The Cube

Pre-travel
Breakdown of travel days and links to accommodations.


Belgium: Antwerp
Day 1: Lazing my day away in Antwerp before ending the night in Gent


Belgium: Gent
Day 2: Walkabout Gent before attending K&M's wedding
Day 3: Slept my day away but woke up for lunch and dinner... food is important.


Luxembourg / Germany
Day 4: A walk in the Grund and spending the night in a castle on Mosel.


Germany: Mosel
Day 5: First day in Cochem and a day trip to Beilstein
Day 6: Cabbing to Burg Eltz and hiking back
Day 7: The story book like Bernkastel-Kues and ended with Traben-Trarbach


Germany: Rhine
Day 8: On a Rhine River cruise from Boppard to Bacharach
Day 9: Day trip to St Goar, Oberwesel and Koblenz


Germany: Heidelberg
Day 10: A 'stopover' at Heidelberg


Germany: Black Forest
Day 11: First stop in Black Forest - Gutach
Day 12: Charming towns in Black Forest - Alpirsbach, Schiltach and Triberg
Day 13: Another amazing town in Black Forest - Gengenbach
Day 14: Unfruitful commute to Baden-Baden and Germany's sunniest city, Freiburg
Day 15: The two lakes around Black Forest - Titisee and Schluchsee


France: Alsace
Day 16: Enjoying the beautiful Colmar
Day 17: Riquewihr, Hunawihr and Ribeauvillé on the Route des Vins d'Alsace
Day 18: Strasbourg on a Sunday


Switzerland
Day 19: Luzern in a day
Day 20: Classic Rigi Round Trip and travelling to Gimmelwald
Day 21: Jungfraujoch, the top of Europe
Day 22: Gimmelwald, Mürren and Lauterbrunnen plus Zermatt
[Note: Gimmelwald, Mürren and Lauterbrunnen were done across day 20 to day 22]
Day 23: Last day in Zürich plus Rheinfall



Side note: Hey Europe, thank you for being awesome. May we meet again soon. :)

From Strasbourg with love

I arrived in Colmar on a Friday and stayed for 3 nights. Friday was spent in Colmar. On Saturday I did a day trip to the Route des Vins d'Alsace. Strasbourg is the biggest city amongst all of the stops I made so I reserved it for a Sunday.

After having a breakfast in my room on Maison Martin Jund, I made my way to Gare de Colmar.


I felt like a good stroll so I made my way to the Old Town by foot.

Check out the colourful road

Top sight in Strasbourg was the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. Sunday was proved a busy day in Strasbourg. I definitely didn't have to worry about shops or restaurant being closed.


Standing next to the grand cathedral is an equally amazing Maison Kammerzell. It was one of the most well preserved medieval building, built in the 15th century. It now houses a restaurant.


I didn't dine here but not far behind the cathedral. I decided to give myself a treat and hunt down La Table du Gayot recommended by Paul. It was an early lunch so there were plenty of seats.


I skipped entree and got myself magret de canard aux fruits de saison, €19 (duck breast with seasonal fruits) for main. I was asked if I want the ducks to be cooked through or pink. I went with the latter, it was sensational.


After having a very, very, very good mains I was tempted for a dessert to finish. The friendly waiter highly recommended profiteroles au chocolat (€7). I was a bit apprehensive as I was told that the profiteroles were big. My glutton brain decided that my tummy space would be enough even though I just polished off everything on my plate. Well, they were big and there was a scoop of vanilla ice-cream in the middle of each profiteroles and drizzled with chocolate sauce. I finished all of them.


My lunch at La Table du Gayot was the best meal I had the whole trip. I was so contented that I was ready to travel back to Colmar! If I was staying in Strasbourg, I would've just go back to my hotel room and take a nap. As I wasn't, so it was time for to get a glimpse into Alsatian life.



Musée alsacien is a simple museum with explanation in different languages printed on A4 papers and held together with comb binding. Pick the one with a language of your choice and bring it along when you see the exhibits. I love it that it is housed across three typical houses from the 1500s to 1600s.

There is a Petite Venise in Colmar and there is a Petite France in Strasbourg.


Petite France is criss-crossed by narrow lanes, canals and locks and is where artisans traded in the Middle Ages. I get why the one in Colmar was known as Petite Venise but am a little confused as to why this area is known as Petite France though.

Strasbourg was my last stop in France before I took a train out to Luzern the next morning.

Apparently this is a symbol of welcome and renewal as well as to ward of evil spirits

Side note: Ha! We shall see if my French will have any improvement the next round I visit France again :P

When in Europe, look up, look down and look back

Never mind that I am not a big alcohol drinker, Route des Vins d'Alsace (Alsace Wine Route) was amazing. The day before I ventured to the Route des Vins d'Alsace, it suddenly strike me that my French level is embarrassingly non existence that I didn't know how to pronounce the name of the beautiful little towns that I wanted to visit. Thank goodness for Google and internet, my search title was "How to pronounce Riquewihr and Ribeauville". Not sure why I didn't think of googling earlier!

After stopping by the TI to reconfirm on the bus to take, I took Ligne de Haute Alsace #106 to Riquewihr, getting on bus stop Place Scheurer Kestner. Return ticket from Colmar to Ribeauville costs €6.40. I almost missed the bus because I waited at the wrong bus stop but luckily I realised in time to dash to the right one. I think everybody on the bus were tourists but it also appeared that a good majority of them speaks French! I found that out when I pressed the bell to get off thinking we were reaching but was told by the bus driver we were not there yet. Of course, I didn't understand him and some kind Japanese ladies very promptly translated it for me.

The Dolder

The whole route des Vins d'Alsace stretches 170 km from Marlenheim, 21 km west of Strasbourg to southwards to Thann, 46 km southwest of Colmar. First stop, Riquewihr.


Riquewihr is about 15 km north of Colmar with a bus ride of about 30 minutes. It is flanked by Vosges foothills to the north and south. The name Riquewihr initially came from "Richo villa",  named in the 8th century by a vineyard owner named Richo. As time passed, "Richo villa" became Riquewihr. Riquewihr is indeed one of the "Most Beautiful Villages in France" (Plus Beaux Villages de France) as described by a local travel brochure.



I intended to pop by the TI office before I start my walk to the next town of Hunawihr but I was a little late. By the time I moseyed my way to the TI office, I just managed to catch the staff locked up the office for a 2 hour midday break. Later I found out that the offline map that I pre-downloaded on maps.me app showed the walking route on Alsatian Wine Route to Hunawihr, exiting via La Porte Haute/Upper Gate then take the Rue du 5 Décembre on the right.


I didn't have a sit down lunch but opted to try kougelhopf, something I could nibble while I walked. I bought a plain one, unfortunately I found them prettier than they taste though.

Armed with my kougelhopf, I began my walk to Hunawihr. The whole walk, I've only met a grand total of 2 couples on bicycles, 3 cards passing by and none on foot. Maybe the hot sun put off anyone planning to walk but it was an excellent way to see this part of the country.



It was an easy walk, just a slight uphill right after departing Riquewihr and quite impossible to get lost as there were not many confusing turns. After about 30 minutes walks I reached Hunawihr. Hunawihr is a contrast to Riquewihr with absence of souvenir shops or flocks of tourist, it definitely feel like a housing area.


Hunawihr is recognisable with the church in the heart of the vineyards. I walked through the village and continued on to the second half towards Ribeauvillé. After a short walk after leaving Hunawihr, I turned back and took the above shot. This village definitely made the second half of the walk a very beautiful and photogenic.


I took a little longer on the second half compared to the first, mainly due to many photography stops and I might have taken a few too many wrong turns while navigating myself in the vineyard. Like this...



Haha but I did arrive at Ribeauvillé. 

First view before I walked into the village center.

It looks like there is a stork nest at the top of the pointed roof eh?

It looked like Ribeauvillé is a popular destination, likewise Riquewihr but it is a bigger village so it doesn't feel being overcrowded. There are also quieter pockets around the grounds.






If you missed the storks in Gengenbach, look up in Ribeauville. White storks (cigognes) are Alsace's most beloved symbols as they are belived to bring luck (as well as babies). I even saw one on the ground at Riquewihr whilst I was on a bus!


Side note: Why are language classes so expensive? :(

Many moons ago, on off my eldest sister and BIL would organise some weekend trips which I happily tagged along. One of the places was Colmar Tropicale. Colmar Tropicale is a French-themed village and hotel located in Berjaya Hill Resorts in Bukit Tinggi. I have not googled this prior to this but knowing of a place in France called Colmar, I have a hunch that Colmar Tropicale was probably inspired by this beautiful town.

Like most people who visited France, Paris was probably their first destination. So was I, but I'm in the other school where I didn't fall head over heels with Paris. I don't feel all the romantic vibes or anything that many people raved about. I'm sorry Paris.

Colmar on the other hand is a different story. Colmar is beautiful, charming, colourful and not snobbish. One may argued that Colmar probably has German influence, with older age locals speak Alsatian which is German dialect. In addition the city changed hands from French to German, then French again after WW1 and was annexed by Nazi Germany before reverted back to French in 1945. Regardless Colmar is a city in France, and it is a city that make me rethink France in a very good way.


Getting to Colmar from Freiburg is easy. I took a train to Breisach and from there transferred to a bus #1076. One way ticket from Freiburg to Breisach was €5.70 and one way bus ticket costs €5.20. There was a spot in the middle of the bus for bags storage. When we were about to cross the border, the bus driver made an announcement and say "Goodbye Germany" and "Hello France".

I emailed Maison Martin Jund following recommendation from Paul for my stay in Colmar. Unfortunately for me, the cheapest room they have always not available but the room that they offered me was still at a very reasonable price so I took it. It was a very spacious room, complete with kitchenette.




They also offer breakfast option for €8. I was curious of the breakfast so I opted for breakfast for day 1. I bought a bag of muesli, small bottle of milk and yoghurt from Miniprix for breakfast the remaining 2 days.


First order of the day was Unterlinden Museum which was a former 13th century convent and now home to the Retable d'Issenheim (Isenheim Altarpiece). It is obvious that this is the star attraction even to me, the art idiot, given the long explanation on the audio guide and of course it was a masterpiece.



For lunch, I went for a mushroom cheese crepe. Err... when in France, eat crepes? Haha


Being a fan of Miyazaki's animation and Howl's Moving Castle is wayyy up there in the favourite list, Colmar is a treat :)

Maison Pfister

Also the very striking Église Saint-Martin and the nearby Église des Dominicains.


However most of the tourists probably flocked to Petite Venise (Little Venice quarter). It doesn't feel like Venice to me, the only resemblance were presence of canals but I supposed Venice was just a little more famous comparatively. It really wasn't a bad thing, maybe just means I get to enjoy this place with slightly lesser people. Hopefully. Just slightly I reckon.


The right side of the above photo was actually blocked off due to some construction but worry not, still very decent view available. ;)


There's a covered market hall just round the corner. I went in of course, got a yoghurt snack and a little shelter from the sun :P

Even if you disregard the beautiful buildings, which I don't see how one would or could, there are plenty to keep one occupied with the shops.


.... and the tummy happy.

I saw some recommended restaurants on a piece of paper pasted on the door in my room and picked the nearest one from Maison Martin Jund. It was litterally just down the road. So I off I went to Le Petit Schlossberg and had a very yummy baeckaoffa, washed down with a glass of Riesling from Jund ;)
Baeckeoffe is an Alsatian dish made of beer, pork, lamb, vegetable and potato stew, marinated in riesling or pinot blanc and slow-cooked in a ceramic dish.



Being in France means there isn't any shortage of desserts. I randomly walked in to La Cure Gourmande after being offered a sample (haha.. yes, very gullible) but it was good. I came out with 3 different types of biscuits and a madeleine.


Oh and by the way, the creator of NYC Statue of Liberty was a local lad of Colmar, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. There is a mini version of the statue but in a middle of roundabout and a bit far off from the Colmar town. I don't think it is worth a detour for it but coincidentally the bus that I took the next day passed right next to it.


In the meantime I shall watch another round of Howl's Moving Castle. ;)


Side note: Is it Friday yet?