I combined a couple days here as the third day of our trip was primarily a full day meeting. The fourth day, which was a Saturday was a Gantner sponsored ski day that included a beautiful trip up the side of one of the mountains and a few beers at very high altitude.
As I said, the third day involved quite a bit of time in a meeting. It was a very good day and when it was done we had a few hours to spare and wander around the town of Schruns a bit. Jen and I ventured out and there are quite a few very beautiful homes in the area, a nice little waterway and even a guy practicing tight rope walking.
After a brief walk around town we headed back for pre-dinner drinks with the rest of the SAS crew, Gantner people and anyone else that wanted a drink. That was pretty much the pattern of the evenings. Dinner was a Gantner sponsored dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was awesome!! Our appetizer was a plate of assorted meats, cheese, tomatoes and so much tastiness. We each got a plate that I would normally have as a meal. For the actual meal I had a shrimp and fetuccine dish that was so good. Dave ordered a pizza that looked amazing and according to Dave, tasted better. Wine flowed very freely throughout the night and I think Dave became very familiar with the bartender as he rarely made it to his seat before having to get up and grab another carafe. After dinner we all went to a Spanish bar that was very small. We all crammed in there and continued to drink the night away. I had a great conversation with one of the German guys from Gantner and Jen and I drank until about 1am. John and Janet were heading out and we took the opportunity to join them. We had heard that staying out until 5am was pretty common on this night and doing that and then getting up and heading up the mountain just did not seem like a good idea. Call me crazy. But Dave did it, and he seemed fine.
DAY 4 - Where we ride up the side of a mountain and drink some beer while watching people throw themselves out in to the great wide open!!
The idea of waking up early in the morning on a Saturday and going to the top of a mountain and skiing sounds like a good idea at 1am. At 9am when you actually wake up and realize you missed the early shuttle to the mountain and the next shuttle is leaving in 30 minutes, you rethink the idea. Our basic plan was to pack everything up and head to Fussen, home of the famous castle and spend the night there. To do this we would have to drive about 2 hours through the winding roads of the mountains. So we decided we would enjoy the hospitality of Gantner for the morning and then head out. We all jumped in to the packed car by around 11am and headed towards the lift up the mountain. Now Jen is very anxious about heights, VERY. So riding up the side of a mountain in a glass box held up by a single cable is not her idea of a good time. But she did it and she was very anxious. She faced the mountain rather then the receding town. Probably a good idea as we got pretty high up the mountain. Practically to the top but there was an open ski lift up the remainder of the mountain. Once we got to the top we basically were indulged with beers and food. We could have skied but decided against it as we had a few more days in Germany and neither of us had skied in a long time. So the idea of really hurting yourself and then traipsing around Munich was just not a good idea. Dave was a little shaky after being out until 5am and he broke a beer on the patio.
The view was amazing at the top of the mountain. I took a panoramic shot and probably a hundred other pictures. There were guys who were carrying very large backpacks and no skis up the mountain in one area. On the way up we noticed some parasailers floating down. It looks like they would haul their gear up, hike up to a section of the mountain that was fairly open. Then unfurl their canopy and simply walk off. They caught some updrafts at some point as I captured several rotating around us in the open sky above. It was amazing to watch. It was so nice up there, the temp was 70 and the sun was shining. I even got a little sunburn and we were only up there for a couple hours.
Day 4 - On the winding road to Fussen, or was it Fussen, maybe it was pronounced Fussen.
The winding road to Fussen was just that, a winding, switchback, narrow road through the Alps with barely enough room for two cars to pass. I think Jen found this more nerve racking than the ride up the mountain. I wouldn't be me if I didn't take a load of pics on this section of the trip. Hell, you have a couple gigs on a card you might as well use them.
Fussen is another small town in Germany. Quite nice and it has two beautiful castles in the town that are pretty famous. Ludwig was the one who commissioned both castles and the people of Bavaria love crazy Ludwig. We were there in the off season so it wasn't that crowded and we ate at a nice Croatian restaurant. The hotel was called the Hotel Fantasia and was very nice. Crazy Ludwig was looking down on our bed and that was a little disturbing but I can't complain too much about that. The weather was awesome and so were the sights and the people.
Jen has a better memory than I do and remembers the crazy things we did so much better. Must be all of the hops on my brain.
Showing posts with label Europe Trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe Trip. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Euro Trip 2011 Continued Day 2
End of Day 1 and Day 2-the 7 day Hangover begins
We arrived in Schruns on the 30th, later in the day, so really still part of Day 1. The hotel is beautiful, the town is beautiful, everything is amazing. We basically got there, checked in and then everyone went to their rooms to rest before dinner. The hotel has a great restaurant and very well stocked bar. I know because I think we tried to empty it every night we were there. Our bartender was very kind and understanding of the tired Americans who just wanted to drink a few beers and head to bed. Unfortunately, that was not the plan. First came dinner, where Jen and I sat at a table with a couple of guys from Korea. Very nice, but after a few discussions about Kimchi, North Korea, China and Japan, we pretty much hit the language barrier and ran out of things to talk about. It was about at the fifth and final course of dinner that they had a few other Korean friends show up and I jumped at the opportunity to let them reunite with them so we could join our gang, who had come in later as they had all been napping. A nap would have been a good idea. We were joined at the table by Rob and Julie from Gantner USA. A great couple who we would spend much time with at the bar. I mentioned our great bartender. Dave, originally had a different opinion of him.
Dave: Every time I ask Gustavo to bring me a drink he ignores me.
Rob: Gustavo, who is Gustavo, his name is Bjorn.
It went downhill from there as both Dave and Jen started to speak Spanish to the bartender and were more and more surprised that they were not getting their drinks.
Eventually Julie told Jen about her secret look to the bartender to let him know that her wine was empty and that she needed a refill. Once again the unspoken gesture is more powerful than the spoken, incorrect language.
As far as pictures, I didn't really take any when I got there except for a few shots out the window of our room.
However, after a full night of drinking and closing down the bar, lets say we went to bed around 3am Schruns time on the 31st. So that would be 9pm in the US on the 30th. Since we didn't sleep on the plane, which left at 2:30 from Indianapolis and we dropped the kiddo off at school on the 29th, that would mean that Jen and I, and probably John, Janet and Dave, did not sleep from say 8am the 29th until 9pm the 30th. 37 hours without sleep is probably not good on the body. Then subjecting it to the Austrian equivalent of moonshine, schnapps did not help. Pour a little, say 3 liters of beer down after it and you understand why their meals consist of 5 courses. You need that much food to survive drinking that much alcohol.
We actually got up at a decent hour the next day and had a little breakfast. We didn't start the Gantner meeting until 1:30 and that was really just an introduction at the bar at the hotel. Yes, more drinking. I am loving the ways of business in Austria. Anyway, we decided to take a short trip in to town. It is only about a 5 minute walk to the center of town and it is such a beautiful little town. We had lunch at a small cafe in town and I had to have a little fuel, aka beer. Then back to the hotel for the beginning of the meeting. Then another dinner at the hotel, 5 course again, this time we sat with John, Janet and Dave throughout the entire meal. Rob and Julie joined us at the bar, and Rob uttered those most insane of words, "We're going to make this an early night." Cut to Jen, Julie, Rob and I closing the bar and finally letting poor Gustavo/Bjorn go home. End of Day 2.
We arrived in Schruns on the 30th, later in the day, so really still part of Day 1. The hotel is beautiful, the town is beautiful, everything is amazing. We basically got there, checked in and then everyone went to their rooms to rest before dinner. The hotel has a great restaurant and very well stocked bar. I know because I think we tried to empty it every night we were there. Our bartender was very kind and understanding of the tired Americans who just wanted to drink a few beers and head to bed. Unfortunately, that was not the plan. First came dinner, where Jen and I sat at a table with a couple of guys from Korea. Very nice, but after a few discussions about Kimchi, North Korea, China and Japan, we pretty much hit the language barrier and ran out of things to talk about. It was about at the fifth and final course of dinner that they had a few other Korean friends show up and I jumped at the opportunity to let them reunite with them so we could join our gang, who had come in later as they had all been napping. A nap would have been a good idea. We were joined at the table by Rob and Julie from Gantner USA. A great couple who we would spend much time with at the bar. I mentioned our great bartender. Dave, originally had a different opinion of him.
Dave: Every time I ask Gustavo to bring me a drink he ignores me.
Rob: Gustavo, who is Gustavo, his name is Bjorn.
It went downhill from there as both Dave and Jen started to speak Spanish to the bartender and were more and more surprised that they were not getting their drinks.
Eventually Julie told Jen about her secret look to the bartender to let him know that her wine was empty and that she needed a refill. Once again the unspoken gesture is more powerful than the spoken, incorrect language.
As far as pictures, I didn't really take any when I got there except for a few shots out the window of our room.
However, after a full night of drinking and closing down the bar, lets say we went to bed around 3am Schruns time on the 31st. So that would be 9pm in the US on the 30th. Since we didn't sleep on the plane, which left at 2:30 from Indianapolis and we dropped the kiddo off at school on the 29th, that would mean that Jen and I, and probably John, Janet and Dave, did not sleep from say 8am the 29th until 9pm the 30th. 37 hours without sleep is probably not good on the body. Then subjecting it to the Austrian equivalent of moonshine, schnapps did not help. Pour a little, say 3 liters of beer down after it and you understand why their meals consist of 5 courses. You need that much food to survive drinking that much alcohol.
We actually got up at a decent hour the next day and had a little breakfast. We didn't start the Gantner meeting until 1:30 and that was really just an introduction at the bar at the hotel. Yes, more drinking. I am loving the ways of business in Austria. Anyway, we decided to take a short trip in to town. It is only about a 5 minute walk to the center of town and it is such a beautiful little town. We had lunch at a small cafe in town and I had to have a little fuel, aka beer. Then back to the hotel for the beginning of the meeting. Then another dinner at the hotel, 5 course again, this time we sat with John, Janet and Dave throughout the entire meal. Rob and Julie joined us at the bar, and Rob uttered those most insane of words, "We're going to make this an early night." Cut to Jen, Julie, Rob and I closing the bar and finally letting poor Gustavo/Bjorn go home. End of Day 2.
My Body is Now 60% Beer Instead of Water, OR, Our Trip Through Bavaria!
There are probably a few other titles I could have thought of, but as my body readjusts to non-beer beverages and jet lag, I have found that my wit has also diminished. Probably a good idea to just keep drinking then.
For those who did not know, I was given the opportunity to join my boss, John, his wife, Janet, and a coworker, Dave, on a trip to Europe for a business trip. Jen was invited to come as well so even though it meant leaving the little guy for 8 days we thought there was no way we could not pass up this opportunity. The trip was mainly to attend the sales meeting for Gantner Instruments, one of our principals and a very good one at that. They are located in Schruns, Austria. We were also going to visit a few other principals that were in the region. Sensormate near Winterthur, Switzerland and Sensortechnics, just outside Munich, Germany.
I like to take pictures, and I take a lot of pictures. Even when the subject matter isn't that interesting, you put a few beers in me and if I have a camera, you can be pretty sure you will be seeing dots from the flash for a few days. So you can imagine, that when I was surrounded by the beauty of Switzerland, Austria and Germany, 850+ pictures was not a surprising final tally. That was after just a quick edit of the blurry pics, out of frame shots and just easily identifiable bad shots. So to make life easy, I will break it up by days of the trip and maybe even throw in a few slideshows so that you aren't scanning through a few hundred pictures of the same mountain. I am not kidding, I was so amazed at the beauty of the mountains that I just kept taking the same picture over and over and over and over.
Day 1
Jen and I left Indianapolis on Tuesday the 29th around 2:30 to catch our connecting flight to Zurich in Washington DC. Dave was going to meet us in DC and he would be on the same flight. John and Janet would arrive shortly after us in Zurich. Since our cell phones would not work in Europe, we would be without easy communication for the entire trip.
John had purchased a couple of world phones but we kept those for emergencies. There were no problems with the flight, we arrived in Zurich about a half hour early, so about 7:30am. Yep, an overnight flight. I don't think any of us really got any sleep so when we landed in Zurich we felt like crap. Plus, as we were walking to get our luggage, Dave and I both realized that we had no way of getting in touch with John. Luckily, nature called and we stopped at the baggage carousel to clean up a little. While Dave and Jen took their turns in the bathroom cleaning up, I waited by the bags and John and Janet came wandering around the corner. So no issues there. Our first meeting was about 10am near Winterthur, a small town outside of Zurich. John had rented a car, it turned out to be a Toyota wagon of some sort. He also got a GPS. I don't know how we ever survived without one of these. We squeezed in the car and piled in the luggage and John began working the GPS. Our trip was pretty fast and scenic, but we were really all pretty tired so there wasn't much conversation. Though John did tell us about these little shacks that everyone has in the country side. They are basically gardens since there is no room in the city. There is a picture of it later, it does look like a shanty town and the fact that they are not filled with meth addicts and homeless is a testament to the country and people. Anyway, Janet and Jen were to be entertained by Bruno's, from Sensormate, wife when we arrived. They decided not to follow us inside and instead tried to take a nap in the car. When Theresa showed up, John took her out to the car and Jen and Janet were passed out. John had to tap on the window and shock them awake. Theresa was very sweet and even bought Oz a little wooden cow. He loves the little fella and puts him in weird places to surprise us. I opened up the fridge today and found him on one of the shelves. We had lunch at this very old building, which I believe was once manor built around the 1800s. Beautifully restored, we had a great lunch and I enjoyed a beer and so did Dave. Which might have contributed to the bathroom incident. Now remember, no sleep, so we were not at our sharpest. Apparently it started with Dave who went to the bathroom at the restaurant. He came back sat down and said that there was someone in the bathroom and it was locked. Janet and Jen then left to go to the bathroom and came back after a short while as well. They both said the bathroom was locked and that someone was in it. Theresa had been earlier and had not had a problem. So finally, they could not wait any longer and all three decided to try again. So all three left for the bathroom. A short while later Dave came back around the corner with an embarrassed look on his face. He sat down and of course I had to ask what was so funny. He simply replied that apparently you had to push the door open and they had been trying to pull the entire time. Then Jen and Janet came back, they were laughing hysterically and they sat down knowing that all three of them could not figure out these crazy Swiss bathroom doors that had you push instead of pull.
From Winterthur we headed out and over to Schruns via Liechtenstein. A tiny little landlocked country that speaks German and is probably about 5 miles wide. We would have not even noticed it if we had not decided to stop and get a beer. Little did we know that stopping for beer to refuel would be a common theme throughout our trip. After leaving Liechtenstein, we jumped back in the car and headed to Schruns.
And now a video break, please enjoy. These pics are at a much lower resolution that what I took them at, it would be just too big of a resource hog to load them all at full resolution. If you want a better look at one let me know and I can send it to you or post it at a higher resolution.
 |
| Janet, John, Dave, Jen and I in Schruns, Austria |
I like to take pictures, and I take a lot of pictures. Even when the subject matter isn't that interesting, you put a few beers in me and if I have a camera, you can be pretty sure you will be seeing dots from the flash for a few days. So you can imagine, that when I was surrounded by the beauty of Switzerland, Austria and Germany, 850+ pictures was not a surprising final tally. That was after just a quick edit of the blurry pics, out of frame shots and just easily identifiable bad shots. So to make life easy, I will break it up by days of the trip and maybe even throw in a few slideshows so that you aren't scanning through a few hundred pictures of the same mountain. I am not kidding, I was so amazed at the beauty of the mountains that I just kept taking the same picture over and over and over and over.
Day 1
Jen and I left Indianapolis on Tuesday the 29th around 2:30 to catch our connecting flight to Zurich in Washington DC. Dave was going to meet us in DC and he would be on the same flight. John and Janet would arrive shortly after us in Zurich. Since our cell phones would not work in Europe, we would be without easy communication for the entire trip.
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| Plenty of room |
From Winterthur we headed out and over to Schruns via Liechtenstein. A tiny little landlocked country that speaks German and is probably about 5 miles wide. We would have not even noticed it if we had not decided to stop and get a beer. Little did we know that stopping for beer to refuel would be a common theme throughout our trip. After leaving Liechtenstein, we jumped back in the car and headed to Schruns.
And now a video break, please enjoy. These pics are at a much lower resolution that what I took them at, it would be just too big of a resource hog to load them all at full resolution. If you want a better look at one let me know and I can send it to you or post it at a higher resolution.
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