SWITZERLAND PART ONE
BASED IN ZURICH
(Switzerland Flag)
(Switzerland Map)
(Individual videos can be found below and on sesequent pages.) |
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2011:
On Thursday afternoon I flew nonstop from Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport to Zurich.
I flew on swissair. The weather was a lot nicer in Zurich.
All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich.
While the municipality itself has approximately 380,000 inhabitants, the Zurich metropolitan area is an urbanised
area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2 million inhabitants. Zurich is a mixed hub for
railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.
I stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel at the Zurich Airport.
We touched down at 4:30. The hotel is connected to the airport terminal, no need to go outside.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011:
It was a quick ten minute train ride from the Zurich airport to downtown on Friday morning.
I had a tour scheduled for 11:00 but I got to town early to walk around a bit before the tour.
Altstadt (Old Town) along and near the shores of the Limmat river, has narrow, cobblestone streets,
old cathedrals (dating back to the 12th century) and guild houses. St. Peter is one of the four main
churches of the old town of Zurich, besides Grossmunster, Fraumunster and Predigerkirche.
The current building was consecrated in 1706 and the steeple's clock face in the largest in Europe.
The Fraumunster abbey in Zurich was founded in 853.
The choir of the abbey includes 5 large stained glass windows designed by artist Marc Chagall.
The long, narrow Lake Zurich stretches from the center of Zurich along a 40-km arc to the southeast.
The Limmat river, dividing Zurich's old town in two, is actually formed from the outflow of Lake Zurich.
After my walk around Zurich it was time for my tour.
Below is a map of where I would be traveling today.
Our first stop was Rapperswil ('B' on the map below).
Lying 23 miles southeast of Zurich is the small lakefront town of Rapperswil.
The Rapperswil castle is perched high upon a hill and contains a Polish museum.
Rapperswil Castle dates back around 1220 and is first mentioned in 1229.
The castle and the fortifications of the former locus Endingen were built by Count Rudolf II.
From the main square a broad flight of steps leads up to the castle and St. Peter's Church.
From the castle there is a breathtaking view of the city and Lake Zurich.
Rapperswil earned its name as the city of roses for the more than 10,000 roses
that bloom in the rose garden of the Capuchin monastery.
It was a beautiful drive through eastern Switzerland between Rapperswil and Liechtenstein.
The Principality of Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east.
Its has an area of just over 62 square miles, and an estimated population of 35,000.
Its capital is Vaduz.
We had about an hour on our own to walk around the small capital city of Vaduz.
Vaduz Castle overlooks the capital and is still home to the Prince of Liechtenstein.
The hills above Bad Ragaz are where the Heidiland region got its name.
The Swiss author Johanna Spyri set her wholesome classic of children's literature Heidi in and
around the village of Maienfeld, and the place milks its claim to fame mercilessly.
Regardless of the lack of firm evidence linking Spyri's story with any particular house,
one old wooden chalet has been seized upon as being "the original Heidi's House",
and converted into a museum to show how Heidi would have lived a hundred years ago.
This was a scenic little area but not really worth the time and effort.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2011:
Saturday was a fantastic day. Weather was beautiful once again.
I took a small group tour into the heart of the Swiss Alps.
You can see the route we took on the map above.
Our first stop was at Lungerersee Lake.
Our next stop was at Aare Gorge. We had lunch before walking through the gorge.
Over thousands of years the Aare river has carved its way between the villages of Meiringen
and Innertkirchen, forming a mile long and 600 feet deep gorge.
The walk through the gorge is quite spectacular. Below you, the ice-cold glacier water of
the Aare river forces its way relentlessly through the narrow gorge.
Above you the sheer cliff faces rise up into the sky.
After leaving Aare gorge we traveled upward to Grimsel Pass.
The elevation at Grimsel Pass is 7103 feet.
We traveled along dozens of switchbacks on the scenic road to Rhone Glacier.
The Rhone Glacier is the largest glacier in the Urner Alps. It lies on the south side of the range
at the source of the Rhone River. The glacier is located between Grimsel Pass and Furka Pass.
Rhone Glacier tips southward from the southern slopes of the massive Dammastock Peak.
The glacier is one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva, about 96 miles downstream to the west.
We walked down the trail to the ice cave.
Our last stop was in Andermatt at the Devil's Bridge.
Today you see two bridges crossing the Reuss near to where the original bridge had been built,
and all three bridges are called Devil�s Bridge. The original bridge built in the 13th century
was destroyed in 1799, when the Russians under General Suvorov and the French under Napoleon
had a particularly pointed discussion over it. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian Tsar
wanted to commemorate the heroes of the Napoleonic Wars, and Switzerland ceded some territory
to the Russian state to erect a monument just beside the newly built bridge.
It was a scenic drive back to Zurich from Andermatt. We passed Lake Lucerne and Lake Zug on the way.
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Hello folks, I had a great day today. I had breakfast at the hotel and then took the train in to central Zurich like I did yesterday. Today I took a small group tour into the Alps. We traveled over 300 kilometers in the course of the day. The small group was nice. There was just eight of us plus the guide who also did the driving. Yesterday I went east and today I went south. Below is a picture of our first scenic stop, Lungerersee Lake. As you can see from the picture above weather was great again today. Notice the nice green color of the lake. When we got higher in the mountains the lakes where a gray color, almost white. We traveled over Brunig Pass (1008 meters) to the Bernese Oberland (highlands). Our next stop was at Aare Gorge where we had lunch and then walked through the gorge. Most of my pictures in here didn't come out too well. The sun shining on the white water through the narrow opening of the gorge over exposed most of the pictures. It was a two kilometer walk through the gorge. It got very narrow in places, not more than a meter wide. Next we ascended through wild landscapes to Grimsel Pass (2165 meters). What looks like a bridge in the center of the picture below is actually the top of a dam. The picture above was almost to the top of Grimsel Pass. The picture below is on top looking the other direction. Our next stop was Rhone Glacier. We had to drive through about 1000 switchbacks to get there as you can see in the picture below. Below is the Rhone Glacier, which is receding rapidly. It probably won't exist for much longer. Below is the ice cave we walked through. I didn't spend a whole lot of time in there. I didn't bring a coat and it was a bit chilly in there. The picture below was taken from the glacier. You get a better view of the long winding road. Our last stop was in Schollenen Gorge with its legendary Devils Bridge at the base of St. Gotthard Mountain. It was impossible to photograph. I couldn't get far enough away and it was also into the sun. Below is the best I could do. It was about a two hour drive back to Zurich from here. It was a beautiful drive all the way back. We drove past one segment of Lake Luzern. I don't remember the name of the town in the picture below. We also passed beautiful Lake Zug. It was an excellent day. The small group tour was really nice. When we got back to Zurich the streets were jammed with half-naked drunken teenagers. They were also all over the train that I took to get back to the hotel as well. I walked through about a dozen cars trying to find one where there wasn't a party going on. I never did find one. I got back to the hotel a little before dark. I love Switzerland so far, but you would not believe the prices here. And the exchange rate doesn't help. When I was planning this trip many months ago the exchange rate was almost even. When I got here I only got 70 cents on the dollar. Have a good weekend everybody, Tim |
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2011:
Sunday morning I journeyed to Schaffhausen, Switzerland just south of the German border.
Munot Castle is pictured in the lower left photo.
The main attraction in Schaffhausen is Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe.
The falls are located on the Upper Rhine River and are 450 feet wide and 75 feet high.
I took a boat out to the little island in the center of the falls and climbed to the top of the rock.
I returned to my hotel at the Zurich Airport after leaving the falls.
I was able to see my first A380 from my hotel window.
Sunday afternoon I joined up with my tour group for a seven day rail tour.
(Switzerland Rail Tour)
The first thing we did as a group was go into Zurich Sunday afternoon.
All my Zurich pictures can be seen above on Friday, August 12.
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Hello folks, It was another nice day here in Switzerland. A few more clouds today but still very nice. This morning I visited Rhine Falls which is north of Zurich on the German border. Below is a fortress very near the falls. Rhine Falls is the largest waterfall in Europe based on the volume of water going through it. The falls were right into the sun so I couldn't get a decent picture. I took a boat out to that little island in the middle of the falls. Out there about 100 people try to cram into a little platform on top of the rock. There's room for about 6 people. Below is a picture from the top of the rock. The trip only took a couple hours. This afternoon I joined up with my rail tour group. Not a very big group, there is only 18 of us. We'll be together for the next seven days as we travel throughout Switzerland on the scenic Swiss trains. The first thing we did was a short tour of Zurich. Unlike the other people in the group I have already been here for four days, so we didn't visit anything I hadn't already seen. This will be my last day in Zurich. Below is Lake Zurich. I'm staying in very small mountain chalets the next three nights. St. Moritz tomorrow and Zermatt on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not sure if I'll have Internet access or not, so if you don't here from me for a few days don't send out a search party. Tim |
Click on the arrow above to continue to part two of my Swiss adventures!
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