New Orleans

Our decision to take a quick trip to New Orleans was on very short notice. We’ve travelled all over the United States, but for some reason, we never went to the South-East. After seeing a report about Nola, we decided, now is the time to go. We took off in Cleveland and a short trip later, landed in Nola. Once we got into the city, it was clear very quickly, that this city has whole different character and flair than the average US City. And we enjoyed it. We only had 4 days, but we made the best out of it and booked some night-walking tours (to meet the New Orleans ghosts), visited a few of the typical bars with live music, took a swamp and plantation tour and enjoyed the great cajon delicacies in the restaurants. During the swamp tour we had to do the tourist-thing and hold a baby alligator and snake. Quite interesting.

Of course we also took a cemetery tour which you absolutely have to do. Especially if you like taking photographs, you’ll find some very nice corners on these cemeteries (as weird as that sounds).

We went on our quick trip in May and it was quite pleasant from a humidity perspective. I can imagine, that in summer, the heat and humidity will be quite worse. So, spring or fall is probably the best time to go. Enjoy the time if you go there and don’t forget your camera.

Melchsee-Frutt Switzerland

When looking through a variety of websites for good hikes near our area in southern Germany, I stumbled over the site of Melchsee-Frutt, near Lucerne in Switzerland. (Here’s the site: https://www.melchsee-frutt.ch).  It looked interesting and the scenery with the mountains around several lakes seemed promising. Since the weather forecast predicted good weather, we planned this trip for the following weekend.

Melchsee-Frutt is located about 40 Minutes by car away from Lucerne. The drive is easy and traffic is usually not very heavy. When we arrived at the end of the valley at Melchtal-Stöckalp, we had to make a choice. Do we take the road up to Melchsee-Frutt, or do we take the Gondola. The road is one way traffic. At even hours, traffic goes up and at odd hours, traffic goes down. We decided to take the gondola. The ticket included the gondolas at the top of the mountain as well, so it was a good deal. The ride up takes about 20 Minutes and includes great views on the surrounding mountains free of charge:)

Arriving at the top, we came to the first lake called Melchsee. Very scenic with mountains going up around it. You can also stay up there as there are a few hotels directly located at the lake. On weekends quite a few local people take the ride up and stroll around the lake and enjoy the scenery. For families with kids, a great trip as there’re many places for outside barbecues which were well used.

We took a hike up one of the mountains, going to the next lake and back from there. While the beginning of the hike was strenuous, once we reached the top we had a great view on the mountains in the area. From there, the hike went continuously down and back to the gondola. Overall it took about 3,5 hours and was 9 km. Height difference was 500 meters up – and obviously back down.

There’re many more hikes in the area for all kinds of experience. From easy strolls around the lakes to serious hikes with ropes and cables involving climbing. If you want to enjoy a nice weekend trip or, if you’re in the area for vacation, take a day and go up to Melchsee-Frutt. You won’t regret it.

On the way to Melchsee, you will pass by Flüeli Ranft, a site of a religious hermit that had quite an impact on the development of switzerland in the 16th century. See also my other blog about Flüeli Ranft on this site.