Wednesday morning we checked out of our apartment in Munich and headed to the south of Ulm, where we were meeting two friends from our very first trip – Klaus & Esther. Back when Hamish was 5, we stayed with them for a few days in Heidenheim and have kept in touch on and off since.

They had suggested a meeting place which was just off the freeway, so it was easy for us to find. An added bonus here was that there were lots of EV chargers, so Rod was able to plug the car in whilst we had lunch (more on the car later). The county borders of Bayern Munich and Baden-Württemberg cut the restaurant in half – this is quite a novelty and one Esther & Klaus are keen to show us.

After a lovely lunch and catching up, we said our goodbyes and headed to the final micronation of the trip: Liechtenstein. This country has been on Hamish’s radar for a few years, so Rod and I were happy to indulge him! I bet you wish you had a Hamish – we never would have included Liechtenstein on our itinerary if not for him. The views were gorgeous: snowy mountain tops, winding roads and green hills – we followed the Rhine into Liechtenstein, then turned left and wound our way up to Triesenberg (above the snow line) where we were staying the night. Prices here were astronomical – but seriously, after 3 months, who’s even counting?

Our accommodation was a well heated hotel room with no fridge for Rod’s final medication – but the staff happily popped his injection in their fridge and the ice packs in their freezer. We then had to ask them for an adaptor for our electricals as Liechtenstein has a 2 narrow pin system, quite different to the rest of Europe. The room was so well heated we slept with the balcony door and a couple of windows open! Have we heard of climate change? It’s crazy how overheated most of our accommodations have been. Also, in Liechtenstein you are charged in Swiss Francs and the exchange rate is similar to the British pound.

Once we were sorted with medications, chargers and car parking, we headed outside for a bit of a walk around. The stand out features of Triesenberg were: 2 main roads, a church, a store, and what looked like an aged care facility. The views are mostly of the Swiss Alps and are as you can imagine, incredible.

We had a two course meal (because that was the meal choice of the day in the restaurant) and then headed back to our room to wait until midnight where we were able to watch Dad graduate from Uni via LiveStream. Exciting.

Hamish’s favourite thing when travelling is a breakfast buffet and the little hotel did not let him down: boiled eggs, croissant, bread roll, cold meats and cheese, honey, Nutella, juice and a hot chocolate. I said to Rod, Hamish gets his money worth. He leaves nothing behind on his plate and will try everything!

We left the hotel and pointed the car in the direction of our current stop: Strasbourg. Side note: the Receptionist/Cook/Waiter told me the cost for the dinner the night before was “false” so she took it off the bill – I am still waiting for them to reconcile this and charge me an extra $150! We are still getting used to the EV so needed to work out when, where and how to stop and charge the car. The charging capability of each charging station varies: slow, medium and fast. So we found a fast charging station, but it still took about 45 mins to charge (adding about 60% of charge to the battery). Hamish and I stayed in the car and played games on our devices whilst Rod pottered about outside, taking photos, getting snacks, going to the bathroom – anything to pass the time. The car is great, but for first time EV drivers, driving in a different continent, trying to find charging stations (that actually work) is the biggest stitch up. We will be sending a strongly worded letter to the car rental company once we leave Düsseldorf Sunday.

Our trip to Strasbourg took us through Switzerland which wasn’t at all unpleasant. We found our apartment easily – it is the top floor of a 3 story house in the suburb of Eckbolsheim, about 6km from the city centre. Since arrival we have shopped, charged the car (I think Rod might write about this in the next blog), caught a tram into the city, done some sightseeing, walked around the neighbourhood and shopped a bit more for Christmas.

Many of the homes are in the traditional Alsace style, with pitched rooves and timber panels – they are just gorgeous. With quite a bit of rain around, we’re not expecting a white Christmas, so we’re glad we have experienced a tiny bit of snow already. The news from Germany’s Christmas Market tragedy provoked my hyper-vigilance yesterday. I think our best Christmas Market days were done back in Vienna and Bratislava.

I’ll leave you with a Fun Fact. Wednesday and Thursday we travelled through 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and France. The total distance of these trips: 660km give or take. At home, if we travelled 660km from Wangaratta we’d be in places like: Sydney or Renmark or Dubbo!

And one more: Rod’s top speed on the autobahn Wednesday was 152km/hr – Hamish said, “Go Dad!”