My memory of Switzerland
dates back to 1985, when my grandmother had been there for 3 years with my aunt
to look after her baby daughter. She had told me about how beautiful and serene
that place is and she had got me a toy camera in which I could view different
slides of snow filled peaks and the jersey cows and vast fields with no people
in sight.
My dream of visiting this paradise on earth got fulfilled on 18th April 2014, thanks to my hubby! We set out for a 4 day trip to Switzerland by car and the first stop was a small town called Thun. The road to Thun was awesome. Snowcapped mountains on both sides and some green fields here and there, where cows and horses and sheep were grazing. We reached hotel around 2 pm, kept our luggage and then went for a stroll to a nearby lake and park. It was cold and cloudy, but we managed to see the snow peaked mountains and little blue skies here and there. Had a nice stroll around the lake. Tanay was more than happy to play in the sand patches around the lake. We experienced a very tranquil feeling, very quiet and clean and untouched. After spending a few hours there, we headed to go to the old town and we were greeted by heavy rainfall. So, we had no option to get into the car and go around the town and be happy with just seeing the town from inside the car. We got back at 7 pm and retired after having dinner.
Saturday was a trip to Bern. It was cloudy again, but thankfully no rain. We watched the famous clock tower where music is played every hour. The longest was at 12:00 hours and we were luckily there! After the musical performance, we walked the main street and were surprised to see almost 100 flags on either side of the streets. Every flag was different and I am sure it had some meaning. Unfortunately, we couldn't meet a localite who would explain it's meaning. We saw the church, the Rathaus (Town hall), market place, Swiss Parliament building, National bank etc. We also saw the house, where Albert Einstein stayed in Bern for a few years. It was a nice bustling, happy and crowded place. Then we headed to a place called Gurten, where a small train takes us up the hill in about 10 minutes and from there the view of Bern was breathtaking. We had snacks in a restaurant there and I managed to get hold of a vegetarian dish called Rösti. It is a typical Swiss dish and I loved it! Potato and onion mashed together and served with olives, tomatoes etc. After the sumptuous lunch, we climbed a tower, which comprised of 120 steps and the view from up there was just stupefying. It was windy up there and I started feeling giddy, because up there, the wired surface started moving. I came down in a few minutes and then enjoyed the scenery there. We then headed to Wilderswil, where our next halt was.
The hotel was at such a location that I would spend my whole life there looking at the mountains, reading on my Kindle and writing on my laptop. It was quiet, pure and serene. Calmness prevailed there in all nooks and corners and it caught on us too. We had no words to speak or describe what our senses were experiencing. How is it that everything here is so beautiful and clean? It didn't feel like we were on earth. It is a different world altogether.
Schilthorn was our destination on Sunday. We had to go to a base place called Stechelberg, park our cars there and then take the cable cars, change 3 times and get to that place. It is a place at 9744 ft. where a James Bond movie was shot, long back in 1968. There is a James Bond museum where a portion picturized there is shown in a small theater. It has all the James Bond movie posters till date and also the gadgets which 007 used. We walked in snow to a small tower nearby. It was exhilarating, a chilled experience to walk in the snow and come back safely without falling down and getting injured. It was sunny around, so without the sunglasses on, it was impossible to look around. We spent a lot of time, taking snaps and then went to a restaurant there, called Piz Gloria and it was a 360 degrees rotating restaurant at such a height. I had no words to praise the technology and the dedication of the people to make something wonderful like this at a height of 9744 ft. We had lunch there and spent some more time going around. White snow covered Swiss Alps, e.g. Jungfrau and other peaks were visible from this place. Blue clear skies and White Mountains were all we could see in all directions. We headed back at 3 pm and again after changing 3-4 times, we came back to Stechelberg and came back to the hotel. Took little rest and went walking around the Wilderswil village. Most of it was closed, being a Sunday. But we could see the cute little houses of the Swiss people there. The day was well spent and we had a nice time in Schilthorn. You can see this link for more information.
http://www.schilthorn.ch/
On Monday, we checked out at 10 am and went to Interlaken. It is a small, sleepy town and one shopping street is covered by walk. We walked into 2-3 watch showrooms and were surprised to see all Chinese employees there. The visitors there were also mostly Chinese, they came in large groups and shopped and invaded the next shop. It was quite an amusing sight. It was quite surprising for us in the beginning, but then given the fact that China is an emerging market; the Swiss people have employed Chinese people to cater to the vast visitor population that visits Swiss. How thoughtful and business oriented! We then decided to go to a town called Vaduz, in a neighboring country called Liechtenstein, where German is spoken and the currency is also Swiss Francs. It was a long drive, but the drive on the highways there is enjoyable. The market place in Vaduz was a small street where there were a few tourist people like us and then we went to see the palace of the prince residing there. It was up the hill and we got a nice view from up there of the small town. Then we headed to a city called Feldkirch in Austria, spent some time there and headed through small sleepy villages and towns to ‘our’ country, Germany. That day was memorable as we crossed 4 countries, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany. And yes, we picked up souvenirs (fridge magnet) from every place we visited and they are proudly sitting on our fridge now!
Tanay was obviously not aware of what he just experienced for 4 days, he might have even got bored. But I am sure, he will surely come back and enjoy this paradise on earth. And I am always ready to go to other parts of this paradise, as I saw just a part of it!
My dream of visiting this paradise on earth got fulfilled on 18th April 2014, thanks to my hubby! We set out for a 4 day trip to Switzerland by car and the first stop was a small town called Thun. The road to Thun was awesome. Snowcapped mountains on both sides and some green fields here and there, where cows and horses and sheep were grazing. We reached hotel around 2 pm, kept our luggage and then went for a stroll to a nearby lake and park. It was cold and cloudy, but we managed to see the snow peaked mountains and little blue skies here and there. Had a nice stroll around the lake. Tanay was more than happy to play in the sand patches around the lake. We experienced a very tranquil feeling, very quiet and clean and untouched. After spending a few hours there, we headed to go to the old town and we were greeted by heavy rainfall. So, we had no option to get into the car and go around the town and be happy with just seeing the town from inside the car. We got back at 7 pm and retired after having dinner.
Saturday was a trip to Bern. It was cloudy again, but thankfully no rain. We watched the famous clock tower where music is played every hour. The longest was at 12:00 hours and we were luckily there! After the musical performance, we walked the main street and were surprised to see almost 100 flags on either side of the streets. Every flag was different and I am sure it had some meaning. Unfortunately, we couldn't meet a localite who would explain it's meaning. We saw the church, the Rathaus (Town hall), market place, Swiss Parliament building, National bank etc. We also saw the house, where Albert Einstein stayed in Bern for a few years. It was a nice bustling, happy and crowded place. Then we headed to a place called Gurten, where a small train takes us up the hill in about 10 minutes and from there the view of Bern was breathtaking. We had snacks in a restaurant there and I managed to get hold of a vegetarian dish called Rösti. It is a typical Swiss dish and I loved it! Potato and onion mashed together and served with olives, tomatoes etc. After the sumptuous lunch, we climbed a tower, which comprised of 120 steps and the view from up there was just stupefying. It was windy up there and I started feeling giddy, because up there, the wired surface started moving. I came down in a few minutes and then enjoyed the scenery there. We then headed to Wilderswil, where our next halt was.
The hotel was at such a location that I would spend my whole life there looking at the mountains, reading on my Kindle and writing on my laptop. It was quiet, pure and serene. Calmness prevailed there in all nooks and corners and it caught on us too. We had no words to speak or describe what our senses were experiencing. How is it that everything here is so beautiful and clean? It didn't feel like we were on earth. It is a different world altogether.
Schilthorn was our destination on Sunday. We had to go to a base place called Stechelberg, park our cars there and then take the cable cars, change 3 times and get to that place. It is a place at 9744 ft. where a James Bond movie was shot, long back in 1968. There is a James Bond museum where a portion picturized there is shown in a small theater. It has all the James Bond movie posters till date and also the gadgets which 007 used. We walked in snow to a small tower nearby. It was exhilarating, a chilled experience to walk in the snow and come back safely without falling down and getting injured. It was sunny around, so without the sunglasses on, it was impossible to look around. We spent a lot of time, taking snaps and then went to a restaurant there, called Piz Gloria and it was a 360 degrees rotating restaurant at such a height. I had no words to praise the technology and the dedication of the people to make something wonderful like this at a height of 9744 ft. We had lunch there and spent some more time going around. White snow covered Swiss Alps, e.g. Jungfrau and other peaks were visible from this place. Blue clear skies and White Mountains were all we could see in all directions. We headed back at 3 pm and again after changing 3-4 times, we came back to Stechelberg and came back to the hotel. Took little rest and went walking around the Wilderswil village. Most of it was closed, being a Sunday. But we could see the cute little houses of the Swiss people there. The day was well spent and we had a nice time in Schilthorn. You can see this link for more information.
http://www.schilthorn.ch/
On Monday, we checked out at 10 am and went to Interlaken. It is a small, sleepy town and one shopping street is covered by walk. We walked into 2-3 watch showrooms and were surprised to see all Chinese employees there. The visitors there were also mostly Chinese, they came in large groups and shopped and invaded the next shop. It was quite an amusing sight. It was quite surprising for us in the beginning, but then given the fact that China is an emerging market; the Swiss people have employed Chinese people to cater to the vast visitor population that visits Swiss. How thoughtful and business oriented! We then decided to go to a town called Vaduz, in a neighboring country called Liechtenstein, where German is spoken and the currency is also Swiss Francs. It was a long drive, but the drive on the highways there is enjoyable. The market place in Vaduz was a small street where there were a few tourist people like us and then we went to see the palace of the prince residing there. It was up the hill and we got a nice view from up there of the small town. Then we headed to a city called Feldkirch in Austria, spent some time there and headed through small sleepy villages and towns to ‘our’ country, Germany. That day was memorable as we crossed 4 countries, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany. And yes, we picked up souvenirs (fridge magnet) from every place we visited and they are proudly sitting on our fridge now!
Tanay was obviously not aware of what he just experienced for 4 days, he might have even got bored. But I am sure, he will surely come back and enjoy this paradise on earth. And I am always ready to go to other parts of this paradise, as I saw just a part of it!
I was excited just at your mention of Switzerland plan and my excitement grew bit bigger when I saw your instagram pics. Now reading this post, I have decided, someday I am going to visit Switzerland for sure!
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