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Tuesday 11 March 2014

Switzerland By Rail

Hello Once Again My Dear Readers

Warning! If reading blogs where people yammer on about how lovely their holiday was, makes you want to kick a puppy across the street, look away now. This is an unapologetic holiday album post. Completely and utterly indulgent. And there are a heck of a lot of photos I'm going to be sharing too. So either click the close button now or grab a cup of something warm to keep you going to the end.

Recently, as I've already mentioned in a previous post, I've been to Switzerland. We came back with thousands of photos, so it's taken until now to share them as I've spent many an hour going through and editing them. You may think there's a lot of photos coming up but that's nothing compared to how many there are in total, sitting on our computers.


First up, this is all I took for the whole eight days, a fleece jacket, a rucsac for clothes and a bag containing my books, music and camera


Our first night was spent in Cologne, Germany, after a train journey which took us beside the glorious views of the River Rhine. This is a shot of us on the steps of its cathedral. The ghostly images to the left are because of the long camera exposure. We were trying out a new tripod.


The Bernina Pass was one of the highlights of the trip, taking us deep into the mountains and snow.


We were incredibly lucky with the weather for all our sightseeing trips. Blue, cloudless skies were the perfect backdrop to the glorious white, snow-covered mountains. It may not look like it in this photo but I'm actually standing in the middle of a frozen lake.





The above photos I'm sharing for my crafty readers especially the knitters among you. On a day trip to Arosa, we noticed that they covered everything that stood still, in bright knitwear. Handrails, lamp posts, shutters and even trees.


Saw these in a shop window, about the size of a large football. They look like a cross between a sea urchin and a tribble from Star Trek. I sooo wanted to take one home but I'd need to re-mortgage my home to afford one. Everything they say about Switzerland being expensive is true. Think about what you night imagine something could cost, treble it and you'll be close.


 A holiday can't go by without a picture of me stood outside a chocolate shop.


Train-wise, this was the other highlight, riding on the Glacier Express into stunning snow-covered mountains and frozen lakes towards our next destination.


My iPod & my Kindle. I took them everywhere with me. Oh yes and my reading glasses! (cos I'm an Old Git)


Our hotel in Kandersteg. It was like stepping into a Christmas card here. Fresh snow greeted us each morning, as did the snow ploughs moments later.


I hadn't realised when booking the holiday that there would be an excursion to Zermett and an opportunity to go see the Matterhorn. Again, we were very lucky with the weather. Bright sun and blue skies. In fact, I came away a tad red with sunburn. Only problem was that to take a photo of us with the Matterhorn in the background, we had to squint directly into the sun, hence the pained expressions.


My favourite moment of the whole holiday, sat on a balcony, with a spectacular view of the mountains, a hot chocolate in my hand and the sun blasting down. A moment to treasure.


On our final day, we took ourselves off to the capital, Bern. This is just a section of the longest shopping arcade in Europe (and probably the most expensive too).


Once more, we had great weather. We climbed up high to the City's rose garden where we sat on a wall and took in the panoramic view. Don't know why but I wanted to show my feet in the shot too.


Bern is known for the ornamental fountains along its streets. This one particularly grabbed my attention. An ogre with a child in it's mouth and a queue of youngsters around him, ready to be gobbled up. Delightfully grotesque and at the same time heart-warming lol.


Food!!! Apart from chocolate, we came across these moorish discs. A Frisbee of sweet batter, coated in icing sugar. Like a large crisp tasting of doughnut.


And finally, I couldn't resist these oh-so-cute biscuits found in all the bakeries here. Very reminiscent of Jammy Dodgers.

Phew!!! That's the lot. We packed a bucket load into only a few days. It was exhausting but worth it. I've come home with incredible memories and an itch to return someday.

Bring on the next holiday!

16 comments:

mark gould said...

well, I am not at all jealous ;) the trip looks amazing, and some great pics.I love the wraps for the trees, I would love to see that catch on over here.

Michele said...

Fab photos - looks like you had a wonderful time! I love the knitted' wraps' on the trees and shutters! x

Sharon Y said...

Looks like a fabulous trip. You got some great photos. Thanks for sharing. Love seeing and hearing about travels.

Neil said...

Glad you had a good trip. It all looks fabulous. Giving me itchy feet, next year I need to do something like this though probably in the summer....

kjjc said...

sounds like you had a lovely time. i don't mind hearing bout your hole so long as i can tell you about my recent-very recent-trip to japan. don't know about you but coming back from wonderful places just makes me soooo disappointed with britain! oops sorry for rant but my head is still in japan.

Paul B said...

You want to hear about my hole? lol You'll wish you never asked :D Of course you can tell me all about Japan, I'm glad you had a great time over there. I'm very different when I go away, I can't wait to return back home. I love my travels but I like my habits and routines back here in blighty. If you're going to Harrogate I'll hopefully bump into you for a catch up Pxx

J. Anthony Stubblefield said...

Your trip sounds and looks fantastic. So lucky. I love the knitted trees and such. If you want a tribble I can make you one. I made two for the cats to play with from some scrap "fun fur" I randomly purchased. I can steal one back from the cats, they will never know... Hehe...

cockney blonde said...

Photos are fab Paul and the scenery is stunning, thanks for sharing. Love the knitting references, or yarnbombing I think its called. We're just back from Sweden and Denmark and I spotted some there. Will share in a blog post soon, x

Marjolein said...

Great pics! I've been to Switserland several times but only in summertime. After seeing your gorgeous pics I sure would like to see in wintertime!
And all those knitted stuff, we've had those over here in the Netherlands several years ago. Some sort of creative project of our local artschool. Made our town a lot brighter and more cheerful. :-)
Bye,

Marjolein

Monika Reeck said...

very very nice picture Paul....lovely Holiday but its colder than in Munich..if you come over here its only 14-16 degree no snow and warm sunny day...one day you go to have holiday to Munich tell me and we can accompany you to walk around Munich...enjoy your days....hugs from Germany

Gabby said...

Nice pics! Glad you had clear blue skies and sunny days to make your trip all the more pleasurable. The hotel did look like a Christmas card, just lovely. Thanks for sharing some of your pics and story. I enjoyed reading it. :)

janine said...

I subscribe to your blog but rarely ever comment (shame on me)....but I absolutely love these photos and your blog post. Glad you had such a wonderful time on your trip!! The ogre with the child in it's mouth is probably my favorite photo. I know, all of these lovely photos and I like the sick one the best....lol

Neet said...

and bring on more photos I say. Loved each and every one of them but now got the appetite whetted for more. Please Paul ....
Hugs, Neet xx

Neet said...

Just remembered it is called yarn bombing - my friend Sarah once did some but now I cannot remember where - Altrincham way I think.
N x

JoZart Designs said...

Love your photos and it has made me wish for another trip to Switzerland. We travelled there by air but we always bought a Swiss Pass to travel everywhere and anywhere by any form of transport. Wonderful country and I have three sets of friends there.
As for the yarn bombing I am afraid that I cannot appreciate it as I am such a practical person that I find it such a waste of time, money and resources. I love installations and public art but yarn bombing deteriorates to a mess very rapidly and is soon neither use nor ornament. It is rarely of quality.... there's my rant! I bet that surprised you!!
love Jo x

alexa said...

You have some splendid photos here (and of you too!) - love the sharpness in the detail of Cologne cathedral behind you, and the knitting is just visually glorious :). I am now going to have to go and find some chocolate ...