Travel Beyond Japan

2012年9月17日月曜日

Zermatt

August 1, 2012

Zermatt is a unique town. There are no gas-powered cars in order to protect its environment from gas emissions. All cars are electric cars like this.

We stayed at Mirabeau Hotel. I liked it; it was very comfortable.

I was very moved by looking at Matterhorn from our balcony of our room.

2012年9月15日土曜日

Finally the day has come! We were looking forward to getting on the express train. The train is called "express" but it is also said that this is "the slowest express in the world" because it runs into the mountains up and down. We enjoyed the long train trip; it took about 8 hours from St. Moritz to Zermatt.

A= St. Moritz 　B= Zermatt

It is amazing Switzerland has such a great railway technology; the train runs throughout Swiss Alps. The highest point is Oberalp Pass: 2033m. The lowest point is Chur: 585m. It is a good idea that the express train runs slowly, because this way, people do not easily get sick from the change in altitude.

We rode in the panorama car.

These are beautiful scenes through the windows.

Landwasser Viaduct

We enjoyed lunch while taking in the scenery through the windows. It was a perfect time!

The glass is designed not to spill the wine

We started St. Moritz at 9:15 a.m. and arrived at Zermatt at 5:00 p.m. The 8 hour-train-trip was long, I was a little tired, although it was a wonderful experience for me. I was very happy when I arrived at Zermatt.

Heidi Flower Trail

July 31, 2012

On our way going down from Piz Nair, we stopped at the Chantarella(2005m) to hike along "Heidi Flower Trail" to St. Moritz(1856m). It was about a 4 km course. It was great enjoying flowers and a view of St. Moritz Lake from the course.

Starting point

"Edelweiss"

St. Moritz Lake was a clear emerald green.

This is Heidi Cottage. It was used as a Heidi house in a broadcast.

2012年9月14日金曜日

Piz Nair in St. Moritz

July 31, 2012

We stayed at Hauser Hotel in Dorf, which was originally a sweets shop. The room was clean and cozy.

Our first breakfast in Switzerland, it was simple and good!

We went to Piz Nair(3057m) to take in panoramic view by cable car and a rope way.

This is the symbol of Piz Nair: Statue of a mountain goat.

We couldn't see the scene clearly because of the fog at the top.

Instead, we enjoyed watching and listening to a man playing harmonica. He looked very happy to be sitting there playing harmonica.

sweet corn-soup with avocado (FR. 12.50)

Besides, we were very happy to have delicious home-made soups at the panorama restaurant at the observation deck.

cream of tomato soup with Basil (FR.11.56)

We enjoyed watching and listening a man playing harmonica in the restaurant again.

To St. Moritz

July 30, 2012

We got on a train from Munich in Germany to travel to St. Moritz in Switzerland. We changed trains four times. It took about seven hours!

Munich> Innsbruck> Sargans> Chur> St. Moritz

scenes through the window of our train

a station platform on our way

St. Moritz is famous as a summer retreat. The weather was cooler than I thought it would be. This city is separated into two areas around St. Moritz Lake: Dorf(east) and Bad( west).

This is St. Moritz Lake and St. Moritz station.
It was picturesque!

We went to a restaurant to enjoy "Rosti"which is a Swiss dish for dinner.

It was contained potatoes and baked with cheese.

Big chessmen in the backyard of the restaurant

2012年9月1日土曜日

Neuschwanstein Castle on Romantic Road

July 29, 2012

The following day, we continued on the Romantic Road to Neuschwanstein Castle. We were very lucky. It started raining hard on our way to the castle on the bus but it stopped raining when we arrived at the castle.
The castle has magnificent landscape surrounding it. We saw the castle from the Marien bridge, this was a good point for taking pictures of the castle.

The castle is famous as the model of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. It was not built as strategic but instead was built as a kind of a fairytale's castle to satisfy King Ludwig who yearned to be like a king in the medieval era. The king wanted to escape from the reality of life.