Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Leanne in Montreux - Day in Lausanne
Woke up to rain so decided to hit the gym instead of running outside. The view made even the treadmill tolorable for an hour. The hotel brought by a complimentary tray of plums to my room, so I had a lesuirely brunch with fruit and croissants (from the co-op. By then the sun had come out and it was off to Lausanne. First stop a walking tour of the old town with Rick as my guide. Lots of good shopping, but all I bought were a few yumy chocolate truffles to eat along the way. Then back to the metro and down to the waterfront at Ouchy. Time for some sorbet - it was aparently a requirement to have ice cream if you want to walk along the waterfront. Next of the agenda was the olympic musem. It was great to see all the outfits and gear that had been donated by various atheletes over the years. I really enjoyed see all the medals from past years - my favourite was from the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was great to see all the Vancouver 2010 stuff, bringing back great memories from our Olympics. Ufortunately no photos were allowed inside and I'm not as brave as Doug so I didn't even try to sneak any. Back to the hotel to change for dinner at Harry's Bar. I had a dirty martini (not as good as the Shore Club in Vancouver) and delicious sea bass dinner while enjoying some live jazz music. Tomorrow - the Chocolate Train.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sarah, Ken, Susan and Doug off to Lake Como
We bid adieu to Switzerland and headed to Italy. It was the usual multi-stage trip to get us to Interlaken Ost for the train to Lucerne and on to Lugano via Arth Goldau. So many train changes just to get anywhere!!
It was hot by the time we got to Lugano and water and gelato was the first order of business before we found the Nespresso store for a shot of the new limited edition coffee. Everyone spoke pretty much Italian and luckily French so Sarah and Ken were able to hold their own for translation. So long folks speaking German. We did the Rick Steeves Lugano highlight tour but mainly just enjoyed the ambiance and "je ne sais quoui" of the upscale surroundings and sunshine.
We stumbled on a church which we wanted to go to but didn't know was where it was. It had the most beautiful frescos.
We took the funicular down from the train station but took the opportunity to walk back up to get some views of the town and lake.
Next stop Como!!
It was hot by the time we got to Lugano and water and gelato was the first order of business before we found the Nespresso store for a shot of the new limited edition coffee. Everyone spoke pretty much Italian and luckily French so Sarah and Ken were able to hold their own for translation. So long folks speaking German. We did the Rick Steeves Lugano highlight tour but mainly just enjoyed the ambiance and "je ne sais quoui" of the upscale surroundings and sunshine.
We stumbled on a church which we wanted to go to but didn't know was where it was. It had the most beautiful frescos.
Leanne to Montreaux
Unfortunately our time in Wengen has ended and it was time to go our separate ways - temporarily. Mary, Margaret, Carol and Larry were on their way to Cinque Terre before the sun came up. Said arrividerci to Sarah, Ken, Susan and Doug around 8am as they headed off to Lake Como. After one last look at our beautiful view I was off to the train station as well. A very relaxing trip on the the Golden Pass Panoramic route from Interlaken to Montreux. The views were great but after travelling around the Berner Oberland for a week it was much of the same. The best part was the first sight of Lac Leman as we came into Montreux. A quick 5 min walk to the Montreux Palace Fairmont hotel. To my delight they had upgraded me to a lake view. My room was gorgeous and had a nespresso machine. I immediately made myself an expresso and unpacked. Then checked out the hotel and went out for a walk along the boardwalk. I couldn't believe the number of runners especially as it was still really warm out, but it was a beautiful place to run so I decided to go out in the morning when it was cooler. It was almost 8pm when I got back to the hotel, so ordered room service and watched a few British comedys before diving into my comfy bed. Bon Nuit
Cinque Terre adventure (9/13/11)
Carol, Larry, Margaret and Mary departed Wengen on a clear morning with a lovely full moon at 6:40 Tuesday morning. A marathon of train travel awaited with changes in Lauterbrunen, Interlaken, Spiez, Milan, Genoa and La Spezia. The local Swiss connections were fine as the platforms were quite close. The train from Spiez was a short connection, but we were able to find our platform quite easily.
Our train connections were all quite tight, so Mary and Margaret were finally able to get some breakfast after Spiez (well after Brig as we were just heading to the restaurant car when border control came aboard with their Golden retriever who took an interest in a fellow just in front of us as we tried to leave the car. We decided we should let that excitement die down and wait until we got over the border before trying again for breakfast.
We had hoped to have time for a coffee in Milan but our train was in the station 30 minutes before our departure so we just waited at the train. The trains in Italy were a definite let down after the lovely clean trains in Switzerland. The train we got on from Milan to Genoa was very dingy – “First” class felt like a cattle car – instead of four and two seats as with other cars, the train had six seat cabins with a hall way along side. It would have been all right except there was only over seat shelves for suitcases which was not enough room for six suitcases even with Larry to lift them up.
Our luck finally gave out with our connection in Genoa – our train was 12 minutes late and we had only had a 10 minute connection so we finally got to stop and rest for about 40 minutes while waiting for the next train. We opted to take the slow milk train so that we wouldn’t have to change trains anymore for the day. We almost hopped on the wrong train but someone on board was able to tell us that the train was not going where we wanted to go. We should have known that trains do not show up early in Italy. After a short wait our milk train showed up and we were able to make our way to Riomaggiore. In the end our eight hour journey turned into a ten plus hour trip.
We arrived in Riomaggiora and figured out which way to go to find our hotel, after trundling through the tunnel from the train station and up numerous blocks of uphill streets, we found our hotel only to find that they had lost our reservation. We spent about 20 minutes waiting while the clerk made a number of phone calls and a woman from the Okanogan tried to translated for us (in some kind of Italian, Spanish and French). After several phone calls, Raphael showed up to lead us across town to his newly renovated rooms. We trundled along a number of streets then hauled our bags up some Amalfi type stairs to find two nicely renovated rooms overlooking the sea (and the train station). We were just preparing to settle in when Raphael received a call from our original hotel who said that they had located the reservation and we had to come back or pay the one night cancellation fee. We listened to Raphael argue for a while and then we all had to traipse back across town (with our luggage comfortably lodged in Raphael’s rooms) to argue in person with the proprietor of the original hotel. We had a 10 – 15 minute argument where we said we had in essence been turned out on the street so there was no way that we were going to pay any cancellation fee nor were we in the mood to drag our bags across town to whatever rooms they had now located. The lady from the Okanogan did more multi-lingual translating. I think the final deciding factor was the knowledge that Carol had already cancelled the credit card that was guaranteeing her room and my assertion that I would get Visa to cancel any charges that I might be charged for a room we never received.
After all of our adventures, we went out for dinner and had a very nice dinner on the main drag. Mary was adventurous and had a Bouliabase type soup with shrimp and scampi/crayfish/little lobster/giant shrimp (not exactly sure what they were but they were big). The carnage after dinner was extreme, a plate full of shells and a table cloth covered in tomato spatter.
Our train connections were all quite tight, so Mary and Margaret were finally able to get some breakfast after Spiez (well after Brig as we were just heading to the restaurant car when border control came aboard with their Golden retriever who took an interest in a fellow just in front of us as we tried to leave the car. We decided we should let that excitement die down and wait until we got over the border before trying again for breakfast.
We had hoped to have time for a coffee in Milan but our train was in the station 30 minutes before our departure so we just waited at the train. The trains in Italy were a definite let down after the lovely clean trains in Switzerland. The train we got on from Milan to Genoa was very dingy – “First” class felt like a cattle car – instead of four and two seats as with other cars, the train had six seat cabins with a hall way along side. It would have been all right except there was only over seat shelves for suitcases which was not enough room for six suitcases even with Larry to lift them up.
Our luck finally gave out with our connection in Genoa – our train was 12 minutes late and we had only had a 10 minute connection so we finally got to stop and rest for about 40 minutes while waiting for the next train. We opted to take the slow milk train so that we wouldn’t have to change trains anymore for the day. We almost hopped on the wrong train but someone on board was able to tell us that the train was not going where we wanted to go. We should have known that trains do not show up early in Italy. After a short wait our milk train showed up and we were able to make our way to Riomaggiore. In the end our eight hour journey turned into a ten plus hour trip.
We arrived in Riomaggiora and figured out which way to go to find our hotel, after trundling through the tunnel from the train station and up numerous blocks of uphill streets, we found our hotel only to find that they had lost our reservation. We spent about 20 minutes waiting while the clerk made a number of phone calls and a woman from the Okanogan tried to translated for us (in some kind of Italian, Spanish and French). After several phone calls, Raphael showed up to lead us across town to his newly renovated rooms. We trundled along a number of streets then hauled our bags up some Amalfi type stairs to find two nicely renovated rooms overlooking the sea (and the train station). We were just preparing to settle in when Raphael received a call from our original hotel who said that they had located the reservation and we had to come back or pay the one night cancellation fee. We listened to Raphael argue for a while and then we all had to traipse back across town (with our luggage comfortably lodged in Raphael’s rooms) to argue in person with the proprietor of the original hotel. We had a 10 – 15 minute argument where we said we had in essence been turned out on the street so there was no way that we were going to pay any cancellation fee nor were we in the mood to drag our bags across town to whatever rooms they had now located. The lady from the Okanogan did more multi-lingual translating. I think the final deciding factor was the knowledge that Carol had already cancelled the credit card that was guaranteeing her room and my assertion that I would get Visa to cancel any charges that I might be charged for a room we never received.
After all of our adventures, we went out for dinner and had a very nice dinner on the main drag. Mary was adventurous and had a Bouliabase type soup with shrimp and scampi/crayfish/little lobster/giant shrimp (not exactly sure what they were but they were big). The carnage after dinner was extreme, a plate full of shells and a table cloth covered in tomato spatter.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Bern and Lake Thun - Mon Sept 12th
We enjoyed a senic train ride to the capital city of Bern where we did the Rick Steves 2 hour walking tour in just over an hour including a stop for lunch.
We managed to see all the highlights - the 11 historic fountains, market in the square by the Parliament building, the show at the clock tower, Bern Cathedral, views of the Aare River, Einstein's apartment and of course the Bear Park. They have 3 bears there now and the new enclosure is really nice. Much better than the awful old cement pits they used to keep them in.
A couple more quick photos as we raced back to the station to catch our train to Thun for an afternoon boat cruise. The cruise was a definite highlight, we sat up on the upper deck in the sun with a beer and our feet up on the rails staring out at the velvety green hills and turquoise water. This is the life! Back at the chalet it was time to start packing. Larry made us a great omlette dinner (somehow we had ended up with 3 dozen eggs??) And Carol whipped up a fruit crumble for dessert, yumm...
A couple more quick photos as we raced back to the station to catch our train to Thun for an afternoon boat cruise. The cruise was a definite highlight, we sat up on the upper deck in the sun with a beer and our feet up on the rails staring out at the velvety green hills and turquoise water. This is the life! Back at the chalet it was time to start packing. Larry made us a great omlette dinner (somehow we had ended up with 3 dozen eggs??) And Carol whipped up a fruit crumble for dessert, yumm...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Day After the Race - Sun Sept 11th
Carol, Larry, Mary and Leanne headed up to the Jungfrau, although it was nice and sunny in Wengen the top of the mountain was fogged in. It did make for some neat pictures with the mountains peeking through as the fog drifted by.
Rather than retrace our steps we headed down the other side to Grindelwald where we ran into Sarah and Ken, who was feeling pretty energetic for someone who had completed a very difficult marathon the day before. They were going to check out one of the easier hiking trails in the area. We stopped for lunch, Mary and Leanne shared a great cheese & meat platter.
After strolling through town we found Susan and Doug just finishing up their tour around town bringing back memories of when they had been in Gridelwald previously 30+ years ago.
Margaret chose to stay and explore more of Wengen, taking the cable car up to the top of the ski runs. A great day was had by all. We arrived at the Chalet just as the skies opened and it started to pour - we were treated to a very exhilerating lightning and thunder storm.
Rather than retrace our steps we headed down the other side to Grindelwald where we ran into Sarah and Ken, who was feeling pretty energetic for someone who had completed a very difficult marathon the day before. They were going to check out one of the easier hiking trails in the area. We stopped for lunch, Mary and Leanne shared a great cheese & meat platter.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Post Race Fun
After the race we posed for pictures and went out for a celebatory dinner. Susan and Leanne had their long awaited fondue and some of the rest of of us participated in some Swiss cuisine.
Next stop Grindelwald.
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