Anyone up for some armchair travel to Switzerland?
Dec 2nd, 2020, 06:11 PM
#161
Wowser, wowser, wowser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gorgeous, gorgeous professional quality photos, everyone. Holy Mackerel, this shutterbug has GOT to get to Switzerland. Looks like it's always sunny, too, well mostly, lol.
Gorgeous, gorgeous professional quality photos, everyone. Holy Mackerel, this shutterbug has GOT to get to Switzerland. Looks like it's always sunny, too, well mostly, lol.
Dec 2nd, 2020, 08:52 PM
#162
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Always sunny? HA! Rhone valley in Valais in particular, where, being located between the two main Alpine mountain chains, they receive very little rain? HA, HA!
Here are some pics of my visit to Sion. I had only this one day for that trip...
Sion, or Sitten in German, is located almost smack on the linguistic border between the German and the French speaking parts of Switzerland, but on the French side. The architecture of the centre shows that the French culture has spread from Lake Geneva up the valley. The striking feature of the town are its four castles, two of them on steep rocks overtowering the town. An amazing cityscape, even in a downpour.
Sion and the valley, seen from La Valère
Climbing up to La Valère, the church castle
Inside the church of La Valère
Tourbillon, the castle on the neighbouring hill, is even higher up. It is all in ruins, which would not be too impressive if regarded by themselves, but the views are good (and promise to be amazing if the weather is on your side).
La Valère, the church castle
Back in the old town, a typical streetview
Desperately searching for a dry warm spot and a hot drink... The flags above the street add encouraging splashes of colour to the greyish day.
Sion city hall
Sion cathedral
Streetview with La Valère above
Here are some pics of my visit to Sion. I had only this one day for that trip...
Sion, or Sitten in German, is located almost smack on the linguistic border between the German and the French speaking parts of Switzerland, but on the French side. The architecture of the centre shows that the French culture has spread from Lake Geneva up the valley. The striking feature of the town are its four castles, two of them on steep rocks overtowering the town. An amazing cityscape, even in a downpour.
Sion and the valley, seen from La Valère
Climbing up to La Valère, the church castle
Inside the church of La Valère
Tourbillon, the castle on the neighbouring hill, is even higher up. It is all in ruins, which would not be too impressive if regarded by themselves, but the views are good (and promise to be amazing if the weather is on your side).
La Valère, the church castle
Back in the old town, a typical streetview
Desperately searching for a dry warm spot and a hot drink... The flags above the street add encouraging splashes of colour to the greyish day.
Sion city hall
Sion cathedral
Streetview with La Valère above
Dec 3rd, 2020, 12:35 AM
#163
Nice to see you here, dcd!
We’ve been in June/ July and September, lucky enough to get fantastic weather (an unexpected heatwave last year though, when I booked a place with a very nice fire, lol)
Mel goes more off season, so her photos are making me want to try October perhaps.
quokka, Sion is on my to do list, too.
This thread is fun, but painful.
We’ve been in June/ July and September, lucky enough to get fantastic weather (an unexpected heatwave last year though, when I booked a place with a very nice fire, lol)
Mel goes more off season, so her photos are making me want to try October perhaps.
quokka, Sion is on my to do list, too.
This thread is fun, but painful.
Dec 3rd, 2020, 05:54 AM
#164
Good to have you here dcd.
Definitely not always sunny...as a fellow shutterbug I seek out blue skies, and generally only post photos I really like, hence all the blue in mine, which to me, is the perfect backdrop.
One of the perks of travelling in winter is that when the skies in Switzerland are blue, they are a glorious blue. Nothing quite like a clear cold day in Switzerland IMO. We've been visiting for many, many years now, so I have a good selection of sunny photos to choose from. I have my share of crap photos too, which I've been purging over the past few weeks.
To see the sun in Switzerland in winter one must GO UP. The valleys (and cities) can remain quite dark well into mid morning and the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city), so we've learned to go UP to maximize very short winter days.
Your post reminds me that when we lived in Perth, Australia, we'd often ooooo and ahhhh over the brilliant blue skies at certain times of year. To this day Bill and I refer to a beautiful clear blue sky as Western Australia Blue.
Definitely not always sunny...as a fellow shutterbug I seek out blue skies, and generally only post photos I really like, hence all the blue in mine, which to me, is the perfect backdrop.
One of the perks of travelling in winter is that when the skies in Switzerland are blue, they are a glorious blue. Nothing quite like a clear cold day in Switzerland IMO. We've been visiting for many, many years now, so I have a good selection of sunny photos to choose from. I have my share of crap photos too, which I've been purging over the past few weeks.
To see the sun in Switzerland in winter one must GO UP. The valleys (and cities) can remain quite dark well into mid morning and the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city), so we've learned to go UP to maximize very short winter days.
Your post reminds me that when we lived in Perth, Australia, we'd often ooooo and ahhhh over the brilliant blue skies at certain times of year. To this day Bill and I refer to a beautiful clear blue sky as Western Australia Blue.
Dec 3rd, 2020, 06:00 AM
#165
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To see the sun in Switzerland in winter one must GO UP. The valleys (and cities) can remain quite dark well into mid morning and the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city), so we've learned to go UP to maximize very short winter days.
.
Dec 3rd, 2020, 07:23 AM
#166
On my two trips in or near the Valais, two weeks each in September, I had a lot more clouds and rain than sun. However, the rain seemed to coincide with my arrival. In fact I took a screenshot of the forecast, and the actual weather was even wetter than predicted. I arrived at the airport on Saturday:
That said, mountain weather being what it is, I was also granted a few stellar blue sky days.
A penguin enjoying the sun near Verbier
Fortunately I don't mind cloudy weather too much, since I was not sleeping in a tent.
Descent to Combe de Prafleuri from Lac Des Dix
Mel, your larch photos are fabulous!
That said, mountain weather being what it is, I was also granted a few stellar blue sky days.
A penguin enjoying the sun near Verbier
Fortunately I don't mind cloudy weather too much, since I was not sleeping in a tent.
Descent to Combe de Prafleuri from Lac Des Dix
Mel, your larch photos are fabulous!
Dec 3rd, 2020, 12:50 PM
#167
Sorry, I must disagree. Now in our 13th year of living in a Swiss city, we have enjoyed MANY sunny winter afternoons in Basel, Zug, Lugano etc. My city life is not dark, dank and dismal by 2 pm in winter.
Fair enough WeisserTee. I should have prefaced my comment with "in my experience".
Please note that I didn't say 'dark, dank and dismal' , I said "the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city)," which has very much been my experience in our visits to city centers in December. Your mileage may vary.
Fair enough WeisserTee. I should have prefaced my comment with "in my experience".
Please note that I didn't say 'dark, dank and dismal' , I said "the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city)," which has very much been my experience in our visits to city centers in December. Your mileage may vary.
Last edited by Melnq8; Dec 3rd, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
Dec 3rd, 2020, 02:45 PM
#168
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Please note that I didn't say 'dark, dank and dismal' , I said "the sun vanishes around 2 pm in the valley (disappearing behind the mountains or disappearing behind buildings if in the city)," which has very much been my experience in our visits to city centers in December. Your mileage may vary.
Dec 4th, 2020, 12:07 AM
#171
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Adelaidean, I'll add a few to Weisser Tee's wonderful photos of Basel - your wish is my command 
Some photos from 2004. Let's start with St. Alban district:
Ferry to St. Alban district
medieval city gate
Gasthof Zum Sternen by the river, one of the oldest in Switzerland
Food!
St. Alban district
Some photos from 2004. Let's start with St. Alban district:
Ferry to St. Alban district
medieval city gate
Gasthof Zum Sternen by the river, one of the oldest in Switzerland
Food!
St. Alban district
Dec 4th, 2020, 06:03 AM
#174
A sunny day after 2 pm in Chur, blue above, cold and dark within the city, hence my comment about the sun being blocked by the buildings.
Chur, December 2016
Chur, December 2016
Chur, December 2016
Chur, December 2016
Chur, December 2016
Chur, December 2016
Last edited by Melnq8; Dec 4th, 2020 at 06:07 AM.
Dec 4th, 2020, 07:06 AM
#177
I have a thing for Swiss cemeteries...so loved and well tended.
Adelboden, October 2019
Grengiols, October 2019
Rapperswil, October 2019
Rapperswil, October 2019
Grengiols, October 2017
Leukerbad, June 2017
Falera, December 2017
Klosters, December 2017
Vals, October 2019
Adelboden, October 2019
Grengiols, October 2019
Rapperswil, October 2019
Rapperswil, October 2019
Grengiols, October 2017
Leukerbad, June 2017
Falera, December 2017
Klosters, December 2017
Vals, October 2019
Dec 4th, 2020, 08:15 AM
#178
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(Hi swandav! *Quite* foggy on the Golden Pass journey!)
Thanks Adelaidean
Mel - I never fail to visit and take a photo of the town's cemetery. It tells much about the people. The food is salad, yes - with King Prawns. Delicious! And that sun vs dark etc. thing - of course it depends on the orientation of the valley (Lower Engadine West - East, so maximum sunlight), the how tall and steep the mountains are and if the towns are down in the valley or high above on a sunny terrace - like Guarda, Ardez, Sent ... Basel is actually favoured by its location - no high mountains around, and since it is north of Jura mountain chain it doesn't get that much "high fog/clouds" in fall/winter as the rest of the Swiss plains from Lake Geneva to Lake Constance.
Thanks Adelaidean
Mel - I never fail to visit and take a photo of the town's cemetery. It tells much about the people. The food is salad, yes - with King Prawns. Delicious! And that sun vs dark etc. thing - of course it depends on the orientation of the valley (Lower Engadine West - East, so maximum sunlight), the how tall and steep the mountains are and if the towns are down in the valley or high above on a sunny terrace - like Guarda, Ardez, Sent ... Basel is actually favoured by its location - no high mountains around, and since it is north of Jura mountain chain it doesn't get that much "high fog/clouds" in fall/winter as the rest of the Swiss plains from Lake Geneva to Lake Constance.
Last edited by Ingo; Dec 4th, 2020 at 08:22 AM.
Dec 4th, 2020, 09:29 AM
#179
Thanks for the explanation Ingo - going to Guarda, Ardez and Sent from Scuol is exactly what I meant by going UP. Maximizing the sun on our December visits is always part of our planning process as you well know.
Speaking of planning, I think I'm ready to begin planning a return visit for October/November. Not ready to actually book yet, but definitely ready to get the planning underway. I may be seeking your advise soon.
Speaking of planning, I think I'm ready to begin planning a return visit for October/November. Not ready to actually book yet, but definitely ready to get the planning underway. I may be seeking your advise soon.
