marigross

After spending three glorious weeks in Switzerland I find myself deep in the throes of post-vacation depression. As every self-respecting fodorite knows the only cure for this syndrome is (A) constantly talk (or type) about your recently concluded vacation and (B) start planning your next vacation. I fear that option B might not be realistic in the near future after the final accountability of our spending during this vacation is done so I will have to focus on option A.

FYI- my DH is Swiss but has lived on this side of the Atlantic for more than twenty years. DD and I had been to Switzerland before but always to visit and stay with family so this was the first time we were traveling through the country itself.

DD is thirteen and still decent company but does not love hiking. This limited the length of the hikes we embarked on. The more a hike morphs into rock climbing the more she loves it. She does have an appreciation for a good view be that of mountain landscapes or young guys carrying ropes and snow picks. There were plenty of opportunities for viewing both.

I am usually planning (or overplanning) our vacations, determining sights to see, researching activities and restaurants…on this trip I did not do any of this except seek the guidance of the Fodor’s CH experts. Once the major areas had been selected (Bern vicinity, Weggis, Lugano vicinity, Samedan, and Zermatt) we pretty much decided on what to do on a daily basis. We did not target temples of gastronomy or luxurious accommodations (not that we ever really do…) as this was supposed to be a low-cost vacation staying with friends and family as much as possible.

A few impressions before I embark on a full-fledged trip report…

Swiss bread is wonderful. Swiss cheese just keeps getting better bite after time. Coffee might not be the absolute best in the world but they can certainly brew it decent. Allow plenty of time for breakfast; you will not get up from the table in ten minutes as you might have originally planned.

You cannot go wrong with any destination in Switzerland, some locations may be better than others but I don’t think that you can go really wrong. I have not been able to select a favorite area…I will not be able to take a side in the never-ending the Engadine vs. Berner Oberland discussion. DH insists that if we had had as good weather in the BO as we did in the Engadine, the BO would be the clear winner (BTW-he is Bernese….)

Swiss white wine is really good.

My choice of clothes was totally wrong. I should have packed every single short and Capri that I owned and bought some sport sandals. I would have blended in much better and felt much cooler. The only people not wearing sport-type clothes where the poor bankers and high-end sales people in Zurich. It was certainly hot enough to wear only skirts and shorts. People in Zermatt, Samedan or Weggis could have been transported to Moab, Utah and fit perfectly.

There are dogs everywhere and there is almost no evidence on the street. There are clearly marked containers at frequent intervals where the owners of the dogs can dispose of the evidence. These containers have bags in case the owner of the dog has forgotten to bring some with them. I think that these bags do not run out because everyone has several plastic tied to the dog’s leash. Swiss dogs are well behaved. Having four large dogs inside a crowded 40 person gondola will not result in any kind of misbehavior.

Swiss timeliness is not myth, the trains, boats and gondolas will depart within the minute they stated they would. If you are late by two minutes, do not rush…it is hopeless, the train will have departed.

Driving in Swiss mountain passes is not really as scary as it seems as apparently there are well know rules for every possible situation and there is no hesitation to apply them between uphill and downhill vehicles. Naturally there are exceptions that that the average suburban flatlander (myself included) will never know or suspect (i.e. the postal bus will ALWAYS have the right of way AND can drive on the left if the driver so decides). I am positive that the driving exam must be at least 50 pages long.

Swiss white wine can be drunk at any hour and goes very well with almost any type of food.

Hiking trails are clearly marked BUT some interpretation is required for the uninitiated: a trail of 6km and elevation change of 200m that is estimated to take 3hrs will take indeed at least three hours. What the description implies is that the NET change is 200m but the overall elevation could be along the lines of 600m through rocky climbing and descending 20% slopes that does take indeed more than three hours….never assume that there is a typo on the guidebook, the description is quite accurate.

Swiss wine is good at anytime and does not give you headaches after imbibing a little more than you really should have. The natural consequence of this is a steadily increasing consumption rate per vacation night.

Little Swiss old ladies that might even be slightly overweight will beat you to the trail end. EVERY TIME. Do not bet against them…you will not win. They will already be drinking the aforementioned wine at the restaurant before you arrive.

Italian cuisine seems to reign supreme in CH (Swiss red wine goes wonderfully well with pasta and pizza).

Next...The Bernese Oberland: visit the In-laws, the start of a tortellini obsession, observations of a Caribbean teenager inside a glacier and the quest for a public phone.

swandav2000

What fun!! What a great report! I'm thoroughly enjoying your trip!

By the way, did you get a chance to sample the Swiss white wines? Could you comment on them . . .heeeeeh!

s

annabelle2

Mari, this is fun. I am craving that bread and cheese right now. Interesting comments on the lack of hangovers w/ the wine; I just emailed a friend I traveled to Italy and Spain with last year, wondering why I could happily imbibe each night on the trip with no adverse consequences, and yet a few drinks with some of my 'younger' friends last night has me feeling wobbly today.

Must be something in the water...

More, please. I forgot how much I like Switzerland!

lovemyhorses

I'm loving all of your observations so far, and hope you write more soon. I just love these wonderful trip reports, and I can't get enough of them. Luckily, I have only discovered the Fodor's boards recently, and I am discovering LOTS of these travel reports through board searches...what fun!

Belinda

FainaAgain

Oh, Mari, I love your report so far, but please, as a personal favor, and I promise I won't ask for me, please please please mention Swiss ice-cream

And I absolutely agree with everything you've said!

"If you are late by two minutes, do not rush…it is hopeless, the train will have departed." - is this just an observation, or there is a story behind this sentence

kleeblatt

Swiss white wine is great as an apero.

Love your Switzerland report. We've had the most amazing weather. Last year, you would have used those clothes you packed.

Swiss white wine can be drunk as "gespritze Weisse" too.

Looking forward to hearing more about...

Swiss white wine and the rest!

lyb

bookmarking for later reference

suec1

There seems to be something about the "well marked trails" that I just did not get! On two trips to Switz. (short stays, I must admit) I went up to Gstaad and attempted to take a trail and just got frustrated. I would see some signs but then would come to places that I had no idea which way to go. I kept telling myself, these ARE well marked trails but ended up before long going to a restuarant and enjoying the white wine instead!

enzian

Some trails are marked better than others. It's best to have a hiking map to help sort it out when things get confusing.

The white wine, on the other hand, it all good---no map needed. Never tried it at breakfast, though. . .

Can't wait to read more, Marigross.

Ingo

Marigross, can't wait to read more! I second all your observations.

The Swiss White wine is indeed fabulous. I recall having wonderful Dezaley, St. Saphorin ... but also excellent Red Wine - Pinot Noir from Lutry, Merlot from Ticino, Stägafässli from Val Poschiavo ...

Btw, I don't think we have a serious discussion BO vs. Engadine. It's more like teasing ;-)

Ingo

LLindaC

I see you've adopted the Swiss habit of shutting down for a few hours. Get this report done stat!!

marigross

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delays...people at work are interfering with my writing. They expect me to come back after three weeks and actually work!!! Are they crazy???

I am writing the report as I post so it might take a little while...hang in there I will do better over the weekend.

Faina - Swiss Ice Cream....what can I tell you? I thought Berthillion (sp?) had the world monopoly on Ice Cream perfection. How mistaken I was! I, the chocolate queen, did not really eat chocolate on this trip except in the form of Ice Cream. Hazelnut Ice Cream is the best,but Caramel comes a close second. Pear IC is also good....

marigross

Day 1 - the arrival
After checking the ‘not to forget before you leave the house’ list left by DH and checking it twice, DD and I left our home for San Juan airport. We were as prepared as you can be for the 20 hr trip to Switzerland. Why twenty hours? Well…San Juan to Newark is four hours, then a seven and a half hour layover in Newark and then eight more to Zurich (don’t you just love the wonderful alternatives offered to FF users?????).

After watching two World Cup games in EWR we finally boarded. DD slept through much of the long flight but since she was laying against me, I did not. After breezing through airport control in Zurich and picking up our luggage we found DH who was waiting to pick us up with the rental car.

DH had been is Switzerland for a week so that he could visit with his mother and extended family as well as take care of all the little things that you have to do when you are at your parents….

The first stop was the travel agency in the airport to purchase the Swiss Flex Pass for DH and me and get the Junior Card Pass for DD. There was much debate regarding the selection of the type of rail pass we would buy. DH wanted to have a car while he stayed with his mother so we had decided if we would keep the car all the time or ditch it after our arrival? Keep the car one week? Two weeks? We read comments on Fodor’s, we looked at the SFF website, and we changed our minds several times until we found a solution that I think was the absolute best for us. We kept the car for a week and a half more and then used public transportation.

The flex pass allows you to have four non-consecutive days of train travel while letting us enjoy all along the half-price discount for us and free pass for DD on all ferries, trains, gondolas and lifts. Considering the EXTENSIVE use we made of public transportation, this card paid for itself twice over.

We drove to DH’s home near Bern and met with his mother and aunt. We then drove to a restaurant near Barage Schiffenen (between Dudingen and Murten) for lunch in their terrace. DD, MIL and Aunt had chicken while DH and I had and awesome steak from a four-legged animal that is not commonly consumed by humans in the US. The day was absolutely beautiful! Even though MIL and AIL were hot, the temperature for me was just right. Hey, I live in Puerto Rico, I am used to hot AND humid. So warm and dry is 100% OK with me.

We returned to MIL to gather DH’s stuff and head for DH’s friend’s house where we would be staying (MIL has a small apartment and the tree of us would not fit ) for a week. Frau V. was waiting for us with a pork roast. DD opened her eyes wide….red meat? No thank you, I only eat white meat….DH chimes in and says that she can eat whatever side dish has been made. DD agrees and sets to eat salad and bread. Frau V. is ready to smack DH for not telling her that before that DD is quasi-vegetarian. She offers to make something else for DD. At this point and to my ever-lasting motherly pride, DD politely announces that she will make an exception on her moral stand against consumption of large animals and she will eat the Pork Roast. We clearly establish for the duration of the vacation that Pork will be considered Pink Meat and not Red Meat and will be consumed when necessary as long as it did not come in the form of sausage.

After a Ice Cream, coffee and three bottles of wine had been consumed between the four adults, Jet Lag finally kicked in and DD and I retired for the evening

next - Day 2: Grindelwald

jmw44

Oh, goody, marigross! Another distraction from my back-to-school prep. You're off to a dandy start. More please. (I've been lecturing my brother about how much better behaved the Swiss dogs are than his. I sat next to one on a train, and that precious HUGE animal was more of a gentleman than most men I know. His owner gave him instructions with the tiniest movement of her index finger, never a word was spoken. I was so impressed!) J.

marigross

Day 2: Grindelwald

Next day after slightly oversleeping we finally got up, had breakfast got into the car and drove to Grindelwald. Weather was beautiful but I have to say that slept most of the drive…this was to repeat over and over throughout the trip whenever DH drove or we were on the train! There is something about the hum of the engine that puts me asleep in no time whatsoever. We parked, got loaded into the gondola and went up.

Our first walk of the vacation was up to Manlichen. After a little huffing and puffing on my part (I am born and raised at sea-level and altitude affects me, it had nothing to do whatsoever with being out of shape and weight-gain), we had our very first magnificent view….wow…WOW…We sat for a bit and looked at the gliders launch from the mountain into the valley.

We then walked towards Klineschidegg. It took about 45minutes of very pleasant, easy walking without notable inclination. The sun was out strong. We stopped for lunch at the first restaurant and ordered the pasta special. I don’t know if I had low expectations as in my experience a place such as this would have a tourist trap, but when the steaming bowls of gratinated pasta arrived I was impressed. Creamy inside and crunchy on top, some ham in it (remember…pork is pink meat!).

As the pasta disappeared, some clouds began to hover on the side of the Jungfraujoch…hmmm….should we hurry up? Anyway, the cloud was kind of inoffensive looking, the view was impressive and the meal was so good….it took a while before we got up from the table.

We walked toward the train station, got our tickets for the train and after a few minutes we were on the way up. Before we disappeared into the mountain tunnel we catched a glimpse of what was now the Big Bad Cloud.

The train opens two times so people can get out and look out huge windows blasted on the mountain side. A little portion of our first glacier could be seen and the view down was still clear. When we finally made it all the way to the top we dug out of our backpacks every single sweater and jacket that we had and made our way to the Sphinx.

We got out of the elevator and faced a 360 degree view of fog. No mountain, no glacier. Just fog/cloud. DD and I are suburban island girls. This will sound ridiculous to a lot of people but just being cold on the outside and being exposed to fog like that is a different and therefore exciting for us (I know…sad!). We bravely stepped out onto the platform, the fog was so thick that I did not realize that we were walking over a see-through metal gill platform and that sometimes when the wind blew a little, the distant glacier could be seen straight underneath (Have I mentioned that I am afraid of heights….really afraid?).
After a sudden stop and quick return to safe and solid ground, we tried our luck with the Ice Palace.

On the way down we saw the exit to the glacier and stepped out. I’m sure is must have been really nice but we did not see anything at all. The sport places were all closing down. DH asked the people there if there was any hope for the weather clearing and they said no, no hope whatsoever.

More huffing and puffing later (this time 100% blamed on altitude), we reached the Ice Palace went inside the glacier. DD got a big kick out this part, sliding on the ice floor on her shoes. We took pictures of the silly sculptures and posed on the corny face-cutout Eskimos.

We then went into the restaurant area and DD had hot chocolate. A little patience resulted in some little views of glacier. I’m sure that the view must have been really magnificent! Sadly we boarded the train back down, immediately got switched to the next train and before we knew it, we were back on the valley floor.

It was time to head towards our host home. I asked DH if we were expected for dinner. No he replied, followed by…at least I think we are not!...hummm…OK, I say, should we call them and let them know that it is five in the afternoon and we are still in Grindelwald so we will not be coming home for dinner? Yes, we should call them, DH agreed.

A note about cell phones and vacations – I had my entire family with me on this trip (DH & DD). My mother was house-sitting at home and had the phone numbers of all the places we would be staying in case of an emergency. I have slowly trained my mom over the years not to expect regular phone calls while we are away. I had just been through some traumatic weeks at work before I left and I wanted to make myself inaccessible. For all these reasons I chose not to carry or arrange for a cell phone in Europe. In retrospective, there were a few instances where it would have been helpful to have a phone but we certainly worked our way around them without major inconvenience. I will stick by my decision, no cell phone.

First step: find a pay phone. This seemed easy enough; hah! After several attempts we decided to look in the train station. Yes, there is a pay phone…Second Step: put money in pay phone. Wait, there is something wrong! Where do you put the money? There is no space to insert coins or bills. A card? What kind of a card? Any card says the innocent bystander…OK...Visa, Master Card go in…nothing. Swiss ATM goes in too, nothing, US ATM follows with the same result. Innocent bystander insists that any of them should work. Could the pay phone be broken? By now it is quarter to six.

We get back into the car and try to find another pay phone. We get into the car and go to the next bus station. No pay phone. There is one in the next train station so we try. The same sequence of events described in the previous paragraph is followed. This time a second innocent bystander volunteers that maybe a phone card is required. Where do we buy one? Where is the kiosk? Closed at six? Hummm missed it for about two minutes.

At this point DH announces that by now our hosts would realize that we were not coming home for dinner and we should change the quest for the phone to the search for a place to eat. The innocent bystanders get questioned for a pizzeria (we wanted something small, remember the scrumptious pasta bowl?) and one is recommended in Interlaken.

Off we go, but the recommended places were not to be found. After driving through town two times (and therefore a visit TO Interlaken was not required anymore) we got on the highway and off we were. A detour on the road took us to a smaller street along Spiez. A Pizzeria was spotted but the parking was so full that there was no hope of going there. Finally a restaurant was selected randomly, the Seeblick, and we went in.

We were seated lakeside and I must say that the view was amazing. DH and I ordered some rosti and sausage with onion sauce and DD ordered ‘Tortellini Antonio’. While we watched the slow-motioned sunset and sipped white wine, DD was throwing bread at the water fowl that were swimming right next to us. Our meal was good but nothing memorable; on the other hand, DD’s tortellini redefined her view of the culinary horizon. I will admit that they were REALLY good (that she let me try one was proof that she still likes her mother). In her opinion, no other meal consumed during the vacation came even close.

We finally arrived at our host home after ten in the evening. We apologized for not coordinating better but they said that it was perfectly fine and that they were not expecting us for dinner, not to worry. Within half and hour, I was soundly asleep!

Next: Ballenberg (Ballenburg?!?!?!?.....yes, indeed)

marigross

Day 4 ¡V Ballennberg

I was up around eight in the morning and not feeling very jet lagged. DD had to be woken up every morning of the vacation but I consider that normal and not related to time differences as any parent of a teenager will testify. Our destination for the day: Ballenburg.

Ballenburg is an open-air museum showcasing old (really, really old) Swiss houses from different cantons in each of their typical styles. I must admit that I would not have selected this as day trip myself but I trusted DH and his knowledge of what we like. I loved it! DD liked most of it, but it might have been a bit too much for her after the first twenty houses, I mean how many homesteads can a 13yr see and still like. The farms (and farm animals) were a big hit with her (remember our solid suburban upbringing ).

The place is huge. Even knowing beforehand that we would not try to see everything, by the end of the day I was dragging my feet while still enjoying what I was seeing. What I loved about it was the sense of authenticity that each of the ¡¥towns¡¦ or ¡¥homesteads¡¦ had. Most of the houses were fully furnished but the presentations are not an attempt to reproduce an era or a style¡Kthey are the real thing. The people that work there are really practicing their art or craft and not dressed-up, role-playing students on a summer-job. Each house was treated with respect. I bet that the men and women that originally built each of them with their hands centuries ago would feel proud to have them in this place. See¡KI get all romantic around old houses¡K.DH knows me, that is why he takes me to these places

We did wind up walking through most of Ballenburg and it did take the entire day. We drove back to our host home, where we were expected for dinner. Frau V. gifted us with Tortellini with Pesto and her very special Penne alla Vodka. Mmmmm. Delicious. Could have them right now (or anytime for that matter). I will try the recipe but I¡¦m sure it will not be the same. There is a special taste imparted to food when you have it with good friends on a beautiful vacation evening that cannot be reproduced anywhere else¡K..

Herr V. and DD took off to watch on TV the World Cup semi-final and after some coffee DH and Frau V. joined them while I happily leapt into bed.

marigross

Day 5- Chateau de Chillon to Le Diablerets and Gruyere and the attack of the flies

We got up early to make sure that we picked up DH’s mother at the agreed time. A note here regarding MIL- this week was her 88th birthday. Aside from a little shaking, she is in very good health and lives by herself. Part of selecting Switzerland as our vacation destination was to get DH to spend time with her.

We drove through Montreux and headed towards Chateu de Chillon. We bought discounted tickets (Swiss Flex Pass) and went in. The temperature for us was perfect (cooler and a lot drier than in Puerto Rico) but MIL was uncomfortably hot. We followed the visit program and went into the dungeons first. This was a bad choice for MIL since it was dark and the floor uneven. She turned back and decided to wait for us in a shadowy bench in the courtyard.

The castle was crowded but not awfully so, only two bus loads of Japanese tourist and lots of English spoken around us. We easily followed the visit program on the brochure and took a LOT of pictures. I made my way up most staircases but chose not to go all the way to the tower since I’m afraid of heights. The castle is certainly worth the visit.

We found MIL and got back in the car for our drive to Les Diablerets. I shamefully have to admit that I slept through a lot of wonderful views. We arrived at the cable car station in Col du Pillon. MIL was uncertain of how she would feel up in the glacier and she went into the restaurant to wait for us. We took all our sweaters out of the car, boarded the cable car and went up, up, up.

The view was stunning outside but limited from the observation platforms by big construction scaffolds. We looked around for a while and since we had missed the second gondola down we decided to have a little lunch on the Glacier 3000 restaurant. DD had very good onion soup and DH and I had decent goulash soup. We sat by the panoramic windows and looked over the snowfield. DD had a big grin on her face (there is no snow in Puerto Rico….).

We made it down with the third gondola and found MIL. In retrospect she could have easily gone up with us since we could not really go and walk in the glacier. We loaded back into the car and I proceeded to miss most of our drive through Gstaad and Chateau d’Oex. I woke up when we were almost in Gruyeres.

I have this personal theory that significant changes in elevation make me sleepy (or sleepier) but then I keep falling asleep on the car at other times so I have not been able to prove it! In my defense I will say that I had been working 80+ stressful hours per week for the previous three months before going on this vacation so I had a lot of sleep backlog.

DH drove up to the highest parking but there was not a single place to be found. DD, MIL and I got out of the car and started walking into town while he drove back down in the eternal quest for parking.

I think that whenever people are trying to decide if they will rent a car or use public transportation for their vacation in Switzerland, the difficulty of finding a parking space is not stressed enough. People know that public transportation is good in Switzerland, they just don’t know how extremely difficult it is to find parking in old towns.

Gruyeres in my mind is a mixture of Assisi in Italy and Santillana del Mar in Spain with its own unique Swiss flavor. It is a charming, VERY photogenic little medieval town with a great castle on top of everything else. I think I would have enjoyed staying overnight so I could see it tourist-free. What the heck…If I had had plenty of time maybe I even would have gone to the Giger museum to see the alien nightmares…or maybe not, we’ll never know!

MIL was overheated by the time we made it to the fountain in the town square so she opted again to sit in the restaurant while we went into the castle. Again, the place is worth a detour but I am biased, being a self-confessed medievalist.

As we visited the castle we begin to hear the distant roar of thunder. Thunder? It can’t be, it was bright blue sky when we came in. By the time DH and DD were ready to go down the tower spiral stairway and I was looking for alternative routes down, it began to rain. And rain, and RAIN, and thunder. Welcome to Swiss weather, where you can’t see what is coming from the other side of the mountain! We hung around, went in to see some exhibit of Tibetan artifacts in the castle exhibit rooms which we had bypassed before. Naturally all the umbrellas had been left in the car because nobody wanted to carry them when the weather was sooooo nice….

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty….some people run from the castle doors to the entrance gate. Thunder, thunder, thunder. DH says that hail could start coming down. HAIL??!?!? You don’t get hail very often in Puerto Rico. More people run to the gate and after a while, when it seems to be calming down we do so as well.

This is not a Caribbean summer rain shower, the rain is COLD. So we hang around the very small gift shop by the entrance gate for at least another half an hour. When the light rain finally turns into a drizzle we start walking back into town.

The first thing we see is MIL standing in the restaurant door, she was very worried for us as we had been gone for almost three hours. We go into the restaurant and we order some tea and hot chocolate for DD. By the conversation with the waitress we find out that MIL had fretted and worried for the entire duration of the storm. She wanted to call a taxi to come get us but the waitress patiently told her that the taxi could not get inside the castle gate anyway and the only thing to do was to stay put.

Almost all restaurants had closed when the rain started but that one stayed open (maybe because MIL was there?) so they took a few more refugees in. There was a lady sitting that was almost driven to tears every time it thundered. The waitress looked like it was not the first time she had to play calming hostess…

After we had had our tea it was still raining so we finally decided that even though it was still early we would have dinner there (in appreciation of their support to MIL). We relocated to the back of the restaurant where we hoped there would be less flies.

Why, oh why, is it that every single restaurant in Switzerland seems to be frequented by flies??? Nobody seems to mind and nobody pays attention to them. This was and is still my only complaint about an otherwise completely civilized nation. I have never seen in any of my travels as many flies as I did on this trip.

We ordered Fondue and it arrived promptly accompanied by potatoes as well as bread. I guess tourist confuse raclatte and fondue…who knows. The flies started congregating as soon as the food hit the table. At any given point there must have been at least forty flies landing either on the table or over us. I was trying to be polite and not make much of it because they had been so kind to MIL but at the end we did not walk out because it was still pouring outside.

Eventually we were done, DH got an umbrella from the waitress and drove the car into town so we could get in by the restaurant door.

Of all the wonderful things that we saw that day, it will be forever remembered as the day of the flies….

ronkala

Mari,
you are doing great, keep it coming.

mvor

Mari, thanks for the great tips which will come in handy for our upcoming trip...especially the wine! Looking forward to more~

ronkala

Wine??? did Mari mention wine?? =D>