Switzerland

It was around 4+ AM that we woke up at our hotel to catch the first metro train to Paris Nord. After a light breakfast, we packed our stuffs before we set off to Switzerland. For those for you who read my Taiwan trip article, we left a luggage in the hotel as our return journey is staying at the same place, so we did the same thing as well. The hotel reception was quite surprised that we had such an early train to catch. At such hour, the streets were very quiet except for a few cabs that drove by. From Paris Nord, we had to take the cross-border train to Basel and changed into another train to Lucerne. The good thing about these long distance train rides is that we can bring our food and drinks to consume on board.

 

Our train from Paris to Basel where we took another similar train from Basel to Lucerne

Basel Railway Station

A lonely tree that we saw on our journey to Lucerne

Swiss residences

Finally we arrived at Luzern (name of Lucerne Railway Station)

We arrived at Luzern around 2-3 pm and checked into Hotel Pickwick which has a splendid view of Chapel Bridge and the railway station. More importantly, it gave us a whole new experience of staying in a hotel that is a pub as well. If you had played RPG games like Final Fantasy, you probably can remember that the characters can get some rest in an inn that is also a pub. It was a fantasy come true!

 

Once we put down our luggage, we immediately went to look for proper lunch. Well, consider the time we arrived in Lucerne, we didn't really had much food. After a fulfilling lunch, we explored the city looking for watches and chocolates. Among the different places that we went to in Switzerland, Lucerne is the best place to look for watches. After 4 pm, we could see scores of buses that brought in tourists to shop for the watches at this particular shop. Our experience told us that we definitely could find better shops that offer us better prices. In fact my tip of the day is there are so many shops selling watches, so take some time to explore around. If you already had a particular brand of watch in mind, try looking for its exclusive retailer as they offer a better discount on top of the tax refund. We shortlisted a few watches and decided only to settle on the pair we like the next day.

 

Our first dish was salad!

Sausage with diced potatoes

Chicken with vegetable and rice, the chicken tasted pretty good

Lucerne fountain on the right, this place is just behind our hotel

Street of Lucerne, as you can see SNOW SNOW SNOW!!

Streets on the other side of the lake

This should be some sort of water control system

A close up shot of tree in winter

 

Lucerne is also a very good place for those who like to brew their own coffee at home. There were also shops that sells not only sell hot ready-made coffee.They sells from coffee powder to coffee machines, and the good news is the price of the coffee machine is only a fraction of what is sold in Singapore and.... there was an additional promotion that time, coffee machine - buy 1 get 1 free! But for us, Switzerland was the beginning of our Europe trip and it was not practical to these machines carry around. Shops do not usually open late in Europe, most of the shops, expect restaurants, would close at 6.30 pm. We returned to our hotel for dinner and ordered some food to be brought into our room. We also took the chance to enjoy the view from our room.

 

Day view from our hotel room

Night view from our hotel room. Which do you prefer?

We only planned to stay one night in Lucerne so we woke up a bit earlier to catch the ferry in Lake Lucerne. This ferry ride is also inclusive in the Swiss Pass. We found out from the captain that the ride to go round Lake Lucerne will probably take more than four hours so to save us some time, we planned to disembark at one of the smaller ports around Lake Lucerne and then took the bus/train back to the town. And yes, the bus/train rides were inclusive in the Swiss Pass :)

This was the ferry terminal where we took our ferry, it is just beside the railway station

Another photo of Chapel Bridge

View of another Lucerne town from the lake



This was where we got off the ferry and took the return bus/train ride

Street view of Weggis

Photo taken during the bus trip. You can see that towns are developed on both sides of the lake

Swans basking in the sun when we returned to our hotel

 

Still remember that the day before we were deciding what watch to buy? We finally decided on a pair of Tag Heuer watches and went to its exclusive retailer. The designs that we chose was not found in Singapore and pretty unique. It was something for us to remember Switzerland.

 

It was time for us to check out from our hotel. We were still early for our train ride to Interlaken though. After packing our luggage, we left them with the hotel reception and went for our last lunch in Lucerne where we tried their Swiss cuisine meat platter.

 

Swiss bread is kinda a bit darker in colour and their jams are in tube (reminds me of toothpaste)

 

We had quite a number of meal dishes so far, and the vegetables were welcomed

  

Swiss styled meat platter with cheese

 

Easter decorations can be seen everywhere in Lucerne as we approached the holiday

  

Our train ride from Lucerne to Interlaken took about 2 hours and passed by another Lake known as Brienz. The sky had turned dark when we reached Interlaken West. We moved on to our stay in Interlaken.

 

  

A factory in a small town, it is interesting to see people cycling to work despite car is very affordable

 

Still very cold when it is supposedly to be spring

 

Passed by Lake Brienz

 

Finally arrived in Interlaken West as the sun set

 

At this point of writing, I would like to make a point to thank our lovely hosts from Hotel Rugenpark B&B for making our stay expectionally wonderful. Chris and Ursula knew we were spending our honeymoon in Switzerland. Not only they had arranged a comfortable room for us, they also prepared a welcome gift. During our 2 night stay in Rugenpark, we had one of the most hospitable experience in Europe. Breakfast was served with Ursula making the hot drinks (tea, coffee or hot chocolate) while Chris ensured the counter was always filled with food. Before we made our way to the attraction, Ursula would help us check the weather. If weather was unfavourable, Ursula would suggest alternatives for us (that was why, at the later part of the trip, we went to "First" and had our "first" snowman experience). Thank you Chirs and Ursula!

 

Simple, elegant and a hand-written card from our wonderful hosts
 

Breakfast in the morning, there were also fruits after we finished our main course

Interlaken is a famous tourist area known for its connectivity to Jungfraujoch. Even at night, shops are open till 8.30 pm (which is considered very late in Europe, remember what time do the shops close in Lucerne?). Shops are located along the main road, beside the railway from Interlaken West to Interlaken Ost. It felt like a long stretch of shopping road. We noticed that the shops in Interlaken carried cuckoo clocks in addition to the watches. And that was where we bought ours.

The journey from Interlaken West to Jungfraujoch goes something like this: Interlaken West --> Interlaken Ost --> Grindelwald --> Kleine Scheidegg --> Jungfrajoch. For some reasons(funny), "Grindelwald"sounds like some Harry Potter places and we were pretty eager to find out about this place.

A compact car parked at Interlaken West station. It can only fit 2 persons and probably 1 big luggage

Our train to Interlaken Ost has arrived

Interlaken Ost station

On the way to Grindelwald - Photo 1

On the way to Grindelwald - Photo 2

On the way to Grindelwald - Photo 3

Finally arrived at Grindelwald. Do you think it fit any Harry Potter novel?

In the middle of the photo is Grindelwald station

The next stop is Kleine Scheidegg, a high mountain pass. We needed to get on another train to Jungfraujoch. In my opinion, this train ride to Jungfraujoch is the steepest one. What do I mean? We also took the Glacier Express 2 days later. According to Glacier Express, there is a stretch of the mountain route that the train will climb the steepest slope in Europe. However, we felt that the train to Jungfraujoch is the steepest. Like I mentioned in the beginning of my trip, we are not exactly interested the "facts or official information", we are on a holiday and our thoughts, feelings, moods and impressions are, well, most important to us.

Kleine Scheidegg where we waited for our train to Jungfraujoch

A stall selling food and drinks, can you see that is the traditional oven?

Our train has arrived...

... And we arrived at Jungfraujoch

Have you ever wonder how those people in the past built the tunnels and track. Like the Chinese saying "The pioneer generation planted the seeds, the present generation enjoys the fruits". A special tribute to those who "planted the seeds"

Ice Sculptures - The Polar Bears

Ice Sculptures - The Great Eagles

Ice Sculptures - Seals

Animated Sphere Display

 

Our return journey from Jungfraujoch was to take the same route as we came up as we bought return tickets. Much to our surprise, we were told that we could take an alternate route via Wengen and Lauterbrunnen as eventually we would return to Interlaken. When the train conductor came up, he thought we got up the wrong train. He felt relieved when we told him we were returning to Interlaken. The conductor showed genuine customer service and common sense. Kudos to that!

 

Our round trip to Jungfraujoch explained - Courtesy of Google Map

A trip to Jungfraujoch like this already took up the whole day and it was time we had a good dinner at Interlaken before we turned in. Just a note on the train rides that we took from Interlaken to Jungfraujoch and back, the train rides were all inclusive in the Swiss Pass, only the return train ride from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch had to be purchased at 50% discount.

Sausage with Rosti

Chicken with rice and 2 sliced banana

The next day, we consulted Ursula where we could visit and whether it was possible for us to take some cable rides. Ursula recommended "First" (it was pronounced as "fierce" or at least that was how we heard and said it) and we could get discount tickets as we had the Swiss Pass. She also checked the weather for us and advised if we wished to carry on with our plan, we probably had to leave soon. We took her advice and checked out our room, leaving our luggage with her and set off. It was good advice!

 

To get to First, we had to travel to Grindelwald Cable Car Station

 

Scenery from the cable car

 

Arriving at First Cable Car Station

Meeting Point at First, First is very good place to skii

A feel of the cable car ride

My first snowman making experience is at First, what a coincidence huh!

There was a huge pub/restaurant at First where had our lunch. As the weather started to turn misty, we decided it was time to leave First. On our way back, we dropped by the shops in Interlaken where we got our cuckoo clock and a pair of Tissot watches for our parents. Our next stop is Zermatt, a popular skiing town. Well, we were not really going Zermatt to ski. In all honesty, my wife and I do not know how to ski. In addition to skiing, Zermatt serves as an important location to start off with the Glacia Express scenic train ride. By the time we reached Zermatt, it was already night time and our accommodation was Patricia Apartment, a considerable walking distance from the station itself as Zermatt is a car-restricted zone. That meant that no cars would be allowed to be driven in from outside Zermatt. The good thing about this apartment was that it came with a kitchen. We were pretty lucky in that sense because we still could cook our dinner while the shops were closed.

An energy drink we bought to try, it costs 1.20 swiss frac

Zermatt town at night

We didn't really explore much of Zermatt, just a goodnight rest and woke up early the next morning to catch the Glacia Express. We couldn't afford to miss the ride as there was only one train a day, miss it and that would mean we have to take another one the next day. Our journey on the Glacia Express would take about 7-8 hours to St Moritz and we would have traveled from the south-west to the south-east, across Switzerland you might say.

On board the Glacia Express!

 

Complimentary biscuits

Houses are built on slopes, such scenes are pretty common

 

Lunch was served! Fish with rice and carrots

 

Don't forget the dessert too!

Fellow Glacia Express passengers traveling in the opposite direction

Approaching yet another snowy place

And another...

A village in the mountain, I wonder what do they do for a living?

Glacia Express through a village

 

The final station of Glacia Express was at St Moritz where we stayed one night. We had a very deep impression of St Moritz probably it was our final stop before we completed our first European country. After St Moritz, we would have completed our tour in Switzerland, a country we longed to visit since we were young. Yet, perhaps not only that, St Moritz was a place that we first experience a few other things. Firstly, we saw how a lake became frozen in a few minutes and covered with snow. Unlike Zermatt and Jungfrau, St Moritz did not give us the impression that it was a skiing town, nevertheless, it was thriving. Somehow, I think the architecture of St Moritz town resemble those in Russia and with the thick covered snow, reminded me of Moscow. Lastly, we had our first horse carriage ride into Stazerwald forest.

 

The hotel rate in St Moritz was a surprise to us it was the most expensive compared to other hotels we have stayed in Switzerland. It was a good thing that we found Hotel Bellaval that was just beside the train station. It was the perfect location for us. Hmm... Why is that so? This is because we were traveling on free and easy. Most of the hotels in St Moritz were located in the town area that was on higher ground. In other words, travellers like us would have to carry our luggage and it was not easy at all. From the train station, we would have to go through a multi storey carpark, then get on a long escalator in St Moritz Design Gallery before we could reach the town. It was a good thing that we found Hotel Bellaval so that we could check in our luggage before exploring the town through, this otherwise tedious, route.

 

The view from our balcony, Lake of St Moritz has become frozen and covered in snow

From our balcony as well (on the right) is the train station and further uphill is St Moritz town. Despite being just beside the train station, we were hardly heard any noises at all

One of the more expensive hotels in St Moritz town

 

Street of St Moritz town

Easter bunnies :)

Chocolates are made in large pieces, looks really good!

Since it was our last night in Switzerland, we decided to spend our swiss frac on swiss cheese-champagne fondue. This dish really warmed our bodies in the cold weather

On the way from St Moritz town to Hotel Bellaval. We took this long escalator, had to cut through the multi storey carpark and crossed the road before we could reach our hotel. Imagine if we had our luggage...

The night view of St Moritz was enchanting and I decided to cross the lake to take this photo



We had a good rest and woke up early in the morning and enjoyed our breakfast provided by our hotel. As it was our last day in Switzerland, we were blessed with an especially good weather in the morning. The sun was out and we could see the blue sky. It was fantastic! At around 10 am, our horse carriage arrived and we were off explore Stazerwald Forest.

This photo says all how wonder the weather was during our last day in Switzerland, we were destined to have a good impression of Switzerland

Our carriage waiting for us. The horses were beautiful!

We moved away from St Moritz town into Stazerwald Forest

 

Some residences along the way, I don't mind staying in one of these
 

A hotel that is only accessible by car, for those who were looking for a secluded holiday

 

As we rode into Stazerwald Forest...

 



Opps... We spot an squrriel looking for its breakfast

This pretty much concluded our Switzerland journey. I am thinking of writing some of my thoughts on Switzerland and perhaps I should expand that idea to every Europe country that we visited. For now, lets move on to the next country where we experienced Spring - Italy.