JG-L - Travel Pix-010

I did another short trip to Vancouver Island to attend a party at Rubbert's home on the 14th December and there are a few images in the News Section, December, 2006 page.

There was another trip to Germany for me in October, 2007 and the article and images from that trip can be seen at: PAGE TWENTY-NINE - OCTOBER TRIP TO GERMANY - 2nd Nov., 2006

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- Germany, Austria & Switzerland Trip: June & July, 2006 -

15th June - 12th July

My time away from home started off on a sad note, having to attend my father-in-law's funeral, but on the 19th, we climbed on the big silver bird and headed off to Frankfurt, to arrive there the follo0wing morning at 11:30 and be met by my very good friend Frank. He took us to his and Corinna's home and we settled in for our short stay.

We were planning to take the train from Frankfurt to Pupett's place, but the soccer World Cup Games got in the way and so Frank drove us down, about a 2 and a half hour trip, normally. Unfortunately one of the autobahn's had some construction (don't they all, in the height of the Summer?), and so I got to see the largest number of semi-trucks I've ever seen: 30 km of them, 2 lanes wide, nose to tail. Jesus!

Anyhow, we arrived and got settled in, then on the 24th June, headed off to the Torture Ship Cruise on Lake Constance. This event is organized by Thomas Siegmund (www.zip-zone.de) and is a blast. It Starts off in Friedrichshafen (home of the Zeppelin) and goes until 5 AM the next morning.

- Weingartern Departure -

Christine and I coming down to the dockside from the parking lot. The scene in the parking lot had to observed to be believed ... all sorts of naked bodies, rubber and leather up the wazzoo,

and so we definitely knew we were in the right place. Of course, they decided I needed a leash to keep me from wandering off and to ensure I made it onto the ship OK :-).

The ship itself (upper left) is a very nice vessel, constructed in the mid-1930's and holds about 1,000 people. In the upper right picture, you can see some of the crowd that gathers to watch the show of us all arriving. Apparently, folks book the deck space above nearly a year in advance, just to watch the parade. The bottom two pix give an idea of the crowd on the dock (smaller this year, due to the World Cup Soccer finals).

Me, Christine and Martin doing a little dockside S&M for the drooling crowd and on the right Martin, Pupett and Matthias on deck, already with drinks in hand.

Christine and I on the foredeck, with a couple of incredible folks from www.fury-fantasy.com. They make some pretty wonderful masks and everyone who saw them was blown away. Please visit their site for more data.

We started off at 19:00 and moved out into the middle of Lake Constance (International waters, for it is bordered by Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and the party began to pick up steam. Christine was gorgeous in her corset and boots, but a little later, I took off the bloody shoes, for they were getting damned uncomfortable.

We came into Constance at about 21:00, just as the sun was setting and the crowds at the dock and on shore were even bigger than those at Friedrichshafen. Prior to landing, a tableau of ladies was arranged on the fore deck and it got a huge reception on arrival in the harbour. About 15 minutes after arrival there was a wonderful B&D/S&M show on the pier, then we were all off on the next segment of the cruise. It continued on until 05:00 the next morning , but we called it a day at 01:00.

On the 25th we drove from Weingarten to Vienna (about a 7 hour drive) and arrived there late, but went out to dinner at 01:00. The next day we began visiting some of the latex manufacturers and the first one was Simon O. Hans, our wonderful tour guide, was a great friend and showed us all sorts of wonderful places and people. The pic on the right is of a WW-II flak tower and if you look closely, the shell pits can still be seen. A massive construction.

Just a few of the neat things they have at Simon O. On the right is a cartoon I spotted at Studio Gum, and it cracked me up, for if you look closely, EVERY living object in the picture is gas-masked :-).

Studio Gum also has probably THE most comprehensive gas mask collection in the world, as can be seen from the images above. There's everything from WW-I through to present day and a wonderful collection also of Draeger re-breather gear.

After we were done there, it was off to dip the digits in the Danube (Donau for all those who live there), and it was so bloody hot and sticky that if I'd had a towel with me, I'd have been in the water in a heart beat.

From there it was off to HW Design, and of course I spotted some dolls that were of distinct interest. Pony girls and all of their trappings are a source of constant interest for me, as is probably evident. Pupett needed a helmet created and so Harald soon had her ensconced in a fitting helmet, and as always, Pupett can wear damned near anything and look sexy.

After Vienna, we headed back home and had a couple of days to get over the whirlwind tour of that beautiful city. Left, above, we're sitting on the roof top patio, each with our own computer and of course4dsucking back a few beers. After the three day recovery, we headed off to Switzerland, surprisingly close by. Pic on the right was taken at the top of the Furka Pass (some 8500 feet above sea level). On the way to the bottom, we ran across a real, live, working steam engine (another of my great loves). Most of these engines use a cog-type of system to climb the steep grades.

The bottom two pix are a couple of days later when awe went to Zermatt, then took the train up to a hotel that looks over the valley and towards the Matterhorn. Some idea of the grade can gained from these pix.

It's a bloody impressive hunk of rock! We sat on the patio at the 3100 Restaurant and had a beer and some food. Altitude of the restaurant is 10,170 feet ASL. Outstanding.

This is a picture of yours truly, taking a picture from the balcony of the apartment we stayed in (it was only 6,200 feet ASL), overlooking the valley, near Sion. Those hills are 15 miles away.

Pupett went off to see her folks and celebrate her Mum's birthday, and while she was gone Matthias got a really nice display cabinet for a few of her chastity belts and accessories. And, in the middle, is the beautiful lady herself.

A few days later, she returned and off we went on a small local trip. Pupett dressed with her usual panache. Note the back pack with attached bat wings :-).

The day before we left for home, Matthias drove us up to Rothenburg, one of the two remaining fully walled cities in Germany and we of course did the whole tourist thing. Naturally a visit to the Torture Museum was mandatory and here's a few pix of some of the implements.

Assorted steel harnesses and chastity belts were evident, and of course I HAD to get pix of the real thing.

While cruising the tourist traps, I spotted a lovingly detailed model of the World War Two, German gun that gave the Allies the shakes ... the 88. This weapon was employed as an anti aircraft gun, an anti-tank gun and a submarine deck gun. I HAD to have it and so it now resides on my book case. The pic on the right shows the kind of beer stein most folks say I SHOULD use, but fitting it into the suitcase would have been a bitch.

An so on the 12th of July, Matthias drove us to the Stuttgart banhof and we took the ICE (Inter-City Express) from there directly into Frankfurt airport. I splurged a little (after all, it was our 30th anniversary) and we went First Class. The cabin looks like something out of Star Wars and those German trains live up to their well deserved reputation. It was a smooth, speedy trip at 300 km/hr.