Jan 4, 2013 - Zurich

This is the last day of our winter land experience. Despite minimal falling snow, we have seen and been in lots of snow, whilst also experiencing good touring weather. We're off to Zurich Airport and are really looking forward to spending many hours in both planes and airport terminals. So, we are now signing off, until our next adventure. Cheerio

Nov 12, 2012 - Zurich Flughafen

This airport has changed a lot from years ago, having already checked in and my bag it's straight to security, I really like these mobile boarding cards and just show your phone to the reader, I quick look in Duty Free, and a last Kuchen and coffee before going to the gate.

Nov 12, 2012 - All's well at the airport

My last day in Switzerland, I think I may come back just to use up last of the train tickets, but we shall see. I have already checked in online and got my electronic boarding card, i have almost half a day to kill, having spent a lot of time heading south this I will head north, via the airport to check my bag in, and then back onto the platforms

Nov 8, 2012 - Out and about

A lazy start to the day, but this whole trip has no real plan, so after a typical Swiss breakfast it's time to head to the station. It's always been a busy station, but I have time to take in the place, admire the efficacy of the Swiss people and its transport. A lot of trains here are now of a double deck type, my train is showing a 4 min splatzen, so yes Swiss trains run late! On board there has been a big shift towards electronic tickets on mobile phones, with ticket collectors using iPads and QR readers. We arrive inZurich HB on time...

Nov 7, 2012 - Switzerland arrival

A swift passage through passport and baggage in less than 20 mins, and I am on the platform waiting the 1713 to Geneva, via Bern, his will be my first Swiss Train in I think 10 years. It surprised how much I remembered, even fact we would be reversing in HBF. The train is busy now, but this is peak time. The ticket examiners are still keen as ever, but the lovely leather bags with long straps have been replaced with canvas man bags.

Oct 5, 2012 - Zurich ill-aroundabout

This one wiLL be short. Today, not much on tap, just walk and soak up the atmosphere. I wake up a lil groggie from the medicine that I had taken last night. Feeling okay, not great, but it's manageable. However, nice, semi-warm sunny weather! First spot today was head to The suburb of Werd. Snap a picture and keep a gettin. Most of you know I say, Word, but I spell it Werd. Enough said and I'm moving on. Now, I'm just walking towards the semi-lake area. Time to stroll along the water and when it gets less interesting, I'm Turning back. I...

Oct 4, 2012 - From Frank-Germ to Zur-Switz with Love

And it's Raining at 6am in Frankfurt. Train leaves the station at 650am and I'm on it. Before that, I pick up some orange juice and a couple of snacks for my train ride. Despite the early rain, closer to Zurich the rain stops. Some really cool scenery between the two countries. Hope off around 1130am at the main station and see that there is a mini-Oktoberfest there. Nice touch Zurich! After gathering my bearings, I trekked to the City BackPacker Hostel. Need to be there before noon to check-in. If not, I'll have to wait til 3pm. FYI, they...

Aug 23, 2012 - HOME - The End

And so it comes to an end. To be honest I'm not sure how I kept up with this crazy blog but I'm glad I did, and happy to share the experiences as they happened to anybody who could put up with my horrendous grammar! To be honest not much happened today but the flight so I'll share a few thoughts about these wild times:  The first is how much can change after 75 days, 12 countries and 26 cities. I have this indescribable feeling of a connection and understanding of the world that I didn't at the beginning of the summer. Not just of Europe...

Aug 22, 2012 - Zurich - Great Last Stop

What a final road trip...we had a hectic drive from St Moritz back to Zurich this morning. It was the most nerve-wracking drive..we would careen around rocky corners on a single lane road, always with a car coming head on. Scary stuff. Interesting path we took regardless, going through magnificent gorges and seeing the massive mountains dim to small hills near switzerland's largest city. Even a herd of cattle across the highway tried to stop us from leaving the unforgettable scenery. We got to spend at least the afternoon/evening in...

Jun 24, 2012 - The Bernina Express

We spend the morning walking the small town of Tirano before eventually boarding the Bernina Express to Chur in Switzerland. Most of these trains only go up to St Moritz and back, only one a day goes all the way to Chur. The train is electric and it is occasionally eerie when there is no sound – the carriages have large scenic windows. We begin to climb through the Bernina Mountains immediately, snaking our way up the sides, over high bridges, viaducts and through many tunnels – sometimes doing a full circle whilst in a tunnel. We see quite...

Jun 2, 2012 - Day One

We arrived at the Toronto airport in good time around 6pm. As is typically with Air Canada these days we were told our flight was delayed an hour. So we were to board the plane around 10 pm. However, after waiting for an hour we then were delayed another half an hour so our flight left Toronto at 11:00. Since we flew business class we were able to enjoy a glass of wine and some ravioli and salad for dinner in the First Class lounge. Our concern now was were we able to catch our connecting flight in Zurich to Amsterdam. As you can guess we...

May 10, 2012 - Zürich

@@@@@@@ Zurich – May 10, 2012 @@@@@@@ BACKGROUND I will write about our experiences in Zürich soon, but for some general information, here are some exerts from the Lonely Planet – Central Europe chapter on Switzerland: Zürich used to be Europe’s best-kept secret. Conservative bankers and perfect, medieval landmarks stood at the forefront, with no hint that a city as cool and hip as Berlin or Amsterdam lurked within this financial centre’s impeccably clean streets. But somewhere between ranking as the top city in the world for quality life...