Travel from Gerlos, Austria to Zurich, Switzerland
Ahhhhh Austria......so pretty.
Well thanks to Isi (again) had my travel for the day pretty much planned out when I woke up. We both agreed that a bus down the mountain much before 1000 was too early so I planned to catch the 1005 bus. Of course Isi had to feed me first and I managed to take one picture of her (which I promised I would not post here so sorry I cannot share it), before getting packed up and climbing on the bus. The bus was much less crowded than when I came up as it was Saturday morning so no school kids and apparently only I was dumb enough to be up that early. Anyway, it takes about 30 minutes to get down the hill and then I had to wait about 10 minutes to catch the good old Zillertalbahn back to Jenbach. Basically I did my trip up to Gerlos in reverse.
The hill I could see from the train station in Zell am Ziller.
Anyway, my train to Zurich was about 10 minutes late (arriving in Jenbach.....which is normal for this particular route I have learned) but once it arrived I found myself a nice empty seat in business first class and was eventually joined by one other lady and then it was just the 2 of us for the rest of the ride. I was once again prepared to pay the extra 15 euros but once again they chose not to charge me so yeah. I did get a couple funny looks though when I was asking which way to the first class cars as it seems most people carrying giant backpacks don’t sit first class but hey it’s me and I have to travel like me.
Not sure if this is Austria or Switzerland but it is some snow covered country side flying by very quickly.
I don't know where this is either but it was pretty.
Anyway, the trip to Zurich was uneventful but absolutely beautiful. Switzerland really is postcard perfect. The snow and the mountains and the random little towns and churches and animals and people and well just about everything. I could get lost here and not even care…except eventually it would get cold and I would want some chocolate. I did have to find myself a hotel though at some point on the journey as I was staying the night in Zurich. Once again Lonely Planet to the rescue.
Some of the decorations in Zurich. Don't ask me what street this is.....like I know where I was when I took this.
On arrival in Zurich I kind of felt like I was back in the real world. People everywhere and lots of noise. The postcard perfection of the train ride quickly disappeared but it would return a little bit later. I found my way to a hotel decently close to the train station but on a pedestrian street so relatively quiet and at an ok price. It is a little annoying that Switzerland has it own currency as I was hoping that I would not have to change money again on this trip….especially since I would only be in the country for a couple days, but the exchange rate is pretty on par to the Canadian dollar so whatever.
One of the bridges in Zurich and St. Peter Kirche.
Once I got settled into the hotel I headed out for a walk to see a bit of Zurich. Yes, there are a lot of watch stores and banks and all the Swiss stuff you would expect. Of course I will not be doing any shopping here until Monday as the stores were closed tonight and will be closed tomorrow but I will get to spend some money soon enough. Anyway, back to my walk. I encountered a very interesting thing. At 1900 (7pm) the church bells started ringing and it seemed I was in the middle of about 4 sets of them and they were echoing off each other and the buildings and the water and everything and it was loud and it was a little eerie. You could tell who the tourists were because we were all looking around trying to figure out what was going on. It was very neat.
Grossmunster Kirche....one of those bell ringing churches.
I then wandered the streets for a bit because that is what I do best and I actually did not get lost…although I might not have completely been on the track that I planned on being on. I also had to stop to make a phone call because today is of course Dad’s 60th birthday. Ok that phone call went on mom and dad’s calling card but whatever. I still have to buy him a present but I have time. With the house for sale and the upcoming move of course there was no great big party but there will be for 65 so mark your calendars now.
I'm not sure what either of these buildings are but I had to share some of what I saw in Zurich.
Anyway, after a nice walk through Old Town Zurich, I stopped to have some dinner and found some great Monipulciano wine. If the name sounds familiar it is because I was in that region in Italy just a bit ago. Brought back some great Italian memories.
A little video of those church bells.
Today was an early night as I have a lot planned tomorrow. Tomorrow the destination is Geneva but there will be a few stops along the way. It should be fun.
Julie
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