After spending our first night in Switzerland, on the border of Leichenstein, we drove a few hours to Mt Titlis (elevation 3238 m) and caught four cable cars to the summit, including a revolving car. We passed over picture perfect green valleys full of sheep, goats and cows with bells around their necks. Unfortunately we were not blessed with the perfect 360 degree views from the top but we had glimpses of the valley below and HEAPS of snow. So of course there was another snow fight.
We had a walk through a glacier cave (carved into a slow moving glacier) and caught a chair lift to a summer snow park, where we could go tobogganing on all kinds of contraptions, and tube riding down big huge massive ginormous carved slippery dips.
Luckily there was no wind and we were able to stay out on the slopes for hours. Finally driven by a nagging mother, a food deprived three year old and after ten renditions of "just one more", we made our way back down to the base mid afternoon.
The next day we strolled the streets of the old city of Lucerne.
The number of bakery/coffee shops and Swatch and Swiss army knife shops were astounding. The bakery/coffee shops were beautifully presented with fresh bread, exquisite cakes and chocolates. We resisted the chocolate urge from our taste buds and opted for a more filling morning tea - scrumptious toblerone and custard pastries and ... sorry ... you really don't need to know.
We walked past historic buildings decorated with ornate frescoes and through a number of picturesque squares. The 14th century wooden Chapel and Spreuer Bridges join the city's banks.
The Lion Monument below was hewn out of natural rock in memory of the heroic death of Swiss mercenaries in 1792 and has been described as "the saddest and the most moving piece of rock in the world".
Lucerne - Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen
An open air museum of more than a 100 century old buildings depicting different areas of Switzerland with their domesticated animals, crafts, livelihoods and plant life was a fascinating way for us all to learn about Switzerland. The children had a great time playing traditional Swiss games and attempting various wood crafts, and seeing the animals and old machinery (especially the working watermill-driven crosscut saw).
The drive to Lauterbrunnen in the glacier carved valley of the 72 waterfalls created a few 'oohs' and 'aahhhs'.
We followed a green alpine river along the valley to the base of Trummelbach Falls. These falls are a series of 10 glacial waterfalls, accessible to the tourists through a tunnel-lift and plenty of steps. It carries 20,000 litres of water (about a semi-trailer load) per second and the water has carved tunnels deep into the rock and smoothed its surface as it has changed course over the thousands of years it has been flowing. Very noisy and spectacular.
Lauterbrunnen - Bern
We could have spent much longer in Bern exploring the old city. After visiting the famous bear pits (Bern was supposedly named after bears) we walked the city centre, full of sandstone houses with gorgeous balconies, cobblestone streets, fountains and clock towers ... and all with a medieval atmosphere.
That afternoon we spent a few hours in the Einstein Museum (Einstein was living in Bern from 1903-05 when he formulated the E=MC^2 theory) which was an excellent exhibition on the life of Einstein and included simplified examples of his work, including his Relativity Theory. There was VERY interesting documentation on his association with the development of the atomic bomb.
Tom in particular was fascinated by it all and is nearly ready to write his first edition of "Quantum Physics for Dummies".
Bern - Gruyeres - Montreaux
Cheese and CHOCOLATE day. Today began with a tour of the cheese museum in Gruyere which demonstrated the making of Gruyere cheese. The tour began with an informative display on milk production in the area, and later led us through the working cheese factory and extensive cellars of stored cheeses.
We moved onto the Cailler/Nestle chocolate factory in Broc, another guided tour which ended in a room full of chocolate to sample. There appeared no end to the chocolate variety and it was our tummies that let us down in the end.
The soft chocolate delicacies that just melted in your mouth ... whoops, just dribbled on the keyboard again.
The Chateau de Chillon on the banks of Lake Geneva was our last stop in Switzerland. Unlike other castles we have visited, we were free to wander into our own world of history as we could go wherever we pleased - exploring the myriad of courtyards, towers, dungeons and 40 rooms filled with displays of armour, period furniture and art.
A farewell to Switzerland as we drove down narrow valleys surrounded by snow capped mountains and through 3,659,899,984 tunnels.
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