On the Road is brought to you courtesy of our bus driver Joseph aka "Joe"One of the best things about taking a Rick Steves tour is not having to drive to all the wonderful sites and cities. Joseph, our Slovakian bus driver, was in charge of threading our monstrous tour bus down narrow lanes and around hairpin turns (even hairpin turns in tunnels). Our job was to enjoy the scenery, listen to Fabian's version of coming attractions for nearby cities, catch up our journals and catch up with friends, or even take the occasional nap. Joseph had it all handled. The roads seemed so intimidating that one of our tour members said that "Joe is going to heaven. He got everyone on the bus to say a prayer going up the mountain." We were in good hands, with Joseph.
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About SwitzerlandLanguages: German, French, Italian, Romansh Population: 8.4 million Cities We Visited: 12 Distance Traveled By Bus: 817 km (about 508 miles) Tallest Mountain We Summited: Mt. Titlis, 10,623 feet Hot Chocolates We Consumed: 43 |
For the FoodieRosti is hash brown potatoes taken to the next level. The servings are as big as dinner plates and may have add-ins like onions, meat and/or cheese. Rosti is only served in the German speaking part of Switzerland; the Swiss say a metaphorical "Rosti wall" divides the French and German speaking parts of the country. |
The Hills are Alive with the Sound of
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Bella BellinzonaBellinzona was one stop that made up part of an exceptional day in Switzerland! We started out the morning in angelic Engelberg, stormed one of Bellinzona's three majestic castles, and finished up our evening in relaxing Lugano. Bellinzona is best known as the capital city of the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino and as home to three fortified castles which were built and rebuilt starting in 100 A.D. Control of the city switched hands throughout the centuries, as it was of strategic importance to Roman emperors, the French Carolingian Empire, and the Dukes of Milan. While we loved touring through and walking along the ramparts of Castelgrande, our favorite part of the Bellinzona was eating a picnic lunch on a quaint town square, watching crowds of Bellinzonans walk by. We wish we'd had more time there.
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The Tale of Two ZermattsIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times… The trip to Zermatt was beautiful. The view of the Matterhorn was non-existent. On our bus ride through the Simplon Pass, there were hills and mountains, steep windy roads, snow, icy streams, green grasses, and farm animals. The snow covered mountains were beautiful and we were all anxiously anticipating the view of the iconic Matterhorn. We knew the perfect place in Zermatt to stand for the best view of the Matterhorn. We hurried off the train to our picture perfect spot but alas there was fog - lots and lots of fog. We wandered around town. We had lunch. Then, we ran back to the perfect Matterhorn spot, but still all we saw was fog. We lamented, "if only we had a few more hours to wait, the fog might clear." It is not unusual for the Matterhorn not to be visible from Zermatt in May. Two things to keep in mind: (1) The Berner Oberland is beautiful and its famous mountains - the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau - are visible more often than the Matterhorn. (2) The best place to see the Matterhorn may be the wrapper of a Toblerone candy bar. Plus you can eat the chocolate – Swiss chocolate.
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Adventures in AvenchesOne lesson we've learned through our travels in Europe: the Romans were pretty much everywhere. Even in the rural Swiss countryside, the great Roman Empire struck a deal with locals to set up the Roman outpost of Avenches. We made a quick stop in the town during our trip between Lausanne and Bern, giving us a chance to marvel at how far ahead of its time Roman engineering and architecture was. While much of the former Roman city had been torn down with stones carted away to build new structures, some of the grandest Roman structures still remained. We walked through stone arches and out onto the "stage" of a 2,000 year old Roman amphitheater. Our guide walked us through the ruins of two large temples where we used our imaginations to recreate these behemoth structures.
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