Ever since I was in grade school and watched Swiss Railway Journey travel shows on television during the dinner hour with my mom and grandparents, I have had a dream to take one of those journeys through the Swiss Alps.
And in September, my dream came true.
On our trip through Europe in September, Marcos and I planned a long weekend for Switzerland on our way back from Italy to Munich, Germany. Remember my Swiss pen pal Stella from sixth grade whom we met in Paris? Well, she had invited us to stay with her and her boyfriend Matthias in their home in the village of Zofingen, and when I told her we were planning to take a ride on the railway journey called the "Golden Pass", she asked if they could come. Of course! Not only was it a dreamy day because of the experience, but also because of the great company.
We started out the journey in Lucerne, Switzerland (above picture), and basically journeyed on trains in a big loop that covered the length of nearly two thirds of the country in the better part of one day (Switzerland is about half the size of Maine, for those of you who find comparisons helpful). For most of the journey, Stella had reserved seats for us in the special "panoramic" train cars, which had windows that swept up the sides of the train, as shown below. This really was a luxury ride...
On the little tables in front of us were maps of the mountainous journey so that we could keep track of where we were. Below are Stella and Matthias. We had just met Matthias that morning, and we loved him as immediately as we had loved Stella. The world is full of great people.
I'll stop captioning these photos in a minute because I know I'm really just interrupting something much more gorgeous than type print, but the photo above is the countryside that rolled out after we pulled out of Lucerne. Doesn't it look like people are staring at a travel poster on the wall? And really, that's how Switzerland is: endless fresh views worthy of a travel poster.
And then, there was a little time for this too. Marcos and I had actually arrived in Switzerland earlier that morning on an overnight train from Florence (where we had comfortable but minimal sleep), so we had to recharge with brief catnaps...
At our first transfer town, we had an hour to wait for the next train, and unpacked our picnic by a river. Fresh bread, cheeses, chocolate, mmmm...
One of my all-time favorite photographs from our railway journey is this one below. I love the train disappearing into the distance, and how the blurred trees lend such a feeling of movement.
The panoramic cars were located at the front of the train, and although the seats squarely at the front of the cars were reserved for the VIPs of the VIPs, I was able to take some pictures above their heads. What an incredible view!
The final destination for the Golden Pass route was the city of Lausanne on Lake Geneva. It was raining just a smidgen when we disembarked from the train, but the boardwalk, interesting buildings and view across to the French side of the lake made it a very pretty place to walk around and stretch our legs before hopping the next train back to Bern.
As our train to Bern pulled out of Lausanne and climbed the hills overlooking Lake Geneva, it was easy to see why the area is considered the wine country of Switzerland. Below are the endless vineyards that produce the vast majority of Swiss wines.
In the early evening, we arrived back in downtown Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. Having grown up in Hawaii, which only became the 50th American state in 1959 (three years after my mom was born there), I am amazed by buildings and streets that clearly have seen a lot of history. Maybe someday we will visit the Pyramids, and Bern will seem like a young spring chicken...
To end our day of Swiss eye-candy, Matthias and Stella kindly treated us to dinner at a very schick restaurant in Bern where we sampled elegant foods and I coveted the incredible flower arrangements.
Houston, after an intense day of soaking in Switzerland, I think we have found Heaven on Earth...
