We left Germany and there is no sign that the rain is going to stop. We travelled through the Blackforest through winding road and forest with pine trees that looked like X'mas trees.
It is this reason that the region was named Blackforest because the trees were very densely grown together and because of their dark colour leaves that the whole forest looks so black and thus the name of the region.
We stopped at Freiburg to visit a souvenir shop that makes and sells cuckoo clocks. Upon arrival, you see a giant clock on the wall that greets you with 'koo koo, koo koo' and dancing couple every half an hour.
There's a traditional hotel located opposite the cuckoo clock shop under the Best Western chain.
You must really enjoy the tranqulity in order to stay here even for just a night. Because there is nothing to do here !
We were given a good demonstration on how cuckoo clock evolves and make over the years and definitely the different cuckoo sound it makes. After the demonstration, we went around playing the cuckoo clocks on the wall. And if you are interested, you can buy those clocks. But they are not cheap and so, taking pictures will them is enough.... This cuckoo shop is definitely better and more interesting than the one we visited on the Winter Wonderland tour.
The rain began to urn into drizzle again as we are about to leave Freiburg. I was definitely cheering. We cross the border into Switzerland and this time, we got a random check from the Swiss custom. Upon entering Switzerland, you can see the order Swiss is proud of. The field of crops are divide in so precision that you will not go into the wrong piece of land by chance. Fields and fields of sunflowers zoomed passed me as the coach travelled through the countryside. Never see so many sunflowers before..... Soooooooooooooo pretty !
Soon we arrive into Schaffhausen where we are going to see the Rhine Falls where eventually it follows into the Rhine River...... been here before so the waterfall is still the same, just that there are more tourists this time round, more kiosks selling food. And so we headed to check out what food they are selling than admiring the falls...haa haa haa.....
The rain had finally stopped and the sky was clearing when we are at the Rhine Falls. And I thought this is going to last. I'm crestfallen once all over again as the rain returned and get heavier as we approached Lucerne. Upon arrival, we were ferried to go on the Lake Lucerne cruise which some of us had signed up on. It's really a bad day to do the cruise but we can't cancel at the last minute. So, we had to go on.
Actually if the weather is good, this cruise is fantastic. You get to see Lucerne, this pretty lakeside town from another perspective, nestled among the old town of beautiful architecture and the lofty Mount Pilatus. But the clouds are low, so Mount Pilatus was totally hidden behind the cotton clouds.
And as we sail further into the lake, we saw a lookalike statue of the one in Brazil, smaller version though......
After the cruise, we were ferried to our hotel, Millenium Astoria. Stayed here before and was not very looking forward because they served lousy breakfast.....spacious, big bedroom and bathroom to trade off.... but I would prefer good breakfast.......
Dinner was not provided and it was either on your own or join the optional dinner excursion with cheese fondue coupled with Swiss traditional entertainment of horn blowing, yoderling and flag throwing, etc etc. We chose to go on our own as 2nd visit to Lucerne made us bolder and we already know when to venture.
Rain remained heavy and temperature dipped further than in Germany as we were surrounded with lakes and alpine peaks. We braved the rain with huge umbrellas borrowed and walked to the old town via the Chapel Bridge to look for dinner. The cold weather fuelled our desire to have Thai food when we came across one. We had so many spicy dishes that we fet so warm and satisfied after the meal. Though it was expensive but we felt very good after that.
By the time dinner finished, it was dark and the town turned quiet while the lights continued to glow.
We are free tomorrow morning and I just hope the rain will go away so that I can do so shopping.
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