Switzerland Part 5 - Lucerne

After 2days of fun in Milan, we returned to Zurichfor the night. The next morning, we were off to Lucerne - most tour groups would go there as part of the tour package.

Lucerne's also pretty and a nice walking city but a bit more crowded. One of the key highlights was to see the Water Tower which was used as a prison, archival library and treasury and also the Chapel Bridge that links it. The 14th century bridge was burnt down in 1993 (sigh.. why ppl do that so such a nice historical bridge?) and repoened in 1994.

Another attraction was the lion monument nested amongs the trees. Its very calming to be there and ppl hang around there with their sandwiches and drinks. The monument's in memory of 800 swiss meceneries who died during the french revolution in 1792. At a closer look, the lion's wounded with a blow of the lance carved in 1821.

Other sights around Lucerne...

Last and final place to explore - Zurich!

Milan!

Milan was like a last minute thing. Mum was chatting with her fren who then suggested we pop by milan since its a short 3 hr train ride away - and so we go!

In comparison to Switzerland, its dirtier, more crowded but cheaper. We did minimal sightseeing - only the Duomo Church (its grand!) and spent rest of the time wandering around shops :D

Switzerland Part 4 - Bern

Bern IS my favourite place to visit in Switzerland! I LOVE Bern!

Bern is the capital of Swiss Confederation and its considered one of the best preserved medieval cities and listed by UNESCO as one of the world's cultural treasures. I LOVE!

Its such a pretty place for walking and strolling along , exploring the alleys and quaint shops, taking a drink from the countless fountains to quench your thirst, great scenery of lakes , moutains and even bears!

I can go on and on about Bern but then i will never finish this post - so i shall let the picture do the talking! Enjoy!

Ooo.. i forgot a bit of interesting history about Bern -You will see bear everywhere - in statue, in flag and even alive in the Bear Pit. Legend has it that when Duke Berchtold V decided to build the city, he swore to name it after the first animal he brought back from th ehunt and the animal turned out to be a bear! Ooo... Dukes, medieval times, castles .. i LOVE!!

Next stop which i equally love - Milan!

Switzerland Part 3 - The Glacier Express

After staying a night in Zermatt, we left in the morning via The Glacier Express. I think this is considered one of the highlights of the trip - you will see pictures of it featured in tour guide and such.

Here's how the train looks like. Full glass top and botom. Its good cuz it gives a good view but its darn sunny - me and mummy we trying desperately to avoid the sun in vain.

Its abt a 7.5hrs trip if you stay the entire ride and its free with the switz pass but have to pay a fee to reserve the seats. There's also option to pay to have a 3 course meal on the train - which we paid for in advance too (if you didnt, you could still order food from the ala carte menu which is slightly more expensive but the food's better). Here's picture of our food - salad, main course & chocolate cake. Lucky i brought my own hard boil egg - most yumy.

We departed Zermatt for the last station @ St. Moritz. On hindsight, we shd have done the other way round. Anyway, the first hour of the trip was very novel and fun and exciting for us. I was busying snapping pictures, drinking my coffee, enjoying the scenery, and crafting away. After that, the ride was just pure torture for me - the ride was windy and long. There was simply nothing to do other than greenery greenery and more greenery.

Other highlights of the ride includes going up the moutains ( i think up to 2000m) and all we see is dark , stark snow covered land. Its pretty!

The finale was this bridge with three arches (nearer to St. Moritz side) - everyone was filled with anticipation just to get a good shot of the bridge. See everyone busy snapping away -but the train moved pretty fast and from the collective groans of the passengers, i think most/all did not get good shots. Anyway, its such a let down for me. I came with high expectations, endured and then all i got was a good 10secs view and anticiaption? Lousy i say.

Was so glad that the ride's over! Seperately, i took some pictures of cuppa tea pouches which i crafted during the trip - so pweeety! I love ! Maybe i should explore doing matching teapots for it.