, 05:06 PM | #20 |
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Breathtaking photos! I love the small alpine villages. How long was your trip?
I've been doing research for a eurodelivery next year. Switzerland and Austria are on the agenda, just trying to find the best mountain passes. These look like great contenders. Do you know if these passes are open in May? Thanks for any insight you can provide. Jeremy
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| 08-24-2013, 05:11 PM | #21 |
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Nice. The pics are great but I love the videos!
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| 08-24-2013, 05:20 PM | #22 |
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Wow...that is breathtaking. Thanks for taking the time to post!!!
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I am jealous.
