Melnq8

After the drive we had today over Rabbit Ears Pass, I'd tell you the Rockies are in a bad mood. We got caught up in a nasty spring storm and it was pretty tense crossing the pass (elevation 9,500 feet).

Very thankful that we got over Hooiser Pass (11,542 feet) before the snow got serious.

I haven't been to the Canadian Rockies but I hail from Colorado. The CO Rockies are higher than those in Switzerland for the most part; we have 58 peaks over 14,000 feet just here in CO. But, timberline in CO is 11,000-11,500 feet, whereas I'd guess its about 5,000 feet in the Alps and the Alps rise from a lower elevation, making them much more dramatic and prominent.

I live at 8,500 feet in Colorado, so going up to 11,000 feet is just a gradual climb and much less interesting than going from Interlaken at 1,857 feet to the Jungfrau at 13,642 feet,

Curious where you live scrb?

scrb11

I'm in CA.

Thing is as far as I can tell, the Rockies don't have the cable car and mountain trains infrastructure that the Alps do -- not just in Switzerland but Austria, Italy, France as well.

Also all the alpine lakes.

Melnq8

You got that right. Only in ski areas, but nothing on the scale of Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Nor do we have fantastic bergrestaurants and wine cellars at the top of our ski areas.

Winter sports in Switzerland is a joy - groomed hiking/snowshoe trails, copious restaurants, funiculars, cable cars, gondolas.

Here it's much more difficult and often less enjoyable.

We do have alpine lakes though. Nothing on the scale of the Oeschinensee, but lakes just the same.

scrb11

I'm sure in Aspen you can get any kind of food you want, if you can pay.

I think Thun, Brienz and Lucerne are spectacular, even if they're not high up in the mountains.

I haven't seen Oeschinensee or a lot of Lake Geneva yet.

Hambagahle

I am interested in your comparison Mel - and I agree with it. I have been several times to Colorado (on business) and to Wyoming. In CO I went to Colorado Springs (high!!) and Aspen as well of course Denver and Boulder. I was surprised to learn how high the mountains near Colorado Springs are, simply because they looked so "rounded" compared to ours here. From a geological point of view does that mean they are older, so more eroded? I know here the alps are being formed by the African plate which is pushing up against the European plate. (One of the reasons why we have so many earthquakes in the Valais). The Matterhorn is actually on the African plate and when you are there in summer you can see that the colours in the rocks are different between those around the Matterhorn and those on the Gornergrat. Geology is fascinating!!

Back to the original topic of this thread: This afternoon the Federal Council will announce its plans for us for more opening up for the next several months. It is very likely that they will allow restaurants to have indoor dining beginning 26 May. I am crossing my fingers because the restaurants closed here in the Valais in early Nov, re-opened for about 10 days around Christmas and then Bern shut them all down, nationwide, in late December. It would be SO nice to be able to stroll over to a restaurant and have dinner...or lunch...or even just a coffee! I am tired of cooking!!

kleeblatt

The alp huts serve better alcohol.

Hambagahle

From what I have heard about on slope "restaurants" in the USA the on slope restaurants in the Swiss Alps serve far better food and drink and more elegantly too as a rule!!

Melnq8

Absolutely. No comparison. And there are many more of them in Switzerland.

scrb11

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society...rland/45592192


Seems to be a catch-all of latest covid developments in Switzerland.

WeisserTee

We just got our first shots today. Took too long for widespread vaccines to get going, but we experienced this morning the Swiss efficiency we had hoped for earlier. Late, yes, but very smoothly done.

Hambagahle

We had our second shots on 1 March. (ages: 84 and 79) This morning our pharmacist said they are going to start vaccinating at the end of the coming week... Our daughter (53) gets her first shot this week. All of this in the Valais. The vaccinations are now quite widespread. Yesterday's Tages Anzeiger said that over 1 million Swiss are now fully vaccinated...

kleeblatt

In Kanton Schwyz, anyone from 18 years old and up can get immunized but there's a waiting list. Restaurants will be opening up again with a limit of 4 people at a table inside. Outside terraces have been open for a while but we can now expect all restaurants to open again. Keep those vaccines coming!

WeisserTee

We’re both under 65 and have no risk factors so were lumped in the general adult population. Can’t wait to eat at restos indoors again. Although it looks like a rainy week ahead, two friends and I are day tripping to Bern for shopping, going to the art museum and having lunch. Eating at an outside table under the arcades will keep us pretty dry even if it rains.

scrb11

Got an email this morning from Hotel desk Balances in Lucerne saying they are fully open and offering a 3-day package that I could book.

Email is in English which is interesting since Americans and UK visitors are restricted from visiting.

Guess they’re hoping to get some reservations which they can just refund later if the travel restrictions are never lifted this summer.

Hambagahle

I got the same email from the Balances. I see nothing strange about it being in English - their website is in German, English and French. Many Swiss (myself included) use English rather than German when communicating with a hotel in another linguistic area! If you have stayed there or have been in touch with them they would naturally send you an announcement in the language you have used to communicate with them before.

3 day package they referred to is not much use - it is for this week during the Corpus Christi holiday which is on Thursday. A bit late for people to make plans perhaps?

Restaurants opened for indoor dining for people not staying in a hotel all over Switzerland yesterday. Which is the reason for the "promotion".

scrb11

Switzerland has formally opened, to rest of Schengen and to Americans among others, for tourism.

Melnq8

Woo-hoo!

Hambagahle

It is true that Switzerland is opening up for tourists but only under certain conditions and not until 26 June.
1) Travellers should be vaccinated OR cured from COVID within the last 6 months and prove it OR have a negative PCR test.
2) Vaccination certificates issued by an official agency in the traveller's home country are accepted
3) There is still a list of countries for which travellers coming here have to quarantine IF they are not vaccinated. For this list see https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home...html#858610174

Borders are to fully open for any Schengen residents on 26 June as well.

Note that there is a small list of countries with a worrying variant. Quarantine for travellers from those countries is waived if they are vaccinated. Also note that the new, shorter list of countries will appear on the BAG site in the next several days.

scrb11

There was one report that for the first 6 weeks of this opening, an alternate to the digital green pass would be accepted.

Could that mean they would accept the US CDC cards, because Americans don't have a national digital certification of vaccination, but then after the 6 weeks, we have to hope an EU country will offer digital certificates to American tourists?

I am right now in Paris, having transited through FRA and BCN. I gave them my CDC card along with passport and they hand it right back to me in FRA and CDG, while checking my passport.

Christina

I don't think it is quite the case that you have to present a "negative PCR test". It can be antigen, the official website says so, but only if you arrive by air. If you arrive by land, it is supposed to be PCR. I guess that's due to the time it may take to fly there from many countries, which makes the 72 hr criterion more difficult.