Switzerland

Switzerland is a magical winter wonderland and I loved everything about it! I'm a huge fan of snow and cold weather so this trip was perfect for me! 

Zurich

When I landed in Zurich I decided to take the train to the hostel because I had heard about how nice and wonderful the train system is in Switzerland.  Turned out to be the fanciest train I’ve ever been on! Nice comfy seats and a Starbucks inside one of the cars! The weather was very rainy and cold which is the typical weather here (170 days out of the year) so I got the full Zurich experience!  I was told that on a clear day you can see the Alps from the city.

A few things about Zurich:

• Albert Einstein went to school here for a few years and was a professor here.
• The ferry boat started in 1933.
• Lake Zurich has a "silver side" and "gold side." The sun shines one hour more each day on the gold side because the silver side is so high up.

Setting up for the Christmas market at the main train station (bottom left)

Biggest clock face in Europe, bigger than Big Ben! (Middle right behind me)

Took the ferry across Lake Zurich (bottom left)

Taking a cable car and a little hike to a cafe overlooking Zurich, adorable!

Adorable little cafe on the top of a mountain overlooking Zurich

Dinner at an outside restaurant with super warm blankets to use!

My hostel and some spiced warm wine for the walk back

Swiss Alps tour

A few things about Switzerland:

• The longest tunnel in the world (57 km) is in Switzerland! There are over 1,000 tunnels throughout the country.
• 8 million people live in Switzerland and the country is about the size of New York state.
• All kids go to the same public schools here so everyone has the same opportunities. The children must walk to school and not be dropped off by car. The country believes that walking is good for you and when parents walk their kids to school it’s good bonding time, so sweet!
• Cantons are like states but in Switzerland.

Lucerne

Lucerne

Interlaken: Apparently lots of people come here to buy watches, watch stores everywhere!

Grindelwald: Probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen! 

It took 16 years to build the cogwheel train from Grindelwald to the top of Europe!

Grindelwald

On the cogwheel to the top of Europe

Steepest ski slope in the world behind me! The World Ski Cup is here!

Top of Europe! The people that work here commute 2 hours up and 2 hours down to Interlaken every day! They take the cogwheel too!

Top of Europe: There was a winter storm and arctic blast blowing through while I was here! Highest winds ever recorded here were 220km/hr and the winds were up to 170km/hr while I was there!

Walking inside a glacier (middle and bottom right pictures)

Top of Europe inside a glacier!

Top of Europe

Top of Europe: Licking a glacier (bottom left pic lol)

• When we came through Interlaken it was just above freezing and clear... when we got back about 6 hours later there was snow everywhere and way below freezing. The guide said weather can change very fast here. It came on super fast and we got stuck behind what we assumed was a huge wreck on a very narrow road with huge rock barriers on both sides! We sat still for about an hour before we started looking at how far of a walk it would be to the next town or train station, only 2.2 miles but in an arctic storm! I was having snowmageden PTSD!!! We finally found out that two buses were stuck beside each other at the bottom of the hill and the police were there... the guide said the two buses were probably from other countries that don’t get snow and didn’t know how to drive in the snow and got stuck... our driver wasn’t even phased! I’m horrible and rarely wear my seat belt on coach bus tours but I definitely wore it on this one!

Zermatt

• My Monday morning walk to the main train station was a lot different than Saturday and Sunday! Hundreds of people were all bundled up walking and taking the tram to work! So neat!!!
• Found out the winds were so bad the slopes were closed the day I was in Zermatt but some of the gondolas were open! Probably a good thing I couldn’t ski because I was beyond exhausted and was slightly worried about breaking a leg lol and it was so brutally cold and windy I could’t stand outside for more than a minute anyways!
• I did not expect to see so many glaciers in Switzerland! They were everywhere!

Train station and train to Zermatt! You go through soooo many tunnels on the train! Sometimes the trains have to stop and wait because only one train can go through some of the tunnels at a time.

Pointing to Matterhorn (top right)

Fresh footprints in the snow! (Top right)

One of two people on the top gondola in Zermatt (top right)

Little doggie running around playing in the snow! (bottom pictures)

Zermatt taxi (bottom left)

You can bring your dog on buses and trains and in restaurants here!

Fondue is apparently a huge thing here! Tried it the last night I was there and it was DELICIOUS!