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Published: September 17th 2008
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A 007 view
From Schilthorn Hut The Swiss are very friendly people! We arrived in Geneva at around lunch time but couldn’t check into our campsite till after lunch so spent some rest time catching up on our novels. When reception opened we were greeted with the most bubbly girl ever and with paperwork done we were cheerfully told to "enjoy our installation."
We rode into Geneva that afternoon along the shores of lake Geneva and took in the main city sights before heading back to camp.
The following morning we visited the United Nations complex on a guided tour, went to the Red Cross to find out it was closed (a rare occurrence apparently) and finished with a trip to the CERN scientific complex, home to the world's largest Particle Accelerator. We found out later that they turned it on for the first time, just after we visited.
Next stop was Bern. Now our favourite city so far in Europe. It is such a gorgeous little city with every building being old and beautiful and a great relaxed feel. We wandered around the main part of town in the afternoon after a lovely ride in from the campground. Visited the house that Einstein lived
in and where he spurned the theory of relativity in 1905. We finished with a pint at the local brewery, of course!
On our way home we got caught up in the excitement of doing the obligatory float down the Aare river towards town. The locals all head out and do this every afternoon….floating down about 2km then walking back up to do it all again. It was the fastest flowing river we had ever been in and we seemed to float along at sprinting pace. Unlike the locals we only did one lap as the water was absolutely freezing…crazy Swiss! Enjoyed a huge meal of potatoes and cheese (aka Rostii, one of the national dishes) that night in the centre of town.
We were reluctant to leave Bern but being the determined travellers that we are, we hit the road again down to the Interlaken area to see the Swiss Alps. What an amazing part of the world this is! Spent two nights here and hiked up to the top of Schilthorn at 2970 metres. The building was used initially as a set for a 70’s James Bond. It is now a revolving restaurant and of course
a tacky souvenir shop selling 007 jackets and key rings. The 4 ½ hr climb up was pretty tough on us but the walk down nearly killed us. Enjoyed a well earned beer in Gimmelwald on the way down. .This little town sits at the top of a cliff and can only be reached by cable car! Amazing place with amazing scenery.
We did briefly visit the other side of the mountain range at the somewhat more touristy town of Grindelwald as well as a quick look around Interlaken.
Next stop was the cute city of Lucern where we stocked up on our Swiss Souvenirs and sought out the lion statue that Fay had talked about so often (she had been here on her tour a little while ago). After this we hit the motorway towards Lichtenstein and Austria.
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valda mason
non-member comment
Lucerne
Hi Kirstyn and Jason, So lovely to be getting your blogs, and I was so excited to see the Lion and the bridge in Lucerne, it is many years since I was there but it was lovely to see them. Been chatting to Fay and she had a wonderful time, now she is trying to get back into the way of life at home, very busy. Andrea and kids went to see her last week and spent a few hours helping with weeds. Fay will be excited to see you all together for Marita's and Patrick's wedding, so pleased for them. We are wanting rain here for crops very dry. You are having a wonderful time and I look for the blogs. Love to you both. Val.