New years in Switzerland

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Liani and I left London on New Years Eve and flew to Zurich Switzerland. Coming in over Zurich all you could see were fields blanketed in snow. Zurich airport is extremely modern, from the airport you catch a train into Zurich main train station. From there we walked through the snowy streets and found our hotel for the night. It was new years eve, so we found where we were going to view the fireworks for the night. Considering some of the new years eve celebrations I have been in, Zurich was extremely civilised and controlled. The Swiss are very polite and efficient, and their NYE party was no exception to this. We enjoyed the fireworks out over the river. The next moring we were up early and on our way to Vals thermal Baths in the mountains. The streets were spotless, you wouldn't have known that the night before was NYE!!!

Getting around Switzerland is so easy using their rail network. We caught a train to Vals, but after missing one connection, we finally arrived by bus into the Vals Valley. The train journey was beautiful, everything white and pristine. The scenery ranged from out of Zurich alongside Lake Zurich with its little villages built on the waterfront, to the mountains of the Graubunden Alps. Its interesting to see first hand how people manage to live in such isloation and how they adapt to life in the mountains. The train makes stops at small villages along the way, and station stops are not from platform onto the train, but rather a walk up to the train over the tracks and all aboard!!

I had been told about Vals by my brother, who being a passionate architect was hell bent on getting to this place! The Thermal Hotel sits high above the road and looks like any chalet in the snow. Alongside the hotel is a beautiful slate building which houses the thermal baths. Inside this amazing structure are a number of pools, some warm others hot or cold. Their is an outside pool, which you can access via an underwater tunnel from inside. This pool is the hotest at 42 degrees and provides full view of the mountain ranges from the water. A very surreal experience sitting outside whilst it is snowing, in a hot pool with the steam rising and the snow falling!!! Just stunning!!! The thermal baths also provide saunas and steam rooms, hot beds and therapies such as massage. The main lobby is a glass fronted bar which looks out over the small village of Vals. This is an experience I would recommend to all. The scenery in addition to the beautiful thermal baths was definately a highlight of my Switzerland trip!! Have a look at this link for all the interior shots of the Therme Baths: www.therme-vals.ch

From Vals we headed to Lucern. I much preferred Lucern to Zurich, it is very pretty and the old town has gorgeous buildings many with artwork on the exterior. Our hotel looked out over a small square that was beautifully lit at night. We were recommended a local resturant which served traditional swiss food. The vegetarian meal was extremely tasty and very unlike anything I had eaten before. Before leaving Lucern we found some gorgeaous white gold rings that we have ordered and are waiting for Luke and Carmal to return with....

Back to Zurich and a flight to Austria to visit Gerhard and Anel and baby Petra, friends of Liani's from South Africa. We spent one night in Vienna before Anel came and picked us up. Vienna was cold, grey and snowy, we didnt do too much sightseeing, until night when we walked around the main square and grabbed a traditional austrian snitzel!

I spent the next couple of days trying to communicate with Petra who doesnt speak english and me not speaking either Afrikaans or German! Needless to say we managed quite well, I think she felt sorry for me because I couldnt talk, so we sort of just hung out!!!

Back to London and to prepare for our move to Angel next weekend!!

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