The cruise is now officially over, but my travels continue for close to two more weeks in Switzerland and Germany before I head home. Our tour included two more arts events in Zurich, so we had two nights together there before the programme ended and people went their ways.
Our arrival in Switzerland was in the northern city of Basel, Switzerland's third-biggest city and only port (it's the head of navigation on the Rhine for large ships). Due to its constrained location in a tight little corner at the north end of the country, you can't leave Basel in any direction from northwest to north to east without running into an international border. Both the French and German railways have stations in Basel which are operated under their respective national laws, and the Euro Airport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg is actually located in France. These arrangements caused all kinds of interesting complications back in the old days when people still required passports for internal travel within Europe.
But the rail stations and airport reinforce the great truth that the Swiss are nothing if not pragmatic -- and while Switzerland has refused to join the European Union, the country has signed onto the Schengen Agreement for open borders -- an essential component of modern travel in this small but densely populated continent.
In this panorama across the Rhine River, you can see two river cruise ships moored side by each in the distance, beyond the second bridge. Our ship, the AmaSerena, was the closer one to the shore. Only once on the cruise were we moored in a location where we had to walk across another ship to get to land. We got lucky!
Our guide also explained to us that swimming in the Rhine is a very popular warm-weather occupation in Basel. The buoys marking off the swimming zone were still in the water along the foot of the steps on the far bank.
We had to leave our ship at 9:00 am, and there followed the customary walking tour of the old town of Basel, complete with -- you guessed it, "Another Bloody Church!" But I enjoyed this walk, because old Basel told us very clearly by its appearance that we were now in a different country. The architecture may have been similar, but the choices of paint -- especially reds and greens -- were new.
The cathedral itself included a feature that none of the other major churches on our tour have shown -- an honest-to-goodness cloister walkway on the southeast side.
Passing through this brought us to the terrace behind the cathedral with the views over the Rhine shown above. We then continued around the north side and so back to the square with the west front.
There are two large and unique sculptures on the west front of the cathedral. One shows St. Martin giving his cloak to a beggar -- but the beggar was removed when the Swiss Reformation did away with reverence for saints. Instead, a tree stump now rests against the horse's hind leg. More on that theme presently.
The other one shows a large, aggressive St. George thrusting a fearfully long spear down the throat of what looks like a shy, timid, even cute little puppy of a dragon. I remember feeling sorry for the dragon when I first saw him in 1979, and I still do. So did some other people in our group.
Inside, the cathedral shows the usual plain, clean simplicity of the Swiss Reformed Church, but the windows at the apse end still display beautiful classic pictures of saints with halos. I'm a little surprised that they weren't knocked out during the Reformation.
Our walk continued through several alleyways of the old town, all cobbled. But I'd already learned something very important. The Swiss have a well-deserved reputation for meticulous attention to detail, and these beautifully level and evenly matched cobblestones tell us that this reputation is indeed true.
As we continued our tour, we hit some areas where walking streets had a wide asphalt-paved strip down the centre, which made the walking even easier. Eventually, our walk brought us to the main square and the elaborately decorated Town Hall -- which looks very different from its rural-seeming rear entrance...
...to the elaborate and ornate front entrance and main facade.
Hint: they're actually two separate buildings that have been joined together.
Above the large clock stands a group of three statues. The centre one looks for all the world like the Virgin Mary. Originally she was, until -- like St. Martin on the cathedral -- the Reformation caught up with her. The figure of the Infant Jesus was taken out of her arms and replaced with the symbols of justice. So you now have this ironic vision of Justice, a Justice who isn't blindfolded, doesn't hold her scales high for all to see, and doesn't carry her sword pointing down. Go figure.
We walked up a steep alleyway on the other side of the square, and just at the point where it turned into a staircase, we paused for a minute.
And right there on the wall, I saw this sign, again in the most ironic location you could imagine.
After I drew it to the attention of others in the group, we spent several minutes trying to decide if this physiotherapist was trying to screen out the worst cases who would need the most attention and take the longest to help, or if it was a case of trying to make everyone worse and thereby increasing the business! Things that make you go "Hmmm"....
The remainder of the day passed with lunch, a coach trip to Zurich (a little over an hour from Basel), and some hair-raising shenanigans as the hotel desk clerks struggled to locate all the reservations. We arrived at 3:20 pm and the last people in the group finally got their rooms at 5:30. I think that the hotel had some serious problems with their computer systems, because throughout our stay the desk clerks were having to do things by hand that would normally be done on a computer. Early dinner was to be followed by a performance of the Zurich Ballet at the opera house, but I just stayed in after eating -- I was suffering from the well-known travel symptoms which collectively come under the heading of "hitting the wall."
The next morning, much refreshed by 9 hours of sleep, I set off on my own. I passed on the planned walking tour of Old Zurich because the area is already familiar to me from previous visits. Instead, I got a transit day pass and headed for the east side of the city, and the funicular up to Rigiblick. This high suburb is not to be confused with the much higher scenic mountaintop viewpoint of Rigi to the east of Luzern! But, like Zurich's Dolderbahn rack railway which I rode last year, the Seilbahn Rigiblick is part of the city transit system. It operates from 6:00 am to midnight, 8 times an hour.
So I rode two different tram lines from my hotel, changing trams at the central junction point called Central (that was easy!), hopped off the # 10 tram at the stop called "Seilbahn Rigiblick," and then enjoyed the 5 minute ride up the mountain on a miniature car which holds exactly eight seats, and room for maybe 10 more people to stand. But it wasn't crowded.
Here are a couple of pictures to give you the idea. The midpoint station with the other car approaching downhill at the passing point.
The two cars on a funicular are hauled up and down on either end of a single long cable, so there has to be a point where they can pass each other.
View of the descending car from the summit.
View of the passing point from the uphill side. What looks like a ski jump protruding at an upward angle from the hill is actually the completely flat, level roof of the midpoint station. It's an interesting optical illusion.
And a couple of views from the top of lake, mountains, and city. In the second picture, look just below the outer end of the red crane and you will see the twin towers of the Grossmünster, the "Great Church" which is known as the birthplace of the Swiss Reformation.
Here's a picture of the Grossmünster, which I took last September from ground level.
Since Rigiblick is a suburban neighbourhood, it's pretty quiet during the day -- and the roaring noises of the city are suddenly very far away indeed. Since we actually got some sun (on a day when rain-all-day was the forecast), I took advantage to just sit on one of the park benches, enjoy the sun and the cool autumn air, and revel in the peace and quiet.
After descending, I rode the # 10 tram back to the city and then walked around the shopping district for a while. The thing about shopping in downtown Zurich is easy to figure out. In the immortal words of Helene Hanff: "Every price tag I see reads 'One less day in London.'" Zurich is just as expensive, and may even be worse. I didn't buy anything, but I certainly did get my exercise. I had another sit for a few minutes to test my willpower. The park bench I chose was situated facing a cafe terrace and four different food stands, including hot pretzels, a bakery with pastries, and a hot sausage stand. I even impressed myself by not walking up to look more closely at any of them.
With the sensation of a good walk and a good day's work well done, I then walked around the station and boarded the # 4 tram back to my hotel. Late lunch, afternoon rest, another early dinner, and the last concert of the tour were on the programme for the rest of the day. And the next day, with the tour over, I would be off on my own again for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Next stop, Luzern. (As I explained last year, I will consistently use the German spelling of the name, rather than the "Lucerne" more commonly used in English- and French-speaking countries, simply because "Luzern" is what you see when you get here on road signs, train tickets, timetables, buses, lake boats -- everywhere.)
Time Out For Helpful Hints
Language lesson du jour: in German, "z" is pronounced as "ts". Thus: "Loo-tsairn." More or less.
Helpful hints du jour: Zurich's transit system is a breeze to use, and goes absolutely everywhere with clockwork precision and regularity. The trams travel on exclusive rights-of-way, so they aren't held back by cars. Stops are spaced out along the route at 1-2 minute intervals. Every tram stop has a ticket machine, with instructions available in German, French, Italian, and English. You can buy a 24-hour ticket for use within the city for CHF8.80 (Swiss francs), but for just a few francs more you should buy the "Zurich Ticket" which gives 24 or 72 hours unlimited travel throughout the metro region, including the airport. It also includes commuter trains, which the plain day ticket does not. From the airport, you can go into town by fast train, or on the somewhat slower # 10 tram. Both end at the Hauptbahnhof.
At the Hauptbahnhof there are three different tram stops at three different locations around the station. Most routes stop at only one of the three locations. Finding the right one can be tricky. But just across the river is a smaller, simpler tram hub called "Central," and there are a total of 15 bus and tram routes that meet there, all very close together. One or the other hub will help you get to anywhere in the city.
Time Out Ends -- Back to Travelling!
Going from Zurich to Luzern by train is a breeze. There are multiple direct trains every hour, with the expresses covering the distance in 45-50 minutes. With a direct tram to the station right outside my Zurich hotel, and a short 2-block walk from the station to my Luzern hotel -- why would I do it any other way?
One of the most iconic sights of Luzern is a short 2-minute walk from my hotel, the Kapellbrücke ("Chapel Bridge") with its tower, the Wasserturm ("Water Tower," in this case meaning "tower in the water"). It impresses me that even this late in the fall the flower baskets are still filled with cascades of blooms.
The tower appears small and quaint from a distance, but -- in this picture it's about the same distance away from the camera as the 7-storey buildings on the far side of the river.
My one full day in Luzern was memorable, to say the least. I began in the morning with a walk along the River Reuss, downstream from the lake, viewing examples of Swiss architecture on the way.
On the south bank of the Reuss, I paused to catch a picture of the city's medieval fortification wall. The wall climbs right up a very steep hill, with towers at regular intervals, nine of them still intact. I then crossed the river on the less well-known of the city's two old wooden footbridges, the Spreuerbrücke ("Chaff Bridge").
The tiny little hut with the witch's hat roof attached to the side of the bridge is a small shrine with a Madonna and Child. It's big enough for one person at a time to get inside and pray at the altar, but is now protected by an iron gate and plexiglass.
The bridge got its name as the only point where it was permitted to dump grain chaff, leaves, and the like into the river. That's because it was located downstream from the old dam which tames the river into placid beauty in the middle of town before releasing the brawling Alpine waters to be their vehement selves again.
The next thing I wanted to do was to walk along beside that medieval city wall -- but, to my chagrin, I discovered that you can't actually walk along next to it as it runs through a string of people's gardens, and in some places has more recent buildings jammed right up against it. But you can walk along the steep and narrow street which runs parallel to the south side of the wall, the Museggstrasse. There are several spots along Museggstrasse where you can see one of the surviving towers -- and one place where the street goes right through the wall, using openings carved out long after the wall was no longer needed for defence.
Coming back downhill at the east end of the wall, I spotted this interesting example of diverse commercial usages in a single building. What relationship, if any, I wondered, exists among a shoemaker, a tattoo parlour, and a hairdressing salon?
Continung downhill, I found myself near the lake front, and after a few brief minutes of walking, I came face to face with St. Leodegar, commonly known as the Hofkirche. It's a Catholic church, but while the exterior is fairly plain the inside is a riot of gold leaf and elaborate iron- and stonework. Very eye-popping.
By the time I left the church, the sun was actually starting to push through the low fog and mist which had hung over the city all morning. Thus, to my surprise, I found myself doing something I had figured would be a no-go on this trip -- enjoying lunch on the riverside patio outside the Alte Rathaus brew pub. Sunshine and 20 degrees Celsius isn't precisely tropical, but it's enough to get me out on the patio for sure.
The lunch of a big wedge of 3-cheese and onion quiche with a massive salad was a bargain of bargains by Swiss standards. The wine was not.
By the time I finished eating, all the patios along the riverside were filling up nicely.
And as the sun persisted after lunch, I did something else that I had figured wouldn't be happening on this visit -- a cruise on the lake, an hour each way to Vitznau, on a beautiful, brand new cruise ship (and I mean brand new since last September!).
As you pull away from the dock right outside the railway station, you get a grandstand view of St. Leodegar Church across the river inlet.
This full panorama of the north side of town shows 5 of the 9 surviving towers in the medieval wall.
And then it's time to just relax and enjoy the sun -- in shirtsleeves, no less -- and the glorious Alpine scenery -- for the hour-long trip to Vitznau.
Most people come to Vitznau to ride the rack railway up the Rigi. I did last year. This time, I just took the 40-minute stopover before the boat called in again on its return voyage. The thing to do in my mind was to saunter around a pretty little waterfront park, with flowers still in bloom,...
...a very artistic sundial to admire,...
...and the views of lake and mountains -- which are sights that I never tire of experiencing.
The cathedral itself included a feature that none of the other major churches on our tour have shown -- an honest-to-goodness cloister walkway on the southeast side.
Passing through this brought us to the terrace behind the cathedral with the views over the Rhine shown above. We then continued around the north side and so back to the square with the west front.
There are two large and unique sculptures on the west front of the cathedral. One shows St. Martin giving his cloak to a beggar -- but the beggar was removed when the Swiss Reformation did away with reverence for saints. Instead, a tree stump now rests against the horse's hind leg. More on that theme presently.
The other one shows a large, aggressive St. George thrusting a fearfully long spear down the throat of what looks like a shy, timid, even cute little puppy of a dragon. I remember feeling sorry for the dragon when I first saw him in 1979, and I still do. So did some other people in our group.
Inside, the cathedral shows the usual plain, clean simplicity of the Swiss Reformed Church, but the windows at the apse end still display beautiful classic pictures of saints with halos. I'm a little surprised that they weren't knocked out during the Reformation.
Our walk continued through several alleyways of the old town, all cobbled. But I'd already learned something very important. The Swiss have a well-deserved reputation for meticulous attention to detail, and these beautifully level and evenly matched cobblestones tell us that this reputation is indeed true.
As we continued our tour, we hit some areas where walking streets had a wide asphalt-paved strip down the centre, which made the walking even easier. Eventually, our walk brought us to the main square and the elaborately decorated Town Hall -- which looks very different from its rural-seeming rear entrance...
...to the elaborate and ornate front entrance and main facade.
Hint: they're actually two separate buildings that have been joined together.
Above the large clock stands a group of three statues. The centre one looks for all the world like the Virgin Mary. Originally she was, until -- like St. Martin on the cathedral -- the Reformation caught up with her. The figure of the Infant Jesus was taken out of her arms and replaced with the symbols of justice. So you now have this ironic vision of Justice, a Justice who isn't blindfolded, doesn't hold her scales high for all to see, and doesn't carry her sword pointing down. Go figure.
We walked up a steep alleyway on the other side of the square, and just at the point where it turned into a staircase, we paused for a minute.
And right there on the wall, I saw this sign, again in the most ironic location you could imagine.
After I drew it to the attention of others in the group, we spent several minutes trying to decide if this physiotherapist was trying to screen out the worst cases who would need the most attention and take the longest to help, or if it was a case of trying to make everyone worse and thereby increasing the business! Things that make you go "Hmmm"....
The remainder of the day passed with lunch, a coach trip to Zurich (a little over an hour from Basel), and some hair-raising shenanigans as the hotel desk clerks struggled to locate all the reservations. We arrived at 3:20 pm and the last people in the group finally got their rooms at 5:30. I think that the hotel had some serious problems with their computer systems, because throughout our stay the desk clerks were having to do things by hand that would normally be done on a computer. Early dinner was to be followed by a performance of the Zurich Ballet at the opera house, but I just stayed in after eating -- I was suffering from the well-known travel symptoms which collectively come under the heading of "hitting the wall."
The next morning, much refreshed by 9 hours of sleep, I set off on my own. I passed on the planned walking tour of Old Zurich because the area is already familiar to me from previous visits. Instead, I got a transit day pass and headed for the east side of the city, and the funicular up to Rigiblick. This high suburb is not to be confused with the much higher scenic mountaintop viewpoint of Rigi to the east of Luzern! But, like Zurich's Dolderbahn rack railway which I rode last year, the Seilbahn Rigiblick is part of the city transit system. It operates from 6:00 am to midnight, 8 times an hour.
So I rode two different tram lines from my hotel, changing trams at the central junction point called Central (that was easy!), hopped off the # 10 tram at the stop called "Seilbahn Rigiblick," and then enjoyed the 5 minute ride up the mountain on a miniature car which holds exactly eight seats, and room for maybe 10 more people to stand. But it wasn't crowded.
Here are a couple of pictures to give you the idea. The midpoint station with the other car approaching downhill at the passing point.
The two cars on a funicular are hauled up and down on either end of a single long cable, so there has to be a point where they can pass each other.
View of the descending car from the summit.
View of the passing point from the uphill side. What looks like a ski jump protruding at an upward angle from the hill is actually the completely flat, level roof of the midpoint station. It's an interesting optical illusion.
And a couple of views from the top of lake, mountains, and city. In the second picture, look just below the outer end of the red crane and you will see the twin towers of the Grossmünster, the "Great Church" which is known as the birthplace of the Swiss Reformation.
Here's a picture of the Grossmünster, which I took last September from ground level.
Since Rigiblick is a suburban neighbourhood, it's pretty quiet during the day -- and the roaring noises of the city are suddenly very far away indeed. Since we actually got some sun (on a day when rain-all-day was the forecast), I took advantage to just sit on one of the park benches, enjoy the sun and the cool autumn air, and revel in the peace and quiet.
After descending, I rode the # 10 tram back to the city and then walked around the shopping district for a while. The thing about shopping in downtown Zurich is easy to figure out. In the immortal words of Helene Hanff: "Every price tag I see reads 'One less day in London.'" Zurich is just as expensive, and may even be worse. I didn't buy anything, but I certainly did get my exercise. I had another sit for a few minutes to test my willpower. The park bench I chose was situated facing a cafe terrace and four different food stands, including hot pretzels, a bakery with pastries, and a hot sausage stand. I even impressed myself by not walking up to look more closely at any of them.
With the sensation of a good walk and a good day's work well done, I then walked around the station and boarded the # 4 tram back to my hotel. Late lunch, afternoon rest, another early dinner, and the last concert of the tour were on the programme for the rest of the day. And the next day, with the tour over, I would be off on my own again for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Next stop, Luzern. (As I explained last year, I will consistently use the German spelling of the name, rather than the "Lucerne" more commonly used in English- and French-speaking countries, simply because "Luzern" is what you see when you get here on road signs, train tickets, timetables, buses, lake boats -- everywhere.)
Time Out For Helpful Hints
Language lesson du jour: in German, "z" is pronounced as "ts". Thus: "Loo-tsairn." More or less.
Helpful hints du jour: Zurich's transit system is a breeze to use, and goes absolutely everywhere with clockwork precision and regularity. The trams travel on exclusive rights-of-way, so they aren't held back by cars. Stops are spaced out along the route at 1-2 minute intervals. Every tram stop has a ticket machine, with instructions available in German, French, Italian, and English. You can buy a 24-hour ticket for use within the city for CHF8.80 (Swiss francs), but for just a few francs more you should buy the "Zurich Ticket" which gives 24 or 72 hours unlimited travel throughout the metro region, including the airport. It also includes commuter trains, which the plain day ticket does not. From the airport, you can go into town by fast train, or on the somewhat slower # 10 tram. Both end at the Hauptbahnhof.
At the Hauptbahnhof there are three different tram stops at three different locations around the station. Most routes stop at only one of the three locations. Finding the right one can be tricky. But just across the river is a smaller, simpler tram hub called "Central," and there are a total of 15 bus and tram routes that meet there, all very close together. One or the other hub will help you get to anywhere in the city.
Time Out Ends -- Back to Travelling!
Going from Zurich to Luzern by train is a breeze. There are multiple direct trains every hour, with the expresses covering the distance in 45-50 minutes. With a direct tram to the station right outside my Zurich hotel, and a short 2-block walk from the station to my Luzern hotel -- why would I do it any other way?
One of the most iconic sights of Luzern is a short 2-minute walk from my hotel, the Kapellbrücke ("Chapel Bridge") with its tower, the Wasserturm ("Water Tower," in this case meaning "tower in the water"). It impresses me that even this late in the fall the flower baskets are still filled with cascades of blooms.
The tower appears small and quaint from a distance, but -- in this picture it's about the same distance away from the camera as the 7-storey buildings on the far side of the river.
My one full day in Luzern was memorable, to say the least. I began in the morning with a walk along the River Reuss, downstream from the lake, viewing examples of Swiss architecture on the way.
On the south bank of the Reuss, I paused to catch a picture of the city's medieval fortification wall. The wall climbs right up a very steep hill, with towers at regular intervals, nine of them still intact. I then crossed the river on the less well-known of the city's two old wooden footbridges, the Spreuerbrücke ("Chaff Bridge").
The tiny little hut with the witch's hat roof attached to the side of the bridge is a small shrine with a Madonna and Child. It's big enough for one person at a time to get inside and pray at the altar, but is now protected by an iron gate and plexiglass.
The bridge got its name as the only point where it was permitted to dump grain chaff, leaves, and the like into the river. That's because it was located downstream from the old dam which tames the river into placid beauty in the middle of town before releasing the brawling Alpine waters to be their vehement selves again.
The next thing I wanted to do was to walk along beside that medieval city wall -- but, to my chagrin, I discovered that you can't actually walk along next to it as it runs through a string of people's gardens, and in some places has more recent buildings jammed right up against it. But you can walk along the steep and narrow street which runs parallel to the south side of the wall, the Museggstrasse. There are several spots along Museggstrasse where you can see one of the surviving towers -- and one place where the street goes right through the wall, using openings carved out long after the wall was no longer needed for defence.
Coming back downhill at the east end of the wall, I spotted this interesting example of diverse commercial usages in a single building. What relationship, if any, I wondered, exists among a shoemaker, a tattoo parlour, and a hairdressing salon?
Continung downhill, I found myself near the lake front, and after a few brief minutes of walking, I came face to face with St. Leodegar, commonly known as the Hofkirche. It's a Catholic church, but while the exterior is fairly plain the inside is a riot of gold leaf and elaborate iron- and stonework. Very eye-popping.
By the time I left the church, the sun was actually starting to push through the low fog and mist which had hung over the city all morning. Thus, to my surprise, I found myself doing something I had figured would be a no-go on this trip -- enjoying lunch on the riverside patio outside the Alte Rathaus brew pub. Sunshine and 20 degrees Celsius isn't precisely tropical, but it's enough to get me out on the patio for sure.
The lunch of a big wedge of 3-cheese and onion quiche with a massive salad was a bargain of bargains by Swiss standards. The wine was not.
WARNING TO WINE DRINKERS: Switzerland has the world's highest wine prices and pours the world's smallest portions. A standard pour is based on 7 glasses per bottle and can go as high as Cdn$15 in even a moderate restaurant or pub.
By the time I finished eating, all the patios along the riverside were filling up nicely.
And as the sun persisted after lunch, I did something else that I had figured wouldn't be happening on this visit -- a cruise on the lake, an hour each way to Vitznau, on a beautiful, brand new cruise ship (and I mean brand new since last September!).
As you pull away from the dock right outside the railway station, you get a grandstand view of St. Leodegar Church across the river inlet.
This full panorama of the north side of town shows 5 of the 9 surviving towers in the medieval wall.
And then it's time to just relax and enjoy the sun -- in shirtsleeves, no less -- and the glorious Alpine scenery -- for the hour-long trip to Vitznau.
Most people come to Vitznau to ride the rack railway up the Rigi. I did last year. This time, I just took the 40-minute stopover before the boat called in again on its return voyage. The thing to do in my mind was to saunter around a pretty little waterfront park, with flowers still in bloom,...
...a very artistic sundial to admire,...
...and the views of lake and mountains -- which are sights that I never tire of experiencing.
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