Around Geneva Lake

We spent a couple of days exploring the Geneva area. We found castles on the lake, old steam paddle boats and great museums in Geneva.

We went to Chateau de Chillon to explore a castle on an island rock in the lake.

The audio tour started in the dungeon where some not so happy prisoners lived.

Here is the entrance to the third and most important courtyard in the castle. How many courtyards do you have?

Part of the weaponry collection at the castle.

View from one of the former bedrooms at the castle. We would eventually hop a a steam paddleboat like this one.

Now that is my kind of armor!

The first courtyard at the castle.

We took the steamboat around the lake back to Lausanne.

The steamboat crankshaft is open for viewing from the deck. It is an impressive piece of machinery.

The weather threatened to get us wet but cleared up.

We headed to the Red Cross Museum in Geneva where the original Geneva Convention is on display.

Ali standing next to a giant foot at the Red Cross Museum. 

Next we stopped by the UN building in Geneva for a picture. We wanted to take a tour of the place, but they were closed for the day.

The Glacier Express

We bought a Swiss Pass that allowed unlimited use of all public transportation in Switzerland. We took advantage of this and essentially spent days in trains enjoying the views across Switzerland and crossing many mountain passes. Unfortunaltely due to the window reflections all the beautiful scenery from the train could not be properly photographed. Here are some pictures from the towns we explored on our Glacier Express ride.

We started  by making our way to fancy St. Moritz. This is where the rich and famous spend their vacations and the prize was reflected in the $50 USD per night dormitory bed at the youth hostel.

The St. Moritz youth hostel did have the best breakfast I have ever had in a hostel with a collection of great cheeses. 

We spent a couple of days looking out of train windows at amazing scenery. Going from St. Moritz to Zermatt the passes are so steep that we had to switch to a locomotive that engaged cogs in the track.

The train would take us to the very touristy town of Zermatt, located at the base of the Matterhorn.

This are the blackjack goats found only in the Valais area. I had never seen an animal that looks half dipped in ink like that!

We spent one day hiking in Zermatt so we could enjoy views of the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is there in the picture behind the clouds.

But the wild alpine flowers were very pretty.

The weather threatened to get us wet so we scurried down the mountain.

But we got distracted by more flowers.

In the end we got rewarded with this view of the Matterhorn.

Hiking the Niederhorn, Bern and Lucerne

We continued our Switzerland adventures with more hiking in the alps, enjoying museums in Bern, and exploring the beautiful town of Lucerne.

We started the Niederhorn hike with a funicular ride followed by a gondola ride. Climbing here is a little bit easier than Nepal.

Wild mountain ibex habitate the Niederhorn.

We hiked along the ridge line enjoying magnificent views like this one.

  

What goes up, must come down. The descent into Habkern was a bit of a knee buster.

Somehow I don’t think I want to mess with this kitty.

  

The valleys covered in wild alpine flowers made our hike wonderful.

  

Eventually we arrived in the town of Habkern with its classic Swiss houses.

  

The next day we hiked with Stefanie and Henriette. The girls sure made for a fun time.

Our hike along the river passed by traditional rural houses. I know my mom wishes her rose plant would grow like that.

Our hike ended by a monastery/brewery, unfortunately we got there too late to drink beer . . . err . . . visit.

  

We also spent a day in Bern visiting the Natural History Museum. Really wish I could understand German about now.

After Bern, we headed back to Gebenstorf with Nicole. She took us to Lucerne, a very photogenic medieval town.

My cousin Nicole enjoying the oldest wooden bridge in Lucerne!

I managed to find a brewery with excellent beer.

That’s not a castle on the hill in the back ground, but a fancy hotel with a private funicular. It might just be out of our budget.

The town is colorfully, decorated. This is the side of the Rathous Braueri.

With its wildly decorated buildings Lucerne is definitely unique!

  

Our last stop was at Löwendenkmal, the Lion of Lucerne. A monument to fallen Swiss soldiers in France. It is an amazing sculpture much bigger than this picture depicts.

Hiking in the Bern Canton

We went to Bern to visit our friends Stefanie and Henriette. We got to go explore the city of Bern and hike in the Swiss alps. Here are the pictures of our adventures.

Bern is named after the bears that inhabited that area. The Bärengraben is a popular destination in Bern where three bears live in celebration of the canton's roots.

 Einstein lived for many years in Bern. We went to visit the Einstein Museum and stopped by his old house. 

  

The next day we met with Michelle and headed to Mürren to do some hiking. Here we are hiking away from the train station.

The trails were covered in wild flowers and the weather was foggy and capricious. This made for an exciting and mystical hike.

Hiking from flowering meadow to flowering meadow just puts a smile on your face :)

  

Up close and personal with the alpine wildflowers. I bet Dyle knows what these are called.

Eventually we found a very traditional Swiss village. Just like I pictured in my imagination!

Let’s put a giant bell on the sheep so we don’t loose it. You can hear animals miles away from the clanking of their bells.

Stefanie could not resist just plopping on the wildflowers!

  

Behind the clouds laid the summits the virgin and the monk, but the mountain was not letting us seeing them today.

  

Stefanie, Michelle and Ali decided to have some fun in the playground. They kicked out the four year olds and took over the place!

  

Couple of cuties!

  

Eventually we headed back to Mürren and took a cable car with this wonderful view.

  

After a wonderful hike we took a boat back to the train station. At this time the clouds unleashed some serious rain. I’m glad they waited until we were done hiking.