Team Lipstick is heading straight to Zurich today from Waedenswil which is only a 20 minutes drive however the batteries in Lipstick were sucked dry overnight as the fridge door was left open causing the fridge to work under full load during the night..
C’est la vie problems are there to be solved..
With no time on hand to be wasted a local “Pannendienst” was called and with the help of a very friendly mechanic Lipstick was started and rady to go some 20 minutes later.
Now the main task for the boys was to find some parking space in the inner city of Zurich which took some patience and time but again the boys succeded to find a nice parking which would allow them to park Lipstick for 2 hours.
A nice walk through the older parts of Zurich ..
Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. The municipality has approximately 400,028 inhabitants, the urban agglomeration 1.315 million, and the Zurich metropolitan area 1.83 million.
Zürich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zürich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.
Permanently settled for around 2000 years, Zürich has a history that goes back to its founding by the Romans, who, in 15 BC, called it Turicum. However, early settlements have been found dating back more than 6400 years ago. During the Middle Ages, Zürich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, became a primary centre of the Protestant Reformation in Europe under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli.
The official language of Zürich is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the AlemannicSwiss German dialect.
Zürich is a leading global city and among the world’s largest financial centres despite having a relatively low population. The city is home to a large number of financial institutions and banking giants. Most of Switzerland’s research and development centres are concentrated in Zürich and the low tax rates attract overseas companies to set up their headquarters there.
Great buildings can be seen in this beautiful town bordering lake Zurich
The plan was to meet up with Tanja again – who works in the centre of Zurich-
for a quick lunch and then head to the final destination :Freudenstadt in the Black Forest.
Tanja & Willy at the entrance to Tanja’s place of work in Zurich
Cheers from Tanja and Willy in Zurich
Sadly saying goodby to Tanja Team Lipstick headed north toward their final destinationinfreudenstadt and in doing so they decided to take the highway in France going up from Mulhouse towards Strassbourg after crossing into France outside Basel.
The highway in France mostly has less traffic then the highway in Germany which runs parallel to it on the other side of the river Rhine
Soon the outskirts of Strassbourg were reached and Team Lipstick once again entered Germany by crossing the river Rhine close to Kehl..
The bridge connecting France to Germany and crossing the Rhine River.
Shortly after crossing the river the boys were faced with the mountains of the black forest appearing on the horizon and soon they made their way up by driving winding roads.
With only 49 km to go the excitement was great as Freudenstadt would be the final destination on this great adventure doing the Silkroad from East to West. Many countries were seen and many cultures were met – memories will stay and Team Lipstick will laugh about many funny episodes , critical moments and the many places and new friends they met.
Shortly before 5pm on the 11th of August 2016 Freudenstadt was reached and the boys are now beginning to wind down and get Lipstick ready to be put in a container for shipment back to South Africa – see next report.