Day 2 - St Gallen and Appenzell

We went to bed way too late last night (it was after 11.30pm) so the 6.30am wake up call from Charlotte was a bit rude. But it was very cute to see Charlotte trying to climb up the top bunk and join Lily in bed (C is sleeping in a cot and Lily is in the top bunk of one of the two bunk beds. She is loving her bed up there...she is so keen to climb up there at bedtime, saying goodnight Mummy as she makes her way up). Anyway, this morning Lily was whispering 'put the bear down and climb up'. Charlotte would have loved nothing more but she had no luck. So Lily climbed down to help her up. When that didn't work they satisfied themselves with bugging me.

After breakfast and some time in the playroom we walked into St Gallen, an easy downhill walk. It's a pretty town, with different German-type ornate architecture and small enough to get around easily. We looked inside the big cathedral which had the most amazing (baroque?) interior. Lily asked to light a candle so I agreed. Then she asked to take the lit candle with her. But we left it there after I said we should think of people we know.

After lunch we drove to Appenzell. Rolling hills (do hills roll?), lush green paddocks, cows, cute villages. Appenzell is down in a valley so you get a good view approaching from above. Small town, fair few tourists, pedestrian-only road through town with interesting buildings and shops. The best was when the cows came walking right through town, bells ringing, slobbering and crapping everywhere, men in traditional costume with sticks and dogs keeping the cows moving in the right direction right through the pedestrian lining the streets. Pretty good show, completely caught us by surprise.

Took a slow drive home through winding roads back to the hostel. Girls were happy to spend some time in the playroom, although C ready for dinner (which starts not a minute too early at 6.30pm).

Tomorrow we may drive into Austria and Liechenstein. Both aren't that far from here. St Gallen seems to be a great base to explore so much of the surrounding areas, and into Germany, Austria and Liechenstein. Nothing is that far.

Even though we have to vacate our room tomorrow, we have booked one more night. The new room will have 4 beds, washbasin and use of shared toilet and shower. Not as good as what we have now, but preferable to finding another hostel for the last night.