You are amazing!

I love travel Good Samaritans, they reinforce your faith in the human race!
Looking forward to your impressions of Zurich....

Yeah! You're back! Am reading your lastest report but am confused (nothing unusual . I thought you were back in Oz but a new trip report reads Switzerland???

Don't mean to confuse you Finecheapboxofwine (how I love that name). I am in Oz. The Italy trip was in May. Switzerland trip in June. I'm writing in the present tense because I find it helps me to relate the experience and feelings I had at the time.

OK here is the rest of my report on Switzerland.

My first night and morning in Switzerland.
I have a wonderful room and a shared balcony (shared with room next door) with views over Lake Thun and views to the Alps. Nice helpful, family staff with the younger ones having a good command of English. The hotel also has a terrace downstairs with good views. It has a restaurant which I later discover has a very good reputation. I’m pleased to be based in one place for the next 16 nights. I find a restaurant up town for some dinner and a waiter draws a mud map for a laundromat in Interlaken.

Next morning I enjoy a good breakfast, beautifully presented with wonderul views. These breakfasts are so good for me. You can choose to have raw muesli, fresh hot breads (wow!), croissants, fruit salad, cold meats, cheeses (wow the cheeses!), fabulous jams, yoghurts, coffee, tea, fruit juices. I had enjoyed these in Italy also but the breads, cheeses and the view here are amazing. What a life this is!

The rail station is up the hill but close by. Actually there is a bus stop opposite the hotel but this is not serviceable during my stay due to road works.

I discover there are choices in accessing the rail station. A longer ramp walk from the street below the station, then some stairs to the station office level; or having done this walk up the ramp from the street below you can enter the tunnel and using ramps access the platforms or go to the end and use a ramp to arrive at the station office etc; or there is an entry from the street level below which takes you into the car park and you can use the elevator to the station office. I think I have remembered this correctly. I must admit that I found it somewhat confusing when I initially explored the options. Having said all this, if you have a Swiss Pass and that bus stop is functioning then you can simply catch the bus to the station with no additional expense and wear and tear on your body.

The trains, rail stations, connections and services in Switzerland are fantastic. Not really surprising when you consider that the country’s geography has demanded and inspired its development.

Using Spiez as a base and my Swiss Pass I commence my wonderful days in Switzerland: Zurich, Winterthur, Luzern, Bern, Basel, Montreux (Rocher-de-Neye), Geneva, Zermatt, Mt Harder, Schyinge Platte, Golden Pass route (done in segments), Murren, boat trip on Lake Thun, Ballenberg Farm, Wilhelm Tell Express Luzern to Locarno, Palm Express bus Lugano to St Moritz (fantastic, what a beautiful thrilliing ride!!), Bernina Express Chur to Tirano. I sometimes vary my routes between centres by using slower trains. I enjoy the Lotschberger train. I use the public transport services within the towns/cities. Not a single taxi fare.

My only commitments are that one booking I have in place for art (Sammlung E.G. Buhrle in Zurich) and travel booked on Golden Pass, Wilhelm Tell Express, Palm Express bus and Bernina Express. The rest of my stay is “What do I feel like doing today?” Not to mention lunch in high places with fabulous views. What do I fancy for lunch today? How many courses? Mmmm, yum. I meet and enjoy the company of people from all over the world. I observe people struggling with absurd quantities of luggage. Wherever I travel the scenery is fantastic and the travel comfortable.

Apart from the art, scenery and food I enjoy the Swiss Transport Museum in Luzern. Children are enjoying themselves in this museum with wonderful interactive stuff for them. I am definitely the only solitary female here. There are many enthralled males accompanied by long suffering female partners - if they have children that breaks the ice. I conquer my fear of heights here to stand up on that glass floor to view the model of the Gotthard railway model. This gives me courage to start riding funiculars, cogwheel trains, cable cars etc later in my trip. Truth to tell the scenery is so fantastic I defy anyone to be worried about heights.

The Matterhorn museum is also fascinating. On the way to Zermatt I observe the landslide that blocked road and rail and kept people in Zermatt for longer than they expected some years ago. I found the scenery on the way to Zermatt very interesting.

Ballenberg farm is a great day out. A Swiss gentleman educates me on the “fighting cow”. The calf is already intimidating the other breeds’ “grown ups” and achieving moving them off the only patch of high ground. They must be born bossy. I have another wonderful outdoor lunch. This follows a wonderful entree in the form of a beautiful complimentary bowl of soup provided in one of the traditional Swiss homes from a pot on a wood stove. This reminded me of my own childhood. There’s nothing like nostalgia to warm the heart.

There is one day when I do have to focus on resurrecting my back. This is no hardship since I spend a happy day at the hotel with my eReader and TENS on my back whilst enjoying the lake and alps views. I have lunch in the hotel restaurant this day. I meet a couple of younger ladies who come in for lunch because they have heard of this restaurant. They are camping elsewhere (in some rain). One is from Milano and the other from Lugano. The Lugano lady gives me her mobile number in case I have trouble with the Lugano to St Moritz part of my trip.

Prior to leaving Spiez I take my larger small roll-on luggage to the station. I arrange for it to be forwarded to Tirano for me to collect when I arrive there (days later). This allows me to set off with my smaller backpack/rollon to Luzern, catch the Wilhelm Tell Express boat for a cruise on Lake Luzern, and then the scenic train to Locarno where I am to stay for a few days.

Because there had recently been a rockfall on the train line (this had resulted in the death of a workman) a bus takes us around this area when we leave the boat at Flüelen to connect with the train. The climb onto this bus proved quite a challenge for me! It was a scenic trip but somewhat less scenic than trips I later enjoyed. I arrive at Locarno. My hotel is very romantic and the rooms have jazz (music) themes. My room is the Billie Holiday room (“Lady Day”). The romantic nature of this hotel means I consistently have a large red chocolate heart placed on EACH pillow in my room when the room is made up. I have no trouble coping with these!

I spend happy days in Locarno (very tropical here) enjoying some free musical entertainment and exploring the old town. Not to mention the inevitable eating and drinking. On my second day up in the old town I hit trouble with a capital T! My back starts to lock. This was a delayed response to climbing onto that bus at Flüelen. All I could think “I hope I can get back down!” I did get back down to the lower town and with the aid of many refreshment stops I returned to my hotel. I used my TENS machine and Hotteeze stick on heat pads (brought from Oz) to relieve the pain and to keep myself mobile.

At night I am vastly entertained by the exuberance of the soccer fans following the soccer matches (European Cup) which have been watched on the TV screens in the eateries. Locarno is a melting pot of nationalities. The fans are in their cars, on their motor scooters/bikes and bicycles with various flags waving and horns blaring, meeting up at the traffic lights, round and round they go. Those without transport stand on the corners and cheer them on. Not a sign of any trouble and no police needed.

I move on from Locarno. I catch the train to Lugano and then the Palm Express bus to St Moritz. What a fantastic trip! I sit in the middle of the back seat. Not only is the scenery fantastic but the ride is a thriller around hairpin bends on narrow roads. And I see it all, both sides and straight to the front through the windscreen. Lakeside and mountain roads.Wow! It felt like a fantastic roller coaster ride with the most wonderful scenery imaginable.

At St Moritz I catch the train to Chur for an overnight stay. This is a fabulous trip on the train. Chur is a very nice town. I have a wonderful dinner and a good night’s sleep. Next morning I board the Bernina Express scenic train for another memorable trip down to Tirano. At Tirano I collect my luggage and board a regional train to Milan.

I had a wonderful time in Switzerland. It so totally relaxed me that I quite unexpectedly started to quietly weep on the trip from Spiez to Luzern ahead of the Wilhelm Tell Express trip. Why am I weeping? I wondered myself. Until I realised that these tears were possibly my last “patch of grief”. My husband had passed away in 2008 (too young at 59). We had intended to travel like this together. These were good healing tears which Switzerland had brought to me.

I shall look forward to returning to Switzerland. Next time I’m going up the Schilthorn. I only just managed to resist it on this visit. I truly have lost my fear of heights! In the meantime I am researching France and Germany.

For those of you who are mobility challenged, you should consider Switzerland. I have proven it can be done. We may not be able to hike like we used to, but there is a good time to be had and the transport system is kind to the body. Glass half full, never half empty!

So glad to see this! I feel like I found the sequel to a favorite book!! You will absolutely need to keep traveling and keep writing.

That sounds likes a fabulous trip. Your report is too short...I hope you write more! Curious about you did the luggage forwarding? Through what type of service do you do that through?

What a great adventure! Really enjoying your tale

Thank you for this second trip report on Switzerland. I am totally in awe of your ability to undertake this trip, and I congratulate you on its success.

May I ask you how many languages you speak? It seems to me that in many cases, one would have to be able to communicate in at least Italian and German to be able to do what you did!

Luggage forwarding:
The existence of the service for forwarding luggage enabled me to travel more widely throughout Switzerland. I had found this service on the rail site when planning my trip. It is one of the reasons that I chose to pack my luggage in two smaller roll-ons since I could travel on with the smaller one whilst the larger one was forwarded.

There is a fast service and a slower service. Luggage is moved from rail station to rail station for your collection.

See this link:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/baggage.html

You take it to the station, you get a receipt and you wave it goodbye for collection later. I can't remember if you need to be travelling by train to access this service.

You do need to check that the service is available at the stations you are interested in. You will see the list of stations on the website.

When you think about it it's not really surprising that Switzerland has this service given it's geography and the needs that its tourists have with skiing equipment etc.

Italy also has a service from and to some hotels. It is not a service that is operated by Trenitalia. You will find information on it on the Trenitalia website - see under services, Baggage Easy. It is a TNT service and you need a ticket on Frecciarossa Frecciargento or Frecciabianca trains. I did not use the one in Italy.

Language barrriers:
In my first year of high school I studied Latin, French and German. I studied French through to the end of high school. This is a long time ago. Needless to say these are buried somewhere in my brain where I can't find them!

I had a sum total of 6 weeks of Italian lessons ahead of my trip. This of course was insufficient. I am currently six months further into study of Italian and I love the language. In February I also intend to learn/refresh? my German. Switzerland is German in the north, French and Italian in the south. Having some trouble fitting in French.

So I had no language skills. Despite this I had a good trip. Showing my train ticket, hotel booking reservations and charades and a broad smile helped. Knowledge of please, thank you, excuse me, HELP!! is a good idea. Many of the younger Italians have some English. As do staff at hotels and train stations. I had great conversations with older family members through the younger ones translating. The younger Swiss have excellent English.

The times you really benefit from language skills is when you have a problem. For example when I was on that train Tirano to Milan with a cranky conductor. I knew I could explain myself if only I had the language. My aim is to at least know the phrases which I will need and may need. If I can't speak them, have them written down.

An American chap I met in Rome lost everything on his first day after arriving in Rome. He (foolishly) withdrew and changed cash at Rome Termini station. He was observed, followed, surrounded and relieved of his cash, wallet, passport. He was rescued by an Italian lady who took him to the authorities and translated for him.

Also there are always English speaking people around you who may have knowledge of the foreign language you are struggling with. They would help. Actually I never needed help.

My message is don't let language barrier stop you.

2012 - What a great report - thank you! Makes me want see Switzerland too! Would you please share your Swiss hotels with us as you did your Italian ones? Thanks.

I have loved this very inspiring report – thanks so much! (I could even say I've fallen for it. ) Kudos for your adventurous, tenacious, and humorous approach to life.

This report will be very helpful as I plan a trip to Switzerland. I am especially grateful for the info on luggage forwarding – what a great option!

Many thanks, and many wishes for more happy travels!

Have just come back to this because someone has asked about the hotels I used.

Spiez - Hotel Bellevue

A note on Spiez. If you are looking for excitement eg nightlife you won't find it here. Peace, quiet, extremely polite traffic, chiropracters, ostepaths, great shoe store (they even stock those Targhee Mid boots which I live in). A great escape from the crowds at Interlaken.

I returned from Luzern one day and there was a rainbow with one end sitting on the edge of the lake, the other end up in the Alps. I never realised how deep and vibrant a rainbow was at its end. Did not see a pot of gold!

Locarno
Hotel Jazz
Easy walk from train station. Room with a separate sitting room.

Chur
ABC Hotel - very comfortable but sterile hotel, easy walk to station, perfect for one night to connect with Bernina Express.

2012 - Thanks for the hotel information. I'm curious - both Italy and Switzerland are hilly (to say the least) and have many old and uneven cobblestone streets. Did you develop a strategy to deal with these problems?

Hills and cobblestones
You're right. Italy and Switzerland are hilly which is why I thought I would attempt them whilst I still could.

The walking stick/seat helped me up and down hills and also provided a very stable platform (prevented a few falls).

I spend my life in Targhee mid hiking boots because they prevent aggravation of heel spurs/plantar fasciitis and stabilise my left ankle. Also good for the back. These boots made cobblestones no problem.

The sole is rigid so there is no flexing. I did purchase a new pair of gel insoles for them (down below Roma Termini station). These would definitley not win the fashion stakes but they enable me to do things I would not be able to do otherwise.

The only down side is that they have metal through the sole so you do have to take them off to pass through security at airports etc.

Sorry Keen Targhee Mid hiking boots

ttt

Wonderful read.

I've been enjoying this report and the one on Italy. I don't have mobility problems but who knows what the future will bring so this is good information and affirmation that one can travel alone while not being totally mobile.

My question is about your shoes. I looked at them on line and they look tremendously supportive. My concern is that you say there is no flexing. Were these difficult to adjust to (I'm used to walking shoes that do flex) and did they make your shins ache while you adjusted to them?

Ah the shoes! I and my shoes have just returned from the shops (food). I could not survive the hard floors in shops without these.

To explain the flexing. There is flexion in the toe area but none from the front of the arch area of the foot back. Any shoe that will flex in the middle is no good for me. Also the shoes have a neutral(flat) foot bed so if you need orthotics they can be inserted without being thrown out of alignment. The soles are sturdy and "grippy" - you don't feel cobblestones at all. I'm actually wearing the men's version as women's are too narrow for me.

As I said they are definitely not a fashion statement. How I love pretty shoes! Now I admire them others and love mine because I can stay mobile.

When reviewing these on-line a few years ago there was one interesting comment. Apparently these are so water proof that someone had trouble drying them out ready for the next day when water had run down into them. Pair of oiled Bowyangs/Overboot Covers would take care of that if you planned serious hiking in them.

I suffered no pain wearing these. Just sheer relief right from the first time I put them on. And if I don't wear them, I pay for it.
Hope this has helped.

Thanks! Now I understand the flexing. That would be good to have solid support in the arch area. I'm going to check to see if any local stores carry this brand and try them on. As you say, they don't look great but if they do the job then they're worth everything!

As an aside to your consideration of traveling to Germany, I found the TIs in Germany to be first rate, especially the one in the Frankfurt train station. I haven't traveled much in Germany but I think it would be an easy country for you as the transportation system is so good.

I just ordered 2 pairs from LL Bean in 2 different sizes (not the high tops but the regular shoes). They're on sale and there's a 10% promotion and I get a $10 off coupon for my next order. Who can beat that? Plus the shoes are returnable for any reason and I get free return shipping. There was no reason not to order them and try them out. I appreciate your recommendation and can't wait to try these shoes!! I'll post back and let you know how they work for me.

Thank you, 2012moving, for your wonderful report! It's inspiring to hear of such a grand and willing spirit, and I'm so happy that the trip was great for you. Your report was, actually, moving!!

I do often recommend Spiez as a base because it's so convenient for most of Switzerland -- the west, south, and central parts. Thanks for this first-hand report of that.

s