Monday, January 24, 2011
My most beautiful holiday..
Switzerland is definitely the prettiest place I've been so far. There were many times when the amazing sights just left me feeling speechless in a happy way. I honestly loved every day and every hour of the trip! Hee.
ZURICH 1-3 JAN 2011
Our first destination was Zurich since we arrived at the Zurich airport. The Swiss flight was rather a pleasant one and thankfully a short one, just slightly over 1.5hours. =) Our only bummer on this trip was at the start when we realised we forgot to load the Maclaren stroller onto the car and as a result were pram-less for the rest of the trip. OMG!
At first I was very much affected by it and was frustrated that despite my reminder jw forgot to take it! But I honestly didn't want the trip to start on a bad note and this was a trip I've been pinning for and very much looking forward to. What's done cannot be undone anyway. I knew I had the baby bjorn carrier in my luggage but angel being 9kg now, it's going to be tough for us to carry her all the way for 8 days. Well. I was half right and half wrong. It was indeed tough and our shoulders were aching each day, but it was not that difficult and the good thing was that Angel did kinda like it cos' she got to see a clear view when we went gai gai (she was always so ecstatic and full of woos and ahs!) and we didn't have to carry her in and out of pram to take photos. Only thing was I wondered if she slept comfortably like that instead of lying down. But well, by the 2nd day we already got used to the carrying and took turns regularly and hey, we survived well! Yoohoo!! *pat on shoulder for me and jw* Keke.
I wonder if anyone likes to visit the zoo when overseas. Keke. I dunno but I'm really cool with the idea and now that we have Angel, I think the zoo is pretty much a good choice. =) It's quite fascinating to see the animals in a snow covered environment, unlike the hot sunny zoo we have in sg.
Though it was drizzling, we still had an enjoyable and fun time at the Zurich Zoo. We spent nearly half a day there, saw dozens of different animals and even witnessed a penguin parade! Cool. Heard that they only come out for a parade when the temperature is below 10 deg celsius. Anyway they were amazingly obedient and didn't really go out of line or break free (though one seemed abit interested in one of the onlookers). =) Really cute. Now that Angel is older, I think she also kind of enjoyed looking at the different animals. She even touched a slithery huge long python! Haha.
Zurich is pretty much what we expected. Commercial, developed, lots of shopping and all. Though our aim on this trip was not to shop but to go sightseeing, we still walked around the town in Zurich and bought bits and pieces of stuff. Oh Angel had new Zara boots, I loved them and they helped to keep her little feet warm on this trip!
INTERLAKEN 3-5 JAN 2011
I was very much looking forward to Interlaken because many people were saying that it's beautiful and it's a must go if you visit Switzerland. Well, it's a pretty small and self sufficient town but still plenty of shops to see and to shop. Unlike Zurich, it's not so commercial and there was more scenery to admire there. I kinda like it and our excursion up to Jungfrau, top of europe, was really great.
Well, actually Jungfrau is not exactly the highest point in Europe since there were other taller peaks in the Alps, but it's the one with the highest railway station at 3454 ft therefore they call it the Top of Europe. Sounds inviting. Hehe.We also visited the Ice Palace and saw several ice sculptures on Jungfrau.
The first time I went outdoor at Jungfrau to admire the scenery, I was like 'wow'. I never thought that one day in my life, I would be standing here admiring the beauty of the snow-covered Alps on a sunny day in Switzerland. It was like, perhaps a dream when I was in Singapore. Something I never expect I would accomplish at 27-year-old. So I really treasured those moments. You can tell, I took tonnes of pictures! Haha. The weather was really kind to us too, thankfully.
Angel is even more blessed, she has been there and done that at 1-year-old! Haha. I am going to take pics and make vids and show her all the places she's been to when she's so little. Unbelievable. =) Anyway yup, I love the snow mountains though jw commented that after awhile, they all pretty much looked the same (which is true but I still think they are magnificent =p).
On our last day in Interlaken, I insisted that we had to go see a lake. There were two, the one we went to see was Lake Thun. It wasn't as near as I thought from where we stayed. We could have taken a bus that would take less than 10min, but alas this bus only runs every hourly and we missed it so instead of waiting an hour, we thought we would walk instead. And guess what, we ended up walking an HOUR. Haha. With me carrying Angel. Well well, luckily it was a really sunny and hot day. I guess walking will do me some good and give me the much needed exercise. Keke.
Anyway when we finally reached, I did not regret the walk one bit cos' the view was stunning. This above pic that I took already made everything worthwhile. I was so in love with the view. Though it was a rush affair taking pics initially cos' we wanted to catch the bus back (which we eventually missed, ironically), the pics were already enough to last me for a lifetime. Hehe. I was so glad I decided to come and see the lake instead of going shopping.
BERN 5-6 JAN 2011
Bern is the capital of Switzerland and in the beginning I didn't really plan to come here but in the end decided we could spare one night stay here. I was glad we did too. Bern appealed to both of us more than I thought it would.
Though it is very much commercialised and had endless shopping streets, it still preserved the look and feel of an old town and thus had an unique taste of its own, in my opinion. The buildings, the statues, the layout of the shopping promenades, all added up and gave us somewhat a cosy and nice feel of this capital city.
By the way, I love the idea of ice skating on the Parliament Square! Well, if it's in sg, not only is it impossible to have an ice skating rink outdoors, but I can't imagine ice skating in front of the parliament building too. Haha. Anyway the view here was really great and it made me feel happy just watching the people ice skate. =)
LUCERNE 6-8 JAN 2011
Our fourth and final stop was Lucerne, which was personally my favourite of all. I felt that it was really really pretty the moment I stepped out of the main train station. Alps, river, ducks and swans, bridges, everything added together and made an almost perfect picture.
Whenever I looked at the scenery, I felt peaceful, serene and at ease. Perhaps it's a feeling I don't get when I'm in sg, so I particularly cherished those moments. Esp when I have my dear beside me and my darling baby in my arms. The two people I love so much in my life.
Anyway we had a second excursion up the Alps in Lucerne, this time round we visited Mt Titlis. On Jungfrau, there was an Ice Palace and on Titlis, there was a Glacier Cave. Not bad as attractions. I specially loved the lighting effects in the glacier cave (of cos, without the lights the ice might be quite dull-looking).
Once again, we had an awesome view of the Alps. Wow. Again, we were lucky to have good weather, though initially there was strong winds and splattering snow in our faces (which made Angel cry!). But it was fine thereafter and we absolutely had a terrific afternoon on Titlis.
A highlight was the Snow Toys Park where they had various toys for adults and kids to play. We tried snow tubing, which basically you sit in this float and slide down the slope in a zig zag manner. It was like a mini roller coaster ride cos' it was quite fast and whenever you got to bends, the float will slide up and fall down again and it was quite exciting! Woohoo! I screamed! Haha. In delight, mostly. Guess what, I took Angel with me too since there was no age restriction. Haha. I think she's a brave baby! We sat on it not once but TWICE and she was ok.
Other than snow board toys, jw and I also tried this balancer thingy to slide our way down the snow slopes. It's super fun and exhilarating because it goes down super fast! Haha. I fell once but went on my way again down. You gotta keep your balance too and when you do keep, it just keeps accelerating and that's the fun part of it. Hee.
We also took a ride on the 'IceFlyer' which we decided it was pretty much a 10-min ride on a chair ski lift. But the good thing is you get an awesome view below and it's definitely more spectacular than being in a cable car. We took three cable cars to arrive on the highest point on Titlis and one of it was a revolving one (first in the world!).
All in all, this trip was really great and I was sad when it ended. Good things don't last forever, do they? But that's also precisely why they are so beautiful and so memorable. I'm sure these memories will be with me for as long as I can remember. One dream fulfilled, one happy girl. Hip hip hooray!! =)
~Summer~ 8:02 PM