Zurich

Monday, May 25th.  Happy Memorial Day to everyone. 

I have been to busy doing "touristy" things to get time to write anything.  We leave tomorrow morning on Iceandair for Reykjavik, Iceland where we will spend two days and then head for home on Thursday,  May 28th.   Yesterday we went into Zurich and spent the day just walking around Old Town.  Shirl has been "singing the blues" recently as it seems each time we have had a trip into a town it has either been on a Sunday or it has been some type of holiday and the stores have all been closed. 

We did enjoy a very nice 2 1/2 hour dinner boat ride on Lake Zurich last night.  The trip ended at Rapperswil, a little town at the end of the lake.  Today we took the train, which is a short bus ride from our hotel which sets high on a hill overlooking the lake, and went to the town.  It actually ended up being an adventure as our Swiss Rail Pass expired the other day so we purchased what we thought was the correct ticket at a machine at the local Ruschlikon train station.  After being on the train for about 20 minutes I got a little suspicious as we suddenly lost the view of the lake that we had been following.  Sure enough, we had failed to transfer to another train three stations back.  Upon getting back to the correct station we transferred and finally arrived in Rapperswil.  Being a little curious if the ticket we had purchased was the correct one I went into the local train station and asked the agent if this ticket would get us back to Ruschlikon.  He looked at the ticket, then at me, and sternly stated not only can you can not get back to Ruschlikon but you can not get where you are with this ticket....

He finally relented and allowed us to purchase the correct ticket and gave us credit for the wrong one.  I am just glad we did not get the ticket checked on the train as apparently it is a 100 CHF fine for trying to cheat the railway system... The Swiss Rail Pass has been very friendly to use, no purchasing tickets ahead of time, you just jump on the boat, tram, or train and show them the pass. 

 Zurich is a large city spread out over quite an area but it does have a lovely "Old Town" area near the lake.

Road repair using the small cobble stones

We stopped at a beer garden and listened to the music and watched the dancers.

The entire time we have been in
Zurich there has been a blimp floating over the lake.  Not sure what the activity they are celebrating is.

Getting ready for our lake cruise with dinner.



Lake Zurich, with Zurich at the bottom and Rapperswil at the top left.  Our hotel in Ruschlikon is located up the right side of the lake about 1/4 of the way up from Zurich.

Beautiful evening sunset with threating clouds

As we were coming back into town the lights from the Lindt Factory. 
We were looking forward to visiting the factory the next day but a holiday saved us about 5 lbs...

Rapperswil is a little town with a fairly large stone structure which apparently use to be a defensive castle but is now a museum, but again, unfortunately closed for a holiday. We did have a nice walk through a lovely rose garden and toured the town.

Two men swimming in Lake Zurich

The castle of the Counts of
Rapperswil dates back to the late 12th century.   

I tried to talk Shirl into peddling us around the lakefront but she nixed that idea.

 There was a lovely and fairly large rose garden associated with the castle.  Yellow roses are special to
Shirl and me since that is what we had in our wedding ceremony.

Roger and Shirl viewing our rose garden when we get old!

The catholic church next to the castle has stood there since the parish of St. Johann was established in 1253.  It burned down in 1882 but was rebuilt in 1885.  Still a beautiful structure today.

After our hassle with train tickets today we purchased our ticket for our train ride tomorrow morning to go from Ruschlikon to Zurich airport from the agent in
Rapperswi.   Just when we thought we were getting the hang of things it is time to move on to another country.  I have been fairly close on the purchasing of Euro's and Swiss Francs so now we will see how we do with buying some Krona's.

Off to dinner, then packing and sitting out on the deck to listen to the rain....

Good Night all,

Shirl and Roger,
The Traveling Huntley's

Lauterbrunnen Day 5

This morning, Friday, May 22, we caught the bus and went to Trummelbach Falls, about 7 Km up the valley from town.  Trummelbach Falls drains the mighty glaciers from the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and consists of around 10 waterfalls all within a mountain.  You take an elevator up about half way and then you walk within the mountain and view these beautiful raging waterfalls and chutes coming down the mountain. 

From the top walking all the way down I counted over 543 steps in addition to numerous side walkways.   It really lets this old man know his knees are not as young as they use to be.  Shirl, with her torn meniscus did quite well. 

It was difficult to get any good pictures due to the small confined spaces.  The water flow was tremendous however.

Upon leaving the waterfall we boarded the train and went back to Interlaken.

A true Swiss Cow...

Watches, watches, watches everywhere.  We were told that there is no longer a true Swiss watch as they are now all made elsewhere and sold here.

Edeweis flowers that Shirl wants us to plant.

We found a hamburger joint...Look at the size of the meat, it was a very finely ground meat, tasted good but not sure what all was in it...

Shirl and Roger looking hip with their new shades

An advertisement for days gone by....

We arrived back in Lauterbrunnen to have a very enjoyable dinner and plan our packing for our departure tomorrow morning to Zurich.

Good Night Friends,

Roger and Shirl,
The Traveling Huntley's

Lauterbrunnen Day 4

Today, Thursday, May 21, was a resting day as I apparently caught a little food poison from a bad sausage yesterday.  We enjoyed just having a slow day and took a walk around town, ending having a nice cheese fondue dinner. 

The cog rail train going up to Wengen as seen from our room.

This store advertises hang glider and base jumping rides.  A base jumper died here last week.

Fondue for dinner last night. 

Downtown Lauterbrunnen.  We feel real good about selecting this location for our first time here in this area.  it is easy to go up the mountain on either side as well as a train down to Interlaken .

The view from our room just keeps getting better and better.  We sit out on the deck, have a drink, and watch the endless supply of water flowing down the mountain.  It appears to me that it takes around 10 seconds for something to get to the bottom.


Tomorrow if the weather cooperates we will go to Trummelbach Falls and maybe another visit to Interlaken since we had to cut our earlier visit short due to bad weather.

Lauterbrunnen Day 3

Today, Wednesday, May 20, another rainy day but we are off to Interlaken and Gundlischwand.  There is a train between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen that runs every half hour so it is easy to get out of town.

Our hotel at the top as viewed from the train station

 

Interlaken Ost

Under Grand Hotel in Interlaken.  The hotel had beautiful flower arrangements in the lobby.

A
 A nice Japanese park in town.

Catholic Church with interesting windows

Protestant church with stained glass windows

The pipe organ was playing when we entered the church.  I taped some of it for a DVD when we get back home.

Beautiful cemetery behind the church.

Yard art ideas for when we get home.

Downtown Interlaken.  It looks like a beautiful town but unfortunately today the cloud cover was so low you could not appreciate the beauty of the surrounding hills.

Yep, modern enough to have a Hooters and a Casino.  Played in the Casino for 45 minutes and came out even.  For me that is a good day!

Couldn't pass up this window sign as we wee walking back to the train station to go up to Grindelwald

Waiting for the train.

I have taken over 3,400 pictures on the trip and lots of old barns, especially for our friends Mark and Sandy that we met on the cruise ship.  Mark is an artist who enjoys painting old barns.  I will send him some of the Sequim barn off of Sequim Avenue when we get home.  Only 8 days before our adventure is over.

Entering the town of Grindelwald






 .

Staying dry

We have certainly felt like a minority while visiting this part of the world.  We have seen soooo many tourists from Japan and India.  Now they even have Tourist Information stations especially for the Japanese.

 

 

The weather in Grindelwald was just to cold and wet so we headed back down to Lauterbrunnen and a nice hot dinner.  Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow.

 

Good Night Friends,

 

Roger and Shirl,

The
Traveling Huntley's