Sunday, August 23, 2015

slipping & sliding our way through switzerland

Rainy, foggy Switzerland: wow, you are beautiful & we sure enjoyed slipping & sliding all over the country.

On Thursday, Mackie & I headed to Zurich. Zurich was gorgeous but soooooo expensive. We landed and rode the train in. The river is so pretty {seen in the first few pictures below}. It was super windy but so pretty to walk around and see the city. We had some Italian for a late dinner [shocking!] and then had the most amazing hot white & dark chocolate in the world at this place called Henrici. Afterwards, we hit the sack. Unfortunately, our AirB&B was super loud so we were both pretty tired on Friday.
heaven in a cup

On Friday morning, we loved Henrici so much we decided to go back for breakfast for acai bowls & some coffee. It was so phenomenal. Acai is a new "power food" as Mackie described it {it better be for the amount of $ it was...} We know if we ever go back to Zurich we will be hitting up this place again!! We then caught a train up to Uetliberg Mountain [aka "Top of Zurich"]. It was a gorgeous view - and you can see a few of the pictures below! We were extremely rushed and extremely sweaty ha. We rushed back to do the walking tour at 11am. It was informative and we got to see a lot of Zurich's sights. Zurich has the largest clock face in Europe [even larger than Big Ben!] After the walking tour, Mackie & I grabbed a bite to eat then climbed up St Peter's Church to see a view of Zurich [absolutely gorgeous!!]. Afterwards, we just walked around a bit more and had a sweet at a traditional Switzerland chocolate place. People didn't lie when they said Switzerland had the best chocolate :) but man, is that place expensive. It's a great city to see in one day if you have to fly in to get to other places in Switzerland but I'm not positive I could live there considering the expenses!
top of Zurich!!!
gorgeousssss view of Zurich!
largest clock face in Europe!
okay Zurich.... you're pretty!
upside down duck!
the ACN office in Zurich - must be nice to be RIGHT next to the river...

On Friday night, we headed by train to Interlaken. We were praying for good weather!!!  Nick unfortunately got delayed from Hamburg so Mackie & I headed there by ourselves. When we got into Interlaken it was extremely foggy and late [11pm] so we headed straight to the hotel. We passed out shortly after Nick got there around midnight and mentally prepared for the weekend.
well Mackie actually passed out on the train.....haha


On Saturday morning, we rode the tram up to Harder Kulm and then started our hike for the day. It was so foggy and we couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of us, which was quite a bummer but we remained positive. The hike was absolutely incredible still!! It's a top-listed hike and we definitely experienced it. We hiked about 3.5 hours into a 7 hour hike then had to turn back because of the weather. It was still an absolutely incredible experience. I almost fell about 20 times probably and it was an extremely slippy but it was great to experience it with Nick and Mackie. We had a meal at Harder Kulm afterwards and I had a traditional Swiss dish made of potatoes. Afterwards, we walked down to the absolutely gorgeous lake and took wayyyyyy too many pictures. Mackie & I are now officially obsessed with Interlaken and the gorgeous country of Switzerland.  The entire scenery is so picturesque and breathe-taking. [apologies in advance for the million pictures below]
mackie in front of the river in Interlaken before we took the tram up the mountain
 Mackie & I being serious hikers...poles & all
some casual posing for nick's camera
poisonous salamander on the trail
nick conquering mountains
and the fog continues!
fog is finally breaking enough to see some valleys and houses!
nick hanging out in the pouring rain
some hiking pole struggles
group picture!
our next house... hopefully....
awesome group shot with lake + mountains
doily overload...

On Sunday, we woke up bright & early for canyoning. Wow, wow, wow. Canyoning was insane: marvelous & thrilling. Mackie, Nick & I had so much fun and wowzer was the water cold. Literally every time we jumped into it our breathe was taken away. We jumped, slid, and rappelled. Our two guides were awesome. Afterwards, we ate some Mexican food and headed back by train to Zurich for our flight out to Milan / Nick's back to Hamburg. Nick's flight was delayed so that stunk but Mackie and I made it to Milan in one piece...Switzerland was so beautiful even with the rain that we endured throughout the three days we were there. It's a place I 100% plan to go back to and am truly looking forward to returning and finishing our long hike!
our awesome canyoning group!!
drive to the canyoning site!
pretty pond in Interlaken
local church in Interlaken

...details about Milan to come in the next few days!!! Hope you enjoyed reading about our time in Switzerland - as always let me know if you have any questions. xo

No comments:

Post a Comment