Switzerland - a beauty that renders words useless
We arrived in Geneva in the evening after about an hour and a half of flight. It took us a while wondering along the streets of Geneva with our luggages looking for our hotel. It is hidden away in a business-like building. The room is extremely tiny, but we managed to packed ourselves around the coffee table and at our dinner of instant noodles. We went out to walk around and did some window shopping on the streets. Everything was shut, but the Christmas atmosphere was still quite strong with all the lights and decoration on the street. The cleanness of Switzerland was immediately reflected on the river running through Geneva. We could see the bottom of the river very clearly even at night.
The following morning was with a little bit of drama. I was suddenly woken up by someone walking around the table. I presumed it was my friend and started talking in Chinese to her. But she replied in French. It turned out that it was the hotel lady bringing our breakfast. All of us were still asleep when she came in because we forgot to fast forward the alarm clock by one hour! Luckily, the train to our next destination, Bern, came every one hour and we could catch any train with the Swiss Pass we bought. The train system is extremely efficient and punctuate in Switzerland. It often has both time of arrival and departure on the schedule. When it says the train will leave at 36 past, it will go as soon as the minute arm hits 36 on the clock. It makes planning the trip really easily.
Bern is the capital of Switzerland. Frannie being a huge bear/teddy bear lover had a great time there as there is a bear garden with 3 bears and the regional flag of Bern has a bear on it. I didn't enjoy it as much mainly because of the horrible rainy cold weather.
After staying in Bern for the afternoon, we then moved onto Interlaken. The town has a lot more shops than I expected, and it was also very nicely decorated for Christmas. Even the hostel we stayed in was very festive!
During the day time, Interlaken is exactly what I pictured Switzerland to be - all surrounded by VERY tall mountains with white peaks! One of the peak is the famous Jungfraujoch, where we went up to during a day trip.
Soon we moved into an area covered in snow! As we ascended, I actually got a bit dizzy, which I'm not quite sure whether it was traveling sickness or that I was experiencing altitude sickness.
Jungfraujoch train station, at 3454 metres, is the highest in Europe (I suspect it was the highest in the world before the Qingzang railway was in use). At the station, there was a cafe and a souvenir shop. There were quite a few Korean people gulping down those Korean instant noodles, which they sell up there! I was busy writing postcards as there was the highest mail box in Europe. 
We were very fortunate that clouds cleared away soon after we arrived so there was a very good view of all the summits around. We also made our way up to the outdoor area. It was quite a strange experience to be almost breathless after climbing just 2 floors! It was -6 C outside - freezing cold. I could just feel my hands becoming stiffer and stiffer as I took off gloves for taking photos. 
There was an Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch. We were basically walking through a hole in a gigantic ice block, which was quite so slippery that you could glide without skates!
Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch
We planned for an afternoon stay in Luzern only, so after a brief walk round the city centre, including the unique wooden chapel bridge, we went on board the last cruise of Lake Luzern for the winter. Luzern is situated at one corner of the lake and the architectures occupy the lake banks as if it was a river. Not too far away from the lake is of course more spectacular mountains.
LUZERN - city centre
LUZERN - view during the cruise
Luzern Museum at dawn
Our first impression of Zurich isn't pleasant. We were drenched in rain when we walked our way to the hostel. The hostel turned out to be a semi-hotel like in which we couldn't do any cooking. It belongs to the chain of International Hostelling Association, which I have applied to become a member of. But I didn't know that we were going to stay there so I didn't take my card with me. So, each of us had to pay 6 Swiss Franc extra per night! I was quite angry that they didn't have a computer database of the members.
Zurich made up for it though the next day. There is the Lindt chocolate factory. You could even smell the chocolate (very concentrated) when you walked around the outside. It was Saturday when we went, so the factory wasn't open. But the shop still was, and was definitely not short of chocolate! There were so many different types and I wanted one of each! After I went through the checkout, I was jolly shocked. I spent 106 Swiss Franc on chocolate!
ZURICH - Anderson and the chocolate factory
Zurich city centre itself doesn't really have much to offer apart from the longest shopping street in Europe - Bahnhofstrasse (street in front of train station). There were also a few Christmas markets that we went to, but I didn't find anything special, which is a disappointment of this trip. There was a VERY extravagant Christmas tree inside the train station that was elevated and had glass walls around it. It was the Swarovski Christmas tree and had possibly its entire collection of crystals hung on the tree and displayed!
ZURICH - Bahnhofstrasse
Singing Christmas Tree
The most decorated store in Switzerland
Christmas market inside Zurich train station
Million dollar Swarovski Christmas Tree
We arrived in Zermatt, which is at the altitude of 1620 metres. I was immediately frozen as I stepped out of the train. It was -8 C, which went down to -10 C at night. It was a town I very quickly fell in love with. It was in close vicinity to mountains taller than 4000 metres. When I looked up ahead at night, I saw lots of white streaks. I kept on thinking they were clouds on the sky, but they were actually just mountains covered in patches of snows! Being the most popular skiing hub in Switzerland, it was a very lively town that is, as with all the other towns in Switzerland, very well-decorated for Christmas. The most important reason that made me wanna stay in Zermatt for more nights is the accommodation we had. We rented an apartment for 3 of us. It had everything we needed for cooking (even a fondue pot unit!) and dining, spacious rooms and a TV! The fantastic kitchen meant that we could finally cook ourselves nice hot meals. It was even better than my room in Oxford! The houseowner is also a lovely lady who put a cute and welcoming Christmas bell on the door and came to make sure that we had everything we needed. It was just quite a change from living in the boring and inconvenient hostels, and apparently cheaper! Unfortunately, it was too expensive to postpone my flight... Damn it, I should've stick to my original plan and come to the second half of the trip when my friends stayed in Zermatt for skiing!
ZERMATT
Our apartment
It was -10 C! The coldest I've ever been in.
People practicing ice hockey on what is supposed to be a tennis court!
On the train ride towards Geneva Airport I went from a German speaking region to a French region. It was quite interesting to always try and find out which language the Swiss people I had passed were speaking in even though I don't understand either. The last sight of Switzerland I had was at Geneva Airport and it was not without a view of the mountains!
GENEVA AIRPORT
I'm sure most of you who read this entry would be quite bored of my words. I didn't really do anything exciting in Switzerland, but the scenery just constantly grabbed my attention that nothing else was really necessary to make it a worthwhile trip. I hope the photos have at least entertained you.
GENEVA
The following morning was with a little bit of drama. I was suddenly woken up by someone walking around the table. I presumed it was my friend and started talking in Chinese to her. But she replied in French. It turned out that it was the hotel lady bringing our breakfast. All of us were still asleep when she came in because we forgot to fast forward the alarm clock by one hour! Luckily, the train to our next destination, Bern, came every one hour and we could catch any train with the Swiss Pass we bought. The train system is extremely efficient and punctuate in Switzerland. It often has both time of arrival and departure on the schedule. When it says the train will leave at 36 past, it will go as soon as the minute arm hits 36 on the clock. It makes planning the trip really easily.
Bern is the capital of Switzerland. Frannie being a huge bear/teddy bear lover had a great time there as there is a bear garden with 3 bears and the regional flag of Bern has a bear on it. I didn't enjoy it as much mainly because of the horrible rainy cold weather.
BERN
After staying in Bern for the afternoon, we then moved onto Interlaken. The town has a lot more shops than I expected, and it was also very nicely decorated for Christmas. Even the hostel we stayed in was very festive!INTERLAKEN - City centre at night
During the day time, Interlaken is exactly what I pictured Switzerland to be - all surrounded by VERY tall mountains with white peaks! One of the peak is the famous Jungfraujoch, where we went up to during a day trip.INTERLAKEN - Surrounding mountains
We caught a train up to Jungfraujoch. As we wound our way up into the mountain range, everyone on the train was wowing about the scenery and busy taking photos/videos.
JUNGFRAUJOCH
Soon we moved into an area covered in snow! As we ascended, I actually got a bit dizzy, which I'm not quite sure whether it was traveling sickness or that I was experiencing altitude sickness.
Jungfraujoch train station, at 3454 metres, is the highest in Europe (I suspect it was the highest in the world before the Qingzang railway was in use). At the station, there was a cafe and a souvenir shop. There were quite a few Korean people gulping down those Korean instant noodles, which they sell up there! I was busy writing postcards as there was the highest mail box in Europe. 
We were very fortunate that clouds cleared away soon after we arrived so there was a very good view of all the summits around. We also made our way up to the outdoor area. It was quite a strange experience to be almost breathless after climbing just 2 floors! It was -6 C outside - freezing cold. I could just feel my hands becoming stiffer and stiffer as I took off gloves for taking photos. 
There was an Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch. We were basically walking through a hole in a gigantic ice block, which was quite so slippery that you could glide without skates!
The next day, we took the Golden Express from Interlaken up to Luzern. The route provided us with a great display of the gorgeous lakes and mountains of Switzerland.
GOLDEN EXPRESS - the scenery along the way
We planned for an afternoon stay in Luzern only, so after a brief walk round the city centre, including the unique wooden chapel bridge, we went on board the last cruise of Lake Luzern for the winter. Luzern is situated at one corner of the lake and the architectures occupy the lake banks as if it was a river. Not too far away from the lake is of course more spectacular mountains.
LUZERN - view during the cruise
Luzern Museum at dawn
Our first impression of Zurich isn't pleasant. We were drenched in rain when we walked our way to the hostel. The hostel turned out to be a semi-hotel like in which we couldn't do any cooking. It belongs to the chain of International Hostelling Association, which I have applied to become a member of. But I didn't know that we were going to stay there so I didn't take my card with me. So, each of us had to pay 6 Swiss Franc extra per night! I was quite angry that they didn't have a computer database of the members.
Zurich made up for it though the next day. There is the Lindt chocolate factory. You could even smell the chocolate (very concentrated) when you walked around the outside. It was Saturday when we went, so the factory wasn't open. But the shop still was, and was definitely not short of chocolate! There were so many different types and I wanted one of each! After I went through the checkout, I was jolly shocked. I spent 106 Swiss Franc on chocolate!
Zurich city centre itself doesn't really have much to offer apart from the longest shopping street in Europe - Bahnhofstrasse (street in front of train station). There were also a few Christmas markets that we went to, but I didn't find anything special, which is a disappointment of this trip. There was a VERY extravagant Christmas tree inside the train station that was elevated and had glass walls around it. It was the Swarovski Christmas tree and had possibly its entire collection of crystals hung on the tree and displayed!
Singing Christmas Tree
The most decorated store in Switzerland
Christmas market inside Zurich train station
Million dollar Swarovski Christmas Tree
We spent my second last day on glacier express. It was the first one of the winter! We could possibly be the first lot of passengers on board of the new carriage with panoramic views. The train took us back in to the winter wonderland again that was completely white.
GLACIER EXPRESS taking us to the Winter Wonderland!
We arrived in Zermatt, which is at the altitude of 1620 metres. I was immediately frozen as I stepped out of the train. It was -8 C, which went down to -10 C at night. It was a town I very quickly fell in love with. It was in close vicinity to mountains taller than 4000 metres. When I looked up ahead at night, I saw lots of white streaks. I kept on thinking they were clouds on the sky, but they were actually just mountains covered in patches of snows! Being the most popular skiing hub in Switzerland, it was a very lively town that is, as with all the other towns in Switzerland, very well-decorated for Christmas. The most important reason that made me wanna stay in Zermatt for more nights is the accommodation we had. We rented an apartment for 3 of us. It had everything we needed for cooking (even a fondue pot unit!) and dining, spacious rooms and a TV! The fantastic kitchen meant that we could finally cook ourselves nice hot meals. It was even better than my room in Oxford! The houseowner is also a lovely lady who put a cute and welcoming Christmas bell on the door and came to make sure that we had everything we needed. It was just quite a change from living in the boring and inconvenient hostels, and apparently cheaper! Unfortunately, it was too expensive to postpone my flight... Damn it, I should've stick to my original plan and come to the second half of the trip when my friends stayed in Zermatt for skiing!
Our apartment
It was -10 C! The coldest I've ever been in.
People practicing ice hockey on what is supposed to be a tennis court!
I'm sure most of you who read this entry would be quite bored of my words. I didn't really do anything exciting in Switzerland, but the scenery just constantly grabbed my attention that nothing else was really necessary to make it a worthwhile trip. I hope the photos have at least entertained you.posted by Anderson | 11:14 AM
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