miau...

Sunday, February 15, 2009,2:58 PM

Honeymoon 2008 - Switzerland

Day 3

We left paris early at around 5am to catch our train ride to Montreux, Switzerland at 7am. The ride was about 3 hours and along the way, we were greeted by wonderful scenery and miles of white snow on the ground and up on the faraway mountains. And like hardcore tourists, we started snapping pic away. Haha. Our hotel was abt a 15min walk from the train stn and the room which they gave us was HUGE. High ceilings and a gigantic bathroom. Haha. A huge contrast with our room in paris. Lunch was definitely at a chinese restaurant which we saw along the way. I'd nv imagine myself saying this, but the fried rice and duck tasted wonderful though it cant be compared with duck in sg. After lunch, we toured the lake that runs along Montreux. It was gorgeous especially when we see the sun setting in front of us. Dinner was a takeaway meal for us. Pizza and pasta again. Montreux was a short stop and we were to travel to Interlaken West the next day.

Day 4

We travelled on their intercity trains to Interlaken the next morning after a sumptuous american breakfast at the hotel. After arriving at Interlaken West, we quickly found our hotel n ventured out to Mount Schilthorn. We had our lunch at one of the trainstops. Pasta, soup and rosti. Yummy! The view up on the mountain was breathtaking and though it was covered with snow, it wasn't that cold. There were skiers and families. The view was unbelievable. We made our 1st snowman and had our 1st snowfight. Fun! Soon it was time to head back to land and we went back to our hotel for some mexican food.
Yi-ba yi-ba! Un-the-leh!

Day 5

We had planned to travel to Jungfrunch today but due to a storm and its strong winds, all trips up the mountain had to be cancelled. As such, we changed our plans and decided to head to Bern instead. Bern is about an hour's train ride from Interlaken and to our horror, the ride costs us a total of CHF 230! Upon reaching Bern, I was attracted by the swatch shop at the train stn! A nice red watch caught my eye and with SW egging me on, I bought the watch! After that, we were greeted by friendly locals and there, we tasted our first of many sausages to come. The piping hot fat sausage was very tasty especially in the cold weather. With recommendations from the very pretty lady @the tourist info counter, we toured the old town of Bern, admiring both the historical buildings and the scenery. We were told that the scenery up at the Rosegarden would be 'tsk' - which means very beautiful as we could see the whole town from up there. And so we braved the cold winds despite our frozen toes to go up there. What the chio lady din mention was the incredibly slippery and icy path both up and down Rosegarden! I had to grab on to the branches, bushes and fence as i scream as I walk up the path to the top. Even then, I lost count of the times I almost slipped. I fell once and injured my left wrist again and really wanted to give up walking upwards. But i perservered with lots of help and encouragement from dear. Once up at the gardens, the scenery was indeed fantastic. We could see bridges, streams, houses with smoke coming out from their chimneys with snowy moutains as the backdrop. I couldn't resist making a snowangel in the thick snow as I so wanted to lie on the snow and 'swim' in it. And I did! It was very fun! Walking down the path was treacherous. Yes, treacherous is the word to describe it. Locking my arms with dear's arms were not enough. So I told him to walk ahead first while i grab on to the railings as I inched forward, fearing for my life. I think my yelps for help could be heard throughout the whole place. Luckily, I managed to escape death after slipping and almost sliding down the steep path countless number of times. After surviving the 'ordeal', I had to reward myself with a bag which I saw at the xmas market nearby, which I later found out was from Vietnam though I paid about CHF 30 for it. Sigh. But nevertheless, I liked the bag. J After walking for awhile more, we headed back to Interlaken. We asked for 2 cups of hot water from the restaurant at our hotel to make our own 3-in-1 coffee. It was truly satisfying. Dinner was settled at the Italian restaurant opposite our hotel as we really din wanna walk any further in the cold. We plan to venture up to Jungfrunch after checking out from our hotel the next day before we take the late afternoon train to Lucern the same day.

Day 6

We checked out from the hotel after breakfast and walked out to the train stn to enquire abt the weather conditions up on the mountains. Alas! The storm was bad and again, the mountains were closed. We were both a little disappointed as we had wanted to climb up to the top of Europe up on the Jungfrunch. Well, it wasn't meant to be. Thus we headed back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed towards the train stn again but to take the train bound for Lucern. After a 2hour ride, we arrived in Lucern. Our hotel was a stone's throw from the train stn. We were given a room with the view of a beautiful lake. Lucky us! It was early afternoon by the time we settled down. Lunch was again sausages. But it was exceptionally yummy cos we were both hungry and cold. We ventured around town and wanted to tour a castle there only to later find out that it's closed in winter. I wonder y. We headed back to our hotel after an afternoon's walk and had our dinner at the pub at our hotel @6pm - fish and chips for me and farmer's grill aka breaded chicken for dear. Not fascinating but we already had just abt enough of pizza and pasta. We slept ultra early that night - 8pm.

Day 7

We woke up at abt 7am. Slept for a good 11 hours. Madness! We went to the local supermarket and bought ourselves some bread and coffee. Spent a whopping CHF 12 on 4 types of bread and a cup of coffee. Madness! When we found out that the mountains were open, we bought tickets for the ride up to Mount Titlis! CHF 115! But once we were up there, the view was again fantastic! When we stepped out of the tower to the top of Mount Titlis, we were literally being BLOWN AWAY by the strong winds! SUPER COLD! After several attempts to walk out into the open, we gave up and headed down to the restaurant below for lunch. Sausages and pasta again but the hot vegetable soup was mouthwatering. Looking at the webcam tv of Mount Titlis from the outside, the winds were blowing at a high of 56km/h and the temp was averaging at abt -6deg! After lunch, we decided to be abit more adventurous and to try out skiing if we managed to find the ski rental and a skiing school for us beginners. But alas, we couldn't find it but instead, we found a sledge rental place! We rented it and sled all the way downhill! Super adrenaline rush! Super exciting! Though i slipped and fell just as i was about to step into the hut to return the sledge at the bottom of the hill, it was worth all the ass pain. The rental guy commented that i shouldn't have drink and drive! Haha..

We headed back to our hotel after a 1hour train ride and settled for dinner at a restaurant at a nearby hotel - half chicken for dear and sausages again for me. Much to my dismay! We slept early again that night @830pm.