This is not a blog, written now. This was one of my email to my friends after a trip to swiss. But as I had mentioned in my previous blog, I wanted to save this forever! (not sure though)..so here it is...
This was written on 12/27/2006.
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Hi Frenz,
I am back from Swiss and preparing for another gr8 journey back to India.I had a fantastic time there, visited few places but had a gr8 ball. So just a small snapshot on my trip.
Day Zero: (12/22/06)We (me & PK) reached there on Friday night, too late for an outing, so had some dinner cooked and ate.Day One: Next we had to explore on our own, the place (Zurich), cos our guide , my friend Vivek was BZZZZ...We went to a place called Lugao travelling almost 3 hrs in train to find some scenic views. Unfortunately after landing there we found that the cable cars and ferry services were stopped for winter, so we cudnt get to the mountains where there were some famous attractions. But still we thought we would just roam and chill around the place.
The journey to Lugano was wonderful, the exotic scenic view of the snow clad mountains,lakes and snow all over the place. It was ver white and felt liek heaven.GERMAN is a prevalent language of swiss, but there are some italian provinces also and Lugao was one such province. So we got to get the Glimpse of Italian worls too. Vere few poeple talked english , so it was tough to gather info, but we went by the names on the boards and trying to translate them in english, like (RISTORANT = restaurant) and so on..
It was a beautiful place and once of the most happening places of swiss especially for guys, cos the world's most gr8 fashion shows happen in this place. 2 major casinos on the mountains (we couldn't go there)..and other features.We had burgers on BG KING and then walked around the lake and started back home. Had dinner at Vivek's place (tadka dal,rice).
DAY TWO:Got up very early cos we had to catch the 8.00 train to JUNGFRAUJOCH (top of Europe, highest peak in Europe where a man can reach) and the journey is about 4.5 hrs to the peak.Caught a train from Zurich HauftBahnof (HAUFT = MAIN, BAHNOF = STATION), went to a place called Interlaken, through electric trains. From there went in COGWHEEL Trains (suitable to go on mountains)..we changed 3 trains to go to the peak ..JUNGFARUJOCH, the last train from a place called WENGEN to JUNFRAU was the most excellent, cos we travelled almost 1 hour to cover jut 9.3 kms, it was risky though. Finally we reached the peak, the attractions where PLATEAU, ICE PALACE, SPHINX VIEW POINT and so on..PLATEAU was just a vast stretch of snow where we could just walk around and there is the SWISS FLAG. The temperature outside was -12 degree celcius..(remember! its winter), we just managed to spend some 15 mins out there cos the cold was killing and the snow breeze.. nop the snow wind was so darn piercing, you would get running nose is just few seconds. We managed to walk on the nice , go near the flad and get some fotos taken. IT was SO good to be back inside the room. Also this is where the famous scenes of some movies like GOLDEN EYE 007 and HERO (hindi) were taken. This is from where Sunny Deol fell for the movie Hero.There is a also a restaurant called 'BOLLYWOOD' restaurant that is open only in summers.Then we went to the ice palace, had some fun there..its like sculptures made in snow, just about 15-20 mins inside there, did some ice skating and played.Then went to the Sphinx view point (also an observatory present there for some researches). This was 108 mt from the plateau, we went in a lift which speeded some 10m/s..had a spendid view out there of the Alps mountain ranges.Then started for return journey cos the last trains were at 4.30 ..down the way we again changed 3 Cogwheel trains to interlaken. one of the stops was WENGEN where most of the SKI and winter sports take placed. We didnt try any :(..and interlaken you have other sports like Skydiving, rockclimbing etc. Didnt try any of these either, too late and winter some of them are closed.Reached back to Zurich, had some munches at McD and came out. We had a snow fall there, first time experienc of a snowfall and it was just about few mins. But I LOVED it, I was jumping around the whole place, so excited. everybody would have thought I went insane. It was Christmas eve, what could be so splendid than a White Christmas..
DAY THREE:Yet another fantastic day..its CHRISTMAS! after wishing ourselves (PK and myself) and wearing new clothes, prepared for yet another journey, this time to Lucerne and Mt.Pilatus.We went to Lucerne ( nearby city) in train for an hour and from there took cable cars to reach to the top of Mt.Pilatus.First leg , were those small cable cars to reach to a place called FRANKMUNTEGG and there changed to a big cable car to Mt.Pilatus peak. This big one could carry almost 20-25 ppl at one time, no seats, only standing. whats the best part of it is, this ROPEWAY was so steep and was about an angle of 50-60 degrees. Just one single rope (for to & fro journey) with no intermediate posts. Finally reached the peak, this mountains has myths about DRAGONS. Spectacular views from place..really spectacular.
Spent some good time there, eating 'PULIYODHARAI' prepared at home with some munchies. Then returned back to FRANKMUNTEGG. Stopped there for an hour. Again this is place for winter sports. I was so crazy at seeing the snow, I was literally 'urundu', 'perandu'fying and playing like insane. I built my snowman. Paavam PK was the spectator and my official photographer for all the different poses I gave. hehehehe..Then came back to Lucerne in the small cable car. This cable car journey to and fro , was the most beautiful journey of my life until now... WOW!!!! was the only word I could think off. I was on CLOUD NO 9, so happy relaxing and there ended the wonderful trip for that day. Came back to Zurich.
Day FOUR: Last day!We got up real late, at som 10.00 or so, packed our stuff and just went to Zurich main station to just walk and do some shopping as our return flight was at 5.00 in the evening.We just strolled on BAHNOFSTRASSE (Station street). This seems to the richest street in the world, cos the swiss banks have all their money locked in vaults under this street. The street was merely empty, most of the shops closed for Christmas holidays. I bought some swiss chocs and souveigners and then back to airport to board the flight. We were just in time to catch the flight.Came back home to UK yesterday night and cooked some fine dinner and retired to bed.Day Five:I am writing this email to you all.
About SWIZZ.. Paradise on earth!The best of Swiss was its transport system. It was so fantastic and regular. They use all kinds of vehicles, BUS,TRAMS,CABLECARS,TRAINS ( the best)... the timings , frequency are excellent. We can travel two ends of swiss in less than 4-5 hrs in trains.The train tariffs are expensive, but for travellers like us they give cheap discounts and rates with some passes. We took a 4 day swiss pass. We didnt spend a penny for any journey except the cogwheel tains and cable cars even for which we were offered 50% discount.
Over all it was one fantastic trip that will stay close to my heart always!!!I recommend you'll to grab any opportunity to go to this NATURAL world and Most beautiful place on earth. It would definetely be a lifetime moment.
........................
I am back from Swiss and preparing for another gr8 journey back to India.I had a fantastic time there, visited few places but had a gr8 ball. So just a small snapshot on my trip.
Day Zero: (12/22/06)We (me & PK) reached there on Friday night, too late for an outing, so had some dinner cooked and ate.Day One: Next we had to explore on our own, the place (Zurich), cos our guide , my friend Vivek was BZZZZ...We went to a place called Lugao travelling almost 3 hrs in train to find some scenic views. Unfortunately after landing there we found that the cable cars and ferry services were stopped for winter, so we cudnt get to the mountains where there were some famous attractions. But still we thought we would just roam and chill around the place.
The journey to Lugano was wonderful, the exotic scenic view of the snow clad mountains,lakes and snow all over the place. It was ver white and felt liek heaven.GERMAN is a prevalent language of swiss, but there are some italian provinces also and Lugao was one such province. So we got to get the Glimpse of Italian worls too. Vere few poeple talked english , so it was tough to gather info, but we went by the names on the boards and trying to translate them in english, like (RISTORANT = restaurant) and so on..
It was a beautiful place and once of the most happening places of swiss especially for guys, cos the world's most gr8 fashion shows happen in this place. 2 major casinos on the mountains (we couldn't go there)..and other features.We had burgers on BG KING and then walked around the lake and started back home. Had dinner at Vivek's place (tadka dal,rice).
DAY TWO:Got up very early cos we had to catch the 8.00 train to JUNGFRAUJOCH (top of Europe, highest peak in Europe where a man can reach) and the journey is about 4.5 hrs to the peak.Caught a train from Zurich HauftBahnof (HAUFT = MAIN, BAHNOF = STATION), went to a place called Interlaken, through electric trains. From there went in COGWHEEL Trains (suitable to go on mountains)..we changed 3 trains to go to the peak ..JUNGFARUJOCH, the last train from a place called WENGEN to JUNFRAU was the most excellent, cos we travelled almost 1 hour to cover jut 9.3 kms, it was risky though. Finally we reached the peak, the attractions where PLATEAU, ICE PALACE, SPHINX VIEW POINT and so on..PLATEAU was just a vast stretch of snow where we could just walk around and there is the SWISS FLAG. The temperature outside was -12 degree celcius..(remember! its winter), we just managed to spend some 15 mins out there cos the cold was killing and the snow breeze.. nop the snow wind was so darn piercing, you would get running nose is just few seconds. We managed to walk on the nice , go near the flad and get some fotos taken. IT was SO good to be back inside the room. Also this is where the famous scenes of some movies like GOLDEN EYE 007 and HERO (hindi) were taken. This is from where Sunny Deol fell for the movie Hero.There is a also a restaurant called 'BOLLYWOOD' restaurant that is open only in summers.Then we went to the ice palace, had some fun there..its like sculptures made in snow, just about 15-20 mins inside there, did some ice skating and played.Then went to the Sphinx view point (also an observatory present there for some researches). This was 108 mt from the plateau, we went in a lift which speeded some 10m/s..had a spendid view out there of the Alps mountain ranges.Then started for return journey cos the last trains were at 4.30 ..down the way we again changed 3 Cogwheel trains to interlaken. one of the stops was WENGEN where most of the SKI and winter sports take placed. We didnt try any :(..and interlaken you have other sports like Skydiving, rockclimbing etc. Didnt try any of these either, too late and winter some of them are closed.Reached back to Zurich, had some munches at McD and came out. We had a snow fall there, first time experienc of a snowfall and it was just about few mins. But I LOVED it, I was jumping around the whole place, so excited. everybody would have thought I went insane. It was Christmas eve, what could be so splendid than a White Christmas..
DAY THREE:Yet another fantastic day..its CHRISTMAS! after wishing ourselves (PK and myself) and wearing new clothes, prepared for yet another journey, this time to Lucerne and Mt.Pilatus.We went to Lucerne ( nearby city) in train for an hour and from there took cable cars to reach to the top of Mt.Pilatus.First leg , were those small cable cars to reach to a place called FRANKMUNTEGG and there changed to a big cable car to Mt.Pilatus peak. This big one could carry almost 20-25 ppl at one time, no seats, only standing. whats the best part of it is, this ROPEWAY was so steep and was about an angle of 50-60 degrees. Just one single rope (for to & fro journey) with no intermediate posts. Finally reached the peak, this mountains has myths about DRAGONS. Spectacular views from place..really spectacular.
Spent some good time there, eating 'PULIYODHARAI' prepared at home with some munchies. Then returned back to FRANKMUNTEGG. Stopped there for an hour. Again this is place for winter sports. I was so crazy at seeing the snow, I was literally 'urundu', 'perandu'fying and playing like insane. I built my snowman. Paavam PK was the spectator and my official photographer for all the different poses I gave. hehehehe..Then came back to Lucerne in the small cable car. This cable car journey to and fro , was the most beautiful journey of my life until now... WOW!!!! was the only word I could think off. I was on CLOUD NO 9, so happy relaxing and there ended the wonderful trip for that day. Came back to Zurich.
Day FOUR: Last day!We got up real late, at som 10.00 or so, packed our stuff and just went to Zurich main station to just walk and do some shopping as our return flight was at 5.00 in the evening.We just strolled on BAHNOFSTRASSE (Station street). This seems to the richest street in the world, cos the swiss banks have all their money locked in vaults under this street. The street was merely empty, most of the shops closed for Christmas holidays. I bought some swiss chocs and souveigners and then back to airport to board the flight. We were just in time to catch the flight.Came back home to UK yesterday night and cooked some fine dinner and retired to bed.Day Five:I am writing this email to you all.
About SWIZZ.. Paradise on earth!The best of Swiss was its transport system. It was so fantastic and regular. They use all kinds of vehicles, BUS,TRAMS,CABLECARS,TRAINS ( the best)... the timings , frequency are excellent. We can travel two ends of swiss in less than 4-5 hrs in trains.The train tariffs are expensive, but for travellers like us they give cheap discounts and rates with some passes. We took a 4 day swiss pass. We didnt spend a penny for any journey except the cogwheel tains and cable cars even for which we were offered 50% discount.
Over all it was one fantastic trip that will stay close to my heart always!!!I recommend you'll to grab any opportunity to go to this NATURAL world and Most beautiful place on earth. It would definetely be a lifetime moment.
........................
PostScript: By now you would have realised how naive and amateurish it is.. but never mind.. this is how I started writing ....until next time..
Cheers,
Prabha
