Switzerland - 2021

USA → Switzerland

Turns out that international travel during COVID is logistically difficult... who would have thought? We temporarily cancelled our trip two weeks out given a new Swiss quarantine policy (which was ultimately lifted only a few days later), we had a bit of a COVID testing snafu when UCSF gave Emily a LAMP test instead of the Swiss-required PCR test (a last-minute sketchy airport testing facility did the trick; or she just forged the results... I didn't witness the transaction), and we ended up filling out what felt like eight different "locator" or "entry" UK and Swiss forms. Even with all of these obstacles, after a relatively quick layover in Heathrow (with some great hot food in the airport lounge), we finally touched down in Zurich! We boarded a train at the airport (our first of many on this trip) and took an hour-long ride to our first Airbnb in Lucerne.

In Lucerne, we stayed at a "small Baroque house" (per the Airbnb listing). This property was owned by an older architect couple - they run their business out of their main residence (the taller house in the back of the photo above). A few years ago, they did what architects do best and designed a "tiny home" layout in their guest house. It was definitely tight, but the uniqueness of the space more than made up for it!

Lucerne: Jet lag is real

Lucerne, or Luzern (they like their z's), is the capital of the canton of the same name and is the largest central Swiss city with about 82k people. We learned that Switzerland has 26 cantons, or member states of the Swiss Confederation, which have a high degree of independence with their own constitution, parliament, etc. (relevant to our trip given they each set many of their own COVID policies). A fun fact about the canton-based federalism system is that Switzerland has no legally recognized capital (ie, it's not in their constitution) - Bern simply acts as the de facto capital (referred to as "Federal City") given it's where the federal authorities are based.

After an exhausting full day of travel and our internal clocks set to who knows what time, we started our exploration of the beautiful city.

It was very overcast our entire time in Lucerne (didn't help with the jet lag), which meant we were unable to appreciate the views of the many nearby mountains (Pilatus, Rigi, etc.) - we'll have to return in the summer! However, our long walk along the shore of Lake Lucerne (or Vierwaldstättersee) still had it's own highlights as we stumbled upon Christmas tree marts, old boat houses, and a very friendly cat!

After a two-mile walk along the lake, we made it to the Swiss Museum of Transport, Switzerland's most popular museum. This ended up being the perfect jet lag day activity - we learned about every form of transportation you could think of: rail, automotive, aviation, space, cycling, navigation, cableways, etc.

After spending most of the day at the museum, we headed back to the city for some food and drinks, stopping at the Rathaus Brauerei (not historic, just makes good beer) along the Reuss river downtown.

Lucerne had several Christmas markets - the biggest being in the heart of Old Town next to the large Franciscan church. We stopped by on our way home to pick up a glass of Glühwein (or mulled wine).

Mt Pilatus: Sunlight and sledding

Pilatus is a 6,983 ft tall mountain that sits five miles from downtown Lucerne (at an elevation of ~1.5k ft). There are several different local legends around the name. The most common being that it was named after Pontius Pilate (Roman governor who condemned Jesus to death) who is claimed to have committed suicide and is buried in a lake on its summit.

The most complete (ie, touristy) way to experience Pilatus is by taking the world's steepest cogwheel railway up to the top and the gondolas/cableways back down, but unfortunately the cogwheel railway doesn't operate in the winter. Instead, from the town of Kriens, we began our journey up the series of cable cars. After ascending for 30 or so minutes, we finally broke through the layer of low-hanging clouds that plagued our day in Lucerne and were greeted with a beautiful blue sky (and much needed Vitamin D).

There is a medieval legend that there were dragons with healing powers living on the mountain. As such, many of the tourist experiences are themed around dragons, including a "dragon trail" which is a walkway carved into the side of the mountain (where the dragon was reportedly seen in the 1619).

Since the cogwheel railway was closed, we were forced to go down the same way that we came up. However, after making our way down to the first substation, Fräkmüntegg, we decided to sled down the next three-mile section. Boy could you get some real speed on these things... this unbelievably beautiful journey down the mountain was probably the highlight of our time in Lucerne (plus I didn't tear my ACL).

On our last afternoon in Lucerne, we explored the remaining parts of the city. One highlight was the Lion Monument, a rock relief hewn in 1821 that is one of Switzerland's most famous monuments. It commemorates the 1792 massacre of the Swiss Guards during the French Revolution. It is said that the person who commissioned the piece didn't have enough money to pay the artist in full so the artist (who was understandably quite upset) decided to alter the work. Out of respect for the fallen soldiers, he didn't alter the sculpture itself, but instead, he changed the shape of the alcove to resemble the outline of a pig (snoot to the bottom left, pointed ear on the top left).

We also, at the incessant request of Emily, treated ourselves to fondue. By the picture above, you can clearly see Emily's genuine excitement and my forced smile. Although I don't quite have the same objectum romanticism that Emily has with cheese, I still thought it was a great meal. Our mental clocks were still way off so we enjoyed this 5pm dinner in an almost completely empty restaurant.

The next morning we woke up early and lugged all of our bags across town to the Lucerne train station. The journey to our next stop, Wengen, consisted of three legs. The first and longest leg to Interlaken took us over the Brünig Pass, which was a very noticeable transition from the overcast cantons of Lucern/Obwalden to the clear, sunny canton of Bern. From Interlaken, we took a train to Lauterbrunnen (or "clear/many/loud springs" with the nearby 974-foot Staubbach Falls), which sits at the bottom of the valley of the same name. We got on one final train and climbed 1,500 ft up the seemingly precarious valley wall track to Wengen. Interestingly, during WWII, the village served as an open-air internment camp for allied prisoners (mostly damaged US bombers returning from raids in Germany/Italy that would intentionally violate Swiss airspace as they preferred to be Swiss POW's) as it was extremely difficult for internees to escape given the steep valley walls.

Wengen: switzerland showing off

Upon arrival, we absolutely fell in love with the town - the village has one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever seen (looking back towards the Lauterbrunnen Valley). With a year-round resident count of about 1,300, the population swells to a peak of around 10k in the winter. In the 1920's, the first slalom race took place in Wengen (they used actual trees instead of removable gates!) - these events are considered the birth of modern ski racing with Wengen still hosting the Alpine Ski World Cup each year in January. Wengen is also one of the few car-free villages (along with Zermatt). That being said, given the amount of tourism, there are still a ton of small electric vehicles that transport visitors from the train station to the various hotels (the drivers were pretty intense - passing you at speed with only a few inches to spare).

If you haven't noticed by now, Emily essentially had Aperol Spritz delivered intravenously - her drink of choice across Switzerland.

Jungfrau: The top of Europe

At 13,642 feet, the Jungfrau (or "maiden, virgin") is the highest of the mountains in the region. To get there, you take the Jungfraubahn to the highest railway station in Europe - this route carved through the mountain took 16 years build! We heavily debated if we should buy the Disney World priced ticket up to the top of the Jungfrau, but ultimately decided that we would regret being so close and not visiting. In the end, it was totally worth it. Given it was off-peak (and we took the earliest train from Wengen), we were able to explore the observation decks, ice caves, and outdoor glacial areas with almost zero crowds.

After making our way down from Jungfrau, we decided to have another go at our new favorite hobby, sledding (this time we had actually done some research on some technique best practices). From the ski-center mountain pass of Kleine Scheidegg (where we first drank some beers under the North Face of Mt Eiger), we rode our sleds down the four-mile path to Wengen.

Zermatt: winter wonderland

After only one full day in Wengen, we set off to the main attraction of the trip, Zermatt. The train ride from Wengen to Zermatt was quite unique. First, we rode through the 20-mile Lötschberg tunnel that connects Spiez (near Interlaken) with Visp (in the Rhône Valley). From Visp, we snaked our way through the Mattertal, the scenic valley that extends all the way from Visp up to Zermatt. At an elevation of 5,310 ft, Zermatt sits at the base of some of Switzerland's highest peaks (including the highest, Dufourspitze). Upon arrival, we were immediately met with unbelievable views of the Matterhorn, the prominent, near-symmetric pyramidal peak that dominates the valley views. Zermatt is another car-free town (except small electric vehicles/buses), which makes for a very pedestrian-friendly village.

These photos are taken right outside of our hotel, La Couronne, which is centrally located and sits on the town's main river, the Matter Vispa. On the first day (we arrived later in the afternoon), we completed a few errands: picked up our ski passes (which were covered by our IKON passes), got the mandatory Swiss COVID test (which was lifted the next day...could have saved us $50), and picked up our rental ski equipment and organized it in our hotel heated ski locker (an awesome hotel perk that we want to recreate in a future dream ski house).

Let the skiing begin!

Each morning, we headed down to our hotel's free buffet - I basically lived on a diet of croissants, cold cuts, and eggs. Our hotel eating area had an amazing view of the Matterhorn (bottom left) and our room had a great view down the valley (bottom right). There were buses that picked us up right along the river outside the hotel and would take us to any of the three ways up the mountain for skiing.

The Matterhorn Ski Paradise resort is enormous with 54 lifts and about 225 miles of ski runs (or pistes). The first day, we decided to head up to the main skiing area - it's the highest gondola in the Alps (at 12,740 ft) and just getting from Zermatt to the very top takes about 45 minutes. Usually, your ticket allows you access down into the Italian side of the resort (Cervinia), but with IKON pass restrictions (and COVID) we were limited to just the Swiss side. That being said, on the first day, we made our way over to the top of Italy and had a hot chocolate in another country (the only Euro charge we had on the trip).

On the first day, we found ourselves skiing right under the Matterhorn - it was the most scenic skiing experience I've ever had (sorry Lake Louise). We had planned to do a casual self-serve lunch, but we stumbled upon an amazing mountain-side restaurant, Stafelalp, where I had a dish that was seemingly designed for my limited palate, rösti (crispy potatoes/hashbrowns, ham, and egg).

After a long first day of skiing, we found ourself on the piste that winds it way back into Zermatt. Along this run, there are several après ski spots where people stop to get a drink (at your own risk of making it down the rest of the run!). The most popular is Hennu Stall, where we drank Cardinal (a Swiss brand of beer founded in 1788). Given the Swiss Certificate requirements (a document you have to show every time you enter an establishment; good job Switzerland), many of the bars and restaurants were much less crowded than usual.

That first evening we were wiped, but we stupidly had reservations for 8:45pm - it took all of our might to keep our energy levels up. We got drinks at a cozy bar with fireside seating and ate at a restaurant called Schäferstube (or shepherd's room), which had an almost exclusively all-lamb menu (hard to get any sad animal thoughts out of your head when every single picture in there was cute little sheep... still tasted good).

The next day we took the inclined railway up to another part of the mountain, the Rothorn. We were fortunate to have another beautiful clear-sky day, which gave us great views of the Matterhorn from a distance.

For lunch, we ate at the Fluhalp (one Yelp review called it the "best restaurant in Western Europe" - bold claim, but I want to know what is better in Eastern Europe...). The views were great, Emily got another fondue meal + I got another rösti, and we accidentally ordered radler style beers (basically alcoholic apple juice).

That evening we had reservations (at 6:30pm this time) at a restaurant called Le Gitan. It was extremely cozy and the food came with a never-ending dish of Potatoes Au Gratin - they would literally come by with a huge serving tray and plop down all the cheesy potatoes you could eat.

The last area to explore was the Gornergrat, which we tackled on our third day of skiing. To get up to this section of the mountains, you take the Gornergrat Railway, which was built in 1896, up to 10,135 feet - making it the second highest railway in Europe after the Jungfrau.

We had several mid-mountain meals, but nothing quite compared to the meal we had at Chez Vrony. Part of the Michelin guide (but not rated), it had amazing views, food, and seating (we were on these very comfortable lounge chairs with blankets and pillows). My burger was fantastic and Emily got some delicious pasta. If money weren't an object, we would have probably eaten here every day.

That evening we went to this fancy Italian restaurant called Madre Nostra. We definitely weren't prepared for the menu (and the price associated with a five-course meal) and basically just ordered two pasta appetizers as our meals, which visibly confused the very Italian waiter. It was delicious and Emily's tiramisu for dessert was fantastic.

By the fourth day (Christmas Eve), my legs were basically shot. I had hip surgery about six months ago - thankfully, the hip felt totally fine, but a lot of the surrounding muscles (that I have not fully restrengthened) were getting quite tired. The good news (or bad news) is that there wasn't any fresh snow - so most of our days were bombing groomers, which put significantly less stress on the muscles. By the end of the trip, we had skied 191.3 miles and 150,844 vertical feet!

Christmas! On the fifth, and last, day of skiing, we decided to travel to every part of the resort (very ambitious). Starting at the very top, we got ourselves another round of hot chocolate, before snaking our way down. By the end of the day we had hit up all of our favorites runs.

That evening, we had a special Christmas dinner at a restaurant called Veranda. The servers were extremely nice to us and kept shoveling more steak onto our plates - until we finally stopped them out of fear of explosion.

Early the next morning, before getting on the train to Zurich, we ventured into Old Zermatt and looked at some of the original dwellings.

Zurich: time to head home

After an amazing five days of skiing in Zermatt, it was time to head home. To make the trip back a bit easier, we had a one-night stay in Zurich. Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and is home to the busiest/largest airport and railway station. The Romans built a fort here in 15 BC and called the town Turicum. In 1519, it became a primary center of the Protestant Reformation (what up Lutherans). Today, it is among the world's largest financial centers (maybe one day I'll be cool enough to have a Swiss bank account...).

When we arrived, it was back to Lucerne-like weather (overcast), but this time it actually started raining. We had thought Zurich was just going to be a place to sleep, but we quickly realized how pretty of a city it was (even with the horrible weather). Once we were able to put our bags in the Airbnb, we set off into the rain to explore the city by foot.

Fun facts: St Peter clock tower (seen above with Emily) was the "official local time" for many years - public city clocks had to conform to it. The church clock is also the largest tower clock face in Europe - the outer diameter is 28.3 ft (Big Ben, or should I say Little Ben, is only 23 ft).

Early the next morning, we headed off to the Zurich airport. We had another layover in Heathrow before continuing on to San Francisco. Definitely some recency bias here, but of all the countries I've visited in Europe, I think Switzerland has been my favorite. As much as I loved the skiing (and would want to check out other areas like St. Moritz, Davos, etc.), we both want to come back in the summer and do some hiking/cycling through the beautiful mountainous areas.