swiss cheese

the matterhorn above zermatt

best crédit suisse office around

zurich

old bridges of lucerne

our fellow hikers

these cows live better than most of our citizens

they love their ricola (matterhorn in background)

zermatt cemetary

st. moritz lake

surfing the river in bern

overlooking bern

laurel says:

switzerland is like a little utopia.  perfect villages in perfect mountains surrounded by perfect lakes with perfect trains to get you around and perfect people that speak 5 languages, perfectly of course.  sometimes the perfection is overwhelming and you want to see a tiny flaw.  but from what i could tell, this is a country with few imperfections.  the only drawback, is that the beauty comes with a price.  it is by far the most expensive spot we have been yet.  it even broke us down to the point where we stayed in a hostel- the first one in our 9 month journey (and hopefully the last!)  once we got over the sticker shock, we bought a swiss rail pass and used it to bounce around from one gorgeous place to the next.  we started in bern, the capital "city" population 125k.  from there we headed to zurich- a place that has been voted top city in the world for quality of life 7 years running.  and it was easy to see why.  a beautiful city on the banks of a river surrounded by mountain scenery with a cool restaurant scene.  emil was about ready to apply for a job at credit suisse hq.  from there we bounced to lucerne, our fave stop of the trip.  stunning beauty and one of the best museums i have ever laid eye on- the fantastic sammlung rossengart which features the private collection of one of picasso's dear friends.  from lucerne we took the scenic golden pass train to interlaken for some great hiking.  next stop was zermatt, another highlight of the trip. there we spent a couple days hiking in the shadow of the majestic matterhorn and enjoying the down to earth vibe of the 365 day a year ski town.  a trip on the incredible glacier express train brought us to st. moritz for our swiss finale.  this town was a little too aspen like, but beautiful nontheless.  switzerland is an absolute gem of a country and barring antarctica, is the most beautiful place we have been to.  a visit here is an absolute must, just make sure you don't eat your weight in cheese like i did.

lucerne

training thru switzerland

hiking interlaken

emil says:


things i knew about switzerland prior to the trip...the good:  cheese, chocolate, and watches;  ....the bad:  history (who can honestly be neutral during ww2 when you are in the heart of it add to which not allowing many thousands of jewish people to cross the border from germany) and bad hot chocolate (swiss miss hot cocao contains partially hydrongenated oils...now why is that necessary?). the people of switzerland are a bit on the dry and stoic side but nevertheless besides antarctica this is the most physically beautiful place i have ever laid eyes upon. 70% of the country is just ripling with mountains. it's severely and beautifully underpopulated. most of the cities are located on at least one river or one lake and some like interlaken or zurich are just surrounded by presitne waters. each city and town is truly physically mesmerizing.  the train system is like no other.  when a train is 2 minutes behind schedule it is deemed 'delayed' on the giant departures board (the long island rail road isn't deemed late for 2 days). lucerne is home to one of the top museums on the trip (including those in paris). zermatt is what all skiiers wish their home ski hill looked like.  no big lodges, no giant condos dotting the landscape. just b&b's all over and quaint family run spots making bratwurst and pouring cold shneider-weisse, and year-round glacier skiing to boot.  (also home to the most picture-esque credit suisse office on the planet.  al alperin, you gotta upgrade).  the 8 hour train ride from zermatt to st moritz winds through mountain pass after mountain pass that really is too beautiful to attempt description. besides turkey and sri lanka, switzerland has been the best surprise of the trip.

ski house in zermatt

condo free ski town of zermatt

matterhorn at dusk

emil getting artistic

the glacier express

st. moritz