Buongiorno Italia

It was a lovely 6 days in Switzerland, a place we have wanted to revisit since we were here in 2012.  Zurich is culturally very similar to
Melbourne, with a mix of many nationalities and culinary flavors. The other area we were in was Appenzellerland. This on the other hand was very rich in culture and history, however once again the food is based mainly on sausage and potato.  I'm not saying we were disappointed with the food in this region of Switzerland, but we were able to confirm our assumptions.

To get to Milan we caught the train over and through the alps, on the Gotthard line. My wish was to go through the Gotthard Base Tunnel that has recently been completed, however it isn't open to public trains 'til the start of December 2016.  This line is over 57km long and totally bypassed the need to cross over the alps.  In some stages its depth is 2.3km and this new line will take about 1 hour of the 4 hour journey.

On the other hand using the old Gotthard line had benefits, there was more to see, but looking through a double glased tinted window does not provide great photos.

We arrived at the Switzerland / Italian border on time, it is amazing how every thing runs on time in Switzerland.  All prepared for the expected passport check that was announced over the P.A. we waited.  After about 10 min we took off, no passport check, no new stamp in the book.

It was now that we were in a Swiss train on the Italian network.  The train sat stationary on 2 occasions and thus in turn made arrival about 30 min late. It was of no real concern to us, but it was amazing how many people started grabbing for their bags and queued in the aisles when we weren't even close to the city.

The evening was spent in front of the enormous Duomo.  I knew it was big from all the research I have done, but being in front with the setting sun illuminating the facade truly had us both staring in amazement. Tomorrow we will be venturing inside.

 

Heading into the  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping plaza, we passed Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Versace. All very interesting, but we were both looking for the bull.  This is a custom of the locals to spin their heel on the bull testicles, the bull is from the Turin city coat of arms.

This spinning has been done so many times there is a divet in the mosaic tiles and the bull testicles are no where to be seen.

The evening was spent with the company of the impressive waiters at A Santa Lucia. We normally try to eat away from the main piazza and this was no exception, about 500 meters from the Duomo we found this place.

It has been opened in the city since 1929 and has a hundred or so pictures in frames on the walls from all the famous guests that have eaten there. 

We trusted the advice of the waiter for entree that we shared. It was a Beef Carpaccio.

This was a plate of thin sliced raw beef with a rocket, walnut, parmesan and olive oil salad.  The plate looked great and we were amazed with how good it tasted. There was no fat on the beef and the slices were soft like ham.  The salad was a perfect topping and offset the raw beef,

Next was main, Katie selected from the spacial menu, Spaghetti with Zucchini and Calamari. There was nothing left on the plate at the end, and she said 'it was very simple but ohh so delicious'.

My main was also from the special's menu, Pesto Tagliatelle.

The pesto was so fresh it was like the basil was still growing on the plate. The pasta was cooked correctly, Al Dente.

Both meals were small enough that there was room for dessert, but i forgot to take photos before they were eaten, sorry. Katie had a Tiramisu and I had a Creme Caramel with an espresso sauce.

It is great to be blogging back in Italy. Switzerland is such a spectacular place but is a little too perfect for us, nothing seams to go wrong, it is all so clean and well organised. Please don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing just very hard to explain.  Italy on the other hand is a far more diverse place.  It has graffiti, some say this is a way of self expression, it has the boarded windows of deralict buildings.  Today we even had a very old drunk man wet him self while standing in the middle of the footpath!

Italy also has the food that one could die for, it has local places to eat, and it has the very expensive places too, just like Switzerland.  We are glad to be back, and I hope I can explain our love for this country further in coming weeks. 

Ciao for now, Shannon 

Tomorrow, Is that the last supper? 

Ballenberg

Ballenberg is like a retirement village for old buildings in Switzerland where the whole park of about 60 hectares contains farm buildings from all over the country that were to be demolished.

We left Interlaken at 8:52am and then caught the Lady of Jungfrau Ferry across Lake Brienz to the town of Brienz.

One great part of the Swiss transport system is how well connected it is, when the trains arrive at the stations the buses are waiting.

We caught the bus to the Ballenberg west entrance and this took less than ten minutes.  The park was really good and made us finally feel we were in Switzerland, as up until now we had not totally felt we were.

Walking around the park we dropped into many buildings all being over 100 years old and some being up to 600. They had been relocated from all over Switzerland and have been grouped into the regions where they have come from. For us it was a great way to see the many types of architectural design in one place.  There is such a difference in the design of the buildings between the regions.

There are also many animals on the site, Katie finally got up close to a cow with a bell, something she had been wanting to do for a while. She did get much closer, but I just don't have a photo.

The main concept of the park was great but we were a little disappointed with the lack of Ballenberg staff demonstrating things in the buildings.  The impression given was that we would see people making Swiss crafts and also Swiss foods. The main item we saw was the sausage smoking house, this was a two story house that the bottom floor was full of smoke, we walked inside and looked to the ceiling to see hundreds of sausages/salami's hanging all being smoked. Katie had never been under so many sausages before.

We also saw watch making equipment, apparently farmers would supplement their income by making and fixing watches after working on the farm. I doubt modern day farmers would be able to do this!

and we saw some Swiss Ass. (or should that be donkey)

And of course how could we walk around a Swiss park without some hills. 

Ballenberg is a great place and we would recommend this outing to anyone who is in the area. 

Lake Thun

Lake Thun is on the west side of Interlaken. It is 17.5 km in length and only 3.5 km wide. We departed on a voyage across the lake to the small town of Speiz thus also being a great way to start our lazy and relaxing day.

Knowing nothing about Spiez we disembarked our boat and walked along the foreshore. From the map we knew the main town was a little walk but didn't realise it would be over 800 meters continually up hill.

Looking down the hill.

View from the train station area of Spiez.

After the short walk we decided it was time to have some lunch. We looked at many restaurants but in the end found Migros. This is a buffet style where you put on your plate what you like, then they weigh it and charge you 2.90CHF per 100 grams.

It was really good the food was fresh and quite tasty. We both enjoyed being able to just select what we wanted for a change and not have to worry about deciphering the menu or talking German.

By this time other than walking up from the harbor we hadn't seen any of the town, so off to the information centre we went. There was a very helpful lad but all he could recommend was heading nine minutes up the train tracks to Thun. He advised there was not much to see in his town, even though it was pretty we had seen everything.

So on the train we went, using our 1st class Eurail pass we jumped on and sat down, instantly we noticed we were in a carraige designated a quiet area, no talking, no children and no mobile phones. This was fine for us, we could be quiet for the nine minute journey..... couldn't we??

Well across from us was a sleeping military man. Behind him was a lady in her 80's and it was this lady that would make us come undone. She was getting herself ready for a long journey, firstly she wanted to make a cup of tea, so she pulled out her thermos which was wrapped in a plastic bag. The plastic bag must have been the crinkliest bag I had ever heard. She rattled it getting the thermos, opening the thermos and when pouring the thermos. Then she opened up another bag making just as much noise, we were getting worried the military man was going to wake. I thought that must be it, she had her cup of tea and her bread roll, but then proceeded to slurp every sip of tea, very loudly. Katie and I were ready to burst out laughing and were only just holding it back.

Then all of a sudden she brings out her mail, and starts opening it with a knife making such a noise. It was at that point I left the carriage, as either Katie or I were going to wake the military man and who knows what would have happened!

The rest of the afternoon we walked around the lovely town of Thun.

Jungfraujoch!

After 4 train connections, we arrived at Jungfraujoch - the highest train station in Europe. We were in for a treat! The temperature dramatically dropped as we stepped off the train and we both started feeling a little woozy. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact we were now 3450 metres above sea level?? It took some time to get used to as oxygen didn't come as quickly so moving and breathing were both slower.
We could hardly believe our eyes as we caught our first glimpse of the snow covered peaks...simply breathtaking. Now designed for many tourist vists, Jungfrau is divided in to different sections around a loop, made easy for people to use. Our first stop was the Sphinx - we had to take a lift up even higher to reach amazing views and got to step outside for the first time. Shannon's first time in snow - how exciting! We took delight in crushing it in between our fingers and breathing the frozen air. Then on to the Alpine experience which is new, as part of the centenary celebrations. (100 years of Jungfrau this year) We walked through a tunnel covered in lovely lights...giant snow globes...and information on the history of Jungfrau. The next was perhaps my favourite part..The Ice Palace...We stepped inside a fully enclosed tunnel of ice..and underfoot was ice..around every corner amazing sculptures and everyone squealed in delight. It was breathtaking. The fun didn't stop there...next was Snow fun..we exited a tunnel to find ourselves outside on the snow...ropes to help us not fall..which thankfully I didn't...was a small miracle really because it was so slippery! More beautiful views, which words really can't describe. So instead, some photos..

Swiss Trains

The Swiss train network is just fantastic. It has been designed on the same principle as all their watches, always run on time.



I have also been able to set my watch to the trains as they are just so prompt. One last thing, they are clean, have no grafitti, don't smell like urine.

We love the Swiss trains

Switzerland's National Mueseum

As it was pouring with rain this morning we continued with our plans to visit the Swiss national museum, indoors and around the corner from our hotel. We were able to check out and leave our bags in reception, and also borrow some umbrellas.

With our Zurich pass we were able to save 10 CHF (Swiss Franks) each. This pass also gave us travel from the airport and tram travel around the city. The pass came in quite handy after we toured the night before. The Museum was great, with information in German, Italian and thankfully English, but on occasion we had to search for the English.

The museum is very detailed and very interesting, it covers mainly human aspects of Switzerland with not much covering the geography of the area. 

We went thorough the Museum in about 90 min, but could have stayed much longer. We would have many more photos inside but Katie got caught by one of the stewards and that put an end to us taking photos!

Bahnhoffstrasse - Zurich's golden mile

Gucci, Prada, Louis Vutton, Bulgari, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Rolex, Hugo Boss, Chanel, Tiffany.....
The list goes on...Bahnhoffstrasse in Zurich, proved to be the most expensive street of shops I have ever come across. A feast for the eyes!!
While the majority of things in the windows of these stores had no prices on show, one or two escaped the attention of the staff and they were on show...a lovely pair of diamond and turquoise earrings caught my eye...$35,000 sure! It is certainly a whole different world on this street. Most store doors are flanked by security guards in black suits and dark shades and only allow entry when you press the buzzer, otherwise all doors are kept locked. Eek! Shannon had to just about peel me off some of the windows..oh Jimmy Choo how I adore thee! Ah well we can all have dreams.