Cruising Lucerne

Happy Hippo

Lucerne Stunner

Ancient Bridge

Sept. 29, 2015-Lucerne

Cruising

A picture IS worth a thousand words. I got many more responses from the photo of Schilthorn than my usual postings. BTW the white carpet at the bottom of the picture is clouds not snow. Remember, the picture was taken 10,000 feet up.

We slept 9 1/2 hours straight last night. My cold is at the sneezing, runny stage. No more sore throat. No cough yet. It will come. I carry prescription benzonatate pills with me. They're easier to take than cough medicine and non-narcotic.

Our granddaughter, Rylee collects hippos. As we rounded the corner to the train station on our morning constitutional, we saw a display of small stuffed animals in a store window. I was pointing to the rhino when I noticed it's partner was a hippo! The store was a pharmacy of all things. We went in and asked if anyone spoke English. They sort of did. I used my best pronunciation of hippo in German as written by the clerk at a Coop (nilpferd) and got blank stares. I resorted to "hippo" to no avail. David walked outside to show one of them as I explained about my adorable nine-year-old granddaughter's collection and how hard it was to find a hippo in Switzerland. I offered to show them a picture of Rylee. Eventually, I was understood, but they had to check with a manager. My plea was effective and we trooped outside so she could open the display window. The key wouldn't work. Someone more skilled was summoned, the window opened, and we all cheered. I'd noticed other stuffed animals priced for sale on a shelf in the pharmacy and offered to pay ($22). They wouldn't hear of it. Can't believe I scored a free hippo. So generous. David said I was a big game hunter in Switzerland.

We even made our train on time. They run hourly to Lucerne. Love this system. By now we know where to stand on the platform for second class and where the platforms are by which food stands we pass. We had enough time to buy a pretzel. The stand bears re-visiting. It sells only varieties of big loopy pretzels including some cut in half to make sandwiches.

True confession time. You all know we don't knowingly eat pork or shellfish. It's not a religious thing but a cultural reminder.  I have always exempted New Orleans. Love oysters Bienville. Up at the Matterhorn, I had a salad bar. There were several toppings: quinoa, rice, etc. One of those had what I thought was a chewy mushroom in it. On closer inspection I saw it was a tiny shrimp. Yesterday we had barley soup. There were tiny floaters in it and the flavor was delicious. Yup. Ham. Michael Simon is right. Everything is better with bacon/ham.

Even though our train pass was costly, we are saving a bundle on entry fees, trams, cable cars, and museums (to date, $262 plus trams). That includes a free two-hour boat ride in Lucerne. It was on a double-decker with fancy menus and white tablecloths. The dock was conveniently across the street from the train station.


Before we boarded we asked if we could bring our lunch and were told we could. I bought a loopy pretzel sandwich at the station, then David got a long pretzel one at Coop's, also in the station. Sandwiches tend to have butter or mayo on them. Sure could use mustard. Wonder if they have little packets we could buy with the food.

I swear you could survive for days in these stations in the larger towns. They not only have food but shoe repair, electronics, beauty salons, etc. And in Lucerne, as I was buying my lunch, a train pulled in and was practically in my lap. The wonder of it all is that it's clean. 

Once we saw the menu on the boat we were relieved we bought our $12 lunch ahead of time. It would have cost $80-100 onboard for a main and non-alcoholic beverage. After eating, we ordered coffee. It came with my first taste of Swiss chocolate. Yum!

The cruise was glorious. The sun came out providing perfect lighting for photo-ops off the port side. The starboard displayed the foothills of the Alps. Hills also rose from the waters of the lake providing a background for old estates and new hotels. As we came around for our return. Mt. Pilatus was off the stern.

After docking, we continued on a walking tour crossing 16th century bridges (some of the oldest wooden ones in Europe) and stopped at the landmark Jesuit church. The history museum was on the Pass and worth the price (free). Lucerne has been inhabited since 4000 BC and was occupied by the Roman Empire, of course.

We strolled across the water enjoying this storybook old city from a different perspective while David noshed hot chestnuts from a street vendor. Noticing a city train tour, we decided to check it out. We timed our train back so we could take the 5:00 city tour, paid our fare, and picked the ideal seats. At 5:00 the driver approached and we realized there was a problem. We were the only passengers. He explained that they usually require five to be environmentally and economically worth the trip. We understood and he gave us our money back. Now we had an hour to kill before the train back to Bern.

Starbucks Cafe Americano called to us. We sat out by the water enjoying the moderate mid-60 degree weather (still no coat needed for David) and watched swans, ducks, seagulls, and sparrows vie for crumbs.

Went back to Bellini Due tonight. I had the Turkish pizza which comes rolled up like we do gyros. Very tasty. David had a tuna pizza. Ick. He liked it though. Menus here list the origin of the country from where their meat was imported. They used "hinterschinken" from Switzerland. That translates to hind end of pig or pork butt.

The same customer who was there yesterday was there today. It turns out he's a friend of the owner and taxi driver who has lived here twenty-six years. He learned English while in Turkey when he worked with Americans for an international company. We mentioned our friend, Janet, in Akron, who teaches at the university and is an expert in Turkey, speaks Turkish, and has published. He Googled her and, voila, there was her curriculum vitae and mention of her praiseworthy book. We didn't know how he'd take this since she writes on Kurds and other ethnic minorities, but it turned out he was a Kurd. In a burst of generosity, we offered to send him her book in Turkish. This will probably cost us as much as we saved on lunch today.

Thanks to our Swiss-savy friend, Patti, we now know where more free bathrooms are in downtown Bern. We'll probably stay in town on Saturday, the day before we catch the train for Milan. It will give us down time and we can use weekdays for travel when it's less crowded.

Tomorrow it's Geneva!

Toby

Schilthorn-Our Kind of Alps

Lauterbrunnen

Cable car breaking through clouds at Schilthorn

Interlaken luxury

Sept. 28, 2015-Schilthorn

Our Kind of Alps

Bad night. I only got four hours sleep. David did much better. I also woke up with a sore throat and cold. David feels like a marked man.

Our usual stroll to the station, and we were on our way to Interlaken accompanied by quite a contingent of military in full mufti and carrying huge guns. Our train passed carloads of military jeeps and tanks. Lots of fire power for a country that hasn't fought a war in a while. It pays to be ready.

The trains were definitely less crowded today, Monday. This was good considering our long legs and tourist destination. Our goal was to go to Schilthorn from where we could see many mountain peaks. We were given a sequence of conveyances that would speed us on our way. Easy peasy. We changed trains at Interlaken for a ride through a deep, dark, dank forest to Lauterbrunnen. From there the rail workers insisted we take a cable car, although we were expecting to take a bus. We're obedient and complied. We then had to transfer to a small train to Murren where we had a ten-minute walk through town to another cable car, then another, and another.

The rides were spectacular. It was sunny and the houses in the valleys stood out like toy gems on green velvet. Oops! Then we couldn't see a thing. We were in dense clouds and people started grumbling about choosing the wrong day for the excursion. All of a sudden, those facing downhill started oohing and aahing. We were above the clouds, the sun was back and the mountain range nestled in those clouds was visible below us. These were proper snow-covered mountains! We both thought they were more impressive than the Matterhorn. As proof, I offer that a 007 movie was filmed around Schilthorn, not the Matterhorn. I'm going to try to forward a photo I took.

I snapped pictures going up to the 9,744-foot high viewing area; I snapped pictures while I was there; and I snapped away as we descended. I won't be able to tell one from the other, but the Jungfrau is in the mix. It was only 42 degrees and the altitude didn't agree with me any more than yesterday. David put on another layer. He still has no regrets about not buying a jacket, and this is our last mountain day.

There was another way to ride down that sounded like the way we were originally told to ascend. It was a simple ride on four cable cars to a bus that took us on a short ride back to Lauterbrunnen. We had a light lunch there and headed back to Interlaken.

The town of Interlaken has lovely Victorian hotels, tranquil parks and pedestrian walks along the water. We were told it's popular with Asians and Middle Easterners alike. Looked to be so. But it's an expensive resort with high-end stores. Bern is more our speed.

We had an early dinner at a pizza/middle eastern tiny take-out/eat-in place (Berlini or Bellini, I think) around the corner from our hotel. After reading several cues we figured out the owner was Turkish. CNN was on with Turkish subtitles and they had lahmacun, Turkish pizza, on the menu. It's round dough topped with minced beef and vegetables then baked. We had donner (gyros) in pita and felafel. There were lots of homemade treats including gnocchi. We will return.

Early to bed tonight. We'll venture forth to Lucerne and maybe a boat ride tomorrow.

Toby

Highs and Lows-Zermatt

Matterhorn

Glacier

Zermatt

Sept. 27, 2015-Zermatt

Highs and Lows
Rosti for dinner...not a good idea. My stomach was rockin' and a rollin' last night. But we were up early and the breakfast room was free of any smoke odor. A good start.

We walked downhill to the train station and boarded a double-decker to Visp where we changed for a train to Zermatt. The one-way trip is two hours. We carefully selected the upper level for a better view and thought we'd figured out in which direction we'd be headed. Wrong again. Once more we had an ass-backward view of the countryside retreating. Oh well, I always thought travel was more appealing in hindsight.

Dogs are common everywhere we go. They are extremely well socialized. I guess we don't see the ones who are not. There were two stunning shepherd mixes on our platform waiting for the train. They were clearly aware of each other, yet neither made a move to approach or bark. They watched people with interest but made no overture towards anyone but their person. Lots of travelers toted hiking gear in backpacks including many elderly looking folks.

There was a cute kid in our car. She sang and spoke German except for breaking into  "happy birthday" in English. Very happy very early.

I forgot to describe Bern in yesterday's email.  I think red tile rooftops are required for old cities in Europe. Wonder who had the franchise back then? Most buildings were period architecture from the 1800's with an infrequent interloper from the twentieth century thrown in. Tan walls, few stories, and then concrete glass and steel. Lucky for photo seeking tourists, the older prevailed.
The city is flanked by the Aare River, which serves as a recreation area and adds a peaceful ambience. It's waters are exciting enough for boating yet clean enough for swimming.

The trains are electric, thus quiet. Houses bordering the tracks are not the shacks we expect. Most were lovely and well tended. The terrain grew pastoral and we caught our first glimpse of beautiful Swiss cows. I didn't yet know why they're considered so beautiful. We were too far away.

We slowed as we passed a lake. Quite pretty. Then it occurred to me. It was Interlaken. Sun glinted through what was left of the fog. Water glistened and hills rose gently foreshadowing what was to come.

We went through the longest damn tunnel before emerging in Visp. We had a six minute transfer to Zermatt so followed the hoards. We're using our second class Swiss Rail Pass and the seats are fine. Then we zigged instead of zagged and ended up in a first class car. The conductor didn't seem to care about us but did ask other people to move. Dumb American luck.

I didn't expect grapevines growing up mountainsides on the way to the Matterhorn, but there they were.  There were also closer views of fat, light brown and white cows. They look like cartoon cows from the fantastical pens of Disney artists. They all have bells the size of cantaloupes hanging from their necks. They were up close and almost personal along with goats and black- faced sheep who hovered just out of reach of the train.

Now we were in real mountains with a swiftly flowing stream complete with waterfalls. The green hillsides were peppered with honest to goodness Swiss chalets. They were the expected dark brown wood siding with balconies, flower boxes, and brightly colored shutters.

Was that the Matterhorn we saw? The familiarly shaped peak was "peeking" through the still green trees and flirting with us from behind lower crags as we wound our way up. We shortly arrived in Zermatt and rushed for the Gornergrat Bahn, a thirty-minute cog train trip up to the highest viewing area. We paid half price with our Rail Pass. Zermatt is at an elevation of about six thousand feet. We were on our way to over ten thousand feet.

So, what we saw was the Matterhorn. I hate to say that when we got closer I was under-whelmed. It's prettier from afar, though more dramatic up close. There's only a frosting of snow and the glacier fields are barren except for those in constant shade. One reason is global warming and an extraordinarily hot summer. The other is that the peak isn't usually very snowy. My misconception. David was duly impressed and remarked it looked like a cobra. To each his own.

Even though we've been fourteen thousand feet up in La Paz, Bolivia, this elevation quickly affected us. But we had taken medication before La Paz. Today we became light headed, our heart rate increased, and we were mildly nauseated. That didn't stop me from climbing up a rock fall to an even higher spot to take photos. Was it worth the $40 we spent for a lunch of side salad, soup, and a slice of pizza? Oh, and the $6 small bottle of water. Perhaps it was worth it for the entertainment value of the illusion that the restaurant was swaying as we ate. Oxygen deprivation is cool.

As we returned to Zermatt, clouds were closing in on the Matterhorn. Perfect timing. The category of perfection would also include David not buying a jacket. It was 60 degrees and sunny even at high elevations. The wind-socks were flaccid.

We had a lovely traveling companion on the descent. A Weimaraner boarded with his people. Such a love. I got doggy kisses. Adore these well-traveled dogs.

Zermatt is a souvenir shop. They've built so many hotels that the Matterhorn is obscured. We found the local museum and spent some time in an underground replica of old town. Yikes! It was primitive, cold, isolated, bereft of any comforts. One sign indicated that some men tended animals, some men looked after farming, and the women did some of everything. Everything included hauling milk down to creameries and climbing back up at the end of the day. There was a movie of flyovers of the Matterhorn by copter and plane. Another movie re-enacted a climb ending in tragedy. One spectacle included a mechanical Matterhorn rising from the floor with projections of images on it. The narrative was in German so it took awhile until we realized it was a commercial for colored pencils.

We had lovely seat companions on our return to Visp. She was from Maui and he's from Bern. Long distance love negotiating visas back and forth. Ironically, she went to high school and college in Dayton, Ohio.

There was such a crush from Visp to Bern that people were standing in the aisles and sitting on steps. David and I weren't able to sit together. An older couple came up to me and he said something that I interpreted as asking for my seat. I smiled and patted my lap for him to sit down. They laughed. I briefly toyed with the idea of letting him sit when I realized he was as old as I or perhaps younger. No way was I giving up my seat. At each stop the crowd increased.

Since I was closer to the door and I'd have to go against the tide to get to David, my plan was to just get off in Bern and wait on the platform. As I headed out, I saw our seatmates from the other train stop standing next to David. He was in such a deep sleep he didn't know we'd arrived. They shook him awake and he staggered off the train. If they hadn't noticed him he would have ended up at the next stop. Don't know where. And with no cell phones it would have been interesting.

Injera, the Ethiopian restaurant called to us. We enjoyed a combination platter before being informed that it was a cash only place. We don't carry a lot of cash. The server didn't want me to stay as collateral, so we both walked the two blocks to an ATM where we withdrew 200 Swiss Francs. Dinner was 76 Francs, Gulp.

Tomorrow it's off to Interlaken and another mountain.

Toby

Bern Orientation

No Pig

Fairy Tale CIty

Rosti

Sept. 26, 2015-Bern

Orientation

Our day started with breakfast at a civilized hour. They serve until 10:30. We were greeted with a varied buffet and a sign near the meat selections with a picture of a pig with a slash across it. Perfect. No pork. Dried beef and turkey for David. The downside was that darned all pervasive cigarette smell. There's absolutely no smoking indoors, but somehow it leeches in.

In the light of day we're still quite pleased with the hotel. The floors don't squeak; it is so quiet I didn't need earplugs; and the first thing we saw when we opened our curtains this morning was a fruit stand across the street. On the downside, our bathroom door is opaque. For privacy we turn the light off in the bathroom and on in the room. Otherwise it's like sitting center stage.

The sun shone and mid-60's was predicted as we ventured out on foot past the train station (ten minutes away) to Bern Platz and the open market. We were in search of a Swiss flag for Sammy Baumgartner who requested it for a teacher of his who collected flags. Although we didn't find one in the market, we were directed to a souvenir store called Coop. At first we thought they said "cop," when we saw the sign I thought it was "coop" as in chickens, but it's co-op which does sound like cop.

Migros, a supermarket chain, might be our go-to place for necessities. We scored bottled water and bananas far cheaper than at the farmer's market, but did create a problem for locals. We didn't know to weigh the bananas in the produce department. The cashier had to run back to do that when she realized we were clueless. No one groused.

Lunch was unremarkable and David was ticked with our server. We ate outdoors and ordered a pizza to share. We were brought a pizza and one napkin. Guess he didn't like us sharing. No problem. It was a large napkin so I tore it in half. Easier than getting his attention.

As I've mentioned, public bathrooms are a problem. We scouted H&M Department Store for a jacket for David. Didn't buy it. He's so cheap. Asked for a toilet there. No way. Then we saw a McDonald's. Scored the code for free and made that potty central. While waiting for me to finish in the Ladies room David served as doorman for a group of Asian women who hadn't gotten the code. He entered it into the keypad and they bowed as he held the door.

After taking too much time locating the Tourist Info Bureau and missing the guided walking tour, we decided to do it on our own. Bern is a very small city and we had a good map. The main street has sheltered sidewalks like an arcade. We hit all the highlights (clock tower, prison tower, Town Hall, Parliament) and made it up to the rose garden for a bird's eye view of the town. Let me tell you, the walk up there was killer and on cobblestones. For those of you who can relate, it's steeper than Portage Path up from the Valley. At the top we found families who had pushed strollers and carried babies uphill and people older than we using canes. That's why it's hard to find an out of shape Swiss. Heidi Klein, Janet's mom, told me how steep the hills were. She helped me make a wise decision about footwear. I chose clunky and serviceable over a sleeker more stylish walking shoe.

We toured Einstein House where he'd lived. Things I learned were his wife and he had a baby girl before getting married. She left the child in Hungary with her parents and it's thought the baby was adopted out. Einstein never saw his daughter. They subsequently married, had two sons, and divorced. He did agree to share his Nobel Prize money with her. He married his cousin with whom he'd been having an affair. He'd failed at passing exams and getting jobs until he either got his act together or they realized his brilliance. He was excluded from the Manhattan Project because the U.S. government didn't trust him. He was shocked when the atom bomb was dropped. He was a pacifist.

We managed to sleep nine hours last night. We thought we'd be rested, but jet lag eventually set in. We took a break while David had gelato and I had hot chocolate. I have to say the cocoa was nothing like the thick molten drink I had on Mt. Etna.  We decided to take a tram back to the hotel after our long day, but stopped at the central train station to check on our return trip to Milan. It's a good thing we did. We go back on a Sunday and Expo Milan is still in full swing. Several trains were sold out, but we did get a seat.

The population here is lots more diverse than I thought. The woman last night from Zimbabwe  is not alone, although she did tell me she doesn't like it here. No elaboration. Fortunately, diversity adds to culinary options. Tonight we ate in our hotel neighborhood at Ristorante Beaulieu. It's Swiss fare. We scarfed down a dish I thought I'd avoid. But once here it sounded appealing. It's rosti. We'd call it hash browns with melted cheese and an egg on top. It's usually served with meat (pork or veal) but we asked them to leave it off.

Always planning ahead, we toured the area around our hotel for future dinners. We found an Indian place that smelled of delicious curry when the door opened. But the find of the day was Injera, an Ethiopian place filled with university students (they seem to get discounts at restaurants), and families with babies crawling around. We spoke to a server whose English was helpful. He assured us they served authentic Ethiopian fare and when I asked about pork he insisted they were orthodox in food selections.

We're aiming for an early bedtime tonight. We catch a train for Zermatt and the Matterhorn tomorrow.

Toby

If It’s Sunday…Milan to Bern

Milan to Bern

If It’s Sunday…

Great Swiss Rail System

There's nothing like the smell of chocolate croissants and a baby's full diaper in the morning. Our flight to Milan went smoothly and we managed to sleep about three hours. By the time they fed us dinner at 11:00 PM & woke us at 3:00 AM that's all the naptime we had.

We boarded the train at the airport for a half hour trip to Central Station. Of course, we found people from the Twin Cities across the aisle. He was wearing a Boundary Waters t-shirt, which was the conversation starter. I think I fell asleep.

We had reserved seats on the train from Milan to Bern, but needed to get tickets. Our instructions were to go to a ticket person rather than use the ticketing kiosk. There was a line to get a number to wait in line until we were called.This process took an hour. We were told when we booked the tickets that we could check our bags until we boarded the train. No one seemed to know what we were talking about, so we schlepped them around the station. Fortunately we only have three small carry-ons with wheels and a bag that hooks onto one of the carry-ons.

We found a free bathroom since we didn't have change for the turnstile to the main pay toilet. Actually, I used a coded bathroom in a restaurant. I just knocked on the door until someone came out & I walked in. 

We were ravenous and Burger King was one of few places with both food, tables, and chairs. What a cop out. Uh oh! We needed a potty again. Since David charged lunch we appealed to the soft heart of a woman in a money changing office. We looked old enough, desperate enough, and dumb enough that she broke a twenty Euro bill for us at no charge. Now we had change.

There was a sense of symmetry when we approached the toilet turnstile. Bottled water we'd consumed cost EU 1 and so did the use of the facilities.

Somewhere in our wanderings, it clicked that "deposito bagagli (left baggage)" doesn't mean "lost baggage." It's the baggage storage area. There was another line. While waiting, we realized we only had two hours until we had to re-claim the bags and decided it wasn't worth it at EU 6 a pop.

The reason I haven't written about buying David a belt and jacket is that we hadn't gotten to that yet. David left his warm jacket hanging on the railing at home and his belt fell apart after taking it off for security. I left David with the bags and walked out of the station to ask where we could find those items and approached a tourist kiosk. I demonstrated what I needed "for a man" and they agreed that the best place was at Boggi, a store in the station. We found it. They had belts. It was an Armani store. We walked on.

Understand, the entire station smells like an ashtray. Smoking isn't allowed but the place reeks. We plowed through the stench to a tobacco shop, of all places. There a saleswoman helped David select a belt, insisted he put it through the loops to try it on, and cut off the tags. Great service. Good price. Still no jacket.

We pushed through rush hour crowds and made our train to Bern...just. We had an altercation with a water bottle dispensing machine. We couldn't figure out how to pay with coins and it didn't like our credit card this time. We watched another couple figure out the cash thing so we followed suit.

The trip to Bern took three hours. Evidently we booked the milk train route. It stopped at least six times. But before sunset we cruised by Lago Maggiore and the lovely town of Stresa. Hills rose into the dark and we watched their blackened silhouettes disappear as they grew into mountains.

We arrived in Bern at 9:30 PM, got help finding the tram, and a lovely university student from Zimbabwe helped us find our stop. A woman who got off at the same place directed us to our hotel, the Arrabelle. It will be an easy walk to the train for our daily jaunts, and the bus is around the corner. Thanks to Sam and Patty Baumgartner we're settling into a very clean, basic, but comfy room. Sam is from Bern and hand picked our hotel

Pleasant dreams.

Toby