Switzerland- July, 2009
Carlyn and Cari's Web Page
Carlyn and Cari's Guest book
Venice in November
Spain with Lin and Monica
The Louvre and Monet's House and Garden, September 2009
Disneyland Paris- The end to my month long 50th birthday celebration
London Skyride- September 20, 2009
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Switzerland- July 2009
Carlyn's Birthweek 2009- Fun, Food and Henry VIII
Sailing Trip on the Solent of the English Channel, June 2009
Istanbul, Turkey- May 2009
Aberdeen with Jacky and Steve
The Loire Valley with Mom and Sheri
Budapest, April 2009
The German Christmas Markets with Joyce, December 2008
The Lord Mayor Show, November 8, 2008
Madrid and Andalucia, October 2008
Krakow, Poland- September 2008
Cari's Birthweek- Germany
Dinner at Muspatts Farm celebrating Carlyn's
Italy, June 2008
The Lake District- May 2008
York- May Day Holiday Weekend 2008
Cornwall and Wales- Page 1
Cornwall and Wales- Page 2
Hever Castle
Blemhein Palace
Hastings and Battle- 1066 Country
Brighton
German Christmas Market
Fall in Provence
Paris in a Day
Visitors at Parliament Square
Amsterdam and Kuekenhof
The South West "Jurassic" Coast
Cambridge
Christmas and Canterbury
Normandy
Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Belgium break
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Blog
On July 3 we began an eight day rail journey right through central Switzerland beginning in Zurich with our last excursion in Zermatt (from Z to Z!).
We arrived on Friday, after a bit of luggage delay at Zurich Airport, in Lucerne via Swiss Rail.
We took a quick walk around historic Lucerne including the Chapel Bridge. It is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, and one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions. The covered bridge, constructed in 1333, was designed to help protect the city of Lucerne from attacks. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century, depicting events from Lucerne’s history. Much of the bridge, and the majority of these paintings, was destroyed in a 1993 fire, though it was quickly rebuilt.
We also walked to the The Lion Monument, or the Lion of Lucerne. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. Mark Twain (1835–1910) praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.
The next day we boarded a train to Engelberg where the first set of three gondolas slowly took us to a height of 10,000 ft to the top of Mount Titlis. The last stage of the ascent was on a rotating gondola “Titlis Rotair”. This is the view of the Glacier from the rotating gondola
Carlyn clowning at the peak
When we arrived at the top we took a 1 km walk, in the snow, to a look out point along the Titlis Glacier. The views were amazing and I said to Carlyn at that time “if I see nothing else on this holiday, the trip is a success”!
Carlyn "shot" this cow on the way to lunch. They have huge bells around thier neck and you can hear them for everywhre.
A beautiful scene of Carlyn, the Alps and cows.
Our plan was to take the cable car down to the second level, have lunch, do an Alpine Flower hike to another smaller lift and return to our starting point of Engelberg. The lunch was expensive (everything is expensive) but the flowers and views were fabulous. When we got to the lift down it was closed so we hiked an additional 2 hours, down the mountain, to Engelberg. It was defiantly more than we bargained for but after a beer, chips and a shower, all was well, except for our aching feet.
On Sunday we left Lucerne, forwarding our luggage to Interlaken for a trip on a steam railway to Brienzer Rothorn. The Rothorn railway took us up to hiking trails and superb views of Lake Brienz.
Because of the hike the day before, we took a short hike to the peak after finding a great little restaurant away from the hordes of Japanese tourist for Goulash soup, great bread, and a beer.
Taken from the train, this cow and it's cow bell were almost to the top of the moutain. Check out the lake behind it
Carlyn admiring the veiw from the high point.
We returned to Brienz, a village famous for wood carving for much anticipated shopping only to find the majority of the shops were closed on Sunday. We continued on to our next stop, Interlaken. This is an old town full of iconic Swiss mountain homes.
On Monday we took a cog-train up to Schynige Platte to an Alpine Garden display then a hike along the platte where we got magnificent views of Interlaken and its two lakes (Interlaken name comes from ‘In between lakes’ – Carlyn is viewing Lake Brienz ). The weather was raining in the morning but glorious just as we got to the view point.
Crystal clear sky and the other lake, Lake Thun.
Tuesday we took the Jungfrau railway via “Eiger Gletscher” to the Jungfraujoch- the highest railway station in Europe at 11,300 ft. with breathtaking views of the Aletsch Glacier. We took a one hour hike to Mönchsjoch Hut and back. By now we are buying our lunch at the Coop (the supermarket) and having a picnic lunch, complete with local wine. Upon our return to Interlaken we avoided the vegetable free Swiss cuisine and headed to an Italian Restaurant where we watched The Michael Jackson Memorial, translated in German.
Dogs playing on the glacier
The Aletsch Glacier is the longest in the Alps and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Wednesday we forwarded out luggage to our next destination of Zermatt and made a very spontaneous decision to take a side trip to the Swiss capital of Bern to visit Bern’s historic medieval town, also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Zytglogge is the landmark medieval clock tower in the Old City of Bern. It has existed since about 1218-1220 and is one of the most recognizable symbols of Bern. The name Zyglogge translates as time bell in English. A "time bell" was one of the earliest public timekeeping devices, consisting of a clockwork connected to a hammer that rang a small bell at every full hour. The Zytglogge clock is one of the three oldest clocks in Switzerland. The Zytglogge features a group of mechanical figures. At three minutes before the hour the figures which include a rooster, a fool, a knight, a piper, a lion and bears, put on a show[24]. The animals chase each other around, the fool rings his bells and the rooster caws.
The Münster of Bern is a Protestant Gothic cathedral. Construction on the Münster began in 1421. Above the main portal is a rare complete collection of Gothic sculpture. The collection represents the Christian belief in the Last Judgment where the wicked will be separated from the righteous. The stained glass windows date from 1441-1450 and are considered the most valuable in Switzerland.
What a great place. Built on a narrow hill surrounded on three sides by the Aare River, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the 12th to the 15th century. Despite a major fire in 1405, after which much of the city was rebuilt in sandstone. Bern's old city has retained its medieval character. The Old City is home to Switzerland's tallest cathedral as well as other churches, bridges and a large collection of Renaissance fountains. In addition to many historical buildings, the seats of the federal, cantonal and municipal government are also situated in the Old City.
We continued on our journey to the car free resort of Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn and checked into our charming Swiss hotel. Zermatt was the most charming of all the places we stayed. We were met by sheep being herded down the main street and a Swiss band in front of the rail station. The flowers, houses and surrounding mountains were breathtakingly beautiful. Don't the goats look just like the puppets in "The Sound of Music"?
Zermatt's main street. Only electric vehicles are allowed.
We headed to the Stockhorn Grill were we indulged in Swiss cheese and meat fondues as well as the local wine.
The following day we boarded the highest cogwheel train in Switzerland which took us to an altitude of 10,134 ft. with views of the mighty Matterhorn and impressive glaciers of the Monte Rosa massif. We were just a few of non Japanese tourist on this train. Here we are with new friends as we begin our desent.
When we arrived at the summit we headed down hill along a marked hiking path to a lovely glacier lake which reflected the Matterhorn. We headed back down mountain, via the cog train to Zermatt where we caught a gondola to a trail head where we embarked on another two hour hike in the Alps.
Glaciers we encountered on the hike
We headed back down mountain, via the cog train to Zermatt where we caught a gondola to a trail head where we embarked on another two hour hike in the Alps. There were fabulous lakes, flowers and of course, views of the Matterhorn. Fantastic hiking but we were pooped! After another meal of Lamb Fondue and all I could eat Raclette (how much cheese and potatoes can one eat!), we slept very well. Here we have finished the hike but never far from a cold beer as a reward.
After a brief tour of the cemetery and the English Church in Zermatt, we headed back to Zurich, our last stop. These memorials are to those who have lost their lives climbing the Matterhorn and surrounding peaks.
The goal was to get to Zurich and see the sights but both of us were very tired so we saw what we could, had a typical Swiss dinner at a sort of Beer Garden place, went back to the hotel, watched BBC television, and crashed until 9:30 AM the next day.
