Monday 31 December, 2018
New Year’s Eve 2019. After a long flight we caught up with our friends from Perth during our short stopover in Dubai where we all joined the flight to Zurich for the start of our holiday adventure. After another 6 hours we arrived in Zurich about 8:00pm, took the train to our hotel where we would stay for the next 6 days. After a quick freshen up we headed out into the night. It was strange arriving in the city on New Year’s Eve as there were party revellers everywhere which made for an interesting introduction to the city. Being just after Christmas the city looked gorgeous with all the Christmas trees, lights and decorations, just like a fairy tale.
Being the organised people we had pre-purchased front row seats in a heated tent for the fireworks. They didn't disappoint!
NYE 2019
This is us with our friends the Murrells - from left to right Michelle, Trevor, Keedah, Magenta, Shaun and Sue. Happy New Year!
Tuesday 1 January 2019
Second stop the Funicula of Monte Bre
Taking the funny old Funicula to the top of Monte Bre for a view over the Swiss Italian lake area. It's a bit hazy here because of the industry from Northern Italian. Still lovely though.
On the way down in the funicular : Trevor, Keedah, Shaun and Sue.
Magenta and Michelle on the funicular.
Tuesday 1 January 2019
Gandria for our last walk of the day. A beautiful little town on the lake of Lugano.
Above, Keedah, Shaun, Sue, Michelle and Magenta.
On the lake of Lugano at Gandria: Trevor, Michelle, Magenta, Sue, Shaun and Keddah.
Wednesday 2 January 2019
Our friends the Murrells had enjoyed raclette at our home and were very much looking forward to a traditional raclette day in a famous cheese region of Switzerland - Gruyere, so Day 2 of our trip was designated "Cheese Day".
First stop : La Maison de Gruyere or as it's known in English, The Cheese Factory!
Gruyere is much more than just a type of cheese; the little town of Gruyere was like straight out of a fairy tale!
Gruyere Town
We visited the Chateau St Germain.
The inside was really elaborate and interesting.
The Swiss were a formidable fighting force and considered some of the best soldiers in Europe for centuries - thus the Swiss guard at the Vatican. Here you can see why - after the battle they get to redeploy their swords.
Then off to lunch in the town of Gruyere.
Raclette in Gruyere
Melted Cheese
Wednesday 2 January 2019
Then onto the beautiful medieval town of Fribourg. Here was some footage of the lovely countryside taken from the train.
View from the train on the way to Fribourg
After checking out the town of Fribourg a bit and doing lots of walking we had (what else?) more cheese! This time, cheese fondue.
Thursday 3 January 2019
Shopping in Zurich day. We started by checking out the food court in one of Zurich's premier department stores. Turns out we didn't have enough of cheese from the day before...
Check out these truffles. CHF6.5 per gram. That's CHF6,500 per kilo (equivalent AUD$9,135 per kilo)! I'll have three.
Fresh Wasabi complete with their leaves. CHF99 per stick.
On the way past the Swiss National Museum, (Schweizerischen Landesmuseums) we saw the sculpture of one of Trevor’s relatives Heinrech Angst (1847 – 1922) who was the first Direktor of the museum, carved onto the façade of the building. He was also the British Consul General in Zurich from 1896-1916!
On Snow Day we went to Regensberg, the home of the first Angsts.
Zurich had a slight dusting of snow the night before.
And then to Confiserie Sprüngli for some chocolate truffles.
So we bought a packet of one of our favour Swiss chocolates – Kirschstengeli which are little chocolate batons filled with Kirsch which is a clear cherry brandy. As someone who has foolishly bit into a Stengeli I knew that it was important to put them straight into your mouth and consume them all in one hit – otherwise the liquid inside ends up right down the front of your shirt. So I told my friends to make sure that they put the whole thing in their mouth before they bit into them. I explained to them that they were filled with liquid - what I didn’t think to tell them (I don’t know why) was that the liquid inside was 40% spirit alcohol. Even Sue and Shaun were freaked out by the intensity of the flavour. But it was really too much for poor Keedah (who is only sixteen) and he stayed away from them for the rest of the trip.
While yesterday was Cheese Day, today was Meat Day! Firstly our lunch at a traditional Swiss tavern, Zeughauskeller. Zeughauskeller was the old armoury dating from the fifteenth century.
Flowers in a fountain in Zurich.
Meat day continued with a classic Fondue Chinoise. We walked 40 minutes up Zurich's hill to a lovely, traditional pop up Swiss restaurant.
Fondue Chinoise is basically a Swiss version of a Chinese Hot Pot (Chinoise is French for Chinese). In the fondue pot was a broth in which we stuck our meat on skewers for cooking. We had beef, pork and chicken and a range of dipping sauces. Plus rice and salad. Delicious.
