Greetings! This is the second European adventure that I went on. I’m finally getting these old blogs up onto WordPress. Originally, these were emails to my friends and family who asked to be on the receiving list. This morphed into an email list of over 60 people. Hence, the WordPress Blog – SuzannesTravels. I wrote these emails as both a way to keep friends and family informed, but also as a person journal for myself. These were originally written daily as I usually do when I travel. However, here I’m going to be condensing them some. Enjoy!
Zermat, Switzerland
Day .05 – Travelling
We’re in Montreal. This was the shorter hop – Vancouver BC to Montreal. My usual partner in crime, Sharon, and my good friend, Lesley, who has joined us this trip, have had dinner in a great brewery in the airport. The menu was superb, with everything from Foie Gras to Bison to Duck along with burgers and the like. We all feel much better! We’re at the gate now for the Geneva leg. Sharon and Lesley are off in search of coffee and have located the nearest Starbucks. They are ubiquitously everywhere!
Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or Daze 1 & 2
It is now 9:47pm on Friday, Zermatt Switzerland time, meaning it’s 12:47 Friday, Seattle time. And we have been up for essentially 33 hours straight. And we feel it!
So we taken a car to Vancouver BC, Air from Vancouver BC – Montreal, Montreal – Geneva, and train from Geneva to Visp, then Visp to Zermatt. We were trying to doze in shifts on the first train ride as we were so tired, and we didn’t want to miss our stop. But we really woke up on the ride from Visp up to Zermat.
It was exactly what you think of for quintessential Switzerland – beautiful chalets, steep inclines, a glacier, and tons of flowers and greenery. We’ve seen Friesian horses, Guernsey cows, and all we’re waiting on is a Mountain Goat, and I’m sure we’ll see that too.
The first train ride (Geneva – Visp) was interesting in that the mountain valleys were terraced all the way up the sides and planted with grapes. It seemed that every square inch was utilized!
Our hotel is a spectacular chalet, and our room includes a loft area complete with glass floor and the bed floating out into space. It has to be seen to be believed. I’m still trying to just walk on the beams.
This evening we didn’t do much besides walk around the town. I can’t wait to get out with my camera tomorrow.
The morning will see us on the cog railway which we’ve been told is the highest in Europe. Hopefully the Matterhorn will make an appearance, but as Lesley commented, it’s kind of like hoping to see Mount Rainer. It comes on its own time.
More tomorrow, when I’m more coherent.
Day 3 – Mountains, Trains & Shoes
It rained absolutely all night. Hard. But the wake up call came from Leslie at 6 am who called ‘Matterhorn is out!’ Immediately we were all up, out on our patio taking pictures of the mountain in what was an amazingly sunny morning.
The first order of the day was a cog-rail train ride up to Gornergrat. The scenery was incredible, as was the angle of ascent. We switchbacked up the mountain looking around in awe. It was clear and sunny, and the Matterhorn was out until about noon, until clouds covered it once again. We spent several hours up there and took lots of pictures.
In the late afternoon, we split up. Leslie and Sharon went out to see about riding the high gandola (no thank you!), and ended up riding a funicular up to Sunnegga. It sounded like an amusement ride. The train was on a 45 degree angle, and you walked up stairs to get to your seat. Then it shot straight up the inside of the mountain at 40 mph to Sunnegga. They said this thing blasted off like a rocket. When they got back, they went shopping – and came back with new shoes.
I, on the other hand, wanted to go around town taking pictures of all the places I kept meaning to get shots of but hadn’t had the time. I was also able to explore, and spend some time down by the river. The town in amazing, and a mixture of old and new. They’ve made a real effort to keep the old building, and building new buildings in a classic Swiss style.
The most interesting thing is realizing how much of these chalets that look perched on the hillside, actually extend quite a ways underground. Our hotel, the Coeur de Alps, is entered by a tunnel three stories under the actual chalet, and has a pool and spa on those levels. But outside, those areas are covered by earth, grass and wildflowers.
We can thank my co worker, Steven, for out time in Zermatt. He insisted we come, and he was right! Tomorrow we board the Glacier Express scenic train (8 hrs) to St. Moritz, then three short train rides to Lucern. Of course, we arrive at around midnight, (the hotel said ‘thanks for letting us know – just ring the bell and the porter will let you in). It will be a long day, but we should see lots of incredible scenery!
Sorry for the novel today, but we did cover a lot of ground! I’ve attached a picture of the Matterhorn from our patio, and a few others of interest.
Tomorrow we move on to a senic train – the Glacier Express. I’ll document that after some Zermat pictures!
One interesting item I learned about the very old buildings in Switzerland, is that many of them are built on foundations of piles of stone. And near where the wood of the house begins is a very large plate of flint. This was to keep the rats out. The things you learn when you travel.
Some pictures around Zermat.
Day 4 – A Train Tour of Switzerland
Yesterday, Sunday, we literally spent the entire day on trains. 4 to be exact. We started with the 8 hour Glacier Express. This was a scenic tour from Zermatt to St. Moritz. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. There was also an audio tour that went with it, which really covered a lot of history and trivia about the areas. It was interesting to see the architecture go from the tradition Swiss Chalet of larch wood burned black by the sun, with colored shutters, window boxes filled with flowers, and slate tiled roofs, change to a more Italianate style of stucco walls, painted designs, pastel colors, and red tiled roofs. Yet all were in the tradition, known Swiss style with colored shutters.
Also, every little town how a church with a distinctive steeple and a clock in the tower. Some very ornate, other not so much.
The mountains were so steep in places that the train literally had a corkscrew track to get us up the elevations.
It was really an amazing trip.
One amusing note – Lesley and Sharon were wearing their new trail shoes that they bought in Zermat. They are a brand called Scarpa, and are very distinctive. The first thing the conductor on the Glacier Express noticed was their shoes. We looked down, and he was wearing a pair as well! I guess that Lesley and Sharon are in good company!
We arrived at St. Moritz at about 4, and were originally going to spend a few hours exploring, but decided that this would take more time than we had, and decided to head for Luzern. This was a three train/4 hour trip, and we decided to head directly out. Thanks heavens for a Swiss Rail Pass, because we ended up on all kinds of trains that we didn’t mean to. But the system runs tight on schedule, and we ended up on the wrong train because it came through our platform 5 minutes before the train we wanted. None of this was an issue because the system is so well designed. There was always a train going where we needed to go.
We arrived in Luzern at 9:30 pm in the pouring rain. Our hotel is amazing, kitty corner from the train station directly across from the Chapel Bridge, right on the waterfront.
We have decided that my nickname for the trip is ‘trip’, because I seem to manage to trip over my own feet! Lesley’s on the other hand is ‘There’s an app/spreadsheet for that!” Nothing like traveling with an IT person.
My father’s family is originally from the German part of Switzerland (waaayyy back of course) and Dad had always mentioned that our last name, ‘Hitz’, was essentially the equivalent of ‘Smith’ in German. He wasn’t kidding. On the final train into Luzern, I saw a white van emblazoned with a company logo. It was the equivalent of HITZ Plumping and Electical! I got a laugh out of that.
I seem to be writing novels. I’m sure they’ll get shorter as we go on, or maybe not. This morning we can hear the bells from the towers of Luzern, It looks to be a rainy day, but that’s what gortex was made for! Today we plan to explore the city.