Day 7 Eurowinter 2008: Luzern and the mountains

I rode a train to Luzern. Luzern is another beautiful city in Switzerland located 50 minutes away from Zurich. Chapel bridge (pic) is the landmark for Zurich. But I wanted to go to the mountains so I bought a discounted ticket to Rigi Kulm (1800 m above sea level). With the Swiss Youth Pass, I am eligible for more than 50% discount for boat trips + train trips + cable car trip back and forth Luzern and Rigi Kulm.

This reminds me of a very beautiful scenery when me and my mama took a package Norway in a Nutshell last summer. The view from top is always majestic and breathtaking! I have a thing for not-so-high hills and mountains. I hiked so many times the Bukit Larut when I was in high school MRSM Taiping. When I was in Makkah, I climbed up Jabal Thur, Jabal Nur and Jabar Rahmah. In Nizhniy also there’s a hill, but I don’t need to climb it. I am already on top of it (in front of my hostel – the Switzerland Park)

The boat stopped in Vitznau before I took the connecting train up to Rigi Kulm. It was raining but the Alpine view was priceless!

After arriving at Rigi Kulm station (1752 m), it was very windy. I rented a sledge to play, but due to the heavy snowstorm, me and the Korean guys who also rented sledges returned them. Lucky the guy in charge gave back the rental money, else I wont have money left for dinner. I was kinda disappointed up here because I thought I could see the view of Switzerland from top, but all here is pure white. I did nothing except going to the toilet, called home to tell that I’m fine at the top of alpine mountain and waited for the descending train. Probably there’s so much fun stuffs to do in summertime. Below is a picture of Weggis:

I descended the mountain by cable car from Rigi Kaltbad (1453 m) with the Korean guys. It was so steep juz like when I took the ascending train. Rigi Kaltbad offers much more spectacular view than Rigi Kulm and much better climate. Then I descended to Weggis by cable car (which was pretty fast), from which the alpine view is prettier than when I ascended. Then I cruised Lake Luzern from Weggis to the city of Luzern and took a train back to Zurich.

 

Zurich central station has a night market today (wednesday) selling lavish variety of foods. The central station is really spacious anyway, so it’s kinda good to have things like this once a week. At the hostel, I met two fellow Nizhnians who are on their way back to Nizhniy… it’s really a small small world.

The damn hostel didn’t provide free wireless so I had to go Starbucks to play internet. Drank a decaf bcoz I need to wake up early tomorrow to meet Hatimi in Nuremberg. Early morning flight at 6.20 a.m.

Day 6 Eurowinter 2008: Basel and Bern

I woke up late but I got nothing to do in Zurich. I decided to go to Basel (English pronounced Baahl) and BernThe day started with kebab. The kebab restaurant is just opposite my hostel. Kebab is a food which supplies a traveler’s nutritional needs. It has pita bread for carbo, chicken/beef for protein, salads for vitamins and fibers; and not to mention it tastes so goooood for my lovely Asian tongue.

 

I headed to Basel. Basel is a city located by the Rhine river bordering Germany, France and Switzerland (pic). Nice small city, just like the other cities in Switzerland. The elite people, elite shops, elite old town, elite chocolate shops. One can also organize your own trip in Basel. There’s a pamphlet on that available in the Basel central station. I took the Erasmus walk which is 30 minutes round the Old Town covering the main sites.

I bought Swiss chocolate (pic) in front of Basel’s city hall. There is this shop called Merkur. It is so yummy but expensive no doubt. For the futures Swiss-travelers to-be, spare A LOT OF MONEY for swiss chocolate. Yes, A LOT! Don’t buy for anyone because once tasted, you’ll always want more. You just cant get enough from swiss chocolate. They’re very endorphinic!

 

A tip for potential Swiss chocolate buyers: buy the ones which are freshly packed and mixed variety, not those which are already packed for example the famous toblerone. The feel of eating the freshly packed chocolate – you can’t get anywhere else in the world. Just like you buying fish in fish market, do you prefer fresh or packed frozen? I’m not saying toblerone is no good, but toblerone is available everywhere in the world. It’s kinda waste of money to buy toblerone in Switzerland. I am very surprised to learn that they also make chocolates for diabetics!!

They separate the alcoholic chocolate from the non-alcoholic ones.

Even while I’m writing this, I am eating the chocolates. Mmmhhh…! They melt between my fingers! Meaning those are pure swiss chocolates and my fingers have good blood circulation.

Nächste Halte: Bern (Next stop: Bern). Bern is a very charming city. Many people mistake Zurich as the capital of Switzerland, but no, it’s Bern! Those who don’t know this should be sent to Swiss Biro Tata Negara (then of course everyone will get it wrong! Who doesn’t love Switzerland?!)

Since it’s getting pretty dark, I went to see Alpines Museum which tells a lot about the famous and elegant Swiss Alps. Then, I went to Zytglogge (pics), the famous landmark for Bern. After sunset, there was like a light show at the Zytglogge. I don’t know what’s the occasion but I think it’s beautiful.

   

It got darker and I got an evening train back to Zurich for one hour journey. The Zurich-bound trains are available every half hour from Bern thanks to the very extensive and systematic train services in Switzerland!

Later at night in my hostel, I met two new people as my roommates; a Korean-Canadian guy and a Spanish guy. They both travel alone and met in Zurich; and both have traveled for 4 months! Wow!! The western system allows a person to take a year off before resuming studies in college. That’s kinda cool to hear.

The Korean-Canadian guy gave me some tips for my trip to the Alps the next day. I always wanted to go to the top of Europe (Jungfraujoch), but we’ll see! He said it was so expensive that my Swiss Youth Pass doesn’t cover all the price to the top of the mountain,  it’s -20 degrees there and I don’t think I’m prepared for that kinda climate in the currently +8 degrees in Zurich.

Day 5 Eurowinter 2008: Zurich and Schaffhausen

I arrived early in the morning in Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Zurich Central Station) at 6.20 a.m. after 13-hour long train from Prague. My accommodation is at City Backpacker Zurich, located at the center of Old Town which is not that far from the Zurich Hauptbahnhof. Unfortunately for me, after being so tired of the long journey, my bed wasn’t available until 11 a.m.

City Backpacker Zurich is the cheapest budget hostel in the center of Zurich which costs only 22 euros for one night in a dormitory. But then, it’s crappier. The building is like a cheap flathouse (which is of course expensive in a city like Zurich). Unlike the Geneva City Hostel, the Zurich one doesn’t have free wireless so I wasn’t able to update my blog for a while. And Geneva’s hostel services are so much better (selling Swiss tickets from the hostel office, bigger common rooms, locker and laundry services)

 

Before the bed is ready, I decided to take a walk in Zurich city. But first, I called home with my European simcard United Mobile and wished my 17 year old brother Farhan happy birthday on the 4^th of February 2008. Then I bought myself a Swiss Youth Pass (pic) at the price of CHF 195 (EUR 121) that allows unlimited travel within Switzerland from one end of the country till another end. Meaning I can travel from Zurich (German-speaking Northeast Switzerland) to the most west of Switzerland Geneva (French-speaking) or Lugano in the most south (Italian-speaking) and get back to Zurich on the very same day! (This thanks to the very extensive and systematic train services of Switzerland)

Zurich is the smallest metropolitan city in the world with the population 360, 000. I finished sightseeing Zurich in less than 2 hours. Most sights are located in the Old Town and my hostel is also in the Old Town, so you can do the math (pic).

After checking in I had kebab for my breakfast (or lunch) and then tour lake Zurich. With the alpine panorama, clear blue sky where the white seagulls are flying, fresh air with cool nice weather, real European architectures and sculptures on its buildings, friendly Swiss people – you can do the math.

Later, I caught a train to a countryside Schaffhausen. Schaffhausen is very famous for the Europe’s most powerful waterfall. OMG the waterfall is so beautiful!!! (pics)

 

On my way back, I stopped by at Suria, Malaysian food bistro near Schaffhausen train station. I couldn’t find a Malaysian restaurant in metropolitan Zurich, but there it is in the small town of Schaffhausen.(pic)

 

 

At night back in my hostel, there was a new Japanese guy as my roommate. He is Cairo-bound. He travels alone (most of the young travelers here travel alone!) loves Naruto more than anything else. Wahahaha! If he loves Bleach, maybe I could talk much more about that.