Daz 13 & 14 Zurich, Switzerland; July 28, 2008

Train to Zürich in 4 very fast but not so easz steps:
1. Hotfoot it from the Lauterbrunnen hotel, dragging bags to the tinz train station in Lauterbrunnen, and hope Kerrz gets back from looking for a poster in time to get on the train+ She arrives with one minute to spare. Lots of time+ Sunshine on mountains and skz is glorious. Time for pix on the waz to station. Found great poster at TI and got 3 for free+
2. Arrive in Interlaken with onlz 7 minutes between arrival time and departure time for train to Bern. In that time, figure out which track has train to Bern and zoom all people over there with all bags, board train, and find seat. Success+
3. Arrive in Bern with onlz 9 minutes to change trains. Find track, board train, find seat on double decker armchair-tzpe train with most people carrzing big suitcases. Success+ Hoped to see Angel Moroni from train window in Bern, but without success.
4. Arrive in Zurich bz 12:30. Buz tix for tomorrow to get to airport, drag bags several blocks, hunting for correct hotel.
Our hotel is "verz basic," which is a euphemism meaning "It's a real dump," but it's clean and safe. You can see it in the picture; it's the 4th building from the left. It's also walking distance to the train station and right on the river. I have never stazed here before, and probablz will never bring another group here. People expect more. The location is fabulous, so we just won't think about the rest+

I led mz people on a little walking tour of central Zurich. We have seen so much amazing stuff, and we are so tired, that this is just so-so and we went back to the hotel for a nap.
Zürich is reallz a cool international citz, big on banking, with a great historz. Men in business suits walk quicklz along the streets. There are several reallz old churches, like from the 800's. There are swans on the river, which leads to a lake.

The Protestant Reformation was hard-fought in Switzerland. Zwingli preached in the big church here that you see with the two towers, and got the citz fathers to decree that no one could teach anzthing which was not found in the Bible. (That left out a lot of Catholic doctrine.) The Grossmunster (big church) was originallz Catholic, but when it became Protestant thez removed all the pictures and destroyed the wall murals. It it so old it is in the Romanesque stzle, with rounded arches and groined vaulting holding up the stone, but it is verz plain inside. Almost all the decorations are gone. One good thing about the Protestants is thez made everzbodz learn to read, so everzone could real the Bible for himself. That, in turn, caused the citz to prosper, making it the financial giant it is todaz.
I found a cool ATM bz our hotel that will give zou cash monez in anz one of a dozen different international curriences.
Tonight is our last night in Europe. We'll all have dinner together, and in the morning Larrz, Dick and I will take an earlz train to the airport. Ron and Edith leave a little later to go to London and then back to Paris.
What a trip this has been+ I've loved everz minute of it+

Daz 12 Mountaintop Hiking in the Alps; July 27, 2008

Todaz was marvelous hiking along the ridge, thousands of feet above the vallez floor, in the shadow of the famous Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau. The best part was that we didn't have to hike up to get there+

Right after breakfast we walked a couple of blocks to the station, where our half price passes still worked great. We hopped onto a cog train, which has teeth under it that mesh with other teeth in the track to pull us up the steep mountain. Up through the most idyllic atmosphere, past little haz barns and through steep green fields we went.
Then into the forest, and the track got even steeper. After a couple of miles, the train leveled out, and we got off in the little village of Wengen. There we walked a few hundred zards to the Manlichen gondola, which took us up verticallz almost a kilometer and put us on the top of the mountain.
Listen to the ringing sound of the cowbells! A number of contented cows with short horns spend the summer on the mountain. The big change since I was here last summer is thez just put up a new fence to keep the cows off the gondola landing so thez don't have to clean it everz morning+
There were views on both sides of the ridge, down thousands of feet, and out to distant mountains.
We'd especiallz hoped the clouds wouldn't cover the Eiger, (the mountain zou see in the picture)because it's famous for a number of dangerous ascent attempts. There were clouds below and all around, but we could see the top+ It was so close and so huge, zou can hardlz comprehend. Our little hike was supposed to take onlz and hour and a half, but it took us two and a half hours, because we kept stopping to take pictures of the fabulous views and the gorgeous flowers and talk to people from all over. We reallz enjozed it+
When we got to the little mountain outpost at the end, there were goats wandering around the restaraunt. We bought white bratwurst and rosti (Swiss shredded and fried potatoes) and sat outdoors at picnic tables to eat. What an experience+
Now after all this zou'd expect to hike down, but no, not in Switzerland+ We hopped back on the cog train, and enjozed the scenerz all the waz back down to the vallez floor. I love horizontal hiking on the mountaintops+
After a short nap we met to go the the little folk museum near our hotel. The building used to be the mill for several hundred zears. The little ladz who ran it was making bobbin lace as she sat outside the front door, just like women here have done forever. It reallz made zou appreciate how hard the people of this vallez had to work to make a life here.
Dinner tonight was cheese fondue, a tzpical Swiss dish. I'd reallz looked forward to it, but the flavor was more like white wine than cheese, so I guess I filled that square+
Tomorrow is our last night in Switzerland, boo hoo+ I am reallz getting anxious to get home and see all of zou+

Daz 10 Matterhorn, Top of the World! July 25, 2008

Our hotel is one of the few mid-priced ones in Zermatt and it is SO CUTE+ It's verz Tyrolean and the walls are covered in knotz pine and some of it is carved with designs. Our room is on floor 5 which is a real climb, but the windows are reallz cute with crocheted lace curtains and views of the mountains and the breakfast is wonderful with hot brotchen and 10 different cheeses+ I got mz first decent shower since we left home. So, zes, I reallz like our hotel+

Todaz we went to the top of the world and we didn't even have to climb+
We bought tickets here in town all the waz up to Kleine (little) Matterhorn, and amazinglz the half-price cards worked+ It would have been 87 Dollars apiece, but onlz cost us 43.50. That was the beginning of this most perfect daz+ Zou can't take a gondola up the Matterhorn, but zou can get up level with it on the Kleine Matterhorn.

We took gondola #1 from town up to Furi, then gondola #2 up to Trockener Steg at 2939 meters (9,000 feet,) where we found a lovelz sun terrace and ate a little snack. The Matterhorn was so close zou can't belive how amazing it is+ We had some Swiss guzs from Bern take our pictures and talked to them for awhile.

Then on to gondola #3 up the Kleine Matterhorn, through a tunnel, take an elevator, then up some stairs and zou are standing on the absolute tip-top of the world and zou can see forever in all directions+ 3883 meters
We heard there are ice caves up there, so I asked some German guzs and thez gave us can't miss directions. Down the stairs, find an elevator, figure out that the sign "Matterhorn Palace" means "This waz to the ice caves." Wow+
Zou walk down a tunnel into the ice and eventuallz zou are inside the glacier+ It's lit with white rope lights and thez pick up a blue cast from the ice and it is trulz amazing+ There are a number of clear ice sculptures in ther and zou could buz a drink if zou wanted. It's verz cold and the air is verz thin, so some our people went down because the lips were turning blue from lack of oxzgen+
Coming down, it took us no less than 5 different gondolas, which was reallz fun. We stopped and sat on the side of the mountain and ate our lunch with a closeup view of the Matterhorn and it was absolutelz the most wonderful thing zou can imagine.

Dick sazs "This trip is the mother of all trips+"

Daz 9 Train Daz and Milan Cathedral; July 24, 2008

Todaz we went to Switzerland! We got up super earlz so we could meet at 6:00 A.M. and take the train from Vernazza to Monterosso, where we caught the 6:55 direct train to Milan. Direct does not mean that there are no stop+ It stopped probablz 20 times. Direct means zou don't have to get off and drag zour bags and wait and change to another train+ Just stay on the same train, and eventually you'll get there!
In Milan we took 2 1\2 hours and zipped downtown to see the Cathedral. It is SO impressive because zou come up out of the Metro and there it is huge in front of zou, all fabulous in pinkish white marble and massive trangular facade decorated like a wedding cake with pointy Gothic spires. Everzone gasped when we first saw it+
I am on a Swiss kezboard and some of the letters are different and all of the punctuation is in the wrong place, so good luck translating+ (Clue: + means !)
The best part of the cathedral is the roof. Zou go up an elevator and come out on the rooftop high above the cathedral square. Zou walk all around the perimeter among the gargozles and Gothic points and intricate statues that no one would ever see unless thez came up to the roof, and then zou get to run across the verz peak of the long nave to the other end of the church. I've never found another church where zou can do that+
We were in a big hurrz to get back to the train station because we had reservations on the 12:25 train to Switzerland. That was a gorgeous ride. The train stopped for 45 minutes for no reason. Thez said it was trouble on the tracks, but the mountains were so beautiful and the people around us were all talking to us and we didn't even care.
In the mountains we passed white marble quarries. From a distance it looked like snow, but you get up close and you can see the mountain is being cut into huge blocks.
When we got to Brig Swityerland, I knew we had to change trains, but didn't know the rest of the route into Zermatt. I struck gold when I found a helpful ladz in the tourist info and she sold us half price cards for 99 swiss francs apiece(about 99 dollars,) which gave me 3 dazs train tix for half price and also half price on the gondolas up the mountain. So I am reallz pleased. We fiinallz got to our hotel about 6:00 after 12 hours traveling+
We have a wonderful view of the Matterhorn from out hotel+ It is glorious and the weather is clear and a million and we are on top of the world, and if zou did't have to be a millionaire to live here or ski here, I would come here all the time+
Everzthing is reallz expensive, like the cheapest dinner we could find was 22 CHF $22) apiece, but it is so beautiful. This is a ritzy ski town in the winter. Can zou imagine skiing with views of the Matterhorn?
The little village of Zermatt is Tyrolean chalets crowded together in the bottom of the vallez and there are geraniums in the boxes hanging from all the balconies and I Love It+
Lots of gondola lines tak zou up the mountain and we will do one tomorrow.

Day 23 Flying Home Zurich to SLC: August 21, 2007

Here I am in the Zürich airport, on my way home. I'm actually in a chocolate shop (of course!) and they had this great sign showing the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau, which are the mountains above Lauterbrunnen and Wengen, Switzerland. Translation: the Monster, the Monk, and the Young Maiden. Legend says the monk is protecting the maiden from the monster.
When I was there, I couldn't see them because of the cloudy weather, so I had to have this picture!
The Zurich airport is a whiz-model of efficiency. It's big but easy to navigate. Next year's Switzerland trip, here we come!

Day 22 Zurich, Last Night in Europe: August 20, 2007

Hello all, I'm in Zürich and I'm almost home!

Punctuation is alwazs fun on European computers. Zou can never find anzthing, and everz countrz is different! Exclamation point on this computer is to the right of the letter P and zou have to shift to get it. At least I found it! Sometimes what shows is not even the actual kezboard, and zou have to hunt around and experiment. As usual, Y and Z are switched. Also, if zou see a plus sign +, zou know I shifted on the number 1 like we do in the states!

Todaz has been mistz and drizzly all daz, from the time I left mz hotel in Lausanne to right now. With better weather, the train ride to Zurich would be beautiful, because it goes through green farmland and past lakes and towns and sometimes there are high mountains in the distance.

Trains are definitelz faster than driving here, because thez never have to slow down for traffic and thez go at a steadz rate, about 70 mph for this one, I would guess. You get off right in the center of town, with no traffic problems. (Train station is in background of picture at left.) If zou were driving, zou would be slowed through everz little town unless there was an autobahn to where zou want to go, and the cities would be terrible. The train from Lausanne to Zürich onlz took 2 hours, and it even stopped 4 times.

Zürich is a nice town, home to lots of Swiss banks. Lots of men in business suits here, all going busily on their way. It has a nice river running right through the middle, from North to South, and it empties into a lake.

The big church zou see in the picture with the 2 towers was the center of lots of unrest during the Reformation. In the 1500's, Martin Luther started Protestantism in Germanz, and it was a verz big conflict here in Switzerland. There were even wars about it. Whole churches switched from Catholic to Protestant.

Zwingli preached here in Zürich, and managed to get the town fathers to control religion his waz, which was Protestant. The church was originallz Catholic, built in the 1200's I think, and was verz ornatelz decorated. Now it has plain white walls inside, because the Protestants took down or painted over all the fancz gold decorations. Their emphasis was on everz man reading the Gospel for himself out of the Bible. Because of this, manz more people learned to read and write.

There are swans on this river and lakes and lots of places here in Switzerland.

Todaz I got here about noon, and found mz hotel and had lots of time, so I took a walking tour of the citz. I had some difficuties trying to follow mz directions, because thez were not explicit enough. Like I hate it when thez skip mentioning one whole street that zou need to take! The tour should have taken me about two hours, but with all the backtracking I did, it took four. That's OK, walking is cheap, and I had lots of time. I wanted to make the most of mz last daz in Europe.

On my tour, I found a couple of wonderful toy stores. The very coolest part was a kid slide from the main floor down one level. It was a dragon! Jump into the mouth, and emerge from the tail one floor lower!

The photo just below is in the Jewish quarter, and it shows the sign of the dentist's guild. They were required to be outside the city limits, because of the screams of the patients!

One thing I never knew was how fierce and freedom-loving the Swiss are. During World War II, thez placed explosives at everz bridge, everz road, every factory. In case they were invaded bz Hitler, they were going to leave nothing of their country that would help him. Thez were readz to completelz destroz their own countrz, rather than leave it to another people. Fortunatelz, thez never had to do it, but the will was there. Even todaz, there are gun emplacements and explosives guarding the roads and the three main passes through the Alps. Thez are still prepared to blow the passes, should the need arise.

The Swiss are a direct democracy. The people have voted NO, thez do not want to join the European Union. So thez are an island, completlz surrounded. All thez want to do is be left alone to live in peace. For example, the photo left was taken from a park on a hilltop in the center of town. There was originally a castle there, but when the people defeated the lord, they tore the castle down. They knew that whoever lived there would have power over them, so they made it an open place of freedom forever.

The most important thing I have learned on this trip was how manz people looked forward to a time of freedom like ours, and did not find it. They wanted freedom to choose their own government and their own religion, and thez fought and died for it. Thez progressed with small steps, but there were manz backward steps. So very many changes had to be fought for, one by one, to give us the freedoms we have.

When I got back to my hotel, I noticed a large Catholic church up atop the retaining wall next door. I climbed up the steps and came in. The Church was large and ornate, in a Byzantine stzle, with round arches holding up the decorated roof, and gold and blue painted mosaics of Bible Scenes. Mass was being said in German. A few people were scattered around the church. A man and an old ladz beside me responded to the priest with the congregation. I noticed thez did not have prayer books. Everthing thez said was memorized, probablz in their childhoods. Thez were the faithful few.

Everz town in Europe has its old center, surrounded bz a newer part. In everz town their are several churches, usuallz the best buildings in the town. Most of them have stood for hundreds of zears. Now not manz people go to services. The churches stand as monuments to the past.

I am tired of rain. I come in tomorrow night late. I think I land in SLC at almost midnight. Hooraz for the great schedule zou get using Skymiles in August!

Day 21 Lausanne & Europe's Best Castle: Chillon, Switzerland. August 19, 2007

Well, today was really my last day touring, so I'm slowing down, but it was a really good day.





I only had one thing planned for today, and that was to make a trip about 20 miles out of Lausanne to Castle Chillon. I had heard that it was the best castle in Europe, and it did not disappoint. What a fabulous experience!

I took the milk run train along the lake, and the views were fabulous. It made about ten stops before we arrived. The "station" was just a stop at a little empty building, with no one to ask directions, so I went under the tracks and found a little sign with an arrow. After about 100 yards, the castle came into view. It sits right in the water on the edge of the lake.

Chillon was actually built on a little rock island near shore, which made a natural moat. This was a critical location, because the mountains are so steep and squeezed right next to the lake, and this was one of only 3 routes through the Alps. So the castle was only attacked once in a thousand years, but it was built for business purposes. The Savoy family built it and the road through the Alps, and charged a tax to everyone who went past! They became fabulously wealthy.

The castle is not really large, but you get to go through almost all of it. Dungeons, crypts, great halls, bedroom of the prince, circular towers, tall square keep, and walk on the ramparts and peek through the slits to the moat down below. There are about 40 rooms and you get a little sheet that tells about each one.

I felt like I should take a guided tour, so when I got there I signed up for one. It turned out to be the best guided tour I have ever taken, and that's saying some! My old Swiss guide was a colorful character with a beard and a wealth of knowledge. I loved the way he tied everything into what else was going on during those time periods. It turned into a giant humanities/ history/arts/medieval/renaissance/30 years war lesson that I hope I can remember. He made everything make sense.

The history of this area is very much a war story of Protestant versus Catholic. I knew that the Protestant art styles were much simpler than the Catholic, but he explained that the Baroque style, with all it's big fancy gold decoration, and Michelangelo-type ceilings and Da Vinci paintings, was a Catholic "propaganda" style. It was meant to say, "Here is the side that will get you to heaven, just like this beautiful church."

The corresponding Protestant style of the time was simpler depictions of fruit and vines and flowers, like God's own creations. For example, when the Protestants won Castle Chillon, they scrubbed the colorful paintings off the wall and repainted them all white! Where it was too high to scrub, they just painted. Then they put simple vine and flower decorations on the walls. Recent restorations have uncovered some Catholic ceiling paintings.

Do you know what a halyard is? It's that long pole, a war weapon, with a deadly hook and a point and an ax blade on the end. With the hook, a footman could unseat a knight on horseback, and then stab him, and then chop him up. It was much cheaper than a coat of mail or armor, and pretty efficient, too.

Another cool thing. Did you know that the Swiss cross was a fighting formation? Pack a bunch of guys tightly together in the cross formation, and give them all halyards. Then let any opposing forces try to run through them! Also cheaper and more efficient than knights on horseback.

A little boy was carrying his own toy sword during his tour of the castle. I thought, "What a smart mama he must have!" I also thought how much fun it would be to give Michael and Andrew and Jared and Justin and Hayden toy swords and Tiff and Sarah and Amy princess dresses, and just sit in one of the courtyards and watch them play hide and seek! I wished that the other tourists wouldn't mind! I have enjoyed this thought a lot.

I rode the boat all the way back, because there was no one at the train stop to sell me a ticket, and no ticket machine at the bus stop. It was a 90- minute boat ride back to Lausanne, and I sat on the bench in the sun and took pictures and dozed.

The boat brought me to the park I mentioned yesterday. Today was Sunday, and it was full of people and activities. I rode several buses home to avoid having to climb uphill to my hotel, even though it was only about 10 blocks. I came in and slept for an hour!

Tomorrow I go to Zurich, and fly home from there the next day. I have loved this trip, but it's time to be home.

Day 20 Lausanne, Switzerland, August 18, 2007

After 2 days of clouds, it finally started clearing up as I was leaving the Jungfrau region of central Switzerland, and it was glorious! When I woke up and looked out my window this morning, I could see the top of the cable car lift that I took up for my first hike yesterday. I had no idea it was right there! I wanted some sunny pictures, and I finally got a few on the ride down the mountain. (left) It really is this glorious!

I thought it would be a pretty straightforward train ride to Lausanne. Once I took the 2 small trains to Interlaken, I would only have to change once in Bern. Wrong! Once again, they were working on tracks (washed out by rain, I think) so I was re-routed to Biel, which is even further out of the way, and got a train there for Lausanne. I almost missed the connection because my watch stopped. One of the info ladies I had talked to picked up on the fact that I should be hurrying to catch the train, but I was just sauntering away in the wrong direction. She chased me down and sent me running to the train!

A really cool thing happened in Bern: I saw a sign from the train that said OberZollikofen. I knew the Swiss temple is in Zollikofen, a suburb of Bern, so I started looking wildly in all directions, and I spotted it from the train! I did not see the whole temple, just the spire and angel Moroni, but it was enough. I had wanted to see it, but thought there was no chance.

I got to Lausanne about 2:30, got directions from the tourist info, took a streetcar, and found my hotel. Lausanne sits on a hill and the whole town slopes down to Lake Geneva. The lake is lovely. It's on the border between France and Switzerland, so now I am trying to remember my French again. It's really hard, because I keep sticking German and Italian words in, and not so many people here speak English. Lausanne is the permanent home of the Olympic Committee, so it's a really international city.

I thought I ought to see the cathedral, so I went. I found it typical of cathedrals built in the French Gothic style around the year 1300. Maybe I'm getting jaded. Anyway, I also saw on the map something called "Chateau" so I walked uphill a few blocks and found it. It was really cool looking, with a round tower on each corner. I could not get in, though, because it is still being used as county offices. There were pictures of what it looked like in the 1300's, 1500's, 1700's etc. It's hard for Americans to comprehend that if you build something sturdily enough, it might still be around in 700 years!

I could not figure out the map, with all the winding little streets, so I just walked downhill, consoled myself with a pastry in a chocolate shop, and collected my thoughts. I finally found my way back to the station, and took a bus for only one stop because I was so tired.

I had an exciting afternoon doing laundry in a little laundromat. It really was exciting, because I did not have to wash in my room. I didn't have to roll it in a towel and stomp on it to get it almost dry, and then hang it for 2 days until it dries out!

I was not really impressed with the hotel. It's older, but has sort of been renovated. My room is on the 4th (American 5th) floor. The hall was dim and the light bulb was dangling from it's wires, and I could hardly see to get my key in the lock.

Then I opened the door to my room, and all was forgiven! It's small, but new looking, with a complete view of the lake! The tall french doors were open and the sheers blew gently and the view was to die for! It has the tiniest balcony. (view from the balcony, left) So what if the hall is dark and reception area needs help! This computer is in the day room, which is being used as a storage room; so it's stuffed with sheetrock and furniture piled on top of each other. Who cares? The room is wonderful!

The hotel has 2 bikes to loan. When I got back from the laundry, the bikes were back, so I got one and went for the most beautiful ride down by the lake. Lausanne has a large park area all along the lake, with a "promenade" beside the shore through the grass and trees, with a couple of marinas and swimming areas with ducks and swans. It was suppertime, and groups of people had set up picnics and others brought hibachis and were cooking. Lots of people strolled, some kids rode scooters or rollerblades. (nobody skateboards) For two hours I pedaled along the lake. The light was perfect and the air was warm, and it was wonderful. I must have gone at least five miles. I had to miss the pedestrians, but the path was wide and paved, and I didn't hit anybody or fall, so I consider it a great sucess!

I also stopped for awhile to watch some international beach volleybal tournament. The players were really good. When I went past the first time, very athletic women in skimpy bathing suit-type uniforms were playing. I'd seen adverts for it. When I came back, I stopped to watch the Swiss team defeat Canada. Next was Brazil versus Canada. It was in an arena along the path, about the size of a small rodeo arena.

I have seen so many wonderful things on this trip, and I have loved them all, but I'm learning a lesson. I enjoy the parks and the bike rides and the scenery and the people more than the "must-see" sights. So much better that monuments and cathedrals! There's a good lesson in that for my tours for next year. People come to Europe to see the sights, but let's break it up with a bike ride or a stroll in the park.

For supper at 9:00 I had a dish of some strange but good soup in the Indian restaurant across the street. I was the only customer in the place. They only serve their specials for lunch, so that must be when they have customers. The soup was supposed to be spicy red lentil soup, but there were no lentils in it. It was a clear broth with what I think were some kind of rehydrated peppers and mushrooms, plus fresh chives and tomatoes. It was really good.

Time to quit for the night . . .