Joy and Les’ Europe 2024-25 Trip = Bog Entry No 06

 

Sunday 19^th January 2025                             Thun

Sunday is a day of rest in Switzerland (& Austria) and just about everything closes including most supermarkets and shops, etc but one thing that opens on Sunday (and only between 1pm and 4pm in winter) is Thun Schloss (Castle) so we took the opportunity to visit the castle today. But back to Sundays being a quiet day. The following is listed on a web site and confirmed by other sites… The final rule of the series of Sunday laws is to be as quiet as possible during this day. You aren’t allowed to mow the grass, you can’t hang laundry, and you cannot recycle your trash. Switzerland is known for its recycling laws, but not on Sundays. If you are caught sending out the trash to the recycle centers close to you, you will be fined. If you cannot pay the fine, you can choose the option of a few days in jail. Yikes! So, the best you could do is relax, stay at home with your family or friends, go out for a walk, and enjoy your Sunday.

So we spent Sunday morning relaxing and catching up on diary etc. Les also tried to do the washing but every time he went to the basement all 3 washing rooms where busy. Eventually got the washing done late Sunday afternoon. Hope he didn’t break any laws!!

View from accommodation in Thun with the morning fog

We had been grocery shopping 3 times, but you can't accuse us of favoritism!

So after lunch we headed off to the castle. We had several options on how to get there. Via Town Hall square and up a series of staircases, up a long straight stretch of staircases, along the windy steep road or up an elevator. Which one do you think we took? After the elevator ride we headed in to the castle with audio guides. You work your way up each floor via a spiral staircase (can’t avoid stairs completely) until you get to near the top when you have a modern straight stairway and then ancient straight steep staircases to the 4 corner turrets. And the only way back down is the way you went up until close to the bottom when you take an exit out the side and down a straight staircase. Needless to say, we took the elevator back down to town level. A quick walk around the river before heading back as it is very cold, and we need a hot drink.

Thun Castle from below

Thun from the turret in the above photo

 

Monday 20^th January 2025                           Thun to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and back

Another day where we will be on trains most of the day but today it is both the journey and the destination.

Up fairly early as we have an 8:24am train from Thun station to Grindelwald. The fog has come in and we cannot see more than about 50 metres but we are hoping the fog will lift otherwise the trip will be a bit boring as far as scenery goes. We head off towards Grindelwald and the first stop is Interlaken Ost (there are two Interlaken stations and there are 3 Grindelwald stations. For this reason the OST is in larger writing than the Interlaken and the same in Grindelwald). When we get to Interlaken Ost we have to change trains and the train that departs goes to Lauterbrunnen AND Grindelwald. A few stations from Interlaken Ost the train splits in 2 and the front half goes to Lauterbrunnen and the back half goes to Grindelwald. We made sure we were in the half that went to Grindelwald. On this part of the trip we had to sit facing backwards whilst some other people sat facing forward with their suitcases (one woman took up a whole set of 4 seats on her own by spreading her luggage around) and spent the whole time either on their phones or sleeping and did not see any of the scenery! ☹ Anyway just after we passed the station where the trains split we broke through the fog into beautiful blue sky. On to Grindelwald station which was not hard to find as it is the end of the line.

We are in skiing territory now with lots of people with skis, snowboards, helmets, etc and that unmistakable sound of people walking in ski boots! Called in at the Ticket building to get our tickets from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg as this is not covered by our Eurail pass. When we got the tickets they said they were from Grindelwald to Wengen which is the station before Lauterbrunnen. Yes we could walk the path to Lauterbrunnen but it is 2.9 km and a drop of about 550 metres and the path could be covered in snow and ice. We went back and checked and the lady assured us that our Eurail pass covered Wengen to Lauterbrunnen even though the Eurail app said it was not covered. Oh well, we will just see what happens with the Eurail pass as most trains and buses in Europe are on trust when you get on, and you only need to show a ticket if an inspector askes for it, which happens to us about 99% of the time and sometimes several times on the same trip, especially if you pass through different countries.

So we head up towards Kleine Scheidegg and UP is the operative word as this is another cog railway. The scenery is spectacular and lots of snow (well probably not as much as usual but looked lots to us).

Grindelwald from train on way to Kleine Scheidegg

 About ½ hour and many photos later we arrive at Kleine Scheidegg where you have to change trains. You can go further up towards the higher peaks or continue ‘across’ the mountains to Wengen. We stopped in Kleine Scheidegg to get out and have a look. 

Kleine Scheidegg little snow clearer.

Kleine Scheidegg BIG snow clearer.

Kleine Scheidegg glacier (centre)

Kleine Scheidegg

There was a group of people beginning a ski lesson and Joy felt nervous for them (those mountains are pretty steep to be learning on), and quite a few people heading off to ski, but not nearly as busy as we expected. According to our phones, the temperature was -7C and felt like -12C, although it really didn’t feel all that bad. Given we aren’t skiers, we opted for our preferred activity in the ski fields – morning tea in a warm café with Joy having a Lindt Hot Chocolate and fruit tart and Les had hot milk (yes it was on the menu) and apple cake and cream. After some more photos as other than a few accommodation buildings and the restaurant, etc there is nothing to look at except the mountains, we grabbed the next train to Wengen. 

Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen

Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen, Frozen Waterfall

Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen, closer shot of Frozen Waterfall

Wengen is a small village and we got off the train here to wander and to go to the local church as out the front is the best view down into the valley and Lauterbrunnen. Next we wandered back to the station and caught the next train down the hill to Lauterbrunnen. As we were wandering around, we saw the workers dismantling all the set up from the Ski World Cup event that had been held over the previous 3 days. We’d seen some of the blue dye on the snow where the competition run was, but in the village there were portaloos and temporary hospitality areas and grandstands etc, and they were gradually being dismantled.

Finally the kids got to play in the snow, Wengen.

Lauterbrunnen (in the valley) from Wengen

Staubbach Waterfall, Lauterbrunnen

So we started in Thun at 550 metres, went to Interlaken at 568, Grindelwald at 1,034, Kleine Scheidegg at 2,061 before dropping to Wengen 1,274 and now Lauterbrunnen at 802 metres. The train ride down the hill is another very steep ride and would be great views and photos if not for the trees.

After arriving in Lauterbrunnen we wandered the streets and the place is very quiet. Probably were very busy over the last few days as they are close to where the ski competition occurred so would have had lots of people then. We found a restaurant in a hotel that was open so decided it would do as we could be searching for something else and not find any. So Joy had vegetarian rosti and Les had fish and chips, and we celebrated 24 years since our first date way back in 2001! After lunch we headed off on a walk up the valley from Lauterbrunnen which we had been looking forward to since we missed it in 2023 when Les got sick. The valley is renowned as the Valley of 72 Waterfalls. Well it all depends on what you call a waterfall and what is just dripping water, anyway most were frozen waterfalls. The main waterfall, Staubbach Waterfall, was part frozen and part water falling so we got the best of both worlds. During summer you can walk up and actually behind part of the falls but it is closed in winter. It did not take long for us to work out why. As we walked down the valley you can hear and (if lucky) see parts of the frozen falls cracking and then crashing down the cliff/mountain side.

Staubbach Waterfall from trainride between Wengen and Lauterbrunnen

Staubbach Waterfall

Top of Staubbach Waterfall with water and ice.

Staubbach Waterfall

Staubbach Waterfall

The plan was to walk up the valley to the bus terminal at the end and then take the bus back to Lauterbrunnen. As it was we only got about ½ way as there was a lot of snow to contend with, lots of photos to take, lots of views to see, lots of helicopters coming back from Wengen with portaloos and other assorted equipment being dropped in Lauterbrunnen, etc. We waited at one of the bus stops and got the bus (free) back to the station in Lauterbrunnen.

Lauterbrunnen Valley

Ice in river in Lauterbrunnen Valley

Lauterbrunnen Valley

More Frozen Waterfalls

Living the life in Lauterbrunnen Valley with a few cows and this view!!

River covered in ice

Lauterbrunnen with helicopter and Port-a-loos

Only had to wait about 10 mins for the train to leave. When we got on the train there was a conductor telling everyone that the section we were in was “1^st class to Interlaken”. Once we left Lauterbrunnen the conductor came around checking tickets and caught several people who did not have 1^st class tickets including a couple of fellows who tried to insist they did and kept talking loudly on their mobile phones. The conductor was not happy and they were soon sent to 2^nd class. Nice ride to Interlaken and along the way we collected the 2^nd half of the train coming back from Grindelwald (being the opposite of what happened on the way up). Change at Interlaken and smooth trip to Thun. As this is the last full day in Switzerland we are trying to get rid of our Swiss Francs and Joy needed more coffee (for making in our accommodation, not to drink immediately) so went to the supermarket and got coffee and some treats for a late afternoon tea. As it was we were left with about 14 Swiss Franc (about 22 AUD) but we had 10 Swiss Francs from 2 years ago so we will keep for the next trip to Switzerland 😊.

 

View from Thun accommodation at night with Thun Castle and Church Tower

Tuesday 21^th January 2025                           Thun to Strasbourg

The third last time we are moving (excluding when we get on the plane). We have an 8:34 train so up at a reasonable time to finish packing and get down to the station for our train. Les thought it was an 8:24 train so we were a bit ahead of where we really needed to be but better safe than sorry.

When we move between towns we always reserve seats (unless the train does not have reservations) and we had reserved seats from Thun to Basel via Bern. When we got on the train we had to haul our luggage up the stairs to the upper deck of first class and found a lady sitting in one of our reserved seats but since there were lots of seats vacant we sat in the seats behind her. No problem until we got to Bern. The lady got off and a man sat in one of the seats we had reserved. Again no problem until a man got on who had reserved one of the seats we were sitting in so we had to ask the other person to move so we could move to the seats we originally reserved. All done politely but bit of mucking about.

At Basel we changed trains to the train that goes to Strasbourg but we are only going as far as Mulhouse as we want to spend some time here as check in at Strasbourg is not until 3:00 pm. We have gone from clean Swiss trains in the main part of the station to dirty (exterior) French trains in the outside far edge of the station. The other issue is that French trains have several steps up to get into the carriage so we struggle a bit with the suitcases. Several times on this day we actually had people help us, and people say the French are rude and aloof. The train to Mulhouse was nice enough and got close to 200 kph.

Arrived in Mulhouse and dragged our suitcases to the Ibis hotel as they offer luggage storage as part of the Nanny Bags business. Not sure the lady there knew how it worked but we did leave our suitcases and 2 smaller bags before heading off into town. Before we started we found a café and went in. Looked more like a local men’s hangout café as all the customers were men, dressed mostly in black, and drinking espressos. Very small and did not appear to have food so we ordered cappuccino and warm milk with Joy trying her best French as the waiter did not speak English. Joy’s best French wasn’t good enough as ended up having to use Google Translate. She asked for ‘lait chaud’, waiter looked puzzled, she tried again, with a French-er accent, still puzzled, got Google Translate and when he saw what was meant, he said ‘ahhh, lait chaud’ (sounded exactly like what Joy said hahaha). He laughed and things were good. Looks like we will need Joy’s sister’s special French phrase of ‘I speak French like a Spanish cow’.

We headed off to explore and eventually found the Tourist Info Centre and got a brochure on the Old Town and did a wander around. We wanted to get some lunch before we headed back to the station so went into a café that looked a bit more up market to the 1^st one for the day and they did have some food. We ended up with 30 cm ham and cheese toasted paninis. Way too big for us but we tried our best.

Sculpture in Mulhouse, France

Town Hall, Mulhouse, France. Had lunch in cafe in white building at far right.

Mulhouse Cathedral

Lunch in Mulhouse, one each!!

Back to collect our luggage and as we had not paid when we dropped them off was wondering what it would cost us. In theory should be about 16 or 18 euros (about 30 AUD) but it cost us nothing – the lady at reception just waved us away. Jumped (well, more like struggled up the steps with the help of another lovely French man) on the next train to Strasbourg. There isn’t any specific place to put luggage on these trains, so we just pushed them into the carriage hoping to find somewhere to put them out of the way. But the man who helped us with our luggage told us to just put it anywhere, really, as “in France, even if it is forbidden, you just do what you want”. We arrived at Strasbourg at around 2:40. We had the OK to check in early in our accommodation. The accommodation is only 5 mins walk from station so arrived and in before 3:00 pm. Did a shopping list to cover the next 2 days and went and did the shopping. Small supermarket and not many options. Came home and had afternoon tea and found out how bad the water tastes so Les went to another supermarket and bought bottled water and carrots but could not find any meat to buy. Relaxed for rest of afternoon.

 

Wednesday 22^nd January 2025                   Strasbourg Town Tour

Had a sleep in this morning as we were tired but also the shutters make the room dark and we cannot see what time of day it is and had not set the alarm.

After a leisurely breakfast we tried to do some washing but cannot open the washer door. Subsequently found out from the owner that the machine was reported broken 2 days ago! Headed out for a walk around the old town. As we were walking we noticed a supermarket that looks bigger than the others we have tried. Will investigate it more tomorrow. Found the Tourist Info Centre which is opposite the Cathedral, which you cannot miss. Got a map that had a tour marked through the old town so off we set. Visited the cathedral but did not climb the tower. There is a cost to do it but the 330 steps each way was the main reason to give it a miss. Joy did it back in the 1991 when she was travelling with Cathy, and it was amazing, all the way to the top and looking out through the carved stone tower, but didn’t feel the need to do it again. 

Strasbourg Cathedral

Strasbourg Cathedral

Many streets have these mosaics of different things. 
Have not worked out why. The stork is important to the Strasbourg people.

We think this is taking Teddy Bears over the top!

We followed the route on the brochure and then headed to a café for morning tea and for Les to warm his fingers up. It was a nice little café, with hessian coffee bags as tablecloths. Hot chocolate and triple choc cookie for Joy and warm milk and citrus cheesecake for Les. Finished the walk by going across the Covered Bridges (which are no longer covered, but the end towers still stand), and then across the Varrage Vauban, which is a dam and stone bridge (which IS covered and nothing like what we have seen before). Started raining lightly so headed for home.

Strasbourg and timber framed buildings.

Covered Bridge, Strasbourg

View from Covered Bridge, Strasbourg.

Spent the afternoon catching up on diary, etc but also planning the next few days. While we were watching TV, Joy saw something scurry across the floor then under the fridge – looked too small to be a mouse but too big to be a spider. We will kind of pretend she didn’t see it but at the same time just put our bags up off the floor and our food into plastic bags.

 Thursday 23^rd January 2025                         Strasbourg Rest Day

Another relaxing day so a late start again. Pottered around until after morning tea and then headed to the laundromat to do the washing and home via the bigger supermarket we saw yesterday. Much better supermarket and could buy meat is suitable sizes, etc.

Got offer to upgrade Munich to Doha flights and have tried several times to get it to work so will give it another try later.

Afternoon doing diary, photos and blog.

Strasbourg at night

Joy and Les’ Europe 2024-25 Trip = Bog Entry No 05

 

Friday 10^th January 2025                               Innsbruck to Zurich

Another day when we have to pack up and move on. We had done most of the packing the night before but there is always stuff that cannot be packed until we are ready to leave. So with the alarm set for 7:00 am we were ready to head off to walk up to the train station at about 9:00 to give us time to get our 9:47 am train. We decided to walk rather than try to load our suitcases onto the tram.

Arrived in plenty of time for our train and we have our seats reserved in 1^st class for the 3 ½ hour trip to Zurich. We are getting more and more excited as we travel as the mountains are getting bigger and the snow more frequent. You can never take too many photos of the snow or the mountains!

We have been to Zurich before and stayed in the same apartment block (possibly the same apartment) so we knew how to get to the apartment by tram and how the ticket system worked. Check in was at 3:00 pm but we have managed to arrange a 2:00 pm check in. Arrived and went through the paperwork and paid the city taxes. We then headed down to the local café for a late lunch being about 2:15 pm. Unfortunately, the kitchen closes at 2:00 pm so we had to settle for coffee, warm milk and piece of cheesecake for lunch! Did the shopping at the supermarket next to the cafe and as we said we had been here before so understood how things work. In this supermarket (and several others in Switzerland) you put the fruit/vegies in the plastic bag, then go to the scales, weigh the stuff and enter the code for that product and it prints a sticker to place on the bag which gets scanned at the checkout. The checkout operator does not need to know what item it is or weigh it.

Then back to the apartment to settle in and unpack.

 

Saturday 11^th January 2025                          Zurich Day trip to Stein am Rhein and Schaffhausen

As if we have not had enough train travel, we are up early this morning as we are doing a day trip on trains again. But at least this time no suitcases!

Again we walk to the tram stop, about 400 metres, catch the tram to the main railway station before heading off to Stein am Rhein which is about 1hr 20 mins including a transfer in Winterthur. When the train left Zurich it went underground and was underground for quite a while. Appears it goes under the mountain on the side of Zurich. It had been cold overnight and there is a serious frost this morning with both trees and the ground covered in white – but not snow. After we changed trains at Winterthur we are on a smaller train being only 3 carriages and we are travelling through villages and beautiful countryside. The problem with train travel is you cannot always get the photos you want – you have to be quick, you have to put up with whatever angle the train gives you, and you have to deal with taking photos through glass. The problem with car hire is navigating, other traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road, and at this time of year dealing with winter road, and you still don’t always get the photos you want. For pure relaxation, train is the way to go.

Serious frost last night!

Arrived in Stein am Rhein (which literally means “Stone on the Rhine” which is not surprising since it is on the banks of the Rhine River) at about 10:20. It was a short walk from the station into the “Old Town” part of the town. We had been here 2 years ago but it was on a guided tour which meant not much time to explore. Also back then it was late (ie almost dark), cold, windy and wet. This time it was early, cold, no wind and beautiful sunny weather. We explored for a while, checking out the buildings, the squares, and saying hello to a friendly 3-legged cat who wanted to be patted. Then we found a café where we had coffee/warm milk and 2 smiley faced cookies. They were nice but the waitperson was not very cheerful. We have been told that it is a normal trait that Germans, Austrians and Swiss are generally not all that friendly and welcoming to people they do not know, not sure why but appears correct.

After morning tea we explored some more. There are many beautiful old buildings in the centre of town with intricate frescos. It was great to be able to explore at our own pace. 

Stein am Rhein

Stein am Rhein

Stein am Rhein

Yes it was still cold.

Joy making friends with a 3 legged cat.

Stein am Rhein with castle in distance and Rhine River in foreground

Then headed back across the river towards the station via a few more lookouts for more photos before heading to the station. We only had a short wait for the train to Schaffhausen, again on a 3 carriage train at about 12:45. The train ride to Schaffhausen is only about 30 minutes so when we arrived in Schaffhausen we bought some drinks from the shop at the station and headed to the town square to have lunch as we had brought our own sandwiches. It was still very cold (ie about zero degrees but felt colder). We found a bench in the sun but that did not help much and it soon was in shade so we had to move to another bench to finish lunch. After lunch we explored the “Old Town”. The newer parts of town are not worth looking at in most cities, in our opinion. We climbed the stairs to ‘Munot Fortress’ which was a fair climb so Les was struggling a bit. He just tells Joy to head off at her pace and he will catch her at the top. When coming down it is the same but with Joy’s netball/hockey ankles and knees the timing difference is not as great!

Munot Fortress

The fortress was built in the 16^th century and overlooks the entire city. The access to the high parts of the tower is via a ramp that spirals upwards rather than by steps. Very interesting! 

Spiral ramp NOT spiral staircase. Munot Fortress.

They are working on the building so we were limited to how much we could see but since it was free access you cannot complain too much. Next was the downhill walk via a straight stretch of stairs before walking back along the road through the centre of the Old Town to the station. 

Long straight staircase

We had a short wait (in the train) before heading back to Zurich by a direct train this time. Just after we left Schaffhausen Les thought he recognised a building next to the river and was quick enough to let Joy know we were passing the Rhine Falls which was another place we visited in 2024 in the cold, wet and windy weather. This time was just a photo from the train!!

 

For many bottles in Europe the cap has to be attached to the bottle even when you have opened it!

Sunday 12^th January 2025                             Zurich Rest Day

Well Sundays in Switzerland is the day that all (well almost) shops and lots of the attractions are closed. We found this out last time so we planned this time and had a rest day.

Slept in followed by catching up on downloading photos, naming photos, blog, washing, reading, knitting (Joy not Les), etc.

Monday 13^th 2025                            Zurich Day trip to Konstanz/Constance and Meersburg

Another train day as we head out to explore some more old places. Our usual trip of walking to the tram stop before catching the tram to the main station. This time the trip is a direct train to Konstanz/Constance (think it is German and English versions of the town name but have seen it both ways in various places). We head off from the station at about 9:20 to Constance. As we have a 1^st class Eurail Pass we get to travel in 1^st class carriages, of course. Sometimes there is a reasonable difference between classes and other times not so. One thing we noticed in some 1^st class carriages in Switzerland is that there is a lounge area with small table in the centre. Presumably for business meetings!

Part of 1st class carriage 

Arrived in Constance just before 11:00 and got a Walking Tour brochure from the Info Centre for 1 euro. Joy tried to pay in Swiss Francs, because she had forgotten that we had crossed the border into Germany from Switzerland. Also bought a Bodensee Card which gives free bus/train/ferry in the Bodensee area (West section). Bad move. Les thought it was 29 euros for a Family (2 adults and 3 children) but it is 48 euros for Family ticket (still cheaper than 2 adult tickets). However worked out that the bus from the station to the ferry wharf, ferry to Meersberg and return, and bus from ferry wharf to station would have cost about 29 euros in total for both of us. Live and learn!

So we headed of into the Old Town and found the first church of the day. We even went inside this one and it was very ornate. They certainly know how to do churches in Europe. It is very cold and is now about 11:15 so we thought it would be time for morning tea. Stopped at Holsteins Backhaus ie a bakery for morning tea. As Constance is in Germany we are back paying in Euros. The German/Switzerland border does not follow the lake/river with Constance on one side and Meersburg on the other, but rather the border goes through the town – some of Constance is in Germany and some is in Switzerland, and the border runs along the middle of some roads and in some cases through the middle of some buildings. Must be a nightmare! Even more of a nightmare when they use different currencies!!!

After morning tea we had warmed up enough to face the cold again so explored some more of the town and passed quite a few statues. This is not unusual in Europe, but quite a few were weird including one with an 8 legged horse, and another with huge fat men and women lounging in what would be a pool if there was water in it (probably is, in summer). 

8 legged horse sculpture!

Holy Trinity Church, Constance

There were also the usual old buildings and several churches (but we didn’t go inside). As we were very cold with the apparent temperature around the minus 8 degree mark we headed to a restaurant for lunch. Beautiful warm restaurant with good food.

After lunch we headed back to the station to catch our bus to the ferry wharf and took the ferry to Meersburg on the other side of the Rhine River/Bodensee (Lake). From here it was a short walk to the Meersburg Castle although some was steep uphill through the narrow village streets. This castle is very different to the other castles we have visited. 

Meersburg Castle

There are actually 2 castles in Meersburg, and this one is called the ‘old’ castle. It would probably be called the “lower class” castle. It was not ornate, did not have large halls, did not have lots of pictures/ornaments but was a basic castle. Maybe they decided that instead of continually improving this castle, they’d just build a new one and leave this one as it was. As an example of how simple it was, there were only 3 latrines in the castle (the owners and all the staff/soldiers had just 3 of them) and they were just a seat on a wooden bench where the waste went down a distance before going out the side of the castle. Bad luck if you were under the chute at the wrong time. The sink was a carved stone which emptied directly to the outside.

Meersburg Castle which does not match other castles we have visited

Meersburg Castle

Sink at Meersburg Castle. The water just flows out under the window.

At about 3:30 we headed back to the ferry wharf where we just missed a ferry but they run every 10/15 minutes so no problems. When we arrived back on Constance side there was a bus waiting for us so back to the station before the train ride back to Zurich followed by the tram ride and 400 metre walk.

Tuesday 14^th January 2025                           Zurich Day trip to Rapperswil and Ferry Cruise

A normal time start today and again it was walk/tram/train but this time to Rapperswil which is at the bottom of Lake Zurich. We thought the train would follow the lake but the one we caught went inland which meant we were on the same line as the previous trip to Winterthur. We had to buy train tickets today as we have a limited number of days that we can use the Eurail pass, and because we did not have luggage we slummed it in 2^nd class! We did buy a 9:00 am ticket which gave us access to trains/trams/ferries and buses from 9:00 am until 5:00 am the next day. SO we got on a tram just after 9:00am and the train arrived in Rapperswill at about 10:15 am. Walked around for a while exploring the Old Town (is there a trend appearing here?). 

Yes, the lake was cold. A gull standing on the ice on the edge of the lake.

This included walking up the ridge to the Schloss and churches before a gentle walk back down the hill. At 11:00 both the Schloss (castle) and the church rang their bells and we were between the two, which are only about 50 metres apart. Loud is a good description. The church rang for probably 10 minutes. The church is not as ornate as the cathedrals we have visited but was still very nice.

Rapperswil Castle

Many of the shops in the Old Town are closed over the winter so not much open. As we had not had morning tea and the ferry left at 1:45 we decided on an early lunch so at about 12:00 we had toasted sandwiches in a café in a shopping centre. The difference between the Old and New town is very stark. You walk out of a small laneway to a 4 lane road covered in cars and the noise level rises dramatically. After lunch we headed to the harbour and walked part of the way along the wooden footbridge that crosses the lake which is about 800 metres in length. Lots of ducks, gulls, swans and other waterbirds.

Back to the wharf and sat in the sun soaking in the rays waiting for the ferry to take us back to Zurich. We thought we would sit upstairs in the indoor area however that is 1^st class so we sat downstairs in the indoor dining area which was just as good. 

Rapperswil from ferry. Castle at back centre and church just to the right.

The trip along the lake was very relaxing and we had good views on both sides of the lake. The ferry stops quite a few times on the trip along the lake, but it didn’t really feel like a commuter ferry, more like a sight-seeing ferry. We had afternoon tea as we cruised along – had coffee/warm milk and apple slices coated in donut type batter and deep fried, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with vanilla sauce (custard) and cream. Yummy!!

Afternoon tea before .....

... and after!

Wednesday 15^th January 2025                    Zurich to Thun

Yes, another moving day. We are getting pretty good at this packing business however we always seem to have more stuff to pack in our suitcases and the backpacks seem to be heavier. Maybe old age is catching up with us, or maybe already caught up with us.

Anyway, today is a bit different as we are going from Zurich to Basel, exploring Basel, train from Basel to Olten, train Olten to Burgdorf, train from Burgdorf to Thun. Not the quickest or most direct route but I will explain.

As we have check in time today of 3:00 pm we do not want to get to Thun (pronounced kind of like ‘tune’, or more like ‘toon’) before 3:00 pm as it is only 10 mins walk from station. SO we got the 9:00 train from Zurich to Basel. Here we put our luggage in storage and spent some time looking around the old parts of Basel. To get from the station you have to walk through some of the new parts of town but we found the Tourist Info Centre and got the brochure on the walks around town. We decided we’d do a composite walk of our own but first we needed morning tea. Found a nice little café and had coffee/warm milk and some very nice slices of cake. Les’ was called ‘nonna’, and can’t remember what Joy’s was called, but they both tasted home made – very yummy. After m/tea we started our walk and quickly found a church/cathedral (there also seems to be a routine in us finding churches!!) 

Basel Cathedral Stained Glass Window

Basel Cathedral Stained Glass Window

Basel Cathedral Roof

We even went inside this one as well. Followed some narrow cobblestone streets through the old town before heading back to the station looking for another café to get lunch. We could not find anything suitable so bought some pastries at the station. They were a bit like croissant pastry but in a flat swirl and with mashed potato inside. Very nice but not very healthy.

Lunch at Basel

After lunch got our luggage from storage and jumped on our train. We could go to Thun via Bern and be there faster but we wanted to see more of the countryside and we will be doing Thun/Bern/Basel when we leave Thun in 6 days. We passed through some very nice countryside and many small towns although they all seem to have a business/factory of some sort.

Arrived in Thun at about 4:30pm and headed to the accommodation. Dropped off the luggage and went to the supermarket which is only a few doors from our accommodation which is on the edge of the centre of town on the 3^rd floor with views over the river and the town.

Thursday 16^th January 2025                         Thun day trip to Chamonix Mont Blanc and return

Up at normal time today for a long day of train travel but it is not a moving day. Today we are doing 8 trains to form a day trip where it’s all about the journey and not the destination. We are heading to Chamonix Mont Blanc in France.

Walked to the train station for a 9:27 start which was a train from Thun to Visp. The further south we went the more snow on the ground and the Alps are getting much closer. The last 34.5 km of the trip is a single tunnel called the Lötschberg Base Tunnel – Les timed it and it took almost 13 minutes to get through it on the train. Not much view in there!

When we arrived in Visp we had a 5 minute transfer but fortunately we only had to go from platform 7 to platform 6 which is the other side of the same platform, so no issues. The next train was from Visp to Martigny which is about a 44 min trip. 

We then change to catch a train from Martigny to Vallorcine which is where the real train adventure starts – mind you, the scenery (when not in tunnels) is still worth looking at. From Martigny to Vernayaz is flat and the train is quite fast, however when we leave Vernayaz we start the “cog railway” part of the trip and not hard to see why. Steep is an understatement. 

Yes, it was steep

We start at an altitude of 452 metres and at 1 point we are at 1248 metres before arriving at Chamonix Mont Blanc which is an altitude of 1,035 metres. The track from Vernayaz to Vallorcine varies between very steep and reasonably flat, and in some parts also built into the side of a cliff with huge drop-offs. Les was a bit worried in some parts and even Joy was a bit nervous, but the trip was fantastic. We even got to see some wildlife – we knew there was wildlife around because there were so many footprints in the snow that weren’t human, and then we saw a couple of mountain goats, and later a few deer. The final change of trains was at Vallorcine where we swap trains again for the last section into Chamonix Mount Blanc. The snow varied from none (around Vernayaz) to lots (mostly near Chamonix). There were lots of frozen waterfalls along the way but very hard to get a good picture of them, but we tried. There are also ice stalactites that hang from various things including the tunnels that the train goes through and on one occasion we actually hit one which made quite a noise.

The train says it all!

Frozen waterfalls

The snow was getting thick in the high places

They build villages on the side of mountains

More frozen waterfalls in the distance

No straight roads up here.

And more frozen waterfalls

Snow covered pines

We arrived at Chamonix at about 1:00 pm and walked down the main street of Chamonix and bought some drinks (using Euros, not Swiss Francs – life would be so much easier if only Switzerland would use the Euro!!) as we have to leave at 1:38 to head back home. As we said, we weren’t really interested in the destination and didn’t need to spend much time in Chamonix. As it was, the town was very boring to look at, and not many people about either. We had thought about getting some lunch there, but decided since we had made cheese sandwiches just in case, we would eat them on the train heading back. The return trip is the same as the forward trip other than going the opposite direction. Our cameras/phones were running hot taking lots of photos. As we had the 1^st class Eurail we got the 1^st class seats except from Martigny to Chamonix sections as there is no 1^st class section. All the same class on the Mont Blanc Express. By the way ‘Express’ is a bit of a stretch as it doesn’t go very quickly and it also stops at nearly every station which means regular stops between Vernayaz and Chamonix.

If you want to see what it is like there is a YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzT7su6iE7Q

Back to our accommodation at about 5:45 pm after a long but very worthwhile day.

Friday 17^th January 2025                               Thun Rest Day

Our original plan for today was to take a train to Lauterbrunnen and walk the valley walk, bus back down the valley to Lauterbrunnen and train home again but we found out that the 1^st round of the World Cup of Skiing was to be held at Wengen (the next stop after Lauterbrunnen) and therefore the trains would be busier than normal on Friday to Sunday – there was actually a warning on the trains website to allow extra time and be aware of all the extra people. It might have been interesting being there when such a big event is happening, but tickets to actually see anything were around 90 Euro, and as we don’t like crowds, we decided to change our plans and do Lauterbrunnen on Monday in connection with our trip to Grindelwald, which would have included coming home via Lauterbrunnen anyway. Lauterbrunnen was one place that was on the itinerary in 2022/23 but was cancelled as it was when Les was not well.

So we opted for a rest day, well sort of. We did the diary, washing, downloading and renaming photos and in the afternoon did a walk through the centre of the town and some groceries on the way back to the accommodation but in general a restful day. Before we headed out for our walk we had heard a very load bang and it seemed to echo / reverberate for some time. We had a look from our balcony but could not see anything and nobody in the streets seemed to be worried. We did hear some sirens shortly after and when we were doing our walk we saw several police cars and officers and they also had a drone but still do not know what it was.

Thun Castle from Town Hall Plaza

Saturday 18^th January 2025                          Thun to St. Beatus-Höhlen, Swiss Caves

As part of the accommodation we got a ‘Panorama Card’ which gives us free public transport and some discounted attraction tickets so we used the card to take the bus from Thun Station to St. Beatus-Höhlen, Swiss Caves. We had planned this trip anyway but the free travel and discounted tickets were just a bonus.

We headed out to catch the 10:02 bus from the bus stand in front of the train station. The bus was full when we left the bus stop but we were some of the first on so we had seats. There were lots of people with snow shoes and also with walking poles, etc. As the bus goes to Interlaken and there is a train to the ski fields including Wengen (refer yesterday’s write up) so we thought they must be going there which is past our stop. The bus had 2 screens near the driver but neither showed the stops coming up so we had to listen to the announcements – these were not real clear so we set Google Maps Directions to keep track of where we were. We passed many beautiful old typical Swiss houses built on the side of the valley. When we got to Beatenbucht, which was a few stops before ours, the bus almost emptied. They were getting off to ride a cable car to Niederhorn which has lots of walking tracks, etc in the snow.

We arrived at the caves bus stop at about 10:30 and saw what we had to climb to get to the caves. A long steep zigzag path that crosses a series of waterfalls from the road to the caves entrance. At the entrance there is also a restaurant which would have been nice but it was very expensive. After the long climb up the track with lots of stops to take photos, knowing how much Les loves waterfalls, we made it to the entrance. All the water that falls in the waterfalls comes from the caves so we knew there was going to be a lot of water running through the caves system.

Entrance to the Caves is behind the building in the centre with the arches
 so Yes it was a long walk up the hill.

The caves that we can access are approx. 1 km of the 4 km that has been explored. From the entrance the caves system runs uphill all the way so Les was going to take a while with the uphill parts. The caves are lit with electric lights but it is basic lights with no special coloured lighting that you see in some caves systems. But they do name a lot of the formations, as they do in most caves we’ve been to. The path through the caves starts by following the creek system as we head further up into the caves. There were not many people in the caves, which was good. As the caves are between 8 and 10 degrees it was much warmer than outside where it was about 1 degree.

There were lots of water cascades in the caves but then you would turn a corner and it would be silent. Towards the end (ie as far as you go into the caves) we could heard thundering water and this went for some time so we knew it must be a big waterfall and we were not wrong. These caves have stalactites and stalagmites, but they are only fairly small in this part of the caves and not big ones like other caves we have been in. 

St Beatus Caves 

We reached the exit of the caves at about 12:20 and had 8 minutes or so to get to the road to catch the next bus but knew we could not make it down the long steep path in that time. We made it about 2/3^rd of the way down when the bus left, so we did part of the museum which is near the road. Les had had enough walking and standing so he went back outside to sit on the bench seat and wait for Joy. While waiting for the next bus we were discussing what the caves were like and both agreed they were pretty good. The path through the caves was well set out, the formations were pretty good, it was great having the rushing water sound and also the silence. But we also agreed that the downside was the running commentary by an American family for part of the way, passing a woman who had enough perfume on to keep Yves St Laurent in perfume for 10 years and also passing someone with a dog. Apparently, they pay 10 Swiss francs entry fee for dogs!

At the Caves exit. Don't think Palms would like ice on them

We caught the next bus back home and made it home at about 2:25 for a late lunch. There were markets on in the town centre so after lunch Joy went to the markets but said they were disappointing with only a few stalls and mostly food (farmers market type stalls).