Mary Kowalski
We leave tomorrow for Switzerland and my very first trip to Europe. I hope I can think of more interesting things to say after I actually get there! maryand1suitcase
Travel Blog Posts
September 20th 2011
This is our last stop in Switzerland. It is such a beautiful city, but we are beginning to feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and are longing for home. On our arrival in Zurich, Gary of course had to try the cuisine at the train station; one must never leave a sausage uneaten! As always, our friends the Wilhelms have showed us the best of Zurich. We wandered the streets, visited the University and the Framunster Reformed Church with windows by Marc Chagall. My highlight though, was lunch at an amazing vegetarian restaurant; the selections and the marvelous food even impressed Gary (yes, the same guy the ate choucrute 3 days running). We took a local tram to the airport for the flight home. We eschewed the shuttle service offered by the hotel as ... read more
September 18th 2010
We leave France today to return to Switzerland. On our way we stopped in Freiburg, Germany. We were able to see the local farmers market on the square in front of the cathedral and wander the curved streets of the old city. Unlike Colmar, there are few cars on the narrow streets and the few tourist trap shops are mainly close to the cathedral. After shopping (Verena knew of a lovely shop with items made only in Germany, not China) and lunch we returned the car to Basel and took off on the train to L'Aubier. There was a problem with a train stuck on the tracks near Bern (the first problem we had on the entire trip) which required some rerouting, but thanks to our friend's knowledge of the Swiss train system our delay was ... read more
September 14th 2010
Tuesday it must be Alsace. We took the train from Bettmeralp to Brig and then to Basel. What a surprise that the abbreviation for the Swiss intercity train system is SBB (for those of you not from lab land this is one of the credentials we have in the lab) and the name of the paper in the town was the DNA (Dernier Noevelle Alsace not deoxyribose nucleic acid). I take this as a sign that I was meant to take this trip. In Basel we went to a lovely private museum the Beyeler Museum; unfortunately it was under renovation but the grounds were beautiful and we had a good time with our friends the Wilhelms. Basel is very close the the boarder of Switzerland, Germany and France so on the way to our destination in ... read more
September 13th 2010
Monday 13 Sept We awoke this morning to dense fog rising out of the valley; it looks like white smoke rising from a very large fire. Not very good for mountain viewing, but it made it possible to see the updrafts the para-sailors and hang-gliders use. We have seen them everyday since arriving. It seems this area is know for a great place to for gliding or sailing and we watched them take off right below us on the hike to Fiescheralp. The fog cleared about noon and we hiked back up to the Pro Natura Villa Cassel to a new trail through the Aletschwald (Aletsch forest) and along the Grosser Aleschgletcher (or Aletsch glacier). There is no noises along the trail except for the sound of our steps, the birds and the occasional waterfall. I ... read more
September 12th 2010
We took the Glacier Express on Friday; mountains, gorges, glaciers and the most charming Swiss seat mates. The trip takes about 6.5 hours with one breath taking view after another. The windows in all the cars curve and become part of the ceiling so you can not only look out, but up while taking in the views. I felt like I was in a PBS series on the train; lunch complete with table clothes, napkins, real dishes and great food while watching the Alps. It doesn't get any better. We left the Glacier Express in Brig and took the regional train back to the Betten Tram Station where you get the cable car up the mountain to our hotel. Gary was here 25 years ago and and it has really grown, but our hotel in right ... read more
September 10th 2010
I've made it to Italy, but only for 30 minutes and since they are EU members, I don't even get my passport stamped, darn! We took the train from Poschiavo south to see a famous circular railroad bridge in Brusio Switzerland. It didn't seem all that spectacular, but since it was built 100 years ago the engineering was pretty impressive. It was much closer to Poschiavo than we knew and since it such a beautiful day, we decided to ride the train to the end of the Bernia Express in Torano, Italy. We actually never left the station, but Italy is Italy. My only regret is I forgot to get a picture of my feet in there!! On the return trip we stopped at Mirlago which is at the far tip of Lake Poschiavo and walked ... read more
September 9th 2010
Well I am back at the local coffee shop. Again no other bloggers or even anyone else on a computer. The church bells are ringing across the square and the sun is finally shining so life is good! At least in Poschiavo we don't have dueling church bells like there were in Grub; first the catholics and then the protestants. The catholic church here lovely not as gaudy as in St Gallen, and such a stark contrast to the protestant reformed building. The catholics with lots of stained glass, gilding, statues... and the reformed church plain white and grey. Yesterday we took the train the the Swiss National Park; about a 2.5 hour train ride through the Alps (I still can't believe I am here). We had lunch in the park at another restaurant that looks ... read more
September 7th 2010
We took a trip to Heiden on Saturday for the local Biedermeir festival with lots of local food, beer and crafts and many of the locals dressed in the style of the Biedermeier time period (i.e., 1815-1848). The festival celebrates the architectural style of many of the buildings in town which were all rebuilt in the Biedermeier style after a fire destroyed the town. We also visited the local museum which had a special exhibit of pictures made by intricate cuts in paper called papierschnitt. Sunday we hiked along the Wanderweg (a series of hiking trails throughout Switzerland) to Eggskriet. From this section of the Wanderweg we we supposed to see Austria and Germany, but we only saw Austrian and German fog. Lovely anyway! A local farmer stopped me to chat (a futile endeavor since I ... read more
September 3rd 2010
Still no pictures, maybe tomorrow. Lake Constance or the Bodensee as they say here was our main destination today. We traveled by train to a Swiss town whose name escapes me tonight and walked into Germany to Kanstance (which is where we get the name). This is a beautiful town on the shore of the Bodensee with only bikes and pedestrians on the streets of the old city. After lunch on the shore of the lake in a former cloister (the monks had a great view) we took a boat to the Isle of Mainau. This has been the home of the Swiss monarchs since the 1500's complete with a castle. (I think I have gone to heaven.) The gardens, however are why you visit Mainau. Flower, trees and every sort of plant from the all ... read more
September 2nd 2010
It seems only just that 2 people who will be late for their own funerals almost missed their transatlantic flight because their flight out of KC was 3.5 hours late taking off. The good news is that I now have a stamp from Holland in my passport; the bad news is we didn't arrive until after 5am KC time (almost as good as being on call). We were rerouted through Amsterdam and then to Zurich. This did allow got a quick running tour of the Amsterdam airport free of charge and since it was daylight I could watch as we approached the Dutch coast and the beautiful countryside as we flew over Germany. We met our friends the Wilhelms for dinner tonight in St. Gallen and and despite the 40 minute power nap I had when ... read more
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