Blogs from Switzerland, Europe - page 256

Arrived in Zurich ok and went to the airport. unfortunately i was three hours early for Bradley's plane so i had to buy a book and chill somewhere. there wasn't a plane viewing area which was really disappointing. Brad arrived, we ate and decided that we really, really liked Switzerland so we would stay and explore this fantastic little country a little further. so: train ticket (check), Money (check), accommodation (ch...uh oh). a quick 30 minutes internet fixed that problem and we were again on the train to Bern. Bern: now this really is a fantastic city. i take my hat off to the town planners because it is the only city in Europe that i have found myself lost in. even Vienna at 3 am was easier ot navigate! the funny thing is that Bern ... read more

Here is an update of our drive from France to Switzerland: Days 11 to 15, July 17 -21, Luzerne , Lugano - Switzerland Day 11 . Travel from Colmar, France to Luzerne, Switzerland We crossed the border from France into Germany at the Colmar-Freiberg crossing. I think there a was no border or passport control which seemed a bit odd. Freiberg we did not see, only it's suburbs. Then it was directly into Black Forest (Schwarzwald). The trip thru the Black Forest to the Swiss border town of Schaffhausen was about 100km. Scenery was breathtaking. We stopped for lunch at Todisee. It turned out the restaurant was gourmet although the prices were reasonable. This was Maria's first introduction to rosti and spatzli and it was love at first bite. Later we stopped for Black Forest Cherry ... read more

well the night train in a seat was certainly a different experience. the seats were kind of special seats so it wasn't to bad. the lights however didn't go out too well so i rigged up an eyemask out of a strap and my sunglasses cloth because i am too stingy to buy myself one. why should i when i should have received it complimentary of singapore airlines!!! the conductor on the train was quite thorough. he was the first one to actually ask for my passport with my eurail ticket. i read a bit of harry potter (when i say a bit i mean i am 100 pages from finishing a 600 page book i bought 48 hours ago) and then tried to sleep. unfortunately reading a book without finishing it before bed has never ... read more

Ah, we have spent the past two days in Zermatt, and it has been amazing. Our first afternoon we took a small hike up from Zermatt to Sunnegga, around to Tuftern, then back down. The views were beautiful and it was a nice way to warm up for the big hike the following day. We had wandered around the town a little bit during the day, during which time Danika spotted a pretty good Italian place, so we headed back there for dinner. We both ordered the lasagna with meat and eggplant, which was nothing short of delicious. We washed it down with some Swiss beer, then headed back to our very adequate hotel room. Our second day we went on the big hike. We set off at 8:30 with our path picked. We would start ... read more

We have spent our last few days in Montreux, where the Montreux Jazz Festival has been going on. The festival is a two week long celebration of all different types of music, not just jazz. Headliners over the two weeks included Prince, John Legend, Van Morrison, the Pet Shop Boys, etc. While we were there, we hoped to catch Norah Jones and, just possibly, the Wu Tang Clan (mom's favorite...always used to play it for the kids in carpool). Non-headliners played a variety of venues, including some smaller stages and an outdoor area. We arrived our first night a bit exhausted from a full day's train ride and took a break before heading over from Vevey, a nearby city where we were staying. We watched the outdoor stage for a bit, then headed into the Montreux ... read more