Chur, Switzerland
Sunday, November 2nd-5th, 2014
We arrived in Switzerland. In less than 24 hours we have traveled from Budapest to Vienna then Switzerland. We checked into our hotel and we were off to train station. Getting tickets for our next adventure. We were taking a scenic train to Arosa. It was a spectacular ride with plenty of mountainous views. It is Fall and the trees still have their leaves. Lee and I agreed that the trees were not as pretty as Georgia or Missouri.
We arrive and there was just a little snow, but this time next month there will be plenty of snow and buzzing with people since Arosa is a small ski resort. We walked around the town and picked our restaurant by the garlic smells that were seeping from inside the restaurant to the nice cool air. Hmmmm! We ordered a ham and mushroom pizza. They delivered to our table a large vegetarian pizza and an extra large ham and mushroom calzone. Lee went to tell the waitress that she delivered the wrong food to our table, but she disagreed and said it was what we ordered? Oh, the language barrier. We thought the pointing to the menu also worked. Guess not! We also ordered a beer. Then Lee asked for water, but they brought mineral water which was more expensive than beer. Final cost for lunch... 63 francs? Oh well! Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch except for the expense. Guess tomorrow we will have pizza for breakfast.
We got home early, but needed to wash clothes. It happens even when you are in Switzerland. Lee volunteered to do the laundry. He assigned me to checking train schedules and finding a hotel for the next day. I think he gave me the hard job? Believe it or not, I did good. The next day we got up early. We had booked another scenic train ride. This was one was really amazing, The Bernina Express. It is the highest altitude railway and is 5000 feet above sea level. Hope you enjoy the pics, but they do not show the breathtaking view from our train. Everyone was oohhhhing and ahhhhing. So funny!m
Back on the train to our next destination.
Interlaken, Switzerland
Hotel Banhof
Today was another day of train riding. We started at 9:00am this morning with our scenic train and we have changed trains eight times. Most of the changes required immediate boarding the for next train. Once we had a 15 minute break. Just enough time to grab lunch... Goldfish, dark chocolate for Lee, light chocolate with nuts for me, Peach Nestea and we had left over cold pizza from our lunch yesterday. Life is good. One train we were on from Zurich to Bern was entirely full and we barely made the connection. Lee did not even have a real seat and thankfully it was a one hour ride. Europeans really take advantage of the buses, trams and trains.
We arrived at our hotel around 8:00pm, so we headed out to find dinner. Most of the town was closed except for a few restaurants. Luckily we found one that served brats and Lee was happy. Then back to hotel for some much needed sleep, will have to catch an early train tomorrow.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Hotel Jungfrau
We picked this city so that we could take the Jungfrau Express to the top of the highest point in Europe. The brochure was unbelieveable. Could not wait. But when we arrived it was cloudy and rainy. So the Express was closed for the day., not so much the rain, but the clouds created zero visibility at the top. Also, the wind gusts were about 80mph. So we went to store and picked up some lunch and wine. Did I also mention it was freezing in this town. When we got to our hotel, the view was amazing. We were surrounded by the alps. Beautiful, even though you could not see the tops because of the clouds. We stepped out on the patio and our neighbors were outside enjoying the view too. We started chatting and chatted outside in the cold for over an hour. So nice to have a conversation with fellow Americans. Dinner was served at 5:00pm, so we decided to continue chatting in the dining room downstairs and have some dinner. Earlier the outside menu listed Chinese meals (owner was Chinese), but they serve a different culture everyday. So we settled for a Swiss menu. I had some wonderful spaghetti with tomatoes, zucchini and garlic. Great white wine. Lee had Swiss cuisine. Delicious. Enjoyed dining with Dave and Deb from Indiana.
Nothing like a full stomach to make you sleep like a baby. Phone rang during the night and it was Jason. He was at Dallas/Fort Worth airport waiting on his flight back home. So glad that we got to talk and catch up on the little ones. Then back to sleep! Yep, you got ut... Up for an early train to... Italy. Yea!!!
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