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Riding the Glacier Express

We took the Glacier Express, the world’s slowest express train, and enjoyed an afternoon in the Swiss Alps. Trains have been running here since 1889, the Glacier Express started in 1930, but the first panoramic trains, like the ones we enjoyed, have only been on these rails since 1993. The modern cars came in between 2006 and 2009, and they have all recently received a facelift. These are comfortable rides, and they offer three- and four-course meals. (The food was quite tasty …)

Otherwise, you sit back and enjoy the scenery. There are headphones with music and, from time to time, a narration with local points of interest and historical notes. We started in Chur, Switzerland’s oldest town. We traveled through the landscapes brought on by the last Ice Age landslides, and the “Swiss Grand Canyon,” past the oldest Benedictine abbey in the country, through valleys with towns that date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, near UNSECO World Heritage sites and, finally, to Zermatt and the cloud-shrouded Matterhorn, which, on this day, was still able to hide despite topping out at well over 14,000 feet.

But why read about all that, when you can see a bit of video from the train window.

Here’s our train …

And a few photos for you to enjoy. There are a few words down below, so scroll slowly, or you might miss a pun.

Here was dessert. Locally grown berries. Fresh and tasty!

We paralleled this rive a great deal of the trip. The closer you get to it’s source, the richer and whiter the water becomes. It’s full of nutrients and minerals and, eventually, it is very drinkable. But too close to the source, and it’ll give you an upset tummy. No matter where you are in Switzerland, though, the water looks beautiful. And chilly.

Panoramic train windows.

And speaking of panoramas, here’s one now. As with every panorama, click to see the larger version in a new tab.

This is Oberalppass and, at 6,669 feet, the highest point of the train’s trip.

I get one good joke a day. And this is where I used it.

There was a place near Oberalppass where they let us off the train for a few moments. Some of the scenic shots in this part of the post are from there. The Yankee got back on the train before I did, and so I took pictures of the train, too.

Here’s our river again. Notice how the water is getting white? We’re getting closer to the runoff source.

And here we are in Zermatt, a car-free village you can walk through in a few minutes. It’s a charming place. And at the other end of the valley, behind these clouds, you would find the Matterhorn.

We didn’t get to see it. Oh no! We’ll have to come back! Shoot!

Shutter error. Looked cool. I’ve added it here.

We had dinner at a little Italian joint, Casa Mia, next to the train station while waiting for our return train. We ordered pizza. This is the Pugliese, featuring tomatoes, mozzarella, coppa ham, burrata, dried tomatoes. So very tasty. That burrata was amazing …

And here are a few photos from our train out of Zermatt. Just a regular-old train, no panoramic windows, but amazing views. And here I’m able to share a bit more of the gorge-style landscapes.

Also, we had our own train car, which was a great way to travel.

We had to make a connection, but our second train was late in arriving, which shifted our schedule back by about an hour. It was the only train problem we had in Switzerland, an event I noted with this extra photo from our stop between here and there.

And we have two more days of Switzerland adventures to get through. As great as this one was, the one I’ll show you tomorrow might have been even better. So make sure you come back for that. Until then, “Hopp Schwiiz.”

adventures / Switzerland / Wednesday — Comments Off
15
Jun 22

Zurich to Chur trainride

This Wednesday post is a simple photo dump. These are the picturesque things we saw, two weeks ago, before our big event of the day. It was the train ride before the train ride. Sit back, enjoy these photos of a few of the beautiful views between Zurich and Chur.

Up next, the slowest express train in the world and the Swiss Alps.

adventures / photo / Switzerland / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
14
Jun 22

Visiting the top of Europe, Jungfrau

For this Tuesday post we’re looking back at our trip two weeks ago today. We’re doing this to catch up, but also to make up for the brief break I took from the site. So, sit back, enjoy the many photos (and the charming little video!) that tells the tale of this recent, amazing, adventure …

We set out on a tour for The Jungfrau, one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps. It’s part of a massive wall of mountains, and a distinctive sight in the Alps. First summited in 1811, it was not until 1865 that a direct route up the northern side of the mountain was opened.

We’re going up there.

The construction of the Jungfrau Railway, in the early 20th century, made the area one of the most-visited places in the Alps. It is now part of an area designated a World Heritage Site in 2001.

Here’s a better look from the town below.

We took the hardest route of all: the bus route, which led us to a ski lift, and also that train mentioned above.

Oh, and they call this …

The proper summit is 13,642 feet. We stopped just short of that, which is probably for the best. I fell just before taking this photo, which was in a gift shop.

And here’s my lovely bride, realizing she’s stuck with a faller.

But can we go outside for a moment? Remember those lovely exterior shots at the beginning of the post? The ones with the beautiful mountain behind us? If you turned around the other direction, you saw this. Think about those views.

So we’re on the move here, let’s look at some other mountains, or hills, or Alpine speed bumps.

It wasn’t just me, struck by the novelty of the locale features, which is reassuring.

Here we are on the ski lift going up on the next step of the journey.

We’re just flying over these houses, and so you don’t know anything, but that doesn’t seem like a bad lifestyle from above, does it?

Putting aside the pastoral living, we’re really here for the mountains.

You’ll have to forgive me, but I don’t see mountains every day, so I really played up the tourist bit.

And, yes, we’re going well above the tree line, and into the snow.

Here we are, on foot, approaching the tourism summit of Jungfrau. For a few moments while we were standing there we were experiencing a white out. (Somehow those are more fun on the last day of May? Again, the novelty of tourism …)

I’m not sure if she was prepared for snow.

But pretty much the entire time we were on the mountain, we enjoyed the snow. Farther down, on that ski lift, it was just rain. In the valley where we started this post, it was sunny and a mild spring day, all day.

This other prominent point of the mountain in the background isn’t far away, but in the clouds and fog and snow, it seems only barely there. Doesn’t help that there are actual snowflakes in our eyes.

This is one of the two observation points that were available to us near the top. Lots of people. Lots of photographs. A lot of people doing video chats with people back home. No one, but us, doing this.

(They were all impressed by us.)

At the other observation point, we claim this mountain for Switzerland! (Our presence, like the flag, was a big plus.)

Let’s go inside the mountain.

They call this part the Alpine Experience, and this giant snow globe is going to grow on you.

Had it not been for other people interested in seeing the thing I would have stood there until I shot every moving part. But sometimes tourists get in the way of a full, proper, tourist experience.

We walked down an ice tunnel.

Everything here is ice, except the lights and the handrail. Very James Bond.

I don’t know about you, but I seldom get to walk around in ice tunnels, so this was fun. Also, the acoustics were great. You’ll have to take my word for it.

There are several ice carvings through the area. Here’s just one.

The romantic story is that it was the nuns of the Interlaken convent (the town we started in at the beginning) who gave the mountain its name. They owned a lot of the pasture land at the foot of the glacier and the mountains. The rock faces seemed inaccessible and the nuns thought it jungfraulich, untouched and virginal. The signs say that’s not actually the case. The real story just sounds like a more natural evolution of language.

Welcome to the highest-altitude karst cave in Europe, at 11,423 feet.

The unsorted sediments seem to have arrived here by glacial displacement, or water. Dating has been a problem for scientists, but the research suggests we’re looking at mid-Pleistocene age accumulation. So we’re talking after the earliest documented human clothes, but earlier than human mastery of fire. This cave is inactive today, because the permafrost restricts cave-forming processes.

But if you’re not here for geology, you must be here for the chocolate!

That wasn’t the point of the day, but a nice benefit. We didn’t buy this bag; we just ate it right there in front of the cash register.

we actually enjoyed a perfectly healthy cucumber sandwich in the self-serve cafeteria, looking out to the mountain.

Also, if you go up this high, you will feel it. Drink a lot of water, our guide said. You’ll thank me, he said. Altitude headaches are real, he said.

He was right about that last one, at the very least. We’re at 2.25 miles above sea level there. In Zurich our hotel is at 1,330 feet. Our house is just over half that high. We were up there. It was great!

And Jungfrau is just one part of our amazing Switzerland adventures. Come back tomorrow. There’s going to be something that’s, perhaps, even more impressive!

adventures / Monday / photo / Switzerland — Comments Off
13
Jun 22

Where were we next?

Happy Monday! This isn’t today. This was written for another Monday, specifically two weeks ago today. It is part of the effort to document and re-live our most recent, amazing adventure. So, if you’d be so kind as to cast your mind back two weeks …

We left Paris early in the morning. We were supposed to leave the evening before, but transportation troubles threw this leg of the trip out of whack, so we extended our hotel room, an additional night, and readjusted the plans on the backend. It caused some angst and probably cost a few more bucks in the long run, but it all worked out, as these things somehow have a way of doing.

Anyway, we arrived at our new place by train in due time. (Know where we are yet? Here’s another overexposed hint.)

From the train station we took a tram a few stops deeper into the city. After we checked into the hotel we wandered around for some lunch. Found a pub, ate a burger, and then walked down to this lake.

The lake was somehow farther than we anticipated, despite being two smart, educated and resourceful citizens of the 21st century with maps in our hands. By the time we got down here my feet were screaming at me. So I took off my shoes and dipped my feet in the water. I was thinking about the 15 minutes you’d put ice on something that aches, but my delicate little toes couldn’t stay in the cold lake nearly that long. Cooled me off and kept the soles of my feet cold for quite a while!

We took a little cruise, which is where these photos came from. We might have had the tickets wrong, but the ticket controller didn’t care too much. His shift was ending and he got off at the first stop anyway. No one else came around, and so we just had these great views.

So, do you know where we are yet?

And what is she looking at?

That’s where we were headed the next day, he said pointing somewhere vaguely up there.

Those are the Alps. This is Switzerland. We are in Zurich. The weather was great. The city is … well … a city. They speak four languages, officially here, and English isn’t one of them. But everyone is perfectly accommodating after suffering through our rudimentary French and German. The cost of living is expensive, because they import so much. Restaurants, even the casual dining places, are ridiculous. They have a bit of a tagging problem across the city.

Living on Lake Zurich looks like it would have its appeal, though. Some of the people on the afternoon cruise were commuting home. Work all day, catch the boat. An older gentleman came aboard, ordered a glass of wine and some peanuts, and had just enough time to down it all before his stop. Then he walked off the boat, up the hill and to whatever the rest of his evening was. Granted, I saw this part of his routine on a perfect May day, but it seemed pretty perfect.

Anyway, we weren’t staying in Zurich, but a base of operation. Switzerland is a small enough country, and there are trains to go everywhere and see what is a stunning countryside. We were in Zurich every night, b– not on the lake, but near enough to everything — and taking great trips each day.

And they were great day trips. Wait and see. We have four of them coming up, and that’ll see us through this week on the blog. It’ll be a grand time, so do come back to check out our time in the playground of Europe.

adventures / Paris / photo / weekend — Comments Off
12
Jun 22

Au revoir, Paris

This was written for a Sunday, two weeks ago in fact. It is part of the effort to document and re-live our most recent, amazing adventure. So, if you’d be so kind as to cast your mind back two weeks …

On Sunday morning The Yankee had two presentations to deliver to the International Communication Association.

In a word, both presentations were brilliant.

Afterward we visited the Garden of the Great Explorers Marco-Polo and Cavelier-de-la-Salle and the Luxembourg Gardens. The garden was created in 1867, and this fountain, was installed in 1875.

That’s the Quatre-Parties-du-Monde fountain, or the Fountain of the Four Parts of the World. The theme is related to the nearby Paris Observatory, and the four women who support the celestial sphere, was created by a 19th century master, Jean-Baptiste_Carpeaux. (In the U.S. you can see his works at the Art Institute in Chicago, the New York Metropolitan Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. The smaller pieces, the turtles and fish and sea horses, were designed by a man named Emmanuel Frémiet, who was famed for his lifelike animals. And if you get closer to it all, you can see the craft of all of the artisans involved. There’s a lot of implied movement in this fountain.

A quick glance at the classic Haussmanian style of buildings that so typify central Paris.

And here we are in front of the Luxembourg Palace, home of the French Senate. And these are the Jardin du Luxembourg.

We sat on a bench in the garden, and enjoyed watching the sun dance through the leaves below the afternoon sky.

She was reviewing her mental notes for the next stage of our trip, which we’ll start talking about here tomorrow.

But, first, we stopped for dinner. We found a little casual Italian place that was on the way between here and there, and that was quiet and charming, until a very large family, fresh from Disneyland Paris showed up. After that, it was loud and charming.

We met some friends for a dessert crepe. Normally I’m not a crepe guy, but our friend had a long history with the place we wound up. She’d eaten here a lot once upon a time when she studied in France. It’s run by an older woman who suffers no fools and, apparently, likes her young employees. She was feisty.

And they made great crepes. There was chocolate in mine. That was the right choice. After dessert crepes, we all ventured over to the Eiffel Tower for pictures.

Yes, there are four pictures of the Eiffel Tower here. I didn’t want to choose between the slightly different versions. They’re all beautiful, and you can patiently enjoy each of them.

And that is where we said our goodbyes to our friends. We’ll see them again in a few months, for a big party, but hugs below the shiny, glittery tower seem a cosmopolitan way to say until then.

And while they had to head back to the United States the next day, we did not catch a plane.

We took a train.

Where do you suppose we went?