Flew Hobart to Zurich, landing at 14:00 on Monday afternoon. Checked in to the hotel then rugged up to go outside and acclimatise. Walked down to the lake and up into the old town. Visited the Fraumunster Church, with a history dating back to 853 AD. It has stained glass windows made by Marc Chagall in the 1970s. Xmas lights and decorations were still on display and the city had a festive feel.
Next day we caught the train to St. Gallen to see the World Heritage library and abbey. No photos are allowed in the library, so had to settle for a cheesy shot in front of the selfie point. The library is the star, but the cathedral is also impressive. It has 16 confessionals suggesting the monks were poorly behaved. We wandered around the old town of St. Gallen. The abbey backs on to a square with many well-preserved timber buildings that are brightly painted.
Headed back to Zurich for a lovely afternoon/evening walk along Niederdorf and surrounds. As well as attractive old lanes and alleys there was plenty of interesting street art and graffiti.
Spent a misty morning in Zurich before hitting the Swiss Rail system. It was atmospheric down on the lake and we had a lot of fun taking photographs. Went to the Kunstmuseum (free on Wednesdays). Very classy. The Van Gogh and Cezanne room is fabulous, especially on a cold, winter day.
Caught an afternoon train to Chur. We’d decided to overnight there before joining the Glacier Express and it was a good decision. Stepping out of the train station we had our first taste of getting into the big mountains. Spent a lovely afternoon / early evening walking around the old town (Altstaat).
Next morning we took the cable car to Brambruesch. This got us up into the snow and tested Julie’s fear of heights and edges in a gentle fashion. She passed with flying colours!
Caught the Glacier Express from Chur to St. Moritz next afternoon. As first-timers in the Swiss Alps we found it spectacular. Most of our time was spent gazing out the windows. We discovered that it’s hard to get a decent photo through the window of a moving train. Everyone scrambled to get ‘the shot’ as we approached the famous Landwasser Viaduct. My favourite has a reflection of Julie’s face, a picture in concentration, photo-bombing my shot. Felt a real sense of expectation on the final section which is a steep ascent into St Moritz. It had a bit of drama.
Overnight-ed in St. Moritz. An orgy of Prada and Jimmy Choo in the middle of nowhere didn’t appeal to me. Caught the Glacier Express to Zermatt early next morning. Looking out over a frozen Lake St. Moritz as we prepared to leave was captivating. Credit where it’s due.
Spent all day on the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt. Travel guides rate the relative virtues of various sections, and some are undoubtedly more spectacular than others. We were very happy doing the full journey on our first visit to the Swiss Alps. Mountains, peaks, valleys, forests, rivers, gorges, villages, snow/ snow/ snow… The passing scenery was never boring, at least for a couple of Australian lowlanders.
Got into Zermatt as the sun was setting. Views from our hotel room were spectacular.
Next morning the views were again spectacular, in a different way. As the sun came up it kissed the peak of the Matterhorn then slowly moved down the east face. The valley lit up and we could see all of the village and other surrounding peaks. Quite a start to the day.
Checked out of the hotel then stowed our bags and took the train to Gornergrat to see the Matterhorn up close. Wow. It was amazing to be in this iconic mountain environment surrounded by clear blue sky. Lots of people skiing back down the slopes. The range of head wear was nice and diverse.
Transited from Zermatt to Wengen via Visp, Spiez, Interlaken Ost, and Lauterbrunnen. Interesting scenery along the way.
Weather forecast looked good the following day so we headed to Jungfraujoch on an early train. First big view from the ‘top of Europe’ is the Aletsch Glacier. Then saw the Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger peaks, all under clear skies. That was great for us as tourists, though it was unsettling to hear locals say how concerned they were about the lack of snow in winter.
On the way back to Wengen we hopped off the Junfraujoch train at Eigergletscher (Eiger Glacier). Chairlifts, ski runs, restaurants. The scale of infrastructure in the Swiss Alps is quite amazing. Hopped off again at Kleine Scheidegg. Walked along the ‘Fox Run’ from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengernalp dodging experienced Swiss skiers and inexperienced tobogganing tourists. Lots of fun. Late train back to Wengen.
Julie laid low with illness the following day so I pottered around Wengen. Next day was a transit from Wengen to Geneva via Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken Ost, Spiez, and Bern.
Arrived in Geneva mid-afternoon. Took a walk down to the lake and around Quai de l’Ile. The lake water flows surprisingly fast. Wandered into the old town and visited Cathedral St. Pierre and its Chapel of the Maccabees.
Next morning we headed down to the lake together. It was fun bobbing around on the little yellow boats (mouettes). Julie took off by herself while I went to my meeting at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
We enjoyed walking around the Right Bank area. Took in the Brunswick Monument and walked along Quai du Mont Blanc and Quai Wilson to Parc Mon Repos. The heavily pruned trees that line the quais were bare of foilage in winter. They looked great against the geometic building facades.
The modern architecture around WMO is quite interesting. We went there on the last morning to take photographs, though it was a very wet day. Back to the hotel via Rue des Grottes. Quite a cool little area with good street art.
Picked up our bags, headed to the airport, and flew home.
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