Cookie says...
I had hopes of catching up with The Martin's today however the planets didn't align. They're a couple I knew from my time at Arana Hills COC and have been living over this side of the world for a few years now and presently live in Zurich. Instead we checked out the National Swiss Museum which (as expected) has a good display on the history of their country.
We did a whole lot of walking to burn off the bread we keep eating (Swiss bread is ze best), walked up and down a church spire, sorted out our train seats to Stuttgart and headed out for Italian.
We ended up in a Starbucks so I could update the blog while Julz read my Christmas present (A Game of Thrones).
Julie says...
The weather improved for us today (it didn't rain), but I still think Zurich is similar to Geneva.. really not that interesting. It was good to read up on Swiss history (I really knew nothing about it before), but I'd had enough of the museum when we got to the endless rooms of "house furnishings and lounge room designs from the 1940's to the 1990's in Switzerland" section.
The afternoon was good, as I got to read more of my book :)
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Day 27 - CH
Cookie says...
We moved from Luzern to Zurich today which is about 30 mins up the road but we went on a bit of a Cook's Tour as we had a mission to conduct. We had a chance to visit another country, well, actually it's a principality, so we took it. We made tracks for Vaduz which is the capital of Liechtenstein where we did the typical tourist thing of getting our passport stamped, a couple of souvenirs and sent a postcard.
A few hours later and we'd checked into the hotel in Zurich and were pounding the pavement around the old town. Because Pilty had left, the weather had mostly been miserable and today was no exception. We'd copped rain, wind, sleet, lightning and after walking around the town tonight, we'd even copped ice. After a hearty Swiss meal, we headed back to base.
Julie says...
In the movie "A Knight's Tale", Heath Ledger invents the story that he comes from Liechtenstein. I always just assumed that Hollywood made that place up but today I got to visit Liechtenstein. It was tiny, rainy, pretty well deserted and looked to consist of a giant mountain range and not much else. But I now have a passport stamp to show for my visit and the customary deck of cards with Liechtenstein's only castle on the back (because our household needs more decks of cards...).
Zurich is wet and miserable and reminds me a little of Geneva (un-inspirational). But the Swiss meal was brilliant and hopefully tomorrow the weather will improve.
On a side note, after 27 days on the road I believe the pillows in this hotel are the worst yet. You'd think merchant Swiss bankers with 7-figure salaries could provide better pillows... but maybe they're spending all their money on the watches worth 20,000 Swiss Franks displayed in every shop window here.
We moved from Luzern to Zurich today which is about 30 mins up the road but we went on a bit of a Cook's Tour as we had a mission to conduct. We had a chance to visit another country, well, actually it's a principality, so we took it. We made tracks for Vaduz which is the capital of Liechtenstein where we did the typical tourist thing of getting our passport stamped, a couple of souvenirs and sent a postcard.
A few hours later and we'd checked into the hotel in Zurich and were pounding the pavement around the old town. Because Pilty had left, the weather had mostly been miserable and today was no exception. We'd copped rain, wind, sleet, lightning and after walking around the town tonight, we'd even copped ice. After a hearty Swiss meal, we headed back to base.
Julie says...
In the movie "A Knight's Tale", Heath Ledger invents the story that he comes from Liechtenstein. I always just assumed that Hollywood made that place up but today I got to visit Liechtenstein. It was tiny, rainy, pretty well deserted and looked to consist of a giant mountain range and not much else. But I now have a passport stamp to show for my visit and the customary deck of cards with Liechtenstein's only castle on the back (because our household needs more decks of cards...).
Zurich is wet and miserable and reminds me a little of Geneva (un-inspirational). But the Swiss meal was brilliant and hopefully tomorrow the weather will improve.
On a side note, after 27 days on the road I believe the pillows in this hotel are the worst yet. You'd think merchant Swiss bankers with 7-figure salaries could provide better pillows... but maybe they're spending all their money on the watches worth 20,000 Swiss Franks displayed in every shop window here.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Day 26 - CH
Cookie says...
We were off to the transport museum this morning and it was pretty good. It's really hands on to keep the kids occupied and it has a few other neat things to see. It even has a model railroad which represented a section of their network which was almost up to the standard of the Miniatur Wunderland models but built over fifty years ago.
We went in search of the Lion Monument and lunch, scoped out a spot for some time-lapse and then walked along the base of the old town wall (the walls and towers are only open during summer).
We returned to a spot for time-lapse, proceeded to freeze, snapped some extra photos and then headed to an English pub for dinner. I did find it amusing that an I, an Aussie ordered an American burger from an Indian in an English pub in Switzerland - we live in a global village now.
Here's a rough cut of the time-lapse.
Julie says...
Oddly enough, in a country obsessed with banks, it took us ages to find an ATM so we could buy lunch. The Swiss must carry thousands of Swiss Franks with them everywhere (we can only assume that they are all merchant bankers).
Otherwise it was a pleasant day walking off all the food we have eaten these past few weeks. Hopefully my muscles burnt a lot of energy as I shivered with hyperthermia during the obligatory time-lapse.
We were off to the transport museum this morning and it was pretty good. It's really hands on to keep the kids occupied and it has a few other neat things to see. It even has a model railroad which represented a section of their network which was almost up to the standard of the Miniatur Wunderland models but built over fifty years ago.
We went in search of the Lion Monument and lunch, scoped out a spot for some time-lapse and then walked along the base of the old town wall (the walls and towers are only open during summer).
We returned to a spot for time-lapse, proceeded to freeze, snapped some extra photos and then headed to an English pub for dinner. I did find it amusing that an I, an Aussie ordered an American burger from an Indian in an English pub in Switzerland - we live in a global village now.
Here's a rough cut of the time-lapse.
Julie says...
Oddly enough, in a country obsessed with banks, it took us ages to find an ATM so we could buy lunch. The Swiss must carry thousands of Swiss Franks with them everywhere (we can only assume that they are all merchant bankers).
Otherwise it was a pleasant day walking off all the food we have eaten these past few weeks. Hopefully my muscles burnt a lot of energy as I shivered with hyperthermia during the obligatory time-lapse.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Day 25 - CH
Cookie says...
Our shoebox might have been warm and dry but it had crap beds and pillows and I now have a sore back. Somehow we shanked a cheap breaky however afterwards I'm not so sure it was worth the saving. We returned to Geneva airport to pick up the car and we were back on the road. This time it's an Opel Corsa and only just fits us and our gear.
The capital of Switzerland was our next stop (Berne, not Geneva or Zurich) but we turned it into a driveby. From what we saw, it looked nice. We then decided to ignore the sat nav and follow the signs to Luzern. This meant that we ended up driving a back road as opposed to the motorway and for 30 mins, the car was telling us to do a u-turn. We're glad we didn't as we saw some stunning scenery peppered with sterotypical buildings. It was wonderful.
After checking in we went for a walk around the old town and found a place for dinner where we cheese fondue'd it again. Tomorrow we'll find some things to look at.
Julie says...
Ditto to everything he said...
But Cookie forgot to mention that we visited CERN on our way out of Geneva. Now for those readers who aren't science nerds, CERN is the large hadron colider a few kms underground that spans 50kms of France and Switzerland (in one big circle). It's where scientists get to slam tiny little particles together to try to re-create particle fusion and ultimately try to prove the big bang theory (no success so far). Unfortuantely it was closed, and so I missed out on making Cookie do nerdy science stuff with me for once.
Luckily for me however, we checked out places to time-lapse for tomorrow evening, so I can't wait for those 3 hours of boredom to begin :(
And I finally bought some cough medicine, which is a shame for my abs because they have had a serious workout this past week.
Our shoebox might have been warm and dry but it had crap beds and pillows and I now have a sore back. Somehow we shanked a cheap breaky however afterwards I'm not so sure it was worth the saving. We returned to Geneva airport to pick up the car and we were back on the road. This time it's an Opel Corsa and only just fits us and our gear.
The capital of Switzerland was our next stop (Berne, not Geneva or Zurich) but we turned it into a driveby. From what we saw, it looked nice. We then decided to ignore the sat nav and follow the signs to Luzern. This meant that we ended up driving a back road as opposed to the motorway and for 30 mins, the car was telling us to do a u-turn. We're glad we didn't as we saw some stunning scenery peppered with sterotypical buildings. It was wonderful.
After checking in we went for a walk around the old town and found a place for dinner where we cheese fondue'd it again. Tomorrow we'll find some things to look at.
Julie says...
Ditto to everything he said...
But Cookie forgot to mention that we visited CERN on our way out of Geneva. Now for those readers who aren't science nerds, CERN is the large hadron colider a few kms underground that spans 50kms of France and Switzerland (in one big circle). It's where scientists get to slam tiny little particles together to try to re-create particle fusion and ultimately try to prove the big bang theory (no success so far). Unfortuantely it was closed, and so I missed out on making Cookie do nerdy science stuff with me for once.
Luckily for me however, we checked out places to time-lapse for tomorrow evening, so I can't wait for those 3 hours of boredom to begin :(
And I finally bought some cough medicine, which is a shame for my abs because they have had a serious workout this past week.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Day 24 - CH
Cookie says...
I have two words to describe Geneva today - wet and miserable. Regardless, we went exploring. The former United Nations headquarters was still closed so we looked at it from the outside. It seems that tourists aren't the only ones who don't find these things out until it's too late as there was a protest going on outside the front gates.
Next stop was the Reformation Wall and then the cathedral.
The Jet d'Eau was running but it's hard to discern white spray on a background of light grey sky.
We walked through the shopping district (it seems all European city centres are built around shops and souvineers). We even saw a dress for CHF 11,000 (Switzerland is expensive and Geneva moreso). Most places cost a first born to eat at and we can only imagine that everyone must be bankers. We gave up on the weather and headed back to the 'mansion'.
We snuck out for dinner, played some two player 500 (not as fun as four players but still playable) and it was game over for the day.
Julie says...
Today was kinda boring...
It rained, Geneva was closed, and really not that interesting anyway.
I don't earn enough money to even go window shopping in this town.
I have two words to describe Geneva today - wet and miserable. Regardless, we went exploring. The former United Nations headquarters was still closed so we looked at it from the outside. It seems that tourists aren't the only ones who don't find these things out until it's too late as there was a protest going on outside the front gates.
Next stop was the Reformation Wall and then the cathedral.
The Jet d'Eau was running but it's hard to discern white spray on a background of light grey sky.
We walked through the shopping district (it seems all European city centres are built around shops and souvineers). We even saw a dress for CHF 11,000 (Switzerland is expensive and Geneva moreso). Most places cost a first born to eat at and we can only imagine that everyone must be bankers. We gave up on the weather and headed back to the 'mansion'.
We snuck out for dinner, played some two player 500 (not as fun as four players but still playable) and it was game over for the day.
Julie says...
Today was kinda boring...
It rained, Geneva was closed, and really not that interesting anyway.
I don't earn enough money to even go window shopping in this town.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Day 23 - CH
Cookie says...
Sadly, it was time to leave Chamonix. Bronwen was staying the last night there while Pilty and Sarah joined us on the bus back to Geneva. They had a few hours of waiting until their flights so we headed in search of our hostel. We found it easily enough and not far from the train station however it isn't a very big room. In fact, the Hamburg to Paris train trip had marginally less space. Anyway, it's dry and warm so it will be fine.
After settling in, we took a stroll around Lake Geneva and discovered that the massive fountain stops running at four in the afternoon, minutes before I'm about to setup and take some photos of it.
As it was dinner time we headed back into CBD however apparently Geneva resembles Adelaide on Sunday and being New Years Day, it made it even harder to find something open. Fortunately a crepe joint beneath our hostel came to the rescue. Once back in the room we broke out Ticket to Ride, did some reading and hit the hay.
Julie says...
Seeing as how nothing much happened today (a typical travel day), I thought I would take this moment to give some advice to any travellers wishing to follow in our footsteps and explore Europe on a budget by using hostel/cheap hotel accommodation:
1. As European pillows are the thickness of cardboard even when doubled-over and wedged against the headboard, ensure you pack a coat you are happy to roll up and use as neck support.
2. The lake that develops at your feet during shower-time is normal - the Eurpoeans have not figured out that the size of the drain needs to be in proportion to the amount of water coming from the shower-head.
3. Don't ever expect a top sheet on your bed. Instead expect an over-heated room with a heavy doonah, so that you spend the entire night getting too hot and throwing a leg out the side of the bed.
4. When a towel is advertised as being included, expect to be drying yourself with something the size of a facewasher.
Sadly, it was time to leave Chamonix. Bronwen was staying the last night there while Pilty and Sarah joined us on the bus back to Geneva. They had a few hours of waiting until their flights so we headed in search of our hostel. We found it easily enough and not far from the train station however it isn't a very big room. In fact, the Hamburg to Paris train trip had marginally less space. Anyway, it's dry and warm so it will be fine.
After settling in, we took a stroll around Lake Geneva and discovered that the massive fountain stops running at four in the afternoon, minutes before I'm about to setup and take some photos of it.
As it was dinner time we headed back into CBD however apparently Geneva resembles Adelaide on Sunday and being New Years Day, it made it even harder to find something open. Fortunately a crepe joint beneath our hostel came to the rescue. Once back in the room we broke out Ticket to Ride, did some reading and hit the hay.
Julie says...
Seeing as how nothing much happened today (a typical travel day), I thought I would take this moment to give some advice to any travellers wishing to follow in our footsteps and explore Europe on a budget by using hostel/cheap hotel accommodation:
1. As European pillows are the thickness of cardboard even when doubled-over and wedged against the headboard, ensure you pack a coat you are happy to roll up and use as neck support.
2. The lake that develops at your feet during shower-time is normal - the Eurpoeans have not figured out that the size of the drain needs to be in proportion to the amount of water coming from the shower-head.
3. Don't ever expect a top sheet on your bed. Instead expect an over-heated room with a heavy doonah, so that you spend the entire night getting too hot and throwing a leg out the side of the bed.
4. When a towel is advertised as being included, expect to be drying yourself with something the size of a facewasher.
Sunday, October 2, 2005
Day 22 - IT
Today was our last day in Switzerland as we left for Italy but there was something big seperating the two countries: The Alps. At first we tried driving over them but as we drove higher and higher, it had started snowing and the road was getting whiter and whiter. The mountain roads had short bits of tunnel and it was nice emerging from these holes into a light snowfall was amazing (wish I had a photo). But we got to a point where we figured it would be smart to turn around so we did.
The signage in this areas wasn't the greatest so we ended up finding some tourist place somewhere and headed for a tunnel. I think we went through the Gotthard Tunnel which is one of the longest tunnels in the world. At the other end was Italy where we had lunch and then found ourselves on the Autostrade to get to the Cinque Terre near La Spezia. The road leading into the Cinque Terre was quite windy and the girls were looking a little green around the gills.
It was evening by the time we made it to Vernazza (one of the five main towns). You have to park outside the town and walk down. It wasn't too long a walk so we soon found out next challenge: to find a room. There was a couple of hotels but many locals rent out camarra's (rooms) so we door knocked a little and found two places for one night and we'd worry about the next two nights tomorrow.
For dinner we had pizza at a place called, The Blue Marlin, where the girls were quite taken by the two guys that worked there. One's appearance was quite elvish and wouldn't look out of place in Lord of the Rings.
The signage in this areas wasn't the greatest so we ended up finding some tourist place somewhere and headed for a tunnel. I think we went through the Gotthard Tunnel which is one of the longest tunnels in the world. At the other end was Italy where we had lunch and then found ourselves on the Autostrade to get to the Cinque Terre near La Spezia. The road leading into the Cinque Terre was quite windy and the girls were looking a little green around the gills.
It was evening by the time we made it to Vernazza (one of the five main towns). You have to park outside the town and walk down. It wasn't too long a walk so we soon found out next challenge: to find a room. There was a couple of hotels but many locals rent out camarra's (rooms) so we door knocked a little and found two places for one night and we'd worry about the next two nights tomorrow.
For dinner we had pizza at a place called, The Blue Marlin, where the girls were quite taken by the two guys that worked there. One's appearance was quite elvish and wouldn't look out of place in Lord of the Rings.
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Day 21 - CH
Mim tried her hand at driving today. Bit of a bumpy start but she got the hang of it (sounds weird talking about driving because we have been doing it for years but you have to remember we're on the wrong side of the road now). It was a short trip from Luzern to Interlarken so we continued to the Lauterbrunnen where we headed up to the Jungfrau*. It turned out to be the most expensive thing I think I have ever done. It was pretty, pretty cloudy, pretty high and pretty cold. Worth it though.
Once we arrived in Interlarken we checked in where we discovered Mim had left her passport behind where we had lunch. The passport was still there (typical of the neutral do-gooder moto that all Swiss seem to uphold) and when we returned and picked up Vickey from the train station. We went out for dinner where I had a deer steak and we shared a chocolate fondue for dessert. Even if my wallet couldn't get used to the place, my tastebuds could!
* useless trivia from the future: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue contains a track called Eiger Norwand. It is set on the north face and is visually a carbon copy. Ironically, motor racing is illegal in Switzerland.
Dead set, you could drop your camera
and still get a good photo in this country
Yup, we made it to the top and ended up on their webcam
Sarah and Fi were shivering from the cold and the height
Once we arrived in Interlarken we checked in where we discovered Mim had left her passport behind where we had lunch. The passport was still there (typical of the neutral do-gooder moto that all Swiss seem to uphold) and when we returned and picked up Vickey from the train station. We went out for dinner where I had a deer steak and we shared a chocolate fondue for dessert. Even if my wallet couldn't get used to the place, my tastebuds could!
* useless trivia from the future: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue contains a track called Eiger Norwand. It is set on the north face and is visually a carbon copy. Ironically, motor racing is illegal in Switzerland.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Day 20 - CH
Before we left Glasgow, I realised that I hadn't brought my thongs (for showering in) so we popped into a pound store where Sarah offered to select some for me. She didn't have much of a choice but picked some green ones complete with sequins. Why do I mention this now? We'd been sitting at breakfast and some guys noticed that I was sitting with three girls. They looked at me, looked at each other with puzzeled faces and then looked back at me. I stood up to get some toast and milk and they saw what I was wearing. At that point they looked at each other and started giggling. Sarah couldn't help but notice this and highlighted that they figured I was the gay guy in the group.
We walked around Luzern today and discovered two things; this place is beautiful and this place is expensive. Sarah wanted to see the the Lion Monument so we headed there. I bought a Swiss army knife (because that's what you do when in Switzerland).
So far we have used planes, trains and automobiles and today we added boats to the list. We jumped onto a paddle steamer over to Weggis and then jumped on the rail car up Mt Regis. After looking around we walked down a few stations and stopped part way down for lunch.
Fi and Sarah weren't sure how they'd go but we jumped in a gondola to get back to Weggis. Once back in Luzern we walked around the town more and followed the wall for a bit before having dinner.
We walked around Luzern today and discovered two things; this place is beautiful and this place is expensive. Sarah wanted to see the the Lion Monument so we headed there. I bought a Swiss army knife (because that's what you do when in Switzerland).
Tourists? Nah...
So far we have used planes, trains and automobiles and today we added boats to the list. We jumped onto a paddle steamer over to Weggis and then jumped on the rail car up Mt Regis. After looking around we walked down a few stations and stopped part way down for lunch.
It's obviously not a Magna engine,
there's not a spec of oil anywhere!
God blessed this place with an amazing amount of beauty,
then cursed it with an expensive currency so no one could afford to come and look.
(Warren Miller filmed from the same spot I took this)
Fi and Sarah weren't sure how they'd go but we jumped in a gondola to get back to Weggis. Once back in Luzern we walked around the town more and followed the wall for a bit before having dinner.
I was loving the walls and towers.
You don't get this back in Australia!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Day 19 - CH
Back to the road trip today. We have leased a Citroen C5 through a neat program for tourists. It's a pretty easy thing to organise however I will suggest you organise it with plenty of time up your sleeve or your travel mates might not be impressed. I didn't and the documents only arrived the day before I left the country. But they did and we had a car so off we went.
Basically it was a day confined to the car fanging along the French autoroute and into Switzerland. We had a few dramas and we almost had a head-on but we survived and arrived in Luzern.
Basically it was a day confined to the car fanging along the French autoroute and into Switzerland. We had a few dramas and we almost had a head-on but we survived and arrived in Luzern.
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