With a solution to the birth certificate debacle and a new flight scheduled to Cape Town, we arrived in Zürich relieved and excited for Mick to see the city that Jeff and I remembered really liking when we’d stayed there briefly in 2000. While the winter scenery is perhaps less vibrant than in summer, the city itself and the views of the Alps are amazing.
Also amazing – the prices. Yikes!! Puts even Paris to shame. Fifteen bucks for a burrito? Baked potato with sour cream, $22.50? Ouch.
With the exception of a stop in at a cute café for cappuccinos ($20 for 3), we ate entirely at home. Which was easy since our Airbnb was super-cozy, in a great location (next to the main library, just down from the university, and two blocks from the river), and walking distance to the Coop (grocery store).
An aside re Coop. We figured Coop stood for co-op, but because of the way it was spelled, we were calling it coop (like for chickens), which we thought was pretty funny. When we shared this self-deprecating tourist humor with our host, she informed us that it actually is pronounced coop. Either way, it’s still funny. Especially if you’re 24/7 with the same people, day-in/day-out, and a little bit loopy!
The weather was understandably cold, but with a washer AND a dryer (!!) our cold-weather uniforms were fresher than usual, and we walked all over the city, along the river and the lake.
Mick decided he wanted a sleeve for his computer and, being told that that was a great way to spend his own money, he decided he could sew a sleeve for his computer (thanks Stanley home ec!). He found a store (no shortage of sewing, knitting, etc. stores in Europe), but not surprisingly, everything was too expensive. So, ingenuously (I think), I remembered seeing an H&M (tons of those over here, too) near our apartment and thought we might get a cheap, post-Christmas something-or-other that we could use. And that’s what we did. We found a $10 grey sweatshirt that was perfect and with some help, but not much, Mick transformed it into a custom computer sleeve.
When I found out we’d be in Switzerland for a week (awaiting the birth certificate), I decided the best way to see a bit of the countryside would be by train. After two nights in Zürich, we hopped on the train and took the Glacier Express route to St. Moritz, where we stayed in a steal-of-a-deal condo, just down from St. Moritz Dorf (the village) with beautiful views of the lake, and walking distance from the train station. Also, our good fireworks karma continued with a great show out on the lake the night we arrived.
It’s no wonder the train route has been given UNESCO World Heritage status. For three hours, the views are non-stop spectacular. I particularly like the idyllic mountainside towns, each with a similarly styled church bell tower.
Along the way, we spotted people tobogganing on a downhill trail off to the side of the train tracks and the trail continued along with us for quite some time.
Turns out, there is an almost 4-mile run, specifically for tobogganing (or “sledging”) that goes from Preda to Bergün and when you’re done, you just hop on the train and do it all over again. This is my kind of snow sport, but without the proper clothing and no luck finding anything to rent, we added this to our dwindling bucket list.
Our condo was situated below the center of town, overlooking the lake and conveniently close to a supermarket that had just about everything – including buttons, which Mick decided he needed for his custom sleeve, and yarn (been crocheting on the trip, but gifted my last project to our Barcelona host).
Without setting foot in a restaurant, we managed to have some “traditional food” – fondue, rösti potatoes, bratwurst, spaetzli, and the sinfully good Lindt Lindor chocolate balls.
There is a walking path all around the lake that’s do-able even without snow shoes, from which we enjoyed not only the views, but the parade of fur-coat-clad ladies and similarly well-dressed gentleman also out for a stroll.
We checked the deck-mounted cameras at the Serene Lakes cabin frequently, but kept on getting views like this:
Jeff also checked the Sugar Bowl web cams on a daily basis with mixed emotions – on one hand bummed at the utter lack of snow, but on the other hand guiltily pleased that he isn’t missing any steller skiing. We laughed each night as Jeff read the upbeat Sugar Bowl ski reports that, given the state of the slopes (naked), definitely qualified as fake news!
Here’s an example:
Bluebird skies and warm temps are expected today, making for perfect weather to lay down some carves on our fresh corduroy, send it in our two newly-opened terrain parks, or hunt some pow in hike-accessed terrain on Crow’s Nest or Judah Summit. Today should be one for the books, you don’t wanna miss this. – Frosty
After four nights in St. Moritz, we packed up and walked back to the station. Just outside the condo, I asked Jeff & Mick pose for a photo. My phone slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground and just as I bent over to pick it up, a garbage truck drove by and sprayed me, head-to-toe, with dirty gutter slush. Ah, the perils of the photographer.
The scenery on the train back to Zürich was just as beautiful in the opposite direction, which was great because somehow, when our train had mechanical difficulties, we ended up getting on the wrong train and going about an hour out of our way.
Eventually we made it back to Zürich and checked into an Airbnb in the same building as before, but one floor above. The following day, with a huge sigh of relief, Jeff picked up the magic ticket (Mick’s birth certificate) at the mail center and we spent the next two days much more relaxed.
After two more nights, we packed up, took the train to the airport, and boarded our flight to Cape Town. Another huge sigh relief.
Wow!!! So amazing are the pics!!!