Day 14 - Glacier Express

To everyone sweating in Southern California, sorry, we wore down jackets today and wandered vertically between about 1600 feet in Chur to over 6000 feet in the Oberal Pass.  We started the day overcast in St Moritz, when we boarded the Glacier Express 

and got off after 8 h in Zermatt, with rain and same temperature.  Thus the down jackets...

Note: I wish I could use a computer to blog and hyperlink to all the places I mention, but with limited Internet access and time to write, it's impossible to do it on the phone.  I'll do this at home, upon arrival. 

The Glacier Express goes through three cantons and hundreds of villages, viaducts and tunnels.  The Alps dominate the landscape so the sky is always smaller than an eye watching over you.  But the panorama train allows everyone to get a perfect view.

I tried to take in everything, because I felt overwhelmed by beauty and emotions.  There were cows, sheep and goats grazing undisturbed, pretty villages with a handful of houses--all embellished with flowers--waterfalls, the Rhine, grass of all shades of green. Cable cars crisscrossed above us, and fog or low clouds reminded us that not much can be hoped meteorologicaly at that altitude.

We admired the chalets made of larchwood with tall granite base to prevent mice from climbing in.  The wood was darkened by sun, but the overall air of order and neatness was reinforced with white window sills and pots of geranium hanging from most windows.

Best things about this train itself were the lack of wifi and the fact that it is powered with green hydro energy.  The worst thing was the outrageous prices for food and drinks!  Beer was cheaper than water ( prices in Swiss Francs, so the water bottle was about $6.5 for half a quart):

In the same time, the water bottle I carried with me on the trip saved my savings account. I filled it with crisp tap water and so when we could, we didn't have to buy the bottled water.  Tap water in Switzerland seems to come straight from a melting glacier!

Unfortunately, the rain prevented me from taking pictures and the same guilty clouds prevented us from seeing THE mighty Mattehorn once arrived in Zermatt. Maybe we get a glimpse of the beast tomorrow, but at least this small ski town that is car-free like Venice is enchanting! Below is a picture of just the train station!

The mini cabs are the only ones allowed in the town. 

Otherwise, we can't have enough berries, which are packed with flavor!

And I discovered this cake that is absolutely divine and I will pay a translator from the Egadine valley to give me the recipe in English!

Final notes for today:

- as much as this country is extremely clean, extremely organized and extremely beautiful (sorry, ran out of adjectives), it's also terribly expensive (a bowl of soup and a chicken tikka masala for $45! Without even water or coffee or other "luxuries! Or $20 at McDonalds for a chicken nuggets and chicken sandwich, again no drinks or extras!)

- "What are you, Swiss?" Resonates with me -something Italians often say. I see their point. The electric plugs are different, the currency is different, their interaction with tourists is different.

- Still, for some reason the Swiss, in their perfect world, haven't figured out how to eliminate the flies. Or maybe in this cheese and milk country, they are simply ignored. As a foreigner though, I fought them on the train, in the nice stores in St Moritz and even in the nicest bakeries... 

But I forgive them! We're having a blast and must recommend the Glacier Express to everyone. And the Alps and... Travel... 

Day 13 - The Bernina Pass

The beauty of a train ride is that you can glue your nose to the window and take in everything like when you read a good book and you immerse yourself so much in it that you forget about everything else.  This is what happened to me today. We left Innsbruck and went by train to St Moritz via Chur, through the Bernina Pass.  The path is ranked by UNESCO as the third most beautiful in the world said the train conductor, and I can only agree that is one of the most beautiful. Period. The best I've ever seen so far, although the competition given by the Anchorage-Fairbanks scenic route was no less significant. 

Similar to Austria, the mountain villages in Switzerland also have the houses spread apart, but clustered around streets, which allows a lot of green space among them. Hay shacks made of dark wood and hay stacks rolled in shiny white plastic to protect from rain look like huge candy pieces spread over green lawns.

Very often, there are alternating corn and hay lots, with a house farm in the back.  Always the tall tower of a church dominates the sky the middle of the community.

The Filisur to Bergün is the best and highest part of the ride, and I recommend this trip from the bottom of my heart.  

Once arrived in St Moritz, the adventures started! First, we figured that the travel agent didn't book a hotel as promised. We managed to get one room in a not very very expensive decent hotel that had a nail salon next door. 

We tried to get a manicure since we've been for a while on the road and desperately needed some grooming. However, we discovered that the salon was operated by one grouchy old lady only who told us she could do our manicure next week 😄.  I said that if we afforded such a long stay, we'd go to a posh spa! 

We meant to buy fruit and snacks for tomorrow on the Glacier Express, but got so inspired by the supermarkt food, had a scrumptious dinner in the room! Tired of potatoes and fried food, we got sushi, two cornetti con crema di vagnilia and the best tasting trio of berries ever! Incredible quality food, great taste, and not a lot more expensive than in our supermarket. 

Go Alps!!!

This was after we took the funicular to go up to Corviglia -a 5 min ride worth 50CHF!  The view of the city and the Alps was stunning though.  

Funny how the euros are accepted but the rest is given in CHF.  However, I cannot use euro coins, only bills. 

We get around everywhere speaking Italian although I expected people to speak mostly French and German (or Romansh). This is because we are so close to Italy. 

Finally, yes, I did get dark chocolate from a boutique and it was ... Ah, so good!

Day 12 - Hot Salzburg and Innsbruck

Hot, hot, hot: 91F today. 

Hot also as in attractive beauty! Both in Salzburg and Innsbruck, the ski capital of Austria. And water is not free here. We probably spent 20€ today only on still water to stay hydrated in the heat... Need to find a supermarket before going bankrupt! 

The fast intercity train (230 km/h or 150 mph) took us from Vienna to Salzburg in time to view at least the Thursday market, which left us with watering mouths at the strawberries, blueberries, red and black currant as well as raspberries on sale. But I kept thinking about how such a train would save Californians tons of time if the billet train were to be built between San Diego and San Francisco. It would also reduce the carbon emissions. Austrians allowed it in a country much smaller than California, but some Californians oppose it without thinking of its benefits. 

Today's impressions:

1. Viennese people speak English and are nicer and friendlier than the rest of the Austrians. 

2. Austrian food is all about meat and potatoes, but we found some great restaurants, such as this one in Innsbruck in an old church.

3. Best view of Salzburg and area is from the fortress above, Hohensalzburg.  Too bad it rained with tourists today and it was hard to get a good picture. I can only imagine the crowds in Paris and London... 

4. Salzburg Cathedral had free wifi. Where people prayed, we checked email, a sacrilege, and admired the magnificent interior. Not sure this was where Maria got married to Captain Von Trapp 😀

5. The train ride from Salzburg toInnsbruck is superb and besides the deer, mountains and lush green cultivated terrain, I loved the log cabins or houses with red geraniums cascading from under their windows and logs already prepared for the winter in their huge yards...

6. And back to Salzburg, we finally tried the sachertorte and found it delicious. Especially when eaten under (again!) the quirky street signs, below the fortress...

Day 11 - Butterflies, Belvedere Castle, and more

We started the day at the Butterfly House, in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, after running through some serious sprinklers.  It was only 11AM but already hot!

We also met Mozart (his statue actually) at the entrance, putting us in a cheerful mood. 

Luckily his statue, unlike many many others, is not covered in a mesh to be protected from birds/pigeons.  

On the opposite side from the "Mozart entrance" was Cafe Landtmann, apparently a Viennese institution famous for the coffee and apfelstrudel.  Indeed, a balance of sweet, spicy and soft but textured food flooded our palates. Iced cappuccino a glorious failure though...

Here are my daily impressions:

1. Many Austrians and Europeans in general smoke! Especially at restaurants, outside. All restaurant tables have ashtrays, but not water. Not my idea of healthy. 

2. Vienna is clean, not too crowded with cars and people like Rome and Paris, and more civilized. No cars are parked on sidewalks, streets are clean, and blind people are helped by lines smartly imprinted in the sidewalks. The bike and pedestrian lanes are beautifully marked, too. 

 3. Everyone speaks English! Seriously! 

4. The Hollywood current is influencing even Vienna, otherwise I can't explain these stars...

(I love my shoes, so I wanted to acknowledge that by keeping them in the picture)

5.  Old street signs for stores and trades are adorable! This is in English, but most are in German. 

6. Vienna has the most adorable traffic lights I've ever seen! Do you agree?

7. The view of the city from the Belvedere Castle is  stunning. 

Day 10 - Mazes, Schnitzel, and St. Stephens Cathedral...

... and so much more! Vienna is such a nice surprise to me! It has everything that's so overrated about Paris and Rome, I.e., art, history, music, great food, and character, without the big fanfare.  And it has even more: the Torture Museum and the Collection of Anatomical Pathology!  No time for those though...

We started the day with a to-die-for breakfast (yes, pastries!), then got a Vienna card and started the adventure.  Kids up to 14 years travel free on the metro, buses and trams, and the card also gives discounts to several museums, stores and restaurants.  

We visited the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens for half of a sizzling day, including the maze, which was so well done we couldn't get to the tree at the end. We chilled at a kiosk that had the biggest pretzels 

and then read about labyrinths.

These are actually finger labyrinths and they were much easier than the life sized one. 

We hopped back on the metro and spent the rest of the day around Stefansplatz, in the most popular, touristically dense area of Vienna from St Stephen's Cathedral 

to the famous opera we all love to see every January 1!  I didn't get to admire the interior of it, but for 0.70€ I did visit the Opera Toilet.

Here is a brief list of favorites: wandering around streets in Innere Stadt,

And the boutiques (wishing for this little LV trunk!),

eating finger food sandwiches at Trzesniewski, a perfect schnitzel with cucumber salad at Figlmüller and a Chocolate of Austria ice cream (or coffee) at Zanoni & Zanoni, 

admiring the Swarovski crystals at home, and of course enjoying the Starbucks wifi in a location of unique beauty (check out the wall paper pattern behind me!)

Time to go to bed now!

We're happily exhausted, caring for our blisters and preparing for more of everything tomorrow! I love Vienna!

 

Day 9 - From Bucharest to Vienna

Bucharest is looking better every time I visit, which is about yearly. More buildings are renovated and therefore have clean facades that highlight their beauty. Most of them are historical buildings, like the Coltea Hospital in the center of the capital.  This is how it looks through the window of "La Placinte" - a fantastic restaurant serving traditional Romanian pies.

Romanian "placinta cu branza" is a traditional savory or sweet pie worth a million bucks!

We waved farewell to Bucharest and Romania with a visit to our "Central Park" named Cismigiu.  A quick paddle boat ride and we left...

La revedere, Bucuresti!

We arrived in Vienna late at night, but my guide for this trip, Chloe, pulled the city metro map out, got tickets and found the way to the hotel without a glitch! And this is our first time in a country whose language we don't speak at all. 

Day 8 - Back to Bucharest

We left Macin and my parents and drove to Bucharest - thank you, Elena! Smooth drive through the Baragan plains, warm and breezy... Of the almost 180 miles, only 50  were on a two-lane highway, when we approached Bucharest. The rest was on roads with one lane each way shared with horse-drawn carriages and bikes. But first, we crossed the Danube on the ferry boat.  It was hot enough for others to travel with minimalist wardrobes...

Understandably, the ride was long... But the company was great, sky seemed powdered in sugar, and the land was colorfully split in lots with sunflowers, corn, wheat, and more...

Finally in Bucharest again, and back to civilization again, we walked on Calea Victoriei from the University Square to the Romanian Atheneum. This is one of the most beautiful music halls I've ever seen- in the background below...

Even if they forgot to turn on the lights 😉, I loved its ghost behind this billboard announcing the "Festival Dilema" (yes, dilemma).  Thinking back about Macin, my dilemma from the past 40 years is why can't Romania build a bridge over the Danube at Braila! Such a bridge would spare me from watching confused people run in speedos on ferry boats and would strengthen Dobrudja's economy tremendously. Both are very important reasons.

The day ended at a really special boutique restaurant, Chocolat. Merci, Elena! 

Legend:

1. Cardio detox (yum if you add honey to sweeten it). 2. Salt and pepper mills with futuristic design that led Chloe into thinking that it was an anti mosquito spray 😆. 3. Gorgeous "martisor" dessert. 4. Menu encyclopedia with pictures.