|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:14:10 GMT
1 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012) ~ Nikki ~ 3106 Views on TT
This travel tale was written by Nikki and relates to a Trafalgar Tour.
It was originally posted on the Trafalgar forum.
Pre Tour Day 1 (Aug 21):
Well everything has started... I'm trying to pack and realized that I have to plan for all contingencies so I'm in a bit of a panic as normally I pack fairly light. How do you prepare for the fact that you could be encountering summer and late fall temperatures?!? ... Well I guess light layers will end up being my friend. At least I'm able to get a little bit of an early start with packing for the trip. After work today was all about finding clothes that were potentials for the trip smiley... Everything is laid out and I guess tomorrow or the next day will be about removing the things that I *really* don't need to take with me...
Are you going on the Best of Switzerland and Austria tour? If so, I can't wait to read your tour tale when you get back as I'm hoping to go on this tour in Sept/Oct 2014.
Pre Tour Day 2 (Aug 22):
Alas, nothing got done since I was too busy with work and then had dinner out. Oh well that leaves all the remaining things for the day before I leave. laugh
Yes Tiffany, I think this was the tour that used to be called the "Best of Switzerland and Austria" but is now call "Switzerland and Austria 2012".
Have a great trip. I can't wait to hear about it when you get back. I was hoping to go on this tour next Sept/Oct, but my friend is getting married in the Dominican next Oct/Nov, so I'm going on a shotter tour next May instead. I don't have enough vacation time to go on this tour and go to her wedding down south and keep some days to visit my family. I have a few friends who are interested in coming on this tour with me in 2014 though.
Pre-tour Day 3 (Aug 23):
Everything finally got packed after a quick trip to the Target to get some travel sized bottles to hold shampoo and conditioner. I realized as I was packing that my old ones had a leak and would make everything very messy if I'd used them! I'm so glad that I noticed this before I left. Otherwise I would have landed with a huge mess in my hands!
Pre-tour Day 4 (Aug 24):
My travels have officially started. I'm in the airport waiting for my first flight of the day. Then it'll be more waiting at another airport for the actual flight to Zurich. I suspect that today will be an extremely long boring day of traveling! I'll report more after my first day in Zurich...
Pre-tour Day 4 (Aug 24 cont):
The flight from Toronto to Zurich ended up leaving a little bit over an hour late so I was worried I would end up missing one of my addons of an afternoon tour of Zurich and the surrounding area. So I sent off an e-mail and was told that I would probably make it on time to chatch the departure from the airport. The flight was fairly smooth besides the delay. I was very glad that I was able to get into the Air Canada lounge in Toronto since the delay meant that I dinner would be later than normal (approx 11 PM) which would have normally been a disaster without that meal. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
Pre-tour Day 5 (Aug 25):
Surprisingly it only took me 40 mins from the time I left the plane to clear customs, collect my luggage, and rondevous at the Best of Switzerland Tour pickup at the airport. I couldn't believe how fast it all went! The city tour was nice and gave me a good feel for the city plus a little more background on Switzerland. It included a ride up the funicular to see views of the city, the famous Frumunster Church with the stained glass, a ferry ride across Lake Zurich, etc (most of which is included in the orientation tour of Zurich).
The traffic was awful and the tour took an extra hour to complete because of it! Then it was a short walk to the hotel to check-in. I settled in, took a shower, and went to find some dinner. The hotel receptionist recommended several places and I set off to find them so that I could look at the menus and choose some where to eat. There was some kind of party going on that included Brazilian flags and music but I never figured out what exactly was going on. I settled on an Italian place... I know, I know... I'm in Switzerland but the places serving Swiss food looked entirely too touristy so I'll hold off on that for now! My meal at Biancii was very good and I have no complaints. It was raining when I left dinner and I'd forgotten my umbrella so I headed back to the hotel instead of investigating the strange Brazil street festival. When I got back to my room, my phone was ringing... I was thinking "Who could be calling me here?" but I answered it and it was the tour director calling to introduce herself and apparently she'd been trying to reach me all afternoon and evening! Opps!! So we discussed the agenda for the next day and I explained that I'd be missing the included orientation tour since I'd done all of that stuff today and I wanted to explore other places tomorrow. So ends my first day of adventures in Switzerland and Austria. I also found out that there were no other single females on the trip to share a room with so I ended up with a single room for the tour. WHOO!!
Lucky for you that you ended up with your own room and not a terrible room-mate.
Enjoy the rest of the tour and write about it.
TOUR DAY 1 (Aug 26): This morning I went down to a buffet breakfast and had yogurt, roasted mushrooms, hash browns, toast with cherry jam, fruit, turkey, and smoked salmon. I skipped the scrambled eggs as they were fairly soft/runny and I prefer eggs fairly firm. They also had a good selection of hot tea (yea!) with little pots for steeping plus a variety of other options. It was quite nice for an included buffet breakfast option with plenty to choose from. They also had a pineapple/orange/grapefruit juice that was a shocking pink color but was very tasty. After breakfast, I headed out for my second pre-tour with Best of Switzerland Tours that went out to Rhine Falls. The Rhine Falls were very pretty and are the tallest in Europe. I paid an extra 8 CHF to go out to a rock in the middle of the Falls and it was worth every penny. For those of you Americans out there, the CHF is almost equal to the dollar right now. I got some spectacular photos from the top of the rock and met some people from the Western US (Oregan and California) that I talked with and compared notes with as they had been in Switzerland for a while and were close to leaving.
This afternoon I skipped the orientation tour since I had seen all of that yesterday. Instead I walked down to the Chinagarten which is the largest Chinese garden outside of China and was a gift from the Chinese government to Switzerland. It was quite a walk but it was quite a beautiful walk so it didn't seem to long to me. However, it is not a short walk so it would be better for the less mobile to take the public transport out.
On the way back towards the hotel I stopped at some other places like a chocolate shop called Confiserie Spüngli for a hot chocolate (and a rest!) and continued down the famous shopping street Bahnhofstrasse although all the shops were closed since it was Sunday (probably a very good thing for my wallet). I also walked through the old town to get some more pictures since it was much sunnier today (although it did rain on me while I was walking towards the Chinagarten). I also went up the Grossmünster towers to get some views of the city. It was well worth the climb up all those stairs.
I viewed the Rathausbrückle which is a city hall that spans a bridge (quite a strange place to put a building in my humble opinion). I was very surprised at how small Zurich is. To give an idea this afternoon I walked everywhere instead of taking the public transportation which I've never done before in such a "big" city. Then I finally headed back to my hotel taking a slight detour to see more of the festival that was going on down one of the side streets. After inquiring I found out that they hold this festival every August and mostly it consists of street venders, various music, and some live bands or performers.
Tonight there was a welcome reception at a local restuarant up the "hill" from the hotel. Lamb with zucchini and potatoes was served for dinner with an apple tart for dessert plus two drinks and a coffee/tea to end. The meal was a little rushed at least for my table who were talking quite a bit to get aquainted. After dinner when we were dropped off at the hotel, I left the hotel to go to the street festival and stopped at the Brazilian street vender bar to enjoy a caiparina and the music. While enjoying the atmosphere, I ran into a couple from the afternoon tour the day befor and we talked for a bit about our days in Zurich. It was a nice surprise to run into them there and we exchanged phone numbers and e-mails so that we could try to keep in touch. After my drink it was back to the hotel for me so that I could get to sleep and so that I could be ready for the 6 AM wake-up call and the 6:30 AM bags out. Tomorrow should be a long coach ride as we are traveling all the way to Salzburg.
Hotel: Zurich Marriott
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:15:52 GMT
2 ~ Re: Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 2 (Aug 27):
This morning we were off to Salzberg and the site of the Sound of Music movie at 7:30 AM. After about 2 hours we stopped briefly in Liechtenstein for a coffee and shopping. Additionally we got a more detailed view of our itinerary for the next two weeks on the way.
Then we continued on our way towards Innsbruck and took a short lunch stop (~50 mins) at a "travel plaza" type of place along the motor way. They had a fairly impressive selection for lunch and I ended up with grilled boneless pork chops (very tasty), roasted veggies, and rice. After lunch we continued on with a short time in Germany and finally ended up at our hotel for the night in Salzburg around 3:10. Then we hurried up to our rooms to drop off our handluggage and then back down to head out with the local guide for a tour around Salzberg. We viewed most of the famous sites in the Sound of Music, plus other important places like Mozart's house. Then had about an hour of free time to go off to do shopping, have a coffee, etc.
Around 6:30 PM we met up with the group to head off to a local Brewery for a Be My Guest Dinner. We were served a beef broth soup with puff pastries, pork ribs with some veggies, and a dessert that was similar to pound cake (but lighter) with some friut spread on top. We also had a chance to try the beers they brew there and then could get two drinks (soft, wine, beer, etc). After dinner it was back to the hotel to get ready for our day tomorrow. Again an early day for me, 6 AM wake up with 6:30 bags out and 7:30 on the coach. I always have to remember at this point that this is why I pay for the tours... so that I get up and out early enough to see everything that I want to see!
Hotel: Austria Trend Hotel Europa
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:16:47 GMT
3 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 3 (Aug 28):
The buffet breakfast today was not as large as the one in Zurich but there was still plenty of choice. Today we started out early and were off to Hitler's Eagles Nest (our first optional) and it was a fantastic morning to go up there because it was a cool morning with no fog. The veiws were fantastic and we could see for miles along the Austrian and German borders. I took one panaramic photo that I hope turns out. We had about 1.5 hours to look around, grab a coffee, etc and then it was back down the mountain in the special bus to our regular bus. Once we were all back at the bus we headed back towards the hotel to pick up the people that did not come on the optional tour. We got back to the hotel about 11, had a quick stop and were off to futher adventures in Vienna about 11:30. We stopped for lunch around 12:45 and had another 50 minute stop. We continued on our way passing a large monastary and going down along the Danube valley towards our second pit stop of Dürnstein where Richard the Lion-hearted was captured and held in prison by an Austrian aristocrat for about 15 minutes to stretch, take photos, etc.
The area along the river is very pretty and we arrived in Vienna around 4:30. Most of the group left for the optional meal in the Viennese Woods but I decided to eat on my own tonight and went to a restaurant called Salymat. I had the front desk make me a reservation for 7 PM. The folks on the optional dinner left around 5:45 PM. I took the subway system to the inner part of the city and got a little lost on my way to the restaurant. I was a little late for my reservation but everything worked out fine. The food and wine was great and I was able to sit outside because the weather was so nice. There was more of an adventure reading the menu since it was in hand written German full of abbreviations and I had forgotten my German-English dictionary at the hotel. OPPS! I had mozzerralla with tomatos and basil to start along with a glass of Blaufrankish (red wine). Then I had a pike perch salad which was interesting because there was some kind of sour fruit on the salad that looked like a pineapple along with a seed looking vegtable that I didn't particularly care for. With the pike perch I had a glass of Grüner Veltliner that was very tasty.
Then I set off for a wine bar that I had read about. Originally I was going to walk but since my map wasn't very good I decided to use the subway again and this time I was able to find the UBahn much more quickly! Note: Sticking to the major roads instead of trying to take a more direct route down the side streets is much better. So I traveled a short wazs on the underground to Karlsplatz and then went towards Albertina Platz along Operngasse and down one of the side streets off Opern was the wine bar, Weinquartier where I had a glass of Gruber that was so-so in my opinion plus a glass of rose (probably the zweigelt grape) that was very tasty. I read a bit, looked around a bit, and generally had a relaxing time at the wine bar. Around 10:30 I headed back to the subway for the hotel. The waitress told me about a street fair that was happening near the town hall but I decided that it was too late to check that out. Maybe I'll have some time tomorrow to check it out. I was back to the hotel by 11 and went to bed for the 6:10 AM wake up call which I think is a bit early considering we aren't leaving until 7:50 and there are no bags to put out but I'll stick with Miranda's (our tour guide) expertise.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:17:21 GMT
4 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 4 (Aug 29):
This morning I had a leisurely breakfast with a good selection of foods again and left for the tour of the Schünbrun palace (optional 3). I found out from several of the people at breakfast that they really enjoyed the optional dinner last night and that they thought that their food was very good but that they got too much of it. I thought that the tour of the palace was good but that the palace itself wasn't as impressive as others that I've seen. Then we had time to explore the gardens of the Schünbrun and I found a bird conservatory off to one side along with an obelesk futher along. I wish that the fountain at the back of the gardens had been on though. For those of you that have seen very impressive palaces before, you could probably skip this optional without feeling that you missed something great and could get more sleep!
Later that morning the rest of the tour group joined us for the included city tour. I must admit that I'm a little disappointed with these included city tours as you do not enter any of the places shown to you. After walking a bit of the city (St. Stephens Cathedral to Hofburg palace) we drove around the famous Ringstrasse and then were dropped off for free time around Vienna at Albertina Platz (~12 - 3:30). I went to the butterfly conservatory, the Opera House, St. Stephens Cathedral, shopping at Swarovski (and other shops along the shopping street) and stopped for a drink and pastry at Cafe Mozart. Originally I had planned to stay downtown a little longer than the group and take the subway back but everything took longer than I thought it would so I didn't have time to go to the museum I wanted without feeling too rushed.
This evening is the Viennese Concert and Dinner (optional 4) and we leave for that at 5:30. The dinner was excellent. I had a fish salad (which looked like chicken salad but with fish), potato soup, salmon with noodles, and a coconut tart with tea to finish. The only thing that I've found missing from my dinners and lunches are fruits and vegtables. The Swiss and Austrians don't seem to get too many of those in their nights out (at least from what I've seen). After dinner was the concert where a small symphony orchestra played (4 violins, a viola, cello, bass, trumpet, drumps, piano, flute, clarinet, and trombone) played famous waltzes, arias, and instrumental peices. During the Arias we were seranaded by either a man, a woman, or both and during the waltzes a couple demonstrated the waltzes (traditional and Viennese). The orchestra was wonderful and so were the performers. During the intermission we had either a champaign or orange juice which our guide Miranda had pre-ordered for us so that our drinks were waiting for us. The performance including the intermission was about 2 hours long. After the concert was over we headed back to our hotel for our last night in Vienna. Tomorrow we are off to Villach at 8:15 so we get a little bit of a lie-in since the wake up call isn't until 6:45 and our bags out at 7:15.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:20:40 GMT
5 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 5 (Aug 30):
Today we left around 8:15 for our first stop of the day at Gratz. Gratz was a pretty little town where we grabbed lunch and had a quick orientation of the little town. After eating lunch there really wasn't time to explore so we headed straight back to the bus. Then we had our "hidden treasure" of a church by the architect Hanstwasser (spelling may be off here) that was a child-like colorful building with wavy grass/grounds. After a quick stop to take a photo we headed towards the famous Lippastana (spelling again may be off) horses that are used in the Spanish Riding School located in Vienna. Around 3:15 it was back on the bus for the remaining trip to the hotel in Villach.
We had the reamainder of the afternoon to explore Villach and have an included dinner at 7. The dinner was fairly good for an included hotel dinner. I had a salad, noodles filled with quark cheese which is a local speciality, and pancake with jam (similar to a crepe). The hotel tonight is by far the most quant but the rooms are also not quite as good as the other hotels that we've stayed in so far. The rooms are a little small and there is no A/C so for summer trips I suspect that the hotel room gets fairly hot at night. However, the hotel does have a great location and free internet so that offsets the quality of the hotel in my opinion.
Tomorrow we head to Innsbruck at 7:45 so we will be woken at 6:15 with bags out at 6:45.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:26:39 GMT
6 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 6 (Aug 31):
We got another late start of 7:45 today which meant that our bags had to be out at 6:45 and a wake-up call of 6:15. Today's breakfast was not as nice as some of the other hotels and we had to specifically ask for tea rather than hot water and tea bags being provided in the buffet area. After a couple of hours on the bus we had our first comfort stop in a small town where there were plenty of cafes and other little shops. We stopped there for about 40 minutes. Then our second stop was a couple of hours later just before heading into the Dolamite Mountains in Italy for a scenic drive. After our second stop we drove for about 20 minutes to a town called Cortina where we had lunch (in Italy) and most of us had some fabulous Italian pizza  and then we had about 20 minutes to explore the town. There was a pretty church that had a lovely interior.
(Apologies for the bad quality photo there, the forum only lets you post pictures that are 700 KB or less) Then it was back on the bus for the rest of the scenic drive and heading towards Innsbruck. Unfortuately it was raining for most of the day and was pretty chilly (7 - 12 C / 45-48 F). There was bad traffic on the motorway so it took several hours more to reach Innsbruck. We had a quick orientation of the city after checking into the hotel. Then it was back to the hotel for our highlight dinner where I had rissotto, baked fish with spinach and potatoes plus a sampling of strudel. After dinner a few of us went for a short stroll to see the town lit up.
Also on the way to our hotel we stopped briefly to see the Olympic ski jump plus a church with a spectacular interior full of paintings and gold leaf. It was very ornate. Tomorrow we have a 6 AM wake up call and 7:30 departure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:27:11 GMT
7 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 7 (Sept 1):
Today's breakfast was pretty good and included all of the standards found on a European breakfast buffet. We left early (about 7:30) and had a short drive to the Swiss/Austrian boarder where we obtained a customs stamp for any purchases greater than 75 euro and had a quick break for coffee, tea, etc on the Swiss side of the border. Then we got back on the bus for another drive to St. Mortiz and arrived there about 11:30. Our rooms were ready for us so we dropped off our hand luggage and went for a stroll through the town stopping for lunch at a cafe near one of the main round abouts. Lunch was fairly expensive considering that it was a panini sandwhich plus a glass of wine (~25 CHF). Then since it started raining I headed back towards the hotel a bit early as I didn't have my umbrella with me. I also stopped a Bucherer for a little suviener spoon that they are giving away as a promotion. Along the rest of the trip I should pick up 3 more in other cities. About 1:40 we reboarded the coach for the Berina Express train (optional 5).
Most of the way between Pontressina and Le Prese on the train there was rain and fog so the views weren't as spectacular as they must be on the clear sunny days. The train ride was about 1 1/2 hours then once we arrived in La Presa we stopped for included wine/juice/cheese/bread/etc which were all very good. Then we popped back onto the bus for our ride back to St. Mortiz which should have taken us about 1 hour. Unfortunately our bus broke down on the way and new transportation had to be arranged. I think that our new driver for the rest of the trip is pretty good as he noticed the problem right away and stopped to have a look. Miranda arranged for a temporary driver and bus to come to take us back to the hotel. We did get pretty lucky on the drive back to St. Mortiz though because the sun came out and we stopped a couple of times to take photos.
Once we arrived back at the hotel, we dropped off our bags and headed to the included dinner which was tasty. I had cream of broccoli soup, fish with rice and carrots, and ice cream. After dinner, I went down to the lobby to use the free internet and sit by the fire. Today was also fairly cold all day and mostly rainy so hopefully we will have better weather the next day. Tomorrow we have another early day with a wake-up call at 6, bags out at 6:30, and departure at 7:30.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:27:42 GMT
8 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 8 (Sept 2):
Today was a fairly long bus day since we were going from St. Mortiz to Stresa, Italy to Zermatt and the ride was fairly unremarkable. We stopped for tea/coffee/etc a few times during the day. One of our stops was a place on the Swiss border of Italy where there was an eagle statue representing the Swiss commitment to remaining neutral during WWII by keeping all of the passages in and out of the country manned. In Italy, we had a choice of staying in Stresa or going out to the Islands of Lake Maggeriore (optional 6). The optional was good if you've never seen the islands before or toured the palace on one of the islands. Our tour guide here was fantatic and very engaging. After the tour of the palace we had free time for lunch and shopping on the island. Then it was back onto the bus towards Zermatt. It should be noted that taking the optional means that you have no time in Stresa. Since Zermatt is a car free town we came up by mini bus and electric taxi, both of which were a little bumpy. Dinner tonight was a meat fondue which was a little on the bland side and an extremely tart lime sorbet. In my opinion, this was the worst included meal of the trip. Dinner took quite a while to finish and afterwards I went to bed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:28:12 GMT
9 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 9 (Sept 3):
Today we were able to sleep in! No wake-up call with breakfast being served from 7-9:30 and our group photo at 9:20. The breakfast this morning was so-so. There wasn't much to choose from compared to the other hotels. However, the rooms are very spacious. After the group photo (a free one given to each couple on the trip), came the Klein Matterhorn (optional 7) where we tooke electric taxis to the lift and ascended to about 10,000 ft where we had another group photo (not a free one) and individual photos with a St. Bernard named Biscuit. There was time for a coffee/tea/etc and then we ascended to the top of the Klien Matterhorn (~12,000 ft) where we were able to take photos. After taking our photos we decended back to 10,000 ft to wait for everyone to return and to have a coffee/tea/etc if it was wanted or do a little shopping. Finally we decended back to Zermatt. Once there we had a choice of going back to the hotel or to downtown in the electric taxi. Then for the rest of the day we had free time. For lunch I had a raclette which was quite good and consisted of cheese drippings, potatos, onions, and pickles. Then I did a little exploring/shopping for the afternoon. For dinner, I had a salad and cheese fondue. Both meals were at restaurants on the main shopping street but were not attached to a hotel. After the dining experience this night, I wished that the previous night had been a free meal as well instead of an included meal since the food was so much better tonight. Then it was back to the hotel for packing and bed since tomorrow is an early day again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:28:35 GMT
10 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 10 (Sept 4):
This morning it was back to the normal routine of bags out at 6:30 with a 7:30 departure. There was a little computer corner at the hotel in Zermatt but unfortunately the computer was very slow and kept resetting itself so I was unable to really use it for things like checking e-mails. Today is a long bus day. We travel towards Geneva making two brief comfort stops and finally reach Geneva. We did a brief bus tour around the city going to the UN park, seeing the world organization buildings, the three legged chair, the fountain, and various statues. Unfortunately like most city tours by bus it was difficult to see things and take pictures of the famous sites. After the bus tour of Geneva, we had about an hour to grab lunch before those selecting to travel to Evian by boat via Youvire left (optional 8) and the rest of us traveled directly to Evian by bus. Most of the group took the optional but I wasn't really interested so I traveled directly to Evian where there was free time until dinner (optional 9) at 7. During the bus ride to dinner I asked about the boat optional and was told that the cruise was only ok but the town of Youvire was lovely. However, I really liked the town of Evian so I'm content that I missed the curise optional. The dinner was nice but not extraordinary. I had duck as my main and it was pretty good. A nice feature of the dinner (for me) was that you could have as much wine as you wanted. However, if I was to do it again, I would probably choose to not do the Savyard dinner and instead get dinner in Evian. We got back late from dinner (~11 PM) but at least we have a bit of a later start tomorrow with a 6:30 wake-up call and departure of 8.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:29:01 GMT
11 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 11 (Sept 5):
Today we head to Lucerne (our last stop of the tour) with our first coffee stop overlooking Bern (Switerland's capital) and lunch in Interlocken where we could see the Jungfrou mountain. We had about 1.5 hours to get lunch and explore Interlocken. Then we drove to Lucerne with no more stops so it was a fairly short trip from there. Once in Lucerne, we had an orientation drive around the city plus a photo stop at the lion monument. Then we stopped at the hotel to unload and check-in. For the remainder of the afternoon, we had a choice of free-time or a cruise on the lake (optional 10). Our tour guide decided to break up this optional into two because the mountain is better seen in the morning, so we also had the option of just doing one part of the optional. I choose the free-time since I planned to do most of my shopping here at our last stop. So I spent the afternoon shopping. Most people who went on the cruise seemed to enjoy it. This evening was an optional Lucerne Folklore dinner (optional 11) that again I decided to not go on. Instead I had dinner at Le Bonn Cave by the river and tower bridge. My meal was fantastic! I had a mixed salad, the daily special (gnocci w/veggies), and two glasses of wine for ~30 CHF which is pretty cheap for Switzerland. I had absolutely no regrets not going to the optional dinner and striking out on my own. After dinner I came back to the hotel and fell asleep.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:30:19 GMT
12 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
TOUR DAY 12 (Sept 6):
Well it's the last day of the tour and I've had a great time. This morning I recieved a call from Miranda explaining that the mountain was foggy (optional 10 part 2) and so we were going to switch the program order today to do the Swiss Heritage optional in the morning (optional 12) and the mountain in the afternoon. Additionally a new item of a modern church near Lucerne was added as a hidden treasure this morning. The church is made of marble and is in a cube shape. Without the cross on top you'd never guess that it was a church! We dropped some people back at the hotel or downtown for shopping since they weren't going on the Swiss Heritage optional and then we headed to Engleburg for the excursion. Once we reached Engleburg (~45 mins later), we got into horse and carriages for a ride around the town and then we finished the ride at a farm where the farmer's wife gave us samples of wine, coffee w/plum schnapps, cheese from their farm, venison salami, air-dried beef, plus a couple of deserts and answered questions about the farm and cheese production in Switzerland. We arrived back at the hotel/downtown around noon and then there was free time for lunch and shopping. The folks going to the mountain had to be ready by 2 PM (optional 10 part 2). Since I didn't choose this optional I had free time for more shopping and sight seeing. People who went on the dinner optional the night before said that they had a good time but that the place was really packed. I'm glad that I did dinner on my own because I got back to the hotel much earlier and was able to catch up on my sleep! Tonight was the included farewell dinner at an Italian restaurant along the river and we had a choice of veal or pasta. I had the pasta which was spinach cantelloni and was very tasty. For a starter we had a selectino of anti-pasta and for desert we had terimisu. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and I think we all were sad to part the next day. The next day is a very early day with a wake up call at 5:45, and on the bus at 7 to head to the airport
 . All in all, this was a fantastic tour with a great bunch of people and a fabulous tour director.
This travel tale was written by Nikki and relates to a Trafalgar Tour. It was originally posted on the Trafalgar forum.
|
|
|
|
Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 20:31:27 GMT
13 ~ Switzerland and Austria (Aug 25 - Sept 7 2012)
More pictures from this trip can be found at: flic.kr/s/aHsjD6J7rS
Note: The pictures will be uploaded over time until all pictures are present at this link
|
|
and then we had about 20 minutes to explore the town. There was a pretty church that had a lovely interior.
. All in all, this was a fantastic tour with a great bunch of people and a fabulous tour director.