Zürich

On Wednesday we stayed at home and spent the time resting and catching up on essentials like doing the laundry and quietly reading a book or sending emails to friends and family.

On Thursday 30 November 2006 Ronel had to take care of other duties, so Pierre took us to visit Zürich, a short train trip from Oberägeri. From the station it was but a short walk to the old part of the city, called Aldt Stadt in German.


The crest of Zürich has two rampant lions, a theme we encountered again in embellishments on the older buildings.


Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland (metropolitan population is around 1.3 million) and capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and according to several surveys in 2006 and 2007, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world.


The city is situated where the river Limmat leaves the northern end of Lake Zürich and is surrounded by wooded hills.

The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindenhof, a small natural hill on the left bank of the river.


We soon passed the statue of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746 - 1827). Born in Zurich, Pestalozzi was a pedagogue and educational reformer.

His early experiments in education ran into difficulties but he persisted and what became known as the 'Pestalozzi Method' came to fruition in his school at Yverdon (established in 1805).

Instead of dealing with words, he argued, children should learn through activity and through things. They should be free to pursue their own interests and draw their own conclusions.


The streets of the Aldt Stadt are very typical of old Swiss cities. We walked along gaping at the rich heritage of architecture, fountains and statues.

The projecting bay windows are a regular feature of the older Swiss architecture, lending an interesting character to the otherwise sometimes plain buildings. Of course, Christmas decorations were in evidence everywhere.


We were delighted to spot Heidi up on a second-floor balcony, happy that we could go home and say that we saw a Swiss cow complete with cowbell.

This one was a bit lifeless and very blue, but who cares? The owner went to a lot of trouble to build the balcony railing around Heidi. She seems to be stepping off the balcony!


The Swiss fountains are awesome!

This one is quite colourful with lion heads on the plinth spouting water from their mouths, rising up through a blue and green column with a knight in shining armour on top, clutching his sword and bearing the blue and white city standard. He seems to be eternally on the lookout for the advancing hordes of the enemy.

We did not follow a map, but it was not difficult to “stumble upon” the important landmarks.

We walked around the Grossmünster (great minster), a Romanesque-style church that played an important role in the history of the Protestant Reformation.


It is one of the three major churches of Zürich (the others being the Fraumünster and St. Peterskirche). Construction of the present structure commenced around 1100 and it was inaugurated around 1220.

The Grossmünster was a monastery church, vying for precedence with the Fraumünster across the Limmat throughout the Middle Ages.

There is a likeness of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Grosse, or Charles the Great, or Carolus Magnus) on the wall of the Grossmünster.





According to legend, Charlemagne (King of the Franks from 768 to his death) discovered the graves of the city's patron saints Felix and Regula and had the church built as a choristers' cloister on the spot. Recent archaeological evidence confirms the presence of a Roman burial ground at the site.

In the first half of the 16th century the Grossmünster was the starting point of the Swiss-German Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger. The theological college then annexed to the cloister was the origin of what is now the University of Zürich.


The Fraumünster Church is situated on the bank of the river Limmat directly opposite the Grossmünster. Founded in 853 by King Louis the German, this church with its convent was inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany. It enjoyed the patronage of kings and the right to mint coins in Zürich until well into the 13th century. Ownership of the church and convent passed to the city of Zürich after the Reformation.


The steeple of St Peter’s Church can be seen on this photograph. St. Peter's is the oldest church in Zürich, its origin going back to before 900. It was first mentioned in 857, when King Louis the German gave it as a gift to two of his daughters, one of whom later became the first abbess of the Fraumünster. The church is famous for the largest clock face in Europe, 8.7 meters in diameter. The minute hands alone are almost 4 meters long. The 5 bells date from 1880.


When it was time for lunch we had to find some likely venue for the purpose, but we wanted to go somewhere a little special. After some walking up and down the streets, we found the Blockhus Bar and Restaurant. It did not look like much from the outside, but the menu looked interesting, so we decided to give it a go. The inside was a different story altogether, quite amazingly decked out in a sort of Christmas theme along the upper walls and the ceiling and with some very striking artworks on the walls. The proprietor was very friendly and the food delicious. After a leisurely lunch we were ready to roam the streets of Zürich once more, slowly making our way back towards the station.


On a more modern note, we came across a small park between two busy roads, where some rather fetching nude bronze figures were enjoying the sunshine.

This was an unexpected gem! The figures give a playful and very mischievous feel to the park.


Even the girls at the swings in the background are bronze statues. Since the statues are life size one can easily be fooled to think they will move any minute!


Since it was already the end of November, Christmas was in the air. The driver of this tram was dressed up as Father Christmas and the tram was further staffed with Angels to look after the kiddies.

While we watched several mothers arrived with small children in prams. They bought tickets and the children were taken on board for a roundabout ride. What a lovely idea, giving the mothers a break.


Back on the bank of the Limmat river we found this lady feeding the swans. They seemed very tame, so we guessed she must be an old friend to the swans.

The swan is such a beautiful bird, no wonder they take the spotlight in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.



We could not resist photographing this very imposing marble-clad entrance guarded by a pair of golden lions. The iron-clad wooden doors also boast lion head knockers.

We never found out what the building was, but it looked rather official, with busts of historic figures above the ground floor windows.


Near the station we passed another imposing building, now the home to several shops, in the central business district. We loved the gargoyles supporting the balcony with its intricate wrought-iron railing.

Well satisfied with our exploration of Zürich, we made our way back home. The following day, Friday, we spent quietly with Pierre and Ronel and the children, Lizelle, Jehane and Armand.

Friday evening we all enjoyed a lovely dinner at the “bim Fritz” restaurant in Zug, saying good-bye to Pierre and the family. Early Saturday morning we caught the train on the next leg of our journey - to Paris!

Find out about Zurich Hotels.

Jungfrau

On Tuesday 28 November 2006 Pierre and Ronel arranged for the children to be cared for by friends and we (Pierre, Ronel, Willem and Leta) set of on a whole day trip to visit the Jungfrau mountain in the Bernese Alps. The route took us south from Oberägeri via Zug, Lucerne, Obsee, Interlaken, Brienz and Lauterbrunnen.

We stopped in the Bünich pass for an awesome view down to Lungern and the Lungerersee.

At Lauterbrunnen we parked the car and traveled by train past Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg.

The Jungfrau region is dominated by the triple peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (Ogre, Monk and Virgin). The Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 m high, is the saddle below the Jungfrau peak that claims the honour of being the site of the highest train station in Europe, and is dubbed the “Top of Europe”.


The Jungfrau peak is 4,158 m high, and was first ascended by the Meyer brothers in 1811. The Aletsch Glacier is on the south side. The Jungfraujoch has a scientific institute with a meteorological station on the nearby Sphinx summit, 3,573 m high.

From Kleine Scheidegg the Jungfraubahn cog train took us right up and inside the top of the mountain at Jungfraujoch. The train enters the tunnel running eastward through the Eiger shortly after leaving Kleine Scheidegg. It runs close behind the Eiger's north face, stopping at Eigerwand, where there is a window about 8 m long and a metre high halfway up the face.


The windows have been placed in holes used to remove excavated rock from the tunnel during construction, and are also occasionally used as access points to rescue climbers. There one can get off the train to admire the view before the train continues five minutes later. The tunnel then turns west, heading towards the Jungfrau. There is a second stop at a window looking out on the Eismeer (Sea of Ice) before the train continues to the Jungfraujoch.

The tunnel was constructed between 1898 and 1912 and is about 7 km long, with gradients of up to 25%. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops at Eigerwand and Eismeer while the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.

A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed at the Jungfraujoch, mostly into the south side of the Mönch.

There is a hotel, two restaurants, an observatory, a research station, a small cinema, a ski school, and the Ice Palace (Eispalast), a collection of elaborate ice sculptures in tunnels made into the ice of the glacier. Another tunnel leads outside to a flat, snow-covered area, where one can walk around and look down to the Konkordiaplatz, the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding mountains.

We had lunch at the Crystal Restaurant before taking a walk outside on the plateau and visiting the Ice Palace and the Sphinx. We spent a leisurely hour in the restaurant, having a yummy lunch and basking in the bright sunshine, enjoying the view of mountain peaks and the glacier.




Here are some pictures of us on the plateau outside. We had to walk carefully on the packed snow as it was quite slippery on the sloping parts. Pierre managed to get a lovely picture of us standing under the Swiss flag, timing it just right for the flag to fly out in the light breeze.



Then two more pictures of us outside in the bright sunshine: first Pierre and Ronel, then Willem and Leta.



The Ice Palace is a maze of tunnels carved into the ice layer covering the mountain, with small caves as display areas for some rather amazing ice sculptures.

One enters the Ice Palace and at first it is quite scary to be walking on the ice floor, but soon it is clear that one does not slip all that easily, and we became more confident in striding about.





We did the typical tourist thing, taking our pictures at all the obvious opportunities, like this one - Leta and Ronel looking rather silly, but it was fun!






Enjoy our pictures of two of the ice sculpture displays - first the igloo with Eskimo and seals, and then the eagles. One eagle is shown having caught himself a nice fat fish.












Still in the Ice Palace, enjoy the picture of Willem and Ronel peering from a window in an ice cave. Maybe this was supposed to be a bar, but they did not serve us any drinks!



The highest point we reached was at the Shpinx lookout platform 3571 m above sea level. We found the thin air tough to handle, feeling weak and dizzy, heart racing, after climbing a few stairs to the viewing platform.


Pierre took a lovely picture of the glacier from the high vantage point, the Sphinx viewing platform.


On the return journey down the mountain late that afternoon the moon was already up as dusk was falling.




This last picture shows the moon hanging above the Shinx. We returned home that evening well satisfied with the amazing experiences of the day.

The sight of the majestic mountains and vast snowscapes will not be forgotten.

Lucerne

On Monday 27 November 2006, after seeing the children off to school, the four of us (Pierre, Ronel, Willem and Leta) drove to Lucerne, only about 40 minutes from Oberägeri by car.

Lucerne (German: Luzern) is the capital of the canton of Lucerne. It lies on the shore of Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee) within sight of Mount Pilatus and the Rigi. The lake covers 114 square km and has a maximum depth of 214 m.
The city grew from a small fishing village of ancient origins on the shores of Lake Lucerne with the founding of the Benedictine monastery of St. Leodegar in around AD 700.

Since the city straddles the Reuss River where it drains the lake, it has a number of bridges. The most famous is the Chapel Bridge (German: Kapellbrücke), a 204 m long wooden bridge originally built in 1333, although much of it had to be replaced after a 1993 fire.

Partway across, the bridge runs by the octagonal Water Tower (German: Wasserturm), a fortification from the 13th century. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history. The Bridge with its Tower is the city's most famous landmark.

Here is a beautiful old wrought-iron bridge over the Reuss. Old Town Lucerne is located just north of the Reuss River, and still has several fine half-timber structures with painted fronts.

This building had a whole family tree painted on its wall.

The City Tower (German: Zytturm) in the centre of Lucerne's Old Town.

These beautiful wooden doors front onto the Kapellplatz in the centre of the Old Town.

Leta and Willem in Lucerne (photo by Pierre), and detail from a fountain. We loved the dragon!

Another fascinating fountain, this one painted in merry colours, complete with medieval soldier at the top, holding a sword and the city flag. This image we came across again later the same day, at the old town wall.

The Old Town boasts many buildings richly decorated with old and beautiful frescoes.

Here is yet another bronze fountain, this one depicting a medieval guy with a goose under each arm. Dinner, perhaps?

A splendid example of the Swiss wrought-iron building signs. This one on the left has the head of some fierce bird at the top, with a prancing stag hanging below.

The painting on the side of this inn says "J. Wolfgang von Goethe logierte hier 1779", which means that Goethe stayed here in 1779. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 –1832) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, theorist, humanist, scientist, painter, and polymath.

The fresco on the building housing the Restaurant Fritschi must have been fun doing! It is obviously a modern work of art.

From the lower parts of the Old Town we climbed the hill to the medieval city ramparts, also known as the Museggmauer, or Musegg Wall, complete with nine tall watch towers. We passed the first of the towers quite close to the river without knowing what it was. Afterwards we learnt that this was the Nölliturm.

The next watch tower came into sight while we were still close to the Old Town at the foot of the hill. This is the Männliturm (literally the "man tower"), named after the statue of a guard with sword and flag on top of the tower.

As we walked up the hill, the next tower we saw was the Wachtturm (guard tower). The small chapel in the foreground in this picture stood in the garden of a house and is literally the size of a doll's house.

At his point we were quite close to the top of the hill and here we stopped to take some photos of the most magnificent views over the city. We reached this point at exactly 12 noon and as we stood there we were entertained by the church bells of the multitude of churches and chapels jubilantly chiming the hour. That was a truly awesome experience!

Here we were directly opposite the Zeitturm, or Clock Tower.

A little way further up the path we stopped again for another look at the view over the city. The white streak in the top left-hand corner of the picture is the vapour trail of an aeroplane. We often noticed these vapour trails across the sky while we were in Switzerland, more here than elsewhere in Europe.

We only went as far as the Schirmerturm. The building right next to the wall seems to be a university for music studies and so there were students coming and going while we were up there.

At the Schirmerturm, the gateway tower, one can pass through to the outside of the ramparts.

This is the coat-of-arms of the Schirmerturm.

Willem decided to take a break while the rest of us explored a short distance furhter up the hill.

Still on the outside of the wall, this photo shows, from left to right, the Zeitturm, the Wachtturm and the Luegislandturm.

In a garden next to the path there was a very pretty holly bush, flaming red with berries.

After our strenuous walk up the hill and down again we relaxed over lunch and a good bottle of wine at the Rathaus Brauerei on the riverbank before continuing our explorations.

Downriver the Spreuerbrücke or Mill Bridge zigzags across the Reuss. Here are some pictures of us at the Mill Bridge. Constructed in 1408, it is the oldest covered bridge in Europe and has a small chapel in the middle that was added in 1568. The bridge features a series of medieval-style 17th Century plague paintings by Kaspar Meglinger titled "Dance of Death".

Meglinger's paintings portray various conditions of men and women, priests and warriors, princes and men of learning, the young bride, the devout nun, the lawmaker, the hunter, the miller, even the artist himself, are all depicted at the mercy of Death, with his mocking smile and his ever-changing garb.

The twin needle towers of the cathedral of St. Leodegar sit on a small hill just above the lakefront (seen here at the extreme left of the picture). Originally built in 735, the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. However, the towers are surviving remnants of an earlier structure.

Walking along next to the river we ended back where we started, at the Chapel Bridge. Once again there were swans in abundance on the river Reuss. Well satisfied with our explorations of the day we made our way back home to Oberägeri.