Pre-Convention 2015 Part 4: St. Gallen

    ​​One thing I never expected of Switzerland is the hot and humid weather. There is no air-con in the trains and no air-con in the shops, not even in my hotel room. The weather only starts to cool around 7 or 8 in the evening.

    Day 1 in St. Gallen was spent settling in. After a hearty dinner at the Restaurant Zum Goldenen Schafli (Golden Lamb). We didn't realize the significance of this place. The Goldenen Schafli had been the butchers' guild house. The first floor and mezzanine date back to the 1400s. Besides being so rustic, the food was excellent (the dark chocolate mousse is a must-try).

    We decided to stroll around town after that hearty meal. To our delight, the whole town seemed to be void of tourists. We could even lounge on the soft grass and enjoy the cool evening breeze in the main cathedral square.

Picture doesn't do it justice.

     Day 2 was spent exploring the town. Wanting to beat the expected hordes of tourists, we started early at the Cathedral. We later realised that our fears were unfounded. The old town of St. Gallen stayed tourist free the entire day. Except for the twin bell towers, the facade was nothing to shout about. It is only when you enter this sacred monument that you'll come face to face with the best that the baroque can offer. The building's opulent paintings and sculptures are a blend of rococo and classicism (known as "Lake Constance Baroque"). The works of Southern German masters shout out from the ceilings of every rotunda. It makes one want to join in the chorus, "Glory to God in the highest!"

    As there was still some time before the famed library opened, we made our way up Moosbruggstrasse and came across an old fernicular (Mühleggbahn) station at the end of the Mülenen Gorge. As the story goes, it is here that Saint Gallus fell into a thornbush and took it as a sign from God to settle down. The town of St. Gallen was thus founded. There's currently an art movement around the gorge which connects the history of St Gallus to modern day St. Gallen. We then carried on and entered the abbey precinct again by the Karlstor gate (name after archbishop Karl Borromaus of Milan who was the first to pass through it).

The Karlstor Gate

    The abbey library of St. Gallen is one of the oldest in the world and is arguably the most beautiful. No words can do it justice. If you're a book-lover, this is one place you'll want on your bucket-list. It contains over 170,000 books, some of which are over a thousand years old. It's a pity we couldn't take any photos though.

Gourmet chocolates anyone?

Gemperli veal sausages - a must have. Even the local queue up for it.

     The rest of the day was spent walking through the streets of this UNESCO heritage old town and admiring the architecture. Some of the buildings date back to the 16th Century. Whereas others are prime examples of the baroque and art nouveau movements. Beautifully carved oriel windows also abound in this town and can be admired as we walked through the streets.

Interesting 16th Century houses.

Intricately carved Oriel windows are set slightly to the side above the
doorway to enable people above to see who is at the door.

     The whole old town area is not very big. It only takes a few hours to see everything's that's worth seeing. We were fortunate that the sky only turned grey at the end of our exploration. Soon it started to rain and the temperature plunged.

It's not all middle ages. Check out my Porsche.

    We ended our visit to St. Gallen by dining in at the Alte Post restaurant. The wifey claims that it is the oldest in the town but my research yielded no such information. Nevertheless, it deserves mention. The food adventurer in me decided to take a risk and try something different. I ordered veal liver. The liver was chopped into small pieces, fried and served on crispy rosti. It tasted like the pork liver we had back home, worth a try if you're into it. Desert was sour cream ice-cream. It wasn't too bad, but I probably won't have it again.

Veal liver and rosti. I'll have this again any day. Yum yum!

    To conclude, St. Gallen is a slow-paced town, perfect for having a few relaxing days in if you prefer a town environment to the mountains. All the sights can be experienced within a day. For the more adventurous and impatient, a day-trip here would be sufficient.

Pre-Convention 2015 Part 3: Gimmelwald and Muren

View from the cablecar at Stechelberg.

    I originally wanted to put this post together with the last. But on second thought, these two mountainside villages deserve a post of their own, if only for the heaven-like location they occupy. It is no wonder the wifey suddenly decided that this is where she wants to retire, and be a farmer no less!

    Our next adventure was totally unplanned. The Swiss train system impressed with its precision. I knew weeks in advance which platform every train I was supposed to take would be on. The only downside was the number of trains one had to change in order to get anywhere. Thus I was a little concerned when the man behind the info counter told us that for our next destination, we had to take a train, change to a bus, board a cable car, then another cable car and train back. Fortunately when we got the hang of things, it wasn't that confusing.

Gimmelwald

    Next stop, Gimmelwald (Train from Interlarken Ost to Lauterbrunnen. Then bus to Stechelberg, and up the cable car to Gimmelwald). Gimmelwald is the epitome of "off the beaten track". This little mountainside village (yes, the houses are literally perched on the mountainside) doesn't even have a public washroom. Nevertheless, one cannot say that you've experienced a real non-touristy mountain village if you've not been to one like Gimmelwald. This little village would suit you more if you're here to contemplate life than to sightsee.

    I originally wanted to hike to the waterfall but changed my mind when I realised the hike would take us 2 hrs. We decided to hike to the town of Murren instead (we originally bought cable car tickets to Murren from Gimmelwald). With the sun beating on our backs, we climbed the slopes up to Murren. It wasn't planned for. Imagine the two of us, not knowing how long the climb would take, and the wifey in her Ferragamos no less...

    The view from Gimmelwald to Murren was more than breathtaking. We've been to several mountains before, but nothing compares to power and majesty of these slopes. A forest of pines covered the foundation, leading up to green slopes, dotted with "little" chalets, and ending in snow covered caps. It gives new meaning to the lyrics, "Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands hath made... How great Thou art!" You almost expect lyrics of worship songs to appear on the mountainside. The views were more spetacular than those used as backdrops in worship services.

Nothing better than a glass of cold chocolate after an unplanned uphill climb.

Murren

Cheese fondue with the spectacular mountain view.
The alcohol in the cheese was so strong that we couldn't finish it.

      The way back from Murren, took us by train to Grutschalp, then cable car to Lauterbrunnen and train back to Interlaken Ost. The wifey had achieved what she wanted to do, mountain hiking and eating Swiss cheese fondue. Next stop, a change of base to St. Gallen...

Pre-Convention 2015 Part 2: Bern

    The next day, we were at the train station to catch the 9.00am train to Bern. It may seem early but there's not many English channels on TV and the shops close early, so we turned in early the night before.

    Our first stop in the City of Bears was the tourist information counter. Here we got ourselves a map and plotted our route. The whole of Bern is a UNESCO heritage site. The reason for this becomes obvious when we ventured into the town. Although the buildings were not as quaint as some other European towns, Bern exudes a charm of its own. The city is dotted with numerous fountains, each topped with a figure representing an ideal or a place in Bern history. These fountains are also good landmarks to find one way around.

    The wifey wanted to visit Albert Einstein's house and that's what we did. In my opinion, it's not worth the 6 CHF unless you're into the man or his works.

Albert Einstein's living room.

    Other notable sites we visited included the Peter and Paul church and the Rathaus (townhall). It is interesting to note that unlike other European churches, the Peter and Paul Church had edelweiss painted on its ceiling instead of the usual frescos. A place not to be missed is the rose garden. This vantage point lies outside the old city walls (past the bearpark and the river) and up a steep slope. The view is worth the climb I assure you.

Peter and Paul Church.

Walking across the bridge out of the city, near the Bear Park.

View from the Rose Garden.

      The highlight of the day must be the visit to the Swiss Parliament. One has to book the guided tour at least a day before. Fortunately for us, the English tour fitted perfectly into our schedule. The very design of the Parliament illustrated the Swiss ideals of equality amongst the cantons (they had to make space for the latest canton Jura which came into being after the completion of the ceiling) and the power of the people above all (stained glass depicting the Swiss people lined the topmost level of the building). We learnt that the Swiss have a unique system where the President is simply another member of the government and is elected for one year terms. We visited both the state assembly and chamber where the people's representatives met. The bicameral parliament mirrors those of the UK and the US. Members of Parliament had to be conversant in French, German and Italian and sometimes even Romansh. Swiss children learn two languages in school. Thus it is no big deal that Singapore children are made to learn their mother tongue and English. Detractors of this bilingual policy should be knocked in the head.

Shields representing all the cantons of Switzerland, including the newest, Jurga, at the bottom.

     We left the Parliament building and were greeted by Chinese music. To my consternation the plaz in front of Parliament had been transformed into a cesspit celebrating 65 years of Swiss-PRC relations. The worst thing was that they blocked the view of parliament I wanted to take a picture of. Yes Ian, like "TV mobile" they are indeed everywhere (at least TV mobile isn't operating now).

    We had originally wanted to have a meal at the Rathaus restaurant. However, we found that most restaurants weren't serving food past 4.00pm. We finally found a place that seemed decent enough. The problem was I didn't know what I was ordering and the waiter wasn't much help. Surprisingly, the beef and pork escalopes were really tender and delicious. Even the wifey liked it. Until today I've no idea what the yellow floury thingy mixed with cheese is (I later found out it's egg).

    People will tell you that one of the main attractions in Bern is the clock tower. You will find small crowds waiting beneath the tower for the hour to strike. Stupidly, that's what we did too. In fact we waited a full 20min. A minutes before the hour, the mechanism started and a row of little figures started turning. One round and it stopped. When the minute hand finally reached 12, the figures above this row started moving, poking their heads in and out, as if performing an Indian dance. It was over in no time. What a let down! A group of rowdy youth even clapped and jeered in sarcasm.

    It was getting late. We headed back to the train station and made our way back to Interlaken Ost.

Pre-Convention 2015 Part 1: Interlaken base & Top of Europe

    I was awakened by the rays of sun streaming through the oval window. A quick glance offered my first sight of Switzerland. Snow-capped mountain ranges greeted the eyes. The contrast of white snow sitting on the grey-brown rocks gave one the feeling of austerity. This was very quickly replaced by rolling green hills as the aeroplane flew over the little chalets that dotted the lush hillsides. It wasn't long when we landed in Zurich.

    From Zurich, we first took the train to Luzern and then changed to another. The second train wound through the mountains and forests of this beautiful land. The high windows offered the most beautiful views I've seen in a long time. Imagine steep mountains on both your left and right, capped with snow. Feeble waterfalls that ended in the bright green valleys which were dotted by little "huts" all along the way. Out of nowhere a stream appears and soon transforms into a river and then a lake. The sun reflecting from the water's surface gave it a shimmering azure sheen. This was the land of edelweiss and Ricola.

    Our base for this first leg was to be the Hotel Du Nord in Interlaken Ost. We found its location advantagous as it is situated between the Interlaken Ost train train station and Interlarken West. This is a four-starred establishment that offered the view of the distant mountains. We figured that the proprietors were more concerned about defending against the cold as the room offered no air-con. Thankfully a table fan was provided or we might have died from the summer heat. It had been a long day of travelling. We needed rest for our adventure the next day.

View from our room in Hotel Du Nord Interlaken Ost.

    Day 2 witnessed us up bright and early. The hotel breakfast was decent but nothing to shout about. We soon found our way back to the train station and on the way to the Top of Europe - Jungfraujoch.

View from the train on the way up the mountain.

View from the rock station of Eigerwand. There's no point
disembraking at both. Just choose one. The view is similarly
spectacular.

    To the uninitiated, the Swiss train system be extremely confusing. Most trips require a change of train or two. Going up the mountains, we first stopped at Lauterbrunnen and changed to a charming Jungfraujoch train. The final stop before the ascent was Kleine Scheidegg. No words can aptly describe the mountain views. No picture does it justice. The train from Kleine Scheidegg took us through Eigerwand and Eismeer, which were stations dug into the mountain rock itself. There were 5min picture stops at both. Then it was all the way within the mountain to Jungfraujoch and the Top of Europe.

Top of Europe - on the ice and snow.

Ice cave

On the Observatory ledge.

      We took the Grindelwald route back down the mountain. It was in Grindelwald that we had our first real Swiss meal.

Kleine Scheidegg

    A short walk around the village and we were back on the train. Hence concludes our Day 1 adventure.

Ground beef, on potatoes and lots of cheese, tastes like an
excellent lasagna.

Schnitzel coated with pan-fried sunflower seeds.