We were unaware that Switzerland moved to daylight savings time at 2 am on Sunday morning 31 March. Fortunately, my iPad’s clock was set to the correct time zone and the alarm went off as you’d expect. However, as we were packing, we discovered our watches did not agree with our devices – which caused some consternation and mild panic. After some checking on the interwebs, we discovered the reason for the discrepancy, reset our watches and dragged our bags to the early morning bus taking us to Zurich.
The sun was just at that perfect angle and the air was still. When I started over the Rathaussteg Bridge heading to the bus, the following image jumped into my iPhone camera. Auf Wiedersehen Lucerne.
Chapel Bridge, Water Tower and Mount Pilatus
The transit to Zurich was scheduled to take an hour but for some reason it took only forty five minutes. Perhaps the traffic was thin due to sleepy headed Swiss folk getting their time change wrong. Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement – never use a cuckoo clock as an alarm clock. 🙂
We took a tram to our accommodation and then, after leaving our bags, grabbed some rental bikes and rode across the city to the Lake Zurich waterfront before riding to the Kunsthaus ZĂĽrich (Museum of Fine and Contemporary Art).
Steeple of St. Peter with the Fraumunster Church in front
We have visited Zurich before; in May 2012. We spent five nights here at that time and went on a number of day trips away from Zurich into the mountains and surrounding areas. We did the regular touristy things during that trip and so were free with our selection of things to see and do on this trip – except that we had to visit the Museum of Fine and Contemporary Art – again.
Stairway to …, Museum of Fine Arts
We reprised Chris’ “best painting in the room” competition and by this time I was getting pretty good at guessing what Chris would pick. It didn’t help and I still lost 37 to 23. The selection of old masters is extensive and despite the fact we’d spent a day here on our previous visit we did the same again, and it was just as good as I can recall the second time round.
Wheat field with Cypresses – Vincent van Gogh
Tomorrow, Monday, all the museums will be closed and we are planning on going on a walking tour of the old city.
On Saturday, the principal town squares of Lucerne were packed for the weekly market. Chris went out in search shopping excitement while I was working on the blog update from Mount Pilatus. The weather was perfect and the sidewalks were choked with alfresco diners enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.
View to our accommodation from across the River Reuss
In the afternoon, we joined a boat cruise on Lake Lucerne and listened to a lively commentary (in English) while doing a lap of the lake.
As we were approaching the wharf near the end of our cruise, I was bonked on the head by a wayward selfie stick. It didn’t really hurt but it did spur me on to grab a picture of Chris and myself enjoying the last of the boat cruise and the perfect weather and stunning scenery – and it was also the first selfie of this trip. 🙂
Lake Lucerne boat cruise selfie
Tomorrow we depart Lucerne by bus for Zurich; our final stop on this trip.
Our transit from Bern to Lucerne was via a regional train that put our red rattlers to shame. While Lucerne is actually lower than Bern, (422 m above sea level compared to 540 m) getting there involved travelling up and over some attractive mountain passes that looked like picture postcards from Heidi.
Along the way, something unique happened – our tickets were inspected (or rather glanced at)! I am actually a little disappointed that it happened as I had planned to include in a future blog update the observation that up to that time, none (zip, zero, zilch) of our expensively acquired travel tickets had ever been checked (total cost in Switzerland till this time was AUD 379).
Arriving at Lucerne rail station just after 1 pm, we dragged our bags a short distance to our accommodation right on the waterfront. Nice work Chris!
Another room with a view – Lucerne
Looking towards Lake Lucerne, the Chapel Bridge and the octagonal water tower can be clearly seen. The Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the River Reuss at a diagonal. Named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel, the bridge is unique in containing a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century and is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world’s oldest surviving truss bridge.
View from our window towards Lake Lucerne
Looking in the other direction, across the river past the Jesuit Church, Pilatus can be seen. Often referred to as Mount Pilatus, this is a mountain massif overlooking Lucerne and is composed of several peaks, of which the highest (2,128 m (6,982 ft)) is named Tomlishorn.
View from our window towards Mount Pilatus
We set off to enjoy the afternoon sunshine and explore our new surroundings, starting with a walk along the waterfront.
Boats at rest – Lake LucerneBoats in motion – Lake Lucerne
The Lion Monument (Lion of Lucerne) is a rock relief hewn in 1820–21. It commemorates the Swiss Guards massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
Lion Monument – LucerneThe Lion King – Lucerne
Running through the old city is the Museggmauer, an old city defensive wall featuring nine towers, four of which can be climbed. Alas, we missed them being opened by one day (1st April)! Some of the towers and a large section of the wall can be seen in the following image taken from the terrace at Château Gütsch, an upmarket hotel and restaurant located across the river and up a steep climb traversed by an inclined elevator.
A section of Musegg Wall – Lucerne
Château Gütsch also provided some great views of the city and part of Lake Lucerne.
Lucerne from Château Gütsch terrace
Continuing our walk, we found the point where Lake Lucerne turns into the River Reuss, behind a weir constructed between 1859 and 1861 to regulate the level of the lake.
River Reuss – Lucerne
Called the Reuss Weir (Needle Dam), the flow of water from Lake Lucerne is manually adjusted by the removal and insertion of timber panels (needles) creating an adjustable wall.
Reuss Weir – Needle Dam – Lucerne
The town hall clock provides a colourful time reference across the old city.
Town Hall Clock – Lucerne
With tomorrow’s forecast predicting good weather for Mount Pilatus, we decided that would be our next adventure destination.
Chris had booked tickets on a bus from Bern to Montreux and we travelled in elegant sophistication in the front seat, upstairs arriving at the Lake Geneva shoreline just after midday. Again, the weather was perfect and Chris was enthralled by the picturesque vistas, making the most of capturing as many photos as she could. For the record, our trusty Canon camera stopped working during our visit and I switched to using my iPhone. (The Canon has subsequently been repaired.)
There isn’t really much to say in describing Montreux’s waterfront – it’s absolutely gorgeous. It was difficult to filter out the best images for this post but here is a representative few…
While Deep Purple’s association with Montreux is well known, Queen (and Freddie Mercury in particular) were frequent visitors. They recorded the album “Jazz” (1978) there in a recording studio constructed inside the casino rebuilt after the infamous fire described in Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”.
The replacement gambling house – Montreux
Called Mountain Studios, Queen loved the atmosphere and the music that it helped create and purchased it in 1979. The studio remained in their control until several years after Freddie Mercury’s death (in 1991) when it was sold. It has now been converted into a charity museum / exhibition “Queen: The Studio Experience”, with the Mercury Phoenix Trust being the beneficiary. You have to enter the casino to be able to view the exhibition. Aside from Queen (and individual projects by members of Queen), the studio also recorded albums for David Bowie, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, Chris Rea, Yes, Rick Wakeman and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and others.
The exhibition comprises many display cases with artefacts from Queen’s history with numerous video loops (complete with headphones) and lots of printed material. The studio control room has been left intact and (mostly) operational. The mixer console has been modified leaving ten active fader controls that allow real time mixing of four Queen tracks. Instructions via video screens are provided by Brian May and Roger Taylor, the latter who suggested that the drums really need to be pushed to 11.
Mountain Studios mixer console
I did my best at “Fat Bottom Girls”, the cheeky fantasy track from”Jazz” – and Roger was right – loud drums do sound really good. 🙂
Remixing ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’
Freddie Mercury had a chateau in Montreux and loved the privacy and seclusion it provided – away from the scrutiny of paparazzi and eager fans. During the final stages of his illness, Freddie lived in Montreux where, together with the other members of Queen, he worked on and recorded songs that would be assembled as their final album “Made in Heaven” released in 1995, several years after Freddie’s passing.
A life sized statue of Freddie in a characteristic pose stands on the shoreline looking out onto Lake Geneva.
Freddie Mercury at the edge of Lake Geneva – Montreux
We enjoyed a salad while sitting on some rocks looking out onto the lake. A few metres away a mountain stream terminated at the lake’s edge.
Lunchtime view at the edge of Lake Geneva – Montreux
Montreux is famed for an annual Jazz Festival, which this year runs for two weeks from 28 June till 13 July, and as beautiful as Montreux is, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the place with the crowds this event is sure to attract.
For our return trip to Bern, we were Robin Hood’d * by the SBB (the Swiss Travel entity) with tickets costing more than four times that of the bus (AUD $124 vs. AUD $31). No wonder you see lots of pack packers waiting at bus stops! [* steal from the rich tourists and give to the poor Swiss]
Spoiling the attractive view – Montreux
I am pleased to report that our experiments into whether smoke and water are immiscible were successful. Our conclusion is that these components are not well fitted; one is a liquid and the other a gas. While it is possible for the gas to be dissolved into the water with the input of energy in the form of agitation, this was not the outcome of our experiment. Due to their disparate phases and difference in density, the smoke is observed to settle on top of the water.
Tomorrow, we leave for Lucerne – our second last stop before heading back home.
Departing Geneva by train, we arrived in Bern just after noon. Somewhere along the way we crossed a line of cultural divide. In Geneva, French is the principal language; signs are in French & English and announcements are in French (with occasional English subtitles). As the train was pulling into Bern, the announcement was in German. The signs are in German and there are no English subtitles. Even the architecture looks German; well at least according to my untrained eye. Having spent a week in Munich and with visits to Frankfurt and Berlin at other times – this place looked more German than the other places we’d been to in Switzerland. But the weather was perfect – so what the hell!
We took a bus from the station and were soon unpacking our bags in a third floor apartment overlooking the main street in the centre of the old town. The apartment was an Airbnb booking and belonged to a lady who taught music and played cello & piano. We thought she’d just nipped out to get something from the shop because the rooms were not “private” like our previous Airbnb experiences. Her personal items were strewn everywhere (in neat-ish sort of piles) but she hadn’t made much (if any) effort to prepare for our visit. Making the most of the weather, we set off in search of adventure.
The Zytglogge (Clock Tower) served as Bern’s first western city gate from 1191 till 1256. The ornate astronomical clock with its moving figures was added in 1530. This tower was about 150 metres up the street from our apartment.
Bern’s Clock Tower (Zytglogge)
Bern has had a close relationship with the bear since its foundation. According to legend, the city owes its name to the animal. Consequently, bears appear everywhere; on flags, fountains and buildings. If you’re lucky you might also be able to catch sight of a real bear in a park built just for them and open to the public. Seriously, there are currently three bears in residence. 🙂
One of the three bears – Bern
The next day we walked to the zoo through a large park across the River Aare.
Attractive view 1 – Bern
We had to do some hill climbing to get there first.
Attractive view 2 – BernFlamingos at Bern Zoo
We rented some bikes and rode along the river for an hour or so – it was just perfect. I had a regular bike and Chris scored an electric bike. I tried it out and the motor assistance appears to be a function of how hard you push on the pedals. A light touch and you are pretty much doing it by yourself; a bit more effort and you’re off like a rocket. Great fun!
Deadly treadly ride – Bern
Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva, lived in Bern between 1902 and 1909 while he was struggling to gain employment before finally scoring a job as a clerk (third class) at the Bern patent office. They lived in a number of flats during this time. One (about 50 metres up the street from our apartment) has been preserved and is open to the public.
Einstein’s Flat – Bern
The old city has numerous fountains that are adorned with colourful wooden carvings. One of the most famous is the Kindlifresserbrunnen (Swiss German for Child Eater Fountain) and was created in 1545-1546. Kindli is a Swiss German diminutive for the German word Kind, meaning child. A literal translation of the name is therefore “Fountain of the Eater of Little Children”.
Kindlifresserbrunnen – Bern
The fountain sculpture shows a sitting ogre devouring a naked child. Placed at his side is a bag containing more children. While many theories exist to explain what the sculpture represents, I think it’s the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk.
Fie-Fih-Foh-Fum – Bern
Chris climbed the tower of the cathedral (Munster) for some great photos across the old town and the River Aare which wraps around Bern. Look at the ant-like creatures in the next image and have a guess what they are?
Munster courtyard and River Aare from Bern MunsterKirchenfeldbrĂĽcke Bridge from Bern MunsterRiver Aare – Bern
Einstein Museum
Bern played a significant part in Albert Einstein’s life and the local history museum has dedicated a whole floor to him – and we spent a day there.
Albert wields his charm – Bern
Albert Einstein is perhaps the most famous scientist in history. He was a true “rock star” scientist, known around the world for his theory of general relativity, which revolutionised our understanding of gravity. Not surprisingly, he was awarded the Nobel prize, but it wasn’t for general relativity. It was for a completely different work he published in 1905, the year known as Einstein’s annus mirabilis, or “Miracle Year”. Einstein was living in the flat shown above when these papers were published.
Each one of the 1905 papers was a revolutionary work that changed our understanding of the universe. None of them were about gravity and they covered a disparate range of topics. Einstein’s most famous work wasn’t published until 1915 (on General Relativity). The four papers that helped reveal the genius of Einstein were:
Brownian Motion; which settled the debate over the existence of atoms, and laid the foundation for a new field of work known as statistical mechanics.
The Photoelectric Effect; which demonstrated the particle aspects of light, and led to the quantum theory of matter. (Awarded 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics.)
Special Relativity; which overturned a model of space and time that had stood for millennia.
Mass-Energy Equivalence; which connected matter and energy, and led us to a true understanding of the stars.
In 2005, I attended a number of lecture / demonstrations at Newcastle University with Daniel as part of the celebration of the “World Year of Physics” in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s “Miracle Year” and the subsequent advances in the field of physics.
Say no more – Albert Einstein Museum – Bern
We also visited the Museum of Fine and Contemporary art. The fine art selection was modest (limited) and the contemporary art more extensive than should be legally allowed in a democracy. I was spellbound(?) by the noiseless video of a woman walking along a riverbank in what looked like an out-take from Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. Sorry – this crap doesn’t connect with me.
We finished our city walk with visits to a number of gardens and terraces where views of distant snow capped peaks were plentiful.
Attractive view 3 – Bern
Tomorrow we are going to visit Montreux for the day to conduct experiments to determine whether smoke and water are truly immiscible.
Our last full day in Geneva was spent walking the old city (again) and visiting the Maison Tavel (Tavel House), the oldest house in Geneva. Along the way was passed through the park adjacent to the University of Geneva containing many distractions for wayward students.
The Queen making her moveAttractive view – Geneva
Maison Tavel was built in the 12th century by the Maison family. In 1334, the house was reconstructed following a devastating fire. In 1963, the house was purchased by the city of Geneva and converted into a museum.
A detailed 3D model takes up the greater part of the Maison Tavel attic. Architect Auguste Magnin spent 18 years creating this imposing relief map of Geneva before the destruction of its fortifications in 1850 and subsequent transformation into the modern city we see today. The model is constructed entirely of metal. The houses and fortifications are in zinc, and the roofs in copper. Composed of 86 sections, it covers a surface area of 32 m². The “Magnin Relief Map” was presented for the first time at the 1896 National Exhibition in Geneva.
Lilliputian view – Geneva 1850
St. Peter’s Cathedral was build between 1160 and 1252. Alas, the interior of the Cathedral was demolished in 1535, when Geneva’s residents accepted the Reformation and destroyed all the altars, statues and most of the paintings in a rage inspired by John Calvin (a resident of Geneva at the time). The Cathedral superstructure and spire escaped undamaged though.
Spire of St. Peter’s Cathedral – Geneva
We were blessed with the very best of weather during our visit to Geneva and despite it being our longest stop (of seven nights), there remained much to do as we departed for our next location in Switzerland.
Lunch on our balcony – GenevaMore attractive views – Geneva
We depart Geneva for Bern, Switzerland’s capital, expecting more good weather and places to explore.
Travelling network setup
I thought it may be interesting for our dear readers to view the travelling network setup I have been using on this trip.
Traveltime – travelling setup
The four way power strip provides power to items 4, 5, 6 and 7.
1. Travel wireless router with switch programmed VPN tunnel
2. 1TB wireless hard disk with SD card reader
3. Water-resistant bluetooth speaker
4. Canon camera battery charger
5. Google Chromecast USB power supply
6. Four port USB power supply (4 x 1A)
7. Four port USB power supply (2 x 2.4A [iPads] & 2 x 1A [iPhones])
8. Micro-USB leads for charging other portable bluetooth devices
Arriving at new accommodation, these items are deployed in a suitable location near the existing network router and connected using a network cable (preferably) or wireless (otherwise).
Our portable devices (2 x iPhones, 2 x iPads, 1 x Dell laptop, 1 x Google Chromecast, 1 x 1TB wireless hard disk and 1 x Canon camera) are connected to a private wireless network provided by item 1 completely independent and isolated from any external networks.
I have configured item 1 to connect to our home in East Maitland via an encrypted virtual private network (VPN) tunnel routing all traffic such that it appears we are in Australia. This allows us to access internet content that may be otherwise blocked from Australia. This is the case for all ABC iView content and allows us to watch the ABC news, 7:30 Report or Four Corners, for example. This function is controlled via a switch on the side of item 1 and is turned on as required.
The Google Chromecast is plugged into the TV and allows us to stream content to the TV rather than view it on the iPhone, iPad or the Dell laptop. This works for all iView, Netflix, YouTube and other supported services.
The water-resistant bluetooth speaker (item 3) allows me to listen to ABC AM, PM and a number of favourite ABC and BBC podcasts while I’m in the bathroom (and anywhere else within our accommodation for that matter). It has great bass response and also makes my favourite tunes sound great even when I’m not in the shower. 🙂
It only takes a few minutes to setup this system on arrival and has proven to provide a secure and reliable internet connection for all our devices.
When planning our itinerary, Chris allocated a generous seven days to Geneva – this turned out to be a wise decision as there is much to do and see here.
Having recovered our bags from the bus upon our arrival from Annecy, and in brilliant sunshine, we set forth in search of a bank to exchange Australian dollars for Swiss Francs. Our Qantas Travel Money debit cards don’t support Swiss Francs and so it had been my plan to carry Australian dollars to Switzerland and exchange them there, bypassing intermediate exchange rates. Switzerland is a beautiful but comparatively expensive place to visit.
Following a quick review of the metro system, we jumped aboard a tram, making our way to accommodation just outside the perimeter of the old city.
Dumping our bags, we set off to make the most of the perfect afternoon weather. At the edge of Lake Geneva, we enjoyed views of the spectacular water fountain that is a popular tourist attraction and the tallest fountain in the world.
Jet d’Eau Fountain – Geneva
In 1886, a water fountain was created to control the release of excess pressure from a local hydraulic plant. Shortly thereafter, it became a recognisable symbol of the city and was relocated to a more central location on the southern shoreline and improved with a set of reliable water pumps.
Rainbows on Lake Geneva
Reaching a height of over 140 metres and with more than four tonnes of water suspended, the resulting water sprays are responsible for many attractive rainbows.
The following day (Sunday), we visited the Geneva Museum of Art and History investing a full day in viewing fine arts and antiquities and reprising Chris’ “Best painting in the room” competition. I must be learning something as I only lost by 37 to 15.
Summer – Pierre-Auguste Renoir
As most European museums are closed on Mondays, we rose early, making our way to the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) building to hopefully queue for a guided tour. Thankfully, Malcolm Turnbull had quashed Kevin Rudd’s 2016 bid to replace Ban Ki-Moon as Secretary-General and thus we were granted admittance once our passports were scanned and Chris’ picture taken as evidence of our visit.
United Nations 1
Geneva’s United Nations buildings were initially constructed to house the League of Nations, founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War.
United Nations 2
It was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Unfortunately, it failed to prevent what was to became the Second World War and ceased operations on 20 April, 1946.
United Nations 3
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories (Australia ratified the charter on 1 November 1945).
United Nations 4
Our guided tour covered the Palais des Nations, the UNOG which serves as the representative office of the Secretary-General at Geneva. A focal point for multilateral diplomacy, UNOG services more than 8,000 meetings every year, making it one of the busiest conference centres in the world. With more than 1,600 staff, it is the biggest duty station outside of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
After our visit to the UNOG, we wandered through the nearby botanical gardens before enjoying a pleasant lunch in the cafe among the palm fronds.
With our first visit to CERN confirmed for Wednesday; on Tuesday we took the train for a day trip to Lausanne – a mere 40 minutes away and located at the northern arc of Lake Geneva.
Alighting from Lausanne railway station into a biting wind that thankfully did not reflect the balance of the day’s weather, we headed downhill towards the lake’s shoreline.
Attractive view – Lausanne
Along the way we found a lookout providing beautiful views of Lausanne and Lake Geneva.
Reaching the lake’s edge we enjoyed walking through expansive parkland clearly popular during the warmer months. Along the way we discovered where Easter bunny chocolate moulds are created.
Easter bunny models – Lausanne
Heading back towards the centre of town, we wandered through the marina providing magnificent views across the lake.
Lausanne marina
Lausanne’s waterfront provides many opportunities for the rich-bastard class to parade their wealth.
Lausanne waterfront 1
We scurried by, not wanting to draw attention to our meagre means and convict heritage.
Lausanne waterfront 2
Lausanne happens to be the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). I now understand why Kevin Gosper AO, John Coates AC and James Tomkins OAM would seek to represent Australia on the IOC given the salubrious digs that Lausanne presents.
Lausanne has been home to the IOC for 100 years and in 1993, the IOC founded an official museum on the shoreline of Lake Geneva. In 2013, The Olympic Museum was completely renovated and updated with many interactive audio-visual facilities. Covering three floors, the exhibition presents the origin of the games, the competitions and the athletic spirit through over 150 screens and 1500 objects: The Olympic torches and medals of all The Olympic games, as well as the equipment from many famous athletes.
The Olympic Museum – Lausanne
It was wonderful to view footage of Cathy Freeman lighting the Sydney 2000 Olympic cauldron and then winning the Women’s 400 metre final. And Steven Bradbury’s gold medal at Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Short Track Speed Skating was a must see.
We returned to Geneva, tired from another long day and looking forward to our visit to CERN.
