Trains, Trains and More Trains

Today we did trains...I think we were on a dozen of them before we were finished. We rode long trains, and short trains, some with "jet" engines, some without, and one steam paddlewheel lake boat. It was a grand day to see part of the Alps in Switzerland.

Please don't ask me any of their specifications...remember I'm a train rider. The train enthusiasts in the group know all of that arcane information. I just know the trains were fun and they were on time. If the schedule said the train would leave at 1343, it did. A far cry from American train schedules which get the date right most of the time, but definitely not the minute. You have to be on the platform waiting for the train as it will not wait for you.

The lake steamer we were on was really cute. It had an engine made in 1910 that was a work of art. The pistons were huge and turned the side paddlewheels quickly and smoothly. 

Isn't this engine a thing of beauty?

She was "led" by a golden goddess.

We went through many alpine villages. big and small, each one perky and clean with geraniums decorating the windows or the streets. 

As you can see, we had a little bit of rain, but it was not cold nor a nuisance. 

We looked at the Chateau de Chillon in Montreaux, still standing guard after all these years. Of course, it was under construction, but that's the way it goes. Summer is the only time you can repair these old chateaux, and it is summer.

Another pretty building in Bayveax

A church and koi pond in Interlaken Ost

A farmhouse outside of Bex.

We came back to our hotel, tired but happy.

It was a good day.

 

Misc. Pictures

Cute yard donkey in Zurich.

The huge train hall in Zurich...and hanging from the ceiling are

Large flags depicting the modern face of Switzerland...and a blue "Angel." We were trying to figure out who or what the blue angel represents,  but we don't really know. Do you have any ideas?

An articulated bus wiggling down the streets of Zurich. 

Bern has bears, but Zurich as seals. I wondered why

 seals in this land locked nation? There are not any indigenous seals here, but they are cute.

Today we passed field after field of corn 

Finally, a nest of bicycles,ł

Trains...part 2

Today we rode two trains -- one from from Zurich to Bern and one from Bern to Interlaken Ost. It was a beautiful ride. 

All of our contingent showed up today, the "official first day" of the adventure. We have folks from Australia and the US. There is a mixture of train enthusiasts, train buffs, train riders, and tagalongs. We are part of the train rider contingent. 

No matter your interest in trains, all seem to be friendly experienced travelers. They all have some great stories to share too! 

In fact, it's a rare moment when it's quiet! 

Today we finally got into the mountains. Sadly, I don't have any good pictures, as they were taken from a moving train...but here goes...

The water is even a prettier blue than the picture.

We had a good day...and so did Silky. 

2 Pictures

The Eurostar in London

Hall 2 at the Gard Lyon

Trains...part 1

Yesterday we took the Eurostar train from St. Pancras International Station to Gard Paris by way

of the Channel Tunnel (you are not supposed to call it "The Chunnel" BTW). The ride was great. We were rolling through the English countryside at 138 MPH when an announcement was made that we would be entering the tunnel in a few minutes. 

(That's English countryside speeding by...) We entered the tunnel and the world turned black. I felt a little pressure in my ears, but it wasn't bad. Sooner than I thought we were surfacing again and now we were speeding through the French countryside. Can you see the difference?

About an hour later we disembarked the train at the Gard Paris and we rushed to get a taxi to the Gard Lyon. Our ride through Paris was a fast white knuckle ride as our driver slithered around the streets to get us to the next train on time. Gard Lyon is a large, old, dirty, structure, far different from the tidiness of St. Pancras. It's filled with people and time schedules both running at break neck speeds. Geoff our guide knew exactly where to look and he told us to go Hall 2 and wait their until we are given a track number. 

As we waited for the track number, mists of water were sprayed into the area every few minutes to cool the room down...I guess it works as we are not sweltering, but it was warm. Soon, a notice appeared on the boards that our train was on track 5. We went the right track and walked until we saw car 17. We tossed our luggage into the car and found our seats. Our group of 8 had the back 2 rows which faced each other and had a small table in between. For the next few hours we sped our way to Zurich making quick stops in the outskirts of Dijon, Montebeliard, and Basel before we reached our last destination for the day.

One of the fellows has a speedometer app on his iPad, so we tracked our speed. We were zipping along between 197 and 202 mph.

The strange thing is we didn't feel like we are moving that fast...but if I looked outside, I found it hard to take a still picture. We were making "good time" as my dad used to say when we were on vacation when I was a kid. 

All Swiss trains run on time, so we got to Zurich right on the money. We scooped up our luggage and walked a few minutes to our hotel. This is when we were thankful we only had 2 suitcases and a backpack with us as getting on and off trains with too much luggage is more than difficult. Later we all had dinner together and retired back to the hotel where we quickly collapsed. We have "time off" this morning as a few more people have to join our group of 19. At 1323 we will board the next train to Interlaken Ost. The adventure continues. 

Silky is having a good time too!

London Street Scenes

St. Pancras and King Cross Stations

St. Pancras Hotel

unknown Victorian spire

Entrance to an Underground station

Not Big Ben...

 

The Meeting Place aka The Lovers

This HUGE piece of public art by Paul Day is located at St. Pancras Station in London. It's about 9 meters tall and weighs 20 tons, and it's dwarfed by the size of the station. The work is either loved or hated, as it has had mixed reviews since it was placed in the station in 2007. We liked it, except for the eyes...they are not right. 

What do you think?

The statue stands atop a plinth that depicts train and underground travel in a series of high relief friezes. I've been trying to find exactly what the friezes depict, but I've not found a good explanation yet. I did take a picture of each of them. 

I like this one the best. Even in a welcome embrace, she has to check her messages! We've come too far I believe when we take messages over the real thing. The only thing that would make this "worse" would be the fellow checking his phone too! But, take a look at his eyes...is he "in the moment?"

Life reflected? 

Waiting for the next train.

Entering or exiting the train? I can't tell. 

Going to war...and here you can see the scale of the frieze, based on the real hand in the picture. 

I have no idea what this means...any clues from you?

And, what would a Brit be without a faithful pooch?

 

All Forms of Transport

London is a huge city...and there are lots of way to get around.

If you don't want to walk very far, you can wear some realllly high heels.

Or, you can take your basic folding bicycle.

Or, you can take a taxi. There are 2 taxi types in the city...the traditional Black Cab which charges according to time and distance...or an "independent" taxi which charges a flat rate. As you can see, the Black Cab Driver is advertising that it is the best way to go because the drivers are trained, knowledgeable, licensed, regulated, etc. We took one of each type of taxi today. The Independent charged £15 and the Black Cab charged £17. I got "sea sick" on both...the cabbies quickly wander in and out of traffic wending their way thru the crowds, seemingly ignoring signs, lanes and anything else that will get in the way. 

King's Cross Station

Harry Potter Alert! We went to King's Cross Station today and it was filled with muggles,

as Molly Weasley said! We saw the sign that said Platforms 9-11 to the left...so left we went and found a huge line outside. There was a smaller line for Platform 9 3/4...filled with folks waiting to have their picture taken with any color Hogwarts scarf they wanted.

There are a few problems with this picture...see the wand---if you are a wizard, you cannot show your wand when there are muggles around...also, the Platform number only exists AFTER you cross the barrier, not before. But since we are muggles this will have to do.

We've been reading about King's Cross in the Harry Potter saga since the books came out. It was great fun to see the "real" thing! It's also amazing to think how much a set of 7 books have captured the imaginaton of so many people.