Yesterday we went to the train station with our bikes to catch a train to Geneva so we could ride to see the Tour de France. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. It was the first day of school holidays and there were power problems in Fribourg (I think it was there - began with an F anyway). The 9:30 train didn't go and the 10:00 and 10:30 which were supposed to be ICs turned out to be ICNs for which bikes needed a reservation and they were all taken. So we randomly decided to go somewhere else.
We hopped on the train going to Chur after they managed to find the last two spots in the luggage van for our bikes. We got off at Chur and after looking at the various bicycle route signs, chose the two north. Shortly afterwards this became non-sealed. We always get strange looks from the other cyclists when we ride these routes on our road bikes- but they're not too bad.
The route followed the Rhein through the valley - into a head wind of course and after a while detoured into "Heidi Land" - Maienfeld and Bad Ragaz. Very pretty views. It started getting hotter and we bailed out at Sargans. It was 12 degrees earlier in the week and yesterday it was at least 30. It's a bit of a shock to the system.
We caught an IC back. The last carriage was one of the bike downstairs, play room upstairs carriages. The bottom was filled with bikes - all the official spaces were taken and they were 4 deep against the walls. Luckily it was express from Sargans to Zurich.
Showing posts with label switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label switzerland. Show all posts
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
A very nice view
This is a photo from our walk near Luzern. There are some very nice houses on the lake like this. Later there are houses with high hedges around them and "privat" signs so that you can't see the houses - or the view.
Luzern
Haven't blogged in a while. I've been busy working. Still in Switzerland. We went to Luzern yesterday and started walking along the edge of the lake.
According to GMaps Pedometer we walked about 11 km. This is our route. Actually it would be a bit more than that because we had to backtrack a few times when we lost the Wanderweg signs.
The Vierwaldstaettersee is very pretty. For quite a section of the walk we weren't along the edge of the lake because of a lot of people have "Privat" on the roads going into areas having I assume bought up the lakeside property. There are quite a lot of townhouse like flats along the edge quite remote from anything - but there is of course a bus because this is Switzerland.
For one part of the walk it was right on the edge of the lake. We were passed by normal swiss rollerbladers who were using the excellent quiet roads to go somewhere. We were also passed again and again by this same pair of odd rollerbladers. This particular pair were just going backwards and forwards on the same 2 km stretch of road. They weren't racing rollerbladers. Maybe they were from somewhere other than switzerland and hadn't caught on to the idea of "touring rollerbladers".
Today we entergetically went for a walk/run in the forest around the base of the Uetliberg. How extercisey of use :-)
According to GMaps Pedometer we walked about 11 km. This is our route. Actually it would be a bit more than that because we had to backtrack a few times when we lost the Wanderweg signs.
The Vierwaldstaettersee is very pretty. For quite a section of the walk we weren't along the edge of the lake because of a lot of people have "Privat" on the roads going into areas having I assume bought up the lakeside property. There are quite a lot of townhouse like flats along the edge quite remote from anything - but there is of course a bus because this is Switzerland.
For one part of the walk it was right on the edge of the lake. We were passed by normal swiss rollerbladers who were using the excellent quiet roads to go somewhere. We were also passed again and again by this same pair of odd rollerbladers. This particular pair were just going backwards and forwards on the same 2 km stretch of road. They weren't racing rollerbladers. Maybe they were from somewhere other than switzerland and hadn't caught on to the idea of "touring rollerbladers".
Today we entergetically went for a walk/run in the forest around the base of the Uetliberg. How extercisey of use :-)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tail Strings?
My Swiss "there must be a good reason for this" moment for the day. I was flicking tv channels and there I see a Swiss cow barn. Swiss cows will bells round there necks in a barn eating hay. Fair enough - I get that bit.
The puzzling thing - each cow had a rope attached - descending from the roof to the end of its tail. The ropes were reasonably tight so if the cow was lying down the end of the tail was sticking up in the air.
Why was this so? Fly strike prevention, cleanliness, a kind way of making sure the cows have to share there food. Why is this so?
The puzzling thing - each cow had a rope attached - descending from the roof to the end of its tail. The ropes were reasonably tight so if the cow was lying down the end of the tail was sticking up in the air.
Why was this so? Fly strike prevention, cleanliness, a kind way of making sure the cows have to share there food. Why is this so?
Friday, May 04, 2007
May Day
Haven't blogged in a while. Busy at work and lazed around the house on the weekend so not much to say. The only exciting thing was May Day which is a public holiday in Zurich. We stayed in till about 6pm and then went for a walk over the hill.
At one point I thought I heard a roaring crowd not to far away. This was probably because while we were lazing around watching Blue Brothers 2000 in German (it works better) there was a crowd of people wandering around Zurich breaking windows, burning a few cars and being shot at with water canon, rubber bullets and pepper spray. Even better it seems that this is traditional. May Day and rioting seems to happen every year... I vaguely remembered hearing people talking about getting down wind of tear gas by accident and luckily linked with May Day which is why we didn't wander into town.
At one point I thought I heard a roaring crowd not to far away. This was probably because while we were lazing around watching Blue Brothers 2000 in German (it works better) there was a crowd of people wandering around Zurich breaking windows, burning a few cars and being shot at with water canon, rubber bullets and pepper spray. Even better it seems that this is traditional. May Day and rioting seems to happen every year... I vaguely remembered hearing people talking about getting down wind of tear gas by accident and luckily linked with May Day which is why we didn't wander into town.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Sechselaeuten Bonfire
We turned up late to Sechselaeuten. We missed the burning of the Booog but it was still fairly spectacular. Lots of people in costumes, big fire and afterwards mad people rushing up to the bonfire with long shovels picking up coals to cook sausages.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Red and Yellow
We went for a walk in the Cemetery today. Actually we often do because it's just across the road. It's the Sihlfeld Friedhof. It is a lovely peaceful spot. A lot of the space if empty fields of grass and flowers. At the back in a away from the graves where they won't disturb visitors, people have quiet picnics. Now the weather has become Spring, there are people reading books or couples on a lot of the benches.
The graves have flowers on them in mass plantings. Really very lovely.
We took the SLR for a walk with a 50mm prime.
The graves have flowers on them in mass plantings. Really very lovely.
We took the SLR for a walk with a 50mm prime.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Cycling in Switzerland Links
I've decided to collate some of the links we use when we're working out where to go cycling in Switzerland.
I'm still hunting for links to local ride route descriptions with more detail.
Update: just found a site with lots of descriptions in German:
www.gps-tracks.com - this actually has routes with descriptions and maps, heights etc. Looks interesting. The descriptions for the Swiss routes I looked at were all German but even if you couldn't read any German the maps etc would make sense.
- Swiss mapping site
- SBB website - swiss railways
- MySwitzerland.com Swiss Tourism website in English.
- Swiss Tourism Cycling Page Click on Tour Suggestions to get the map with all the routes.
- Cycling in Switzerland - these are the wonderful people who've put the cycling route sites all over Switzerland. You can buy their books too.
I'm still hunting for links to local ride route descriptions with more detail.
Update: just found a site with lots of descriptions in German:
www.gps-tracks.com - this actually has routes with descriptions and maps, heights etc. Looks interesting. The descriptions for the Swiss routes I looked at were all German but even if you couldn't read any German the maps etc would make sense.
Flowers in the Grass
We went for a bike ride yesterday. We rode to the Zugersee and then down the side of the lake. By the time we got to Kussnacht it was dark and so we skipped the last 10 km to Luzern and caught a train home.
This picture was from a field just near Zug. It's so pretty in Switzerland at the moment. There are flowers everwhere. It's about 25 degrees but as there's no cool wind it feels much warmer. Most people were in short sleeve t-shirts or singlet tops yesterday.
I can't believe that only 3 weeks ago there was snow in Zurich.
This picture was from a field just near Zug. It's so pretty in Switzerland at the moment. There are flowers everwhere. It's about 25 degrees but as there's no cool wind it feels much warmer. Most people were in short sleeve t-shirts or singlet tops yesterday.
I can't believe that only 3 weeks ago there was snow in Zurich.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
My New Bike
I finally uploaded my photos. This is my new bike. I suppose it's not really pretty - it's a bit mean looking. It is very weeeeeeeeeeeeee.
So this photo was taken at Au. At the bus stop that says In Au. Au it hurts. Au the pain. Au Au Au. Actually I hadn't gotten my cleat adjustment right on my right shoe and so my right knee was a bit sore - so Au Au Au. It was ok the next day.
So this photo was taken at Au. At the bus stop that says In Au. Au it hurts. Au the pain. Au Au Au. Actually I hadn't gotten my cleat adjustment right on my right shoe and so my right knee was a bit sore - so Au Au Au. It was ok the next day.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Cycling in Zurich
We got road bikes a couple of weekends ago. Weeee. At lunch time yesterday I came back to the flat by tram and then I rode to work. Rode home, and then rode to work again today.
It's quite different from Sydney. There are so many people riding bikes here that car drivers are much more polite. I've noticed that as a pedestrian but the Swiss drivers are even polite to cyclists.
There are a lot of cycling facilities. Most are quite low key - a sign and some paint suddenly saying bicycles can go this way. Not that you can't go elsewhere just that the sign painters think that you might like it more this way. Sometimes there will be a short cut marked on a foot path. Lots of contraflow cycle lanes. Takes some getting used to but here the road won't be too busy so it seems to work.
I keep getting lost on the way home following a cyclist onto what I think is the right cycle route and ending up on one going somewhere else. There are so many.
Quite different from Sydney's limited facilities, painting lines on roads with bicycles in them that are also supposed to be used at the same time as car parks. No one has actively tried to kill me at all. Amazing.
It's quite different from Sydney. There are so many people riding bikes here that car drivers are much more polite. I've noticed that as a pedestrian but the Swiss drivers are even polite to cyclists.
There are a lot of cycling facilities. Most are quite low key - a sign and some paint suddenly saying bicycles can go this way. Not that you can't go elsewhere just that the sign painters think that you might like it more this way. Sometimes there will be a short cut marked on a foot path. Lots of contraflow cycle lanes. Takes some getting used to but here the road won't be too busy so it seems to work.
I keep getting lost on the way home following a cyclist onto what I think is the right cycle route and ending up on one going somewhere else. There are so many.
Quite different from Sydney's limited facilities, painting lines on roads with bicycles in them that are also supposed to be used at the same time as car parks. No one has actively tried to kill me at all. Amazing.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Crowds at Sihlcity
This afternoon to the first Saturday of Sihlcity. I think half of Switzerland did the same thing. The trams were standing room only and there were massive crowds everywhere.
Sihlcity is a new shopping centre in Zurich with a cinema attached. It was packed.
Sihlcity is a new shopping centre in Zurich with a cinema attached. It was packed.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
View from the Window
It's been snowing overnight for the last two days in Zurich. I was going to work looking at daffodils on the way and now I'm going in snow.
Instead of green grass and flowers this is my view out to the Uetliberg.
The other times we've been to Zurich we've always been away when it snowed. I didn't expect my Zurich snow experience to be at the end of March.
Even stranger by lunch time both days it's been sunny and the snow is all gone.
Instead of green grass and flowers this is my view out to the Uetliberg.
The other times we've been to Zurich we've always been away when it snowed. I didn't expect my Zurich snow experience to be at the end of March.
Even stranger by lunch time both days it's been sunny and the snow is all gone.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Lake
We went to Locarno on Sunday. Dear Reader had a saw ankle so a train trip as an outing seemed like a good idea. We saw people in shorts and people wearing ski gear. In some areas there were flowers in the grass in others snow was still lying everywhere. It was a very clear day and the mountains were lovely.
We also had a very nice gelato. We were sitting outdoors at a cafe having a cold drink and kept seeing all the adults walking passed eating gelato. This seemed a good sign and it was excellent.
We also had a very nice gelato. We were sitting outdoors at a cafe having a cold drink and kept seeing all the adults walking passed eating gelato. This seemed a good sign and it was excellent.
I'm Back
Well I've been a bit lazy about posting. What has happened since I last wrote.
We finished our holiday. We flew back to Australia. I went to work on the Monday and there was a mail that said:
"How was your incredibly long flight? Would you like another one?"
So we are now back in Switzerland after a 3 week interlude in Australia.
We are in a serviced flat again. This one is a bit older and for the first few days we were very unhappy. This was because at 6am every morning an alarm clock started. We could hear it from the bedroom and it would wake us up. It would continue for 2 hours.
I finally discovered by walking into the stairway in my pajamas that it was coming from the flat below us and the serviced apartment people got it fixed for us. Now we don't mind the flat as much :-)
The weather is strange - 10 degrees and there are flowers. So much for seeing winter in Switzerland.
We finished our holiday. We flew back to Australia. I went to work on the Monday and there was a mail that said:
"How was your incredibly long flight? Would you like another one?"
So we are now back in Switzerland after a 3 week interlude in Australia.
We are in a serviced flat again. This one is a bit older and for the first few days we were very unhappy. This was because at 6am every morning an alarm clock started. We could hear it from the bedroom and it would wake us up. It would continue for 2 hours.
I finally discovered by walking into the stairway in my pajamas that it was coming from the flat below us and the serviced apartment people got it fixed for us. Now we don't mind the flat as much :-)
The weather is strange - 10 degrees and there are flowers. So much for seeing winter in Switzerland.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Entry to a ski lift.
We went skiing on Friday. I went on the school one week ski trip when I was in grade 12. Sven has been told that he skied when he was 4. We had a shared private lesson. Amazingly some of my most basic skills came back quite quickly. We stayed in the children's training area for the lesson and I felt kind of ok.
After the lesson, we made it over to wear a t-bar for a beginners slope was but I didn't feel confident to go up as I need more refreshing on going down a steep slops and turning. Dear Reader did a spectacular stack as he was having difficulty stopping but he was ok.
We had lunch and then walked back up the 100 metres or so to next to where the Kinderschule was and practiced walking up hill and skiing down for an hour. By then it was after 3 and we were getting even more knackered.
We handed in our rental gear and hopped on the cable car/gondola thing that went to the top of the mountain. Lovely view and much colder and windy at the top. It had been about -1 and sometimes even a bit sunny at the bottom.
Lots of fun. We're going to try and go to Arosa and get another lesson tomorrow :-)
After the lesson, we made it over to wear a t-bar for a beginners slope was but I didn't feel confident to go up as I need more refreshing on going down a steep slops and turning. Dear Reader did a spectacular stack as he was having difficulty stopping but he was ok.
We had lunch and then walked back up the 100 metres or so to next to where the Kinderschule was and practiced walking up hill and skiing down for an hour. By then it was after 3 and we were getting even more knackered.
We handed in our rental gear and hopped on the cable car/gondola thing that went to the top of the mountain. Lovely view and much colder and windy at the top. It had been about -1 and sometimes even a bit sunny at the bottom.
Lots of fun. We're going to try and go to Arosa and get another lesson tomorrow :-)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Sihlsee
This is the Sihlsee at Einsiedeln. Dear Reader walked down an icy path and rolled a ball of snow across the surface and it kept going and going. The ice on the lake was very clear.
Abbey at Einsiedeln
I asked at work where I should take visitors to Zurich for a daytrip. One person told me about Einsiedeln. She said there would be snow and it had a wedding cake church which was very pretty - "If you like Churches".
We caught the train up. It was sunny in Zurich, still misty at the other end of the lake and then the train went up above the mist, then rolling green hills and then into snow fields. Excellent to show people seasons of Switzerland all in one trip.
The town was very pretty. We followed the Wanderweg signs to the Abbey, looked in side and then walked on to the Sihlsee.
It's a lovely place and I'd like to go again and have a better look around.
We caught the train up. It was sunny in Zurich, still misty at the other end of the lake and then the train went up above the mist, then rolling green hills and then into snow fields. Excellent to show people seasons of Switzerland all in one trip.
The town was very pretty. We followed the Wanderweg signs to the Abbey, looked in side and then walked on to the Sihlsee.
It's a lovely place and I'd like to go again and have a better look around.
Frost
We had friends to visit this week. We took them for a touristing daytrip. First we went to Luzern and then on the train to Interlaken. We stopped at Bruenig-Hasliberg to go for a walk in the snow. There was a path with fresh snow 5 minutes from the station. It was warmer in the mountains than it was in Luzern.
Trees on Blue
We went out for a walk and had to avoid being wet by a sprinkler. First of all we were wondering why they were running a sprinkler and trying very hard not to get wet. Then we noticed the ice that was forming on the trees.
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