A Swiss Adventure! (Part 1)

Trains up mountains, trains through mountains, walking along mountain trails, city trips, chocolate, cheese fondues, cows, cow bells, church bells, wood carvings and sunshine. In Switzerland we saw and tried it all!

About last year this time our good friends in Cape Town Dave and Olga Finnemore invited us to join them on their Swiss holiday. Without hesitating we said YES!, and chose the middle week of their 3 week holiday to join them. In no time at all, where did the last year go??, we were jetting off for first a night in Lausanne and then a week in Lauterbunnen.

We arrived at our hotel in Lausanne at about 4pm on the Friday afternoon after a hassle free trip, for a change! With the sun only setting after 10 pm, there was still plenty of time to explore! First up: the UNESCO Heritage Site Lavaux Vineyards.

Set on the slopes along the shore of Lake Geneva, the Lavaux Vineyards are a 30 km stretch of terraced vineyards first planted in the 11th century. We started our walk in Cully and walked through the vineyards to Rivaz. It was amazing to see the imaginative methods the farmers devised to get their grapes down the inaccessible slopes. What a great way to start our holiday! The sun was shining and we had a lovely walk in this truly beautiful place; so peaceful and quiet, unchanged by the hands of time. We highly recommend a walk through the vineyards if you find yourself in the area!

Vies of Lake Geneva and the Lavaux Vineyards

View of the Alps from the shores of Lake Geneva 

There was still time to explore the (small) city centre before sunset including a walk up to the Cathedral of Lausanne before dinner time. The next morning we took a gentle stroll down to the edge of Lake Geneva for a walk along the shore and to some breakfast. Finding somewhere to eat turned out not to be trivial! A cup of coffee you can get anywhere but breakfast? We finally found a nice looking bakery but landed up paying a lot for almost raw eggs =(

View of Rue du Grand Pont in Lausanne old city centre

View from the Lausanne Cathedral

Walking along Lake Geneva

Almost lunch time and time to catch a train to Lauterbrunnen! Our first experience of the bliss of Swiss trains! Clean, fresh smelling, always on time and super efficient! This is the way to travel.

We met up with Dave and Olga in Interlaken Ost and after a quick grocery shop, we were off up the mountains to Lauterbrunnen. Time for a quick two hour walk around the town and to the Stechelbach waterfall before dinner then shut eye time to rest up for the exciting week ahead!

The view from our front door in Lauterbrunnen

The Stechelbach waterfall

Our first day in Lauterbrunnen dawned bright and clear, a definite mountain day! The three main mountain peaks in the area are the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Despite being high up the mountains, there are many small towns dotted around which are also easily accessible by either the awesome Swiss rail network ot by cable car. One of the things we really wanted to do while in Switzerland was go up the Jungfraujochbahn.

This amazing railway starts in Lauterbrunnen and chugs its way up to the Jungfrajoch, the saddle between the Jungfrau and the Monch, with a change over in Kleine Scheidegg first. Popularly advertised as ‘The Top of Europe’, the Jungfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe at 3454 metres above sea level. After leaving Kleine Scheidegg, most of the railway is in the mountain itself. On the way up, the train stops at two intermediate stations for views of the notorious north face of the Eiger and also the Monch mountain. Last year was the centenary of the opening of the Jungfraujochbahn. It is amazing to think that they blasted through these mountains a hundred years ago with much less sophisticated technology that is available today.

Once up at the top there are several viewing decks where it is possible to go outside and enjoy being high up in the mountains where snow and ice still lie thick even in the middle of Summer. Temperatures at the Jungfraujoch were cool 3ºC while in Kleine Scheidegg and Lauterbrunnen they were a toasty 28ºC, quite a difference! We enjoyed the exhilarating views and clambering in the snow again but were also happy to return to the toasty sunny valley below. We highly recommend a trip up the Jungfraujoch for the railway experience as much as the views at the Tope of Europe.

On the way down, we stopped off for a very German lunch of bratwurst, rosti, sauerkraut and of course beer. On the way up we came via Lauterbrunnen but on the way down we went via Grindelwald to do a complete circle around the mountain.

In the next blog post: more of our wonderful Swiss adventure!

x

Views from the Top of Europe at the Jungfraujoch

The view at Kleine Scheidegg

A well deserved beer at Kleine Scheidegg

Marph goes to Switzerland

Last week saw the first of our Summer breaks away! We headed off to the land of mountains, chocolates, cheese fondues, efficient trains and cow bells! 

The holiday started with a night in Lausanne; exploring the UNESCO Heritage Site Lavaux Vineyards, the old city centre and walks along the lake. 

A cool house in the vineyards

A Swiss train passing by the vineyards overlooking the lake

Chilling out with a friendly creature cooling off and grabbing a drink

After Lausanne, we headed to our destination for the week: Lauterbrunnen. Nestled in the valley with amazing views of the Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger mountains and waterfalls galore, Lauterbrunnen is ideally situated for exploring, and explore we did!

The first day dawned bright and clear and the perfect opportunity for heading up the Jungfraujoch! What a great experience! 

We visited the towns of Lucerne...

.... Brienz and Thun on the lake shore....

.... Bern ....

... Interlaken ...

and Geneva.

But we also enjoyed being in the mountains and went for many walks!

The view from the Bachalpsee, an hour walk from Grindelwald First

Chilling in the icy snow at the Bachalpsee. What a good way to rescue the melted chocolate! 

From Lauterbrunnen, we took the cable car up to Grutschalp and enjoyed a scenic walk to Murren where we took another cable car down to Stechelberg. 

A waterfall on the walk to Murren

A last stop before heading home to pack; the Trummelbach waterfalls. Completely set in the mountains, this waterfall drains melting snow of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch mountains with up to 20 000 litres flowing past per second!

Be sure to check out Justin and Bronwen's blog posts for more of their amazing sun-filled week in Switzerland! 

The next adventure: Scotland in August!

Hanging out in Haarlem

After a fairly cold and wet spring, we are finally enjoying some summer weather. Temperatures are in the mid 20's and the coats have been packed away. When the weather in the Netherlands is good you have to make the most of it. Sitting in our local park on Friday evening with a bottle of wine and some yummy snacks was the perfect way to start the weekend. And the other great thing about this time of year is that the sky is still fairly light at 10pm! 

Saturday was another nice day and we decided to head out to Haarlem. Haarlem is fairly close to Amsterdam and we had been there only once before. It was however in the middle of winter on a cold wet day and so we didn't see much of the city. This time round we were able to explore and really enjoy this beautiful town. 

Like most large towns in the Netherlands, Saturday is market day. We stopped for some home made ice-cream and also found a place selling a range of yummy pies (including bobotie pies!). The rest of the afternoon was then spent walking and exploring.

View across the canal towards the town centre

Enjoying the home made ice cream

The market

Some of the old buildings overlooking the town square

Another view of the town square

The ornate church tower

Molen de Adriaan

Enjoying the canal

Statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster 

(for a while it was thought that he had invented the printing press and not Gutenberg
- some interesting conspiracy theories on the web if you search for 'Legend of Koster')

Cricket : South Africa vs Netherlands

As part of their preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy, the South African team stopped over in the Netherlands and played an ODI against the Dutch national side. 

Out of a population of approximately 16 million, about 6,500 play cricket. Compared to football, which has 1 million registered players in the Netherlands, cricket is a relatively unknown sport here. So this was a great opportunity to introduce some colleagues from work to this great game. Most had heard of cricket, but almost none of them knew what the game is about or what the rules are. This video clip had done the rounds at the office and was about as close as most had come to seeing cricket...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo

So basically they have no idea at all! But interestingly they all knew that the Dutch national side had beaten England in an important tournament: 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/netherlands/engine/match/355991.html

And they were therefore convinced that based on that great win back in 2009 the Dutch team must surely be quite good!

OK, back to this weeks game. I managed to convince 15 of my colleagues that it was a good idea to take a day off work and watch a game of cricket. But the catch was that I would first have to teach them about the game. So lunch time on Tuesday included a quick 20 minute presentation on cricket followed by a short game out on the lawn outside the office. 

They were now prepared for the big game.

On the day South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first. The innings got off to a bit of a slow start and the South Africans lost 2 early wickets. It was then up to Duminy and Ingram to get the innings back on track, which is exactly what they did. With the last 10 overs going for 144 runs the South Africans managed to end the innings in a great position with 341 for 3. 

The Dutch side then came in ad decided that they were going to go for it. They got off to a great start and were 36 without loss after 6 overs. They managed to maintain a fairly good momentum and at the end of the 40th over were on 199 for 6. South Africa at the same stage were 197 for 3. However having to score 143 runs from the last 10 overs proved too much for the Dutch side and they ended up all out for 258. South Africa won by 83 runs! 

But at the end of the day the result didn't matter. I now have 15 colleagues that know a little bit more about cricket, that have realised that beer plays a more important role than tea, and that would all happily spend another day in the sun next to a cricket field eating, drinking, chatting, and maybe even watching a bit of cricket. 

Vietnam: những gì bạn đang tìm kiếm?

Or in English: "What you looking for?". If you can walk down one of the main streets in Ho Chi Minh City without being asked this question then you had better check if you are still in Ho Chi Minh City! 

This week I was in Ho Chi Minh City (the largest city in Vietnam and previously called Saigon) and Ha Noi (the Capital of Vietnam) for work. The company I work for has offices in Vietnam and they had asked if I could help on one of their projects. It will probably include a few trips to Vietnam. How could I say no?

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday afternoon and had a few hours to explore the city. 

A poster series paying tribute to "Uncle Ho" (after whom Ho Chi Minh City is named) and the Opera House in the background.

Ho Chi Minh

A typical bonsai tree. They can be seen all over the city, particularly in front of fancy hotels and significant landmarks.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

Since the Reunification Palace was still open when I passed it I decided to step inside. The Reunification Palace is where the Vietnam War came to an end on 30 April 1975 and is one of the main landmarks in HCMC.

A replica of the tank that crashed into the gates of the Reunification Palace and allowed the Palace to be overrun, signalling the end of the war.

One of the retro rooms in the palace

The view from the palace

The view from the rivers edge.

A view out over the river

The Opera House at night

After just one night in HCMC it was off to Ha Noi.

View from my hotel room in Ha Noi

Driving alongside one of the lakes in Ha Noi.

After 2 nights in Ha Noi it was back to HCMC. The night I arrived (Sunday) I had been given a small dark room with a tiny window and no view. For my second stay at the same hotel I made sure that I had a room with a view. 

The view from my hotel room in HCMC. 

The main form of transport in Vietnam is motorbikes and scooters. If you want to cross the road and decide to wait for there to be no vehicles in sight you will never get across. Best thing is to find a local and do as they do. 

At the end of the week one of my colleagues from the HCMC office gave me a tour of the city on the back of his scooter. He also took me out to try some traditional Vietnamese food called Pho. Thanks Huy! It was a great evening.

Pho

Although this was a great first introduction to Vietnam, and South-East Asia, next time I will definitely make an effort to get out of the city and explore the countryside. From the photos I have seen there are some amazing places to explore. Can't wait!