Category: Life in Switzerland

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Glacier Express

Cynthia’s aunt Phyllis came to visit us – all by herself, all the way from Seattle, and she’s in her late 70s!

Well, when in Switzerland, you want to see the Alps, and the most convenient way to do that is from a Swiss train. We took the Glacier Express from St.Moritz to Zermatt. You get great views from the rail cars with glass roofs … and you also get more sun from above than I care for.

You spend about 8 hours on the train, and you pass through multiple seasons, as it were: it was warm and spring time (April) at the start, and snow and wintertime up on the mountain pass.

Lessons learned for next time: get a 1st class ticket (fewer noisy kids), don’t order the lunch (it’s late and not that great), and bring sunscreen!

Pictures are here.

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Pilatus

In late August this year, we went to the top of mount Pilatus, in central Switzerland. This was a round trip starting and ending in Lucerne, it involved taking a boat across Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstädtersee), a cogwheel railway, a large gondola on an aerial cableway, a small gondola, and a short busride – keeps you busy all day.

The Pilatus Railway is is the world’s steepest cogwheel railway, at 48% gradient, it has been running for more than 100 years.

At the top, at 7000 ft (2100 m), there’s a breathtaking view of Lake Lucerne and the surrounding mountains.

For more pictures, click here.

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Cheese, Chocolate and Cows!

Life in Switzerland can be characterized by cheese!, chocolate, and cows!

Cheese is a staple in the Swiss diet. Grocery stores – big and small – typically have a cheese counter from which the shopper selects the variety and the amount (in grams). Getting used to some of the smells takes a while. At times I think it would be a good idea to have a separate refrigerator (similar to a “dorm fridge”) just for the cheese. An interesting note, the cows are taken to the high alpine pastures for summer. Due to the altitude, the cows drop in weight during the summer pasture season, producing a lower fat milk, and therefore, lower fat cheese. And no, there is not a “Swiss Cheese” – over here it is all Swiss cheese. What is labelled “Swiss” in the US is the Emmental variety.

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A Long Weekend in the Swiss Mountains

Last weekend – which started on Thursday – we went to the region around Interlaken, on Lake Thun. It doesn’t get any Swisser than that! Nice lake, the snowcapped mountains in the background, and really heavy bernese Swiss German …

More pictures here.

We took the boat across Lake Thun, then the cogwheel railway up to Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg – where we were surrounded by Japanese tourists and a Bollywood film crew …

On the last day, we visited the open air museum in Ballenberg, which shows original historic Swiss farm houses from the different parts of the country, in their typical architecture, including the original furniture and farming tools.