Trains in Switzerland

The train trip around Switzerland has come to an end as of this morning. We are now training our way back to London by way of Zurich and Paris. The connections are pretty tight and while we don't have the luxury of our wonderful guide leading us to the right station and platform we do have his wife, which is a pretty good substitute. We also have 2 weeks experience reading train schedules. Between the 3 of us, we will arrive in London without too many hassles. Our next hurdle will be in Paris where we have to change trains AND we have to change stations. The Gare du Lyon (where we will "land") is across town from the Gare du Nord, so we will need to find a taxi to take us from A to B. We did this in the opposite direction 2 weeks ago, and while it was hectic, it was doable.

The trip has been great! We saw some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. I fell in love with Alpine Switzerland. Switzerland on the flat is not as wonderful as it seems to be just one big city after another. I'm not a city person at home, and I'm definitely not a city person overseas. Our tour was set up very well. We stayed in an area for several days before moving somewhere else. Our hotels were all good to very good and Geoff, our leader (I called him "the boss") had everything planned well. I know from teaching...without planning there is no instruction. Without planning when you travel, there is not a good trip. The planning had been done well and it showed by the results of the trip!

One of the hard parts of travel is to come out "even" money-wise. The trick is to leave a country with no money left of that currency. Sounds easier than it is. We had 27 Swiss Francs (CHF) this morning. We had a 35 CHF bill at the hotel, which we paid off in cash and credit card. We now have zero CHF. We'll do the same thing in London. However, we will not spend down our Euros in Paris as we will come back to the Eurozone and it's always wise to have a bit of the currency when we step foot on the ground. 

I need to count how many different trains on which we traveled. I know the number is large as we were on 12 trains the first day alone. Since then we've been on at least 3 trains every day, some days more. We went on a few trains that were really special: The Furka Steam Train, the Mt. Pilatus Cog Railway, and the Steam Tram in Bern are highlights. These trains were old, special, and just plane cute. We also sailed on 2 steam paddleboats. Their engines were mechanical marvels. I'm still in awe of the fact that the trains are on time. Having traveled by train in the US, where the trains are seldom on time, it was a luxury to know that the train would come at 12:34 sharp and leave at 12:42 sharp. I do wish there were more ramps and fewer stairs. Pulling a suitcase up or down 2 or 3 flights of stairs is not any fun. There are few escalators, few elevators, but there are ramps now and then...and in one station there was a ramp, an escalator and an elevator! What a treat!

There are few more pictures to post...that will be next.