Beautiful Switzerland

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11 September 2023
Beautiful Switzerland
Travel Day
11 September 2023, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F
Traveling tonight from Philadelphia to Zurich, where a car and driver are waiting to take us to Luzern.

We’ve been planning this trip for nearly a year, and it’s been Deb’s dream for as long as she can remember. We’ll even visit the home of her ancestors, near Zurich.

Mountains, lakes, glaciers, villages, valleys, rivers, and cities as this Alpine country welcomes Autumn.

We are approaching travel differently for this trip:

-Traveling by train will be part of the fun
-Minimalist packing has us going with carryons only and travel back packs that convert to day packs for hiking. That will make our train travel easy and factors in all the quaint , old hotel’s with no elevators.

There’s even a packable tote bag to hold the compression packing cube when we take them out of the travel backpacks and store the luggage at the hotel pre-checkin.

Deb’s been training at the gym for 6 weeks so she can haul all her stuff and do the mountain hikes! She’s watched endless hours of YouTube backpack reviews to come up with the perfect gear for us.
(Yes, it’s been an obsession.)

5,4,3,2,1 is the mantra for packing basics:
5 sets of underwear
4 tops
3 bottoms
2 pairs of shoes
1 jacket

Doing the above while planning layers to address three seasons (Summer temperatures in the valleys, Winter temperatures in the mountains, and Autumn in between) has added to the challenge. We’ve got thermal gloves AND swimsuits!

Going to be keeping score on how well this works out!
—————————————————————————-
Score 1: roller and backpack fit perfectly in a small overhead compartment on the 787.

Score (-1): Somehow neglected to close the hydroflask properly and dumped water into the water bottle pocket. Pocket is waterproof. Recover 1/2 point.Baca lagi
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PengembaraHave a great trip! Haven’t made it to Switzerland because of the price even though we had a client in Switzerland when I worked at Campus Management.
12/09/23BalasTerjemah
PengembaraIt is expensive. We’re splurging on a bucket list trip and, so far, it’s been worth it.
13/09/23BalasTerjemah
3 suka
Beautiful Switzerland
Luzern - Day 1
12 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F
Luzern is beautiful, set on the Lake and the Reuss River, surrounded by mountain peaks. Full of European charm, lived in, and vibrant.

After a long time in immigration and a quick trip from the Zurich Airport, we arrived at Hotel Anker. They had arranged for us to have early check-in and a larger suite, which was much appreciated. The hotel is not far from the Old Town, the Harbor, and the Train. It's all very walkable. The included breakfast is excellent, and the hotel restaurant is also great for dinner.

A few photos from our walk in the Old Town. Commercial/retail buildings in the Old Town must have residential upper floors, so the Old Town is lived in and home to real people. There’s a noticeable absence of junky tourist shops.

The weather here is very changeable. During our walk, it poured rain, but we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

To escape the rain, we darted into the Opus Wine bar and treated ourselves to Swiss pastries and cappuccinos.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Jungfrau
13 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F
Today was our day to explore Jungfraujoch “The top of Europe,” and we gave it our all despite rain, fog, and snow.

We had a wonderful Guide, Bruno Caicxo, who helped us get the best possible experience from our day. We saw the Ice Palace, Sphinx Observatory, and ultimately added an outing to Harder Kulm, “The Top of Interlaken.”

We traveled by car, Gondola, Cog Railway, and Funicular between valleys and mountain tops. Finished it off with lunch at the Harder Kulm Panorama Restaurant as an enormous bank of clouds rolled in.

Luckily, we have more time in the Berner-Oberland and Jungfrau region to wait for sunshine and see the peaks. Bruno taught us how it’s done!

(besttransfers.CH is Bruno’s company. Highly recommend.)Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Ice Palace- Jungfraujoch
13 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
The nooks and crannies are full of ice carvings that are fun to discover as you navigate the slippery hallways in the Ice caves at the Jungfrau Summit.
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Jungfrau Summit
13 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 70 °F
The Sphinx Observation tower
An ultrafast lift takes you to the international research station's astronomical observatory. It climbs 108 meters in 25 seconds from the Jungfraujoch railway station - the highest railway station in Europe. On a clear day, there are views of Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.Baca lagi
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Pengembara Looks cold and windy.
15/09/23BalasTerjemah
1 suka
Beautiful Switzerland
Lauterbrunnen
13 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 70 °F
The poor weather on the mountain tops allowed us to improvise and briefly visit Lauterbrunnen, hiking the waterfalls and bridges. Lots of people use Lauterbrunnen as the central location for their time in the Bernese Oberland region. We'll be staying in Grindelwald instead, so a quick visit to Lauterbrunnen is a bonus!Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Top of Interlaken: Harder Kulm
13 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
We rode a funicular to the top of Harder Kulm to catch the view from the Observation area overlooking Interlaken. The Panorama restaurant at the top serves traditional Swiss foods, so we warmed up with hot chocolate and cheese fondue. We had clear views for a moment before the clouds rolled in. No chance of hiking on this trip. The walk down must be great.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Cruise on Lake Luzern
14 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
We'll miss Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi on this trip. We checked the mountain cams and discovered it was a cloudy day on the peaks, so we took a cruise on Lake Luzern. It was a peaceful way to conclude our visit to Luzern.

The city was chartered in 1178 and is rich in history. At the beginning of the 14th Century, the City joined with other cities and Cantons to form the Swiss Confederacy and achieved freedom from the Hapsberg Empire and Austria. The roots of modern Switzerland are here.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Streets and Eats
14 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
The city of Luzern is charming, with grand architecture, flowers everywhere, and a traditional feel. It reminded Deb of a miniature Vienna or Paris.
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PengembaraBeautiful! Happy New Year!
15/09/23BalasTerjemah
PengembaraThanks!
16/09/23BalasTerjemah
0 suka
Beautiful Switzerland
Train from Luzern to Grindelwald
15 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F
We traveled through Interlaken to the alpine town of Grindelwald. Swiss trains are famously punctual but ours ran into technical difficulties and we were stopped for an hour outside Interlaken.

We had some beautiful scenery along the way, including Lake Brienz.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Grindelwald First
15 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
Grindelwald is like a storybook illustration. All around us are views of Eiger Northface, and Jungfrau. Our hotel is an old traditional Inn, run by the same family since 1899. The Hotel Gletschergarten window boxes are full of flowers. Our room is small but recently remodeled and has amazing views.

Although the train was a little late, we still had time to check-in to the hotel in Grindelwald and walk to the gondola up to First. It was spectacular and breathtaking to walk out onto the Cliff Walk.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Mannlichen, Kleine Schiedegg hike
16 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
We woke up to beautiful sunshine and in the mountains that means- Go Hiking!

We had a great breakfast at our hotel. Every place we’ve eaten the food is fresh, local and delicious! We filled our water bottles with fresh spring water. A quick bus ride delivered us to the Grindelwald train terminal where we hopped on a gondola to Mannlichen.

Mannlichen has jaw-dropping views of three peaks: Eiger North Face, the Monch, and the Jungfrau. And cows grazing!

There’s a number of trail heads in Mannlichen and we choose the “easy” downhill Panorama Trail hike to Klein’s Schiedegg. It was spectacular. Photos do not do it justice. There were picture perfect views around every turn.

Just 0.6 miles from the end of the trail, we stopped for a traditional lunch of bratwurst and rosti. The cable car from Kleine Schiedegg took us back to Grindelwald- where Deb immediately bought new hiking boots,. Delaware is flat. The old boots were fine. Not so in Switzerland! The new boots have thicker soles, greater stability, and are 1/2 size bigger!Baca lagi
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Hike Wengen to Lauterbrunnen
17 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
We’re learning that an”easy” hike in Swiss terms is about as much as we can do!

Today , we took the gondola to Mannlichen, caught the cable car to Wengen (4,200 feet) and hiked from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen.

It’s a relatively short, (3k) hike on a very steep downhill trail (15% incline) that’s a challenge for knees, hips, and toes. The elevation drops 535m! Took us 2 hours with stops for water and photos.

The reward is a beautiful view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, complete with waterfalls.Baca lagi
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That's making my stomach churn! [AndyGordon]
18/09/23BalasTerjemah
Gorgeous! [ANDY GORDON]
18/09/23BalasTerjemah
0 suka
Beautiful Switzerland
Rainy Day Train Ride to Zermatt
18 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
We left Grindelwald by train this morning for Zermatt. It’s cloudy and rainy in both locations, perfect for a travel day.

We successfully made three train changes: in Interlaken, Spiez, and Visp. The Swiss Railroad system is awesome—always clean and on time. Our itinerary and tickets are on our phones. The travel agent, Jayway Tours, arranged all our transportation ahead of time. All we have to do is show up and follow instructions—no stress at all. Our in-country "helper," Karen, checks in to be sure we're okay and ended up where we're supposed to be!

We got glimpses of two waterfalls but not much else to see along the way.

We were greeted with a glass of cold Prosecco at our Zermatt hotel, “Coeur des Alpes.” The boutique hotel is beautiful and has a completely different vibe from the beautiful and quaint Hotel Gletschergarten in Grindelwald. It’s very modern, with lots of glass. Our room is a spacious suite with Matterhorn views once the clouds clear out.Baca lagi
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Coeur des Alpes Hotel
18 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 59 °F
Our hotel in Zermatt is absolutely stunning! It sits on the hillside, two levels above the street. We access the lobby through a tunnel and elevator. The lobby floor is glass as are the stairs. Under the lobby is a fabulous spa with a heated pool, infrared sauna, icy rain shower, and massaging shower. The design is very modern with a bit of steampunk. And everywhere, huge windows look out to the Matterhorn.

There are hidden hearts ❤️ like hidden Mickeys all over the hotel.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
A Matterhorn Glacier Paradise
19 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 43 °F
Tuesday, we were met by our guide, Judy, for an all-day adventure. The weather favored us with beautiful Matterhorn views in the morning.

On the way to the top, we stopped At Schwarzsee Lake and visited the Chapel. Switzerland is a Catholic country and the mountains are sprinkled with Chapels. This Lake and Chapel have been a pilgrimage site since the early 18th century.

Continuing to the top, Glacier Paradise, we visited the Ice Cave. Then, we climbed to the top of the Observation Tower where you can see the Paradiso Range of the Alps and glimpse Italy and France. Too bad, the clouds obscured our view of Mont Blanc.Baca lagi
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Hike from Furi to Zermatt
19 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F
Our guide, Judy, took us to lunch at a friend’s restaurant in Furi. We shared wonderful traditional Swiss food and then finished our day of sightseeing with a hike down the mountain from Furi to the village of Zermatt.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Gornergrat Railway
20 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Since we began planning a visit to Switzerland 30 years ago, a ride on the Gornergrat Cogwheel Railway has been a “must-do.”

We walked from our hotel to the train station just in time to catch the 10 am train. Clouds were expected to increase throughout the day so a morning view would help.

The views of the Matterhorn from the train are overwhelming. And the summit is the best of all. The mountains are on one side and the glaciers on the other.

We lingered for hot cocoa, watched the 360-degree movies (Zoom), climbed to the Observation Deck, and then got back on the train - heading down to Rotenboden for our hike.Baca lagi
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Hike Rotenboden to Riffelberg
20 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌫 43 °F
We rode the Gornergrat train down one stop from the summit to Rotenboden and hiked the Riffelseeweg and Riffelalp trails down to the next train station, Riffelberg.

Yes, it’s a lot of Riffels.

Like all our hikes in Switzerland, it was called “easy” and was about our maximum in skill and strength. For the record, Deb wants to note that we did all our hikes without poles. And , yes, that is a complaint.

The Riffelseeweg took us directly to Riffelsee Lake, a well-known photo stop where, under perfect conditions, you can get a photograph of the Matterhorn and its reflection in the Lake.

We continued on the trail wending our way through the rocks, mostly descending… until a new choice emerged: continue as planned on the Riffelseeweg or take our chances on the faster but perhaps harder Riffelalp.

We went with the Riffelalp and got to the station just in time for the next train to Zermatt.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Glacier Express: Zermatt to St. Moritz
21 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F
We boarded the 8:52 train in Zermatt for our all day ride on this iconic, panoramic train. 🚂.

The railway runs through green alpine valleys , hillsides of farmland and larch trees, alongside glacial rivers, in the shadow of mountain peaks. The landscape is dotted with chalets, cows, and sheep. The Swiss could have invented the word “pastoral.”

The train ride invites you to relax and immerse yourself in the countryside. There’s even a channel on the entertainment system that plays endless Swiss folk tunes!

An onboard restaurant serves passengers drinks and meals cooked from scratch on board. They offer a selection of Swiss traditional foods and some international dishes.

We were seated next to a multigenerational family of six who were visiting Switzerland from Singapore. Their little ones (ages 4 and 6) behaved beautifully for their 6 hour ride. We enjoy talking with the parents and grandparents. It was amazing how alike our families were, despite living at opposite sides of the planet. Travel is not just eye-opening, it can be heart-opening as we realize how alike we all are. ❤️

A highlight of the trip is the Landwasser Viaduct , a single-track six-arched curved limestone railway viaduct. Opened 1902, it has stood the test of time and is an engineering marvel.

We cruised into a very quiet St. Moritz - asleep until the BIG winter ski season. We’re just here overnight. Tomorrow we head to Zurich.Baca lagi
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Beautiful Switzerland
Hotel Hauser
21 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F
Our overnight in St. Moritz is the Hotel Hauser.

The Hotel Hauser was a great place to stay and dine after our Glacier Express train ride. It is extremely eco-conscious, with an emphasis on local resources and sustainability.

The hotel uses all natural, local materials in its construction- larch wood and pine, quartzite tile, and woolen textiles. On request, you can get a pillow filled with pine shavings! They recommend it highly, so we’re both sleeping with one tonight.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, a Rick Steves recommended “good value.” It was excellent!

They also have a bakery. Perhaps we’ll pick up some snacks tomorrow morning for our train ride to Zurich.Baca lagi
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Arrival in Zurich
22 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
We took a noon train from St. Moritz , through Chur, to Zurich and arrived around 4 pm.

Marco, our eTuk Tuk driver/guide, picked us up at the Hotel Adler at 6pm. He introduced us to his constant companion ( a 13 year old Jack Russell Terrier named Max, settled us in, stocked up the vehicle with cold white wine and hot cheese fondue, and off we went on a tour of the city!

(BTW- Riding with Marco was like hanging out with Martin Short!)Baca lagi
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Endingen - Lengnau
23 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Saturday, we honored my ancestors.

The towns of Endingen and Lengnau were once home to all the Jews of Switzerland. They were not ghettos in the usual sense of the word. . Jews and Christians lived together in these towns, though Jews were prohibited from owning property and could only work in specific professions until 1868, when Switzerland ended its restrictions..

Both Synagogues remain and are cared for, as is the Jewish Cemetery located between the two towns. There are very few Jewish families in these towns today.

While I didn’t find my direct ancestors, I felt that I was with family. All around me were familiar names: Guggenheim, Bloch, Moos, Dreyfuss, Bollag. A community. Their lives were hard and they lived with conviction, integrity, and love

I prayed at the Synagogue and said Mourners Kaddish at the Cemetery. Because they chose to live in Switzerland, my family survived the Holocaust. I have my life because my great, great grandparents sent their daughters to the United States,.

My heart is full of gratitude and respect for all of them. Their memories are a blessing.Baca lagi
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Walk in Zurich
23 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
A walk about after lunch at Zeughauskellar.

Toured Fraumunster and saw the Chagall stained glass windows.
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Beautiful Switzerland
Lindt Chocolate & Lake Zurich
24 September 2023, Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
Sunday, in Zurich, the final day of our Swiss adventure.

We took the train to Kilchberg for a tour of Lindt Chocolate. A boat ride on Lake Zurich brought us back to the city.

We had Swiss traditional food for lunch, sitting at an outdoor cafe by the river, people watching.

A sweet ending to an extraordinary trip.Baca lagi
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Tamat perjalanan
25 September 2023