Train Travel

Well after a weekend of staying put, it was back to the wandering. Went to Basel on Monday morning, had a look around there, before heading on to Bern later in the afternoon. Bern is the capital of Switzerland, and has quite a nice old town to look around and explore. The weather has been quite warm, between 30 and 35, but since air conditioning is not quite a big priority here it was just as easy to go outside rather than staying in.

On Tuesday, my last full day in Switzerland, I decided to rest my legs and take a train journey for the day, so booked a spot on the Glacier Express, which goes through the Alpine region of the country. If I had stayed on the whole time, I would have ended up by the Matterhorn, but was too far away to be able to get back to Zürich for the night. The journey went well, the train had quite big windows so you could see everything.

Well almost everything went well.... with this particular journey, you have to pay an extra 30 Francs ($35) for a seat reservation. So went I went to my seat, there was already someone in it, so they moved, and then I was stuck opposite a kid who kept asking "Are we there yet, when are we getting there...?" So that was annoying, but not the most annyoing part of the trip. Because the trip went over lunchtime, they served salad, then later a hot meal, and some cake. I never asked for any of it, but since I had already paid 30 Francs I imagined it must be included since they didn´t ask me if I wanted it. Anyway, before I reach my stop, the waitress sees what I ate, so I told her, then she goes to charge me another 38 Francs for the meal that I never asked for! I wasn´t very impressed, so tried to argue with her, but her defence was "Well, you ate it!". So no luck, and $45 later I was quite annoyed. In any case, the group I was sitting with sympathised with me, and the father of the annoying kid argued on my behalf as well, so I got my money back So I think I have learnt my lesson, always better to check first to avoid any surprises later!

Left Zürich bound for Germany on Wednesday afternoon, and after taking some time to get adjusted, really enjoyed it! Was a nice chance to practise my German, even though they speak a different dialect, I was able to get by day-to-day. Of course it lives up to it´s reputation as an expensive place, but I was ready for it so not too fussed. But it certainly isn´t the best place to visit unprepared and on a tight budget. Bottled water is one thing that was a lot cheaper for example, but when you can fill your bottle up for free from the city´s fountains, that cancels out that. I was quite nervous to fill up my water from the fountains, but after watching everyone else do it, realised it must be fine. First time for everything! Also first time I was able to swim in a river/lake in the middle of the city, the water is really quite clean. So overall I will miss Switzerland, and it was nice to base myself in one spot and get to know at least Zürich quite well over 9 nights, instead of knowing 9 cities a little well, so look forward to returning there.
But at this point - Germany awaits!

Talk soon, Scott