We headed to Zurich on Dec 27th for 5 nights in sub-zero temperatures. We had a fabulous time and the definite highlight was a day trip to Mt Titlis (yes Mat had fun with that name!!!). We put on as many clothes as we could but were still frozen up the mountain. We took 3 gondolas to get to the top (10,000 feet!) and the last gondola actually rotated 360 degrees as it went up. There were amazing panoramic views of the Swiss Alps to reward us at the top –we have a feeling that we were probably able to see Italy, France and German all at the same time!
We also managed to find some rubber tubes and have a blast sliding down a man made purpose built track.
Mat at the top of Mt Titlis (10,000ft)
The city itself is very pretty –situated around the top of a lake with elegant architecture and lots of chocolate shops! Mat’s new found love is church steeples (I will just stick with the chocolate –after all the Swiss did invent milk chocolate!). While it didn’t snow while we were there, it had snowed a couple of days beforehand, so there was a fair amount of snow and ice on the roads for a few days. We saw many frozen fountains and ponds, and there was a severe frost one morning too.
The city itself is very pretty –situated around the top of a lake with elegant architecture and lots of chocolate shops! Mat’s new found love is church steeples (I will just stick with the chocolate –after all the Swiss did invent milk chocolate!). While it didn’t snow while we were there, it had snowed a couple of days beforehand, so there was a fair amount of snow and ice on the roads for a few days. We saw many frozen fountains and ponds, and there was a severe frost one morning too.
Completely frozen fountain in Zurich
We spent New Years Eve on the edge of the lake where there were plenty of food and beer tents and an array of DJ’s and live music. My fav was the ‘Pure 80’s’ tent! It was freezing cold and we couldn’t sit down for more than 5 minutes or else we started to lose feeling in our extremities. At midnight everyone gathered around the lake ready for midnight –the strangest thing is that their tradition is to have fireworks at 12.20am! At midnight a token firework went off and everyone wished each other a happy new year, then we all waited for 20 minutes for the real fireworks to begin! The coolest thing was that all of the city lights were turned off for the fireworks so it was really dark.
We have decided that we really miss January 2nd in NZ as it is a holiday. Here, everyone is back at work on the 2nd –most still hung over from New Years Eve if they make it in at all (1 in 5 Londoners called in sick on Jan 2nd!).
So it is back to same old same old at work, but with a lot of planning going on in the background on how to best spend our 5 weeks of annual leave for the year!
We have been dreaming of the sun and sand after looking at holiday pics on Facebook, but are looking forward to seeing more of Europe this year to make up for a severe lack of daylight and warmth at the moment.
Cheers –Mat & Sam
When Kiwis go to London they.....
Are astonished at how little travel the locals do outside of England!
Do nothing ALL weekend recovering from the last European trip (also to shelter from the weather)
The best meal we've had since our last update was.....
A traditional lamb dish in Zurich –the meat is crumbed and baked very slowly in an oven. It was the most full I have felt in ages!
Underground countdown
Our total so far is 55/320 and new entries include:
Royal Oak
Not such a good couple of weeks due to being out of the country.
1 comment:
I think you'll find the reason for the delayed fireworks on New Year's Eve is to allow people their own little celebrations in their homes or gardens before looking out at the big city event. Auntie Shelagh (Well travelled Brit!)
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