Matthew Archer

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reste i 8 länder Läs mer Adelaide, Australia

Resenär UK and Europe
- Visa resan
- Lägg till bucket listanTa bort från bucket listan
- Dela
- 3 aug. 2023
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Höjd över havet: 445 m
- Schweiz Luzern Kloster Luzern (Jesuiten)47.05055, 8.30546847°3’2” N 8°18’20” E
Dag 28
Exploring Lucerne
3 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A really quiet start to the day. There is plenty of upsides to staying in one place for 3 nights, however one downside is things can get a bit untidy. So after a sleep in and a bit of a tidy up we got to breakfast at 9.30.

Lucerne is certainly not cheap. We are staying in a tourist hotel which is very comfortable but basic. So whilst the breakfast is not particularly cheap it is a good way to fill up for the day and not to have to worry about lunch.

We spent the day looking around Lucerne and the old city. It reminds us a lot of Queenstown and Wellington in New Zealand but just on a bigger scale.

We had a 'cultural' eye opener. There has been a notable number of police officers around. For the first couple of days we just assumed this was normal as the city feels really safe to walk around. However this morning a lot more of them were wearing body armour.

We discovered that tonight Lucerne were playing a Swedish team in football and this soon become evident as the pubs along the riverbank got louder and louder as the day went on. By the time we finished our wanderings at 7pm the police were fully armed with shields and weapons etc as there were masses of very 'vocal and happy' Stockholm fans everywhere. When we stopped to ask if it was safe to walk back to our hotel the reply was 'at the moment yes...'. As we walked back we passed masses of Lucerne fans so we suspect we may be staying near the stadium. So that put an end to our plans to go back into the city later on and we ended up having dinner at the same place as the first night.

We are not sure what happened at midnight. It was possibly fireworks, given that Lucerne won the game and the two-legged tie, but given how well prepared the police were and the previous history of rioting football fans, it could have also been those heavily armed police using their resources to disperse the fans...we will never know.

I'd loved to have got a pic or two of the armed police. However the officer I spoke to, whilst polite, had a very steely look in her eyes and she certainly was not to be messed with!!Läs mer
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1 gilla
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 2 aug. 2023 15:50
- ☀️ 18 °C
- Höjd över havet: 1 056 m
- Schweiz Canton de Berne Grindelwald 46.624278, 8.03674646°37’27” N 8°2’12” E
Dag 27
What Goes Up Must Come Down
2 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Our descent was a lot quicker than the trip up, but just as breath-taking. After a 20 minute journey on the funicular we reached the cable car station and jumped onto the cable car which took us down to the village of Grindelwald. From here we took a 2 hour coach trip back to Lucerne where our day finished with gelati to refuel us for our walk back to our hotel.Läs mer
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Resenär Amazing views, looks like a great day for it
2023-08-04SvaraÖversätt
3 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
- Visa resan
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- Dela
- 2 aug. 2023 14:30
- Höjd över havet: 4 101 m
- Schweiz Canton du Valais Fieschertal Jungfraujoch 46.536779, 7.96259146°32’12” N 7°57’45” E
Dag 27
Jungfrau - The Top of Europe
2 augusti 2023, Schweiz
We were blessed with a lovely clear day for our visit.

They say a picture says a thousand words. So here is 14,000 words to describe our time at the top.
Se översättning
Resenär Just amazing
2023-08-03SvaraÖversätt
Resenär The selfie face is a sight to behold 😂
2023-08-04SvaraÖversätt
1 gilla
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 2 aug. 2023 13:30
- ⛅ 7 °C
- Höjd över havet: 3 445 m
- Schweiz Canton du Valais Fieschertal Jungfraujoch 46.546973, 7.98361646°32’49” N 7°59’1” E
Dag 27
Up to Jungfrau and The Ice Palace
2 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
Our second train trip was 40 minutes and took us up another 7,000 feet to Jungfrau Station. On the way the train stopped at Eismeer station (10,000 ft) where you need to get out and acclimatise to the altitude before heading to Jungfrau which is 11,300 feet above sea level. At Eismeer there is a sample of what you will see at the top (well sort of).

Once you reach Jungfrau Station you walk through an ice cave before taking the elevator out to the viewing platform, which is story of the next footprint.Läs mer
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Resenär We know about acclimating. Went to 12500 ft at Chamonix. Felt so unwell we had to go back down to 8000 ft to feel OK again.
2023-08-03SvaraÖversätt
Resenär We can empathise with you there. Things certainly didn't feel totally normal at the top and by the time we had to leave there was no qualms at our end.
2023-08-04SvaraÖversätt
2 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 2 aug. 2023 12:00
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Höjd över havet: 810 m
- Schweiz Canton de Berne Lauterbrunnen Staubbachfall 46.593909, 7.90780246°35’38” N 7°54’28” E
1
Dag 27
Cog Train to Kleine Scheidegg
2 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
After a short bus trip from Interlaken we arrived at Lauterbrunnen station where we caught the local train (a cog railway) to Kleine Scheidegg which is 6,700 ft above sea level. There we changed trains to head to the Top of Europe.

Our guide's name was Kid. He was quite eccentric but an excellent guide and knew all the best photo spots and how to navigate all the queues. Kid has been doing this trip 5x per week for 20 years and he never ceases to be amazed at the scenery.Läs mer
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Resenär Stunning!
2023-08-03SvaraÖversätt
2 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 2 aug. 2023 10:30
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Höjd över havet: 565 m
- Schweiz Canton de Berne Unterseen Interlaken 46.685533, 7.85851446°41’8” N 7°51’31” E
Dag 27
The Road to Interlaken
2 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
If Germany is gorgeous then Switzerland is superb, stunning and spectacular all in one.

Today was a long day with lots of pictures taken. So this is instalment no 1.

We left Lucerne at 9.30am and it was overcast but not raining and the weather forecast was promising.

The scenery was spectacular and you sensed it couldn't get better, but it probably would as we travelled through 7km long tunnels and wound our way through hairpin bends as we climbed up into the mountains on our way to Interlaken. On arrival in Interlaken we had a 40 minute break whilst our guide organised tickets for the remainder of the day.Läs mer
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3 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 1 aug. 2023 11:49
- 🌧 19 °C
- Höjd över havet: 440 m
- Schweiz Luzern Unterlachen - Tribschen 47.043501, 8.3114347°2’37” N 8°18’41” E
1
Dag 26
Karlsruhe to Lucerne
1 augusti 2023, Schweiz ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
An observation about Germany ...

We stayed in a overnight hotel last night. At breakfast the spreads were served in edible bio-degradable wafer containers as recycling is really promoted in Germany. Then you go into the foyer and can buy cigarettes or beer from a vending machine which is such a foreign concept to us.

Train travel has proved to be a really efficient and easy way to travel and also good downtime to catch up on diaries etc. However even trains can be delayed and we missed our connection from Basel to Lucerne.

We arrived in Basel to find the delay was no problem and we caught the next train to Lucerne. The only thing we had to watch was that Leah got off the train with us as its final destination was Milan 😍, the shopping mecca of Italy.

Travelling on German Railways was good, but the Swiss take it to another level. Our train to Lucerne was very modern, comfy and spacious and included complimentary free wifi! Heaps better than flying.

One of the first things we noticed was that prices are all in Swiss francs and not euros and that Swiss power points are a different fitting to the rest of Europe!!

Lucerne is known as one of Europe's most beautiful city. But the combination of rain and mist and things being closed as its the Swiss National holiday meant that pizza and kebabs were on the menu as it was one thing that was close by and open.

We knew Switzerland is expensive, but the cost of pizza seemed very expensive. However when the pizza materialised we soon worked out that whilst Switzerland is expensive, the size of the pizza was also a contributing factor 🍕😊.

It was meant to be an early night here ready for a big day tomorrow, but fireworks have just started...Läs mer
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Resenär Give the man his coffee and he will always be happy. 😂
2023-08-01SvaraÖversätt
3 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 31 juli 2023 13:00
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Höjd över havet: 677 m
- Tyskland Baden-Württemberg Region Triberg im Schwarzwald 48.133233, 8.23319448°7’60” N 8°13’59” E
Dag 25
Triberg and Der Schwarzwald
31 juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Off we went to Triberg which is located in the heart of the Black Forest. Photos do the scenery in Triberg a huge injustice. It is a stunning place. Thankfully we elected to drive to the bottom of the town and had no problems finding a park as the top of town was jam packed.

Leah struck gold and got her beloved cuckoo clock (thankfully it is well packaged for the onward journey). Any missed German lessons at school were compensated for by a belated coffee and torte for Mum's 50th birthday.

Our time in Germany is drawing to a close. However we are in unanimous agreement that if the opportunity arose we would love to visit again and stay for longer, especially as we have experienced so much warmth from the ecclesia and also mastered the skills needed to drive on the Autobahn!! 🚘Läs mer
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2 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 31 juli 2023 10:00
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Höjd över havet: 760 m
- Tyskland Baden-Württemberg Region Villingen-Schwenningen 48.063241, 8.49450248°3’48” N 8°29’40” E
1
Dag 25
Trossingen and Villingen
31 juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
The reality of life has hit and this is being written from the laundromat in Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe is a university town however it's summer holidays so the laundromat seems quite vibrant compared to the rest of the place.

Last night we stayed in Trossingen. The place we stayed in gets 5 stars for how comfortable the beds were, so it was a shame that we couldn't sleep in. However the day's activities more than compensated for this, starting with a magnificent European style brekkie in quite an eclectic dining room.

Once we were on the road our first stop was Villingen which was a really nice old village dating back to the Middle Ages. It was quite quiet but apparently that is normal for a Monday.

We enquired about cuckoo clocks and were advised to go to Triberg which was 30 minutes drive and is the "cuckoo clock town". So after a look around Villingen we headed off to Triberg.Läs mer
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Resenär Hoons past and present
2023-08-01SvaraÖversätt
3 gilla-markeringar
Resenär UK and Europe
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- Dela
- 29 juli 2023 10:55
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Höjd över havet: 400 m
- Tyskland Baden-Württemberg Region Hausach Hauserbach 48.263449, 8.16474948°15’48” N 8°9’53” E
Dag 23
Weekend in Germany - One Faith, One Hope
29 juli 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
We left Paris bang on 10:55 on ICE9573 bound for Karlsruhe, a journey of 2.5 hours. It didn't take long to hit 300km/h.

Karlsruhe is a great place to pick up a rental car. Apparently Stuttgart is like "driving straight onto a racetrack". We picked up our car and drove an hour east to our first night's place of stay which was literally in the middle of nowhere. A good place to grab an early night and only 45 mins from the Esslingen ecclesial hall.

On Sunday we had a great day. We went to the meeting in Esslingen where we were made to feel very welcome. This especially was the case for Abby who lots of brothers and sisters knew from her previous visits even though the last visit was some 20 years ago.

Lots of brothers and sisters have a good grasp of conversational English or better as most people have either a spouse or a parent from an English speaking background. However, the meeting was in German which was a really good experience for all of us to understand how it feels to benefit from fellowship even if we can't understand the language, and how important it is to make visitors feel welcome.

After the meeting we had an extension of fellowship at the home of Bro Neil & Sis Ilona McQueen and their family followed by a trip to the ruins of an old castle with amazing views.

Our weekend ended with a drive down to Trossingen where we are stayed the night.Läs mer
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