We finally finished all our packing and left to railway station by auto. Took Vande bharath express to go to Chennai. Had our lunch packed in our boxes. It was a recently launched train with all latest amenities, yet poorly maintained. We do raised the feed back to staff, but had no much response. Train was on time. We got down from the train around 2:00 PM at Egmore station, Chennai. We went to egmore metro station which was walkable and took the train to meet my friend. Relaxed a bit and headed towards Chennai airport (T1) by metro to catch the flight to Delhi.
is , just opposite to the airport. We had our dinner at
at flufagen station as it became late. Food was high priced so we ordered a combo meal and shared. We went to SBB CFF FFS - Swiss Federal Railways office to enquire about our train bookings and train to the city
. They have a token system to wait for the enquiry and explained all the queries clearly. We took the train to Zurich city. Before getting down from the train, we were still doubtful regarding the station we had to get down. Enquired fellow passenger, they were fun, friendly and helped us regarding the station information, and cautioned regarding the rains in the city. They also welcomed us to Switzerland and wished us a great trip. We were happy. Then we came out of the station and took a tram to the hotel.
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| Zurich Airport finally after a long journey! |
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| Inside the train to the city |
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| Tram to our stay |
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| Spacious tram for our luggages |
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| Zurich welcomed us with rains |
Stayed at The Flag Zurich overnight. It was a cozy calm stay in Zurich with good hospitality.
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| The Flag Zurich - hotel |
DAY - 3: (crossing border no bother!)
The next day we got ready and headed out to have breakfast. When attempted to get the ticket from the tram stop, my credit card got blocked - right on the first day of the trip! We got the tickets from the tram stop using my wife’s credit card and headed to the hotel. Had food at Roots. The food was delicious. They had vegan croissants, cookies, energy balls and other vegan baked stuff. We thought to get something to snack in between our train journey. We both haven’t tried croissants because usually croissants are made with All purpose flour, Egg and Butter. Since we both are vegan and also avoid processed food as much as possible, hence it was difficult for us to find one. This restaurant had an vegan croissants though it was made with all purpose flour, still tried it to experience the taste. We gave our own container to pack the croissant.
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| Hotel vibe |
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| Açai bowl, avocado toast, cappuccino |
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| Street view |
Took a stroll in the city and relaxed on banks of a stream watching ducks, trams and people enjoying the weather with their pets.Then we went back to our stay, packed food for lunch, checked out and headed to Zurich HB station with our luggages to catch the train to Milan.
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| Relaxing at banks |
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| Stream |
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| Near a tram stop |
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| Electric bus views |
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| Tram in Zurich city |
Zurich HB station was big with lots of platforms, shops and luggage lockers. It had paid toilets (1 CHF) facilities. We located our train from the information board. Headed towards second class coach. It was spacious with adequate facilities. The train started on time. This train traversed the scenic routes of Gotthard. The routes were picturesque, complemented by smoothly running train!
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| En route |
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| The pictures tells all |
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| Photo cannot justice the views |
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| Mighty bridges |
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| Tasting croissant (vegan) for the first time |
We had to change train at Lugano station (almost near Italy border) . Got down and stunned by the views right in front of the station. Enjoyed the views and waited for the next train.
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| Lugano station |
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| Laderach vegan dark |
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SBB CFF FFS office in the station
|
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| View in front of the station |
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| Panoramic view |
Took the train from Lugano to Milan. The inter country trains which we had booked do not have seat reservations it is bound to travel only within the time duration and destination mentioned in the ticket. Hence we have run quickly to grab comfortable seats during rush hour. Train was packed with lots of passengers. Yet we managed to squeeze in with our luggages. It was an hour travel. My wife got a seat near a passengers from Malaysia. During conversation with them, my wife got a few travel tips in Milan as they were exploring it for past few days. Reached Milano centrale station. Took Milan metro 3 days pass for each. Enquired the security personnel in metro regarding the route we have to take. He clearly explained the lines we have to take! Then took metro to Qt8 metro stop, near to the airbnb we had booked.
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| Milano centrale station |
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| Qt8 metro stop |
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| Street view |
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| Prepared our dinner at Airbnb |
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| Common room |
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| Bedroom |
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| Kitchen |
DAY - 4: (Milan and the meet)
I had my meeting scheduled by 8 AM in morning. We prepared and had breakfast. Packed for lunch and headed towards - Hotel Melia milano for the meet by walk. I was happy to see the micro surgeons from all over the world and had chat with them. The lectures were mindblowing.
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| Euromicro-2024 at Milan |
My wife made a solo city travel of Milan whilst I was in the meet. She visited the famous Starbucks Roastery Milan & Duomo, and exploring streets of Milan and checked out various trams of the city.
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| Starbucks Roastery, Milan |
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Starbucks Roastery, Milan
|
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| Mocha |
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| Duomo di Milano |
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| Galleria Vittorio Emanuele |
I caught up with my wife and went for dinner at Alhambra Risto near Porta Venezia metro. Enjoyed a wholesome vegan dinner sitting on sidewalks outside the restaurant. Tried vegan tiramisu for the first time and it was the highlight ! Then we headed to Arco Della Pace by metro and tram. Had a wonderful experience of vintage tram en route and found that they are the oldest functional tram in world. The way of preservation and keeping it functional is amazing. Reached the Arco Della Pace and witnessed its beauty in night.
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| Streets of Milan |
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| Dinner date |
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| Living the moment ! |
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| Oldest functional tram of the world |
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| Inside the vintage tram |
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| Arco Della Pace at night ! |
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| Whatte view from tram ! |
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| Colour combo |
Reached the stay. I was rehearsing for my presentation scheduled next day. Then slept off.
DAY - 5: (my presentation)
Today I had my presentation session at the conference. I had the breakfast and took packed food for lunch. My wife was organising our things and packing as we had to go to Florence the next day. I was trying hands on experience on robotic microsurgery device - claimed to be the futuristic technology for microsurgeons. It was a terrific experience.
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| Coffee machine |
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| Rice cakes ! |
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| Experiencing robotic microsurgery |
Meanwhile it was time for my presentation finally! My wife too peeked into the conference hall. It was a thrilling experience to present in front of stalwarts and doyens of supermicrosurgery, from all over the world ! The presentation went pretty decent. It was a lifetime experience at the beginning of my carrier!
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| At conference |
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| Presentation |
After the meet, we headed to Sforzesco Castle by metro. We took a walk in the castle. Enjoyed the views. Saw a few people unknowingly falling for tourists scams exactly as shown in YouTube videos! Then we headed to same dinner place as previous day, since we really loved the food and vibe! After dinner we headed towards our stay as we had to go Florence early morning. En route we went to Duomo as I missed to go the previous day.
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| Sforzesco Castle |
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| Inside the castle |
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| Vegan tiramisu |
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| Duomo selfie |
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| Underground metro selfie |
DAY - 6: (Florence - views, food and vibe !)
We took taxi to the Milano centrale station at 4:00 AM to catch the train to Florence which was scheduled by 5:00 AM. We couldn’t access metro trains (starts only by 5:30 am) or buses (very less frequency) at that time. Reached the station on by 4:30 AM. The station opened by 4:50 AM and we rushed to the platform. The train which we had booked was ‘Freccia Rossa’ - high speed train of Italy ! It was spacious with ergonomic seats and facilities. It covered 300 km in 2 hours. Its top speed reached 300 km/hr ! Yet the coaches were stable without much tremors. We enjoyed the scenic Tuscany region, outskirts, sunrise !
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| At Milan station |
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| Freccia Rossa |
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| Inside the train |
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Maximum speed - around 300 km/hr
|
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| Station en route |
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| At Firenze Santa Maria Station - Florence |
We took tram ticket from ticket machine and headed towards hotel for breakfast. Enjoyed the views offered by the city. Had açai bowl, beetroot latte and hummus roll at shake cafe, Florence. The food and ambience were cool. Then we took bus to Piazzale Michelangelo to witness the view of entire city and Cattedral di Sant Maria del Fiore, canals, bridges!
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| Florence street fire |
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| Beetroot latte, Açai bowl |
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| Hummus roll |
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| At bus stop |
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| Florence city bus |
Piazza Michealangelo was an excellent location to appreciate Florence city in a panoramic view. We were stunned by the architectural and artistic beauty of the city. From there we can take a down hill walk which is decorated with artistic architecture hugging a waterfall. The walk was breezy ! I came across a quote written there by an artist - Guiseppe Poggi -‘ It was … for the artist … to achieve the dual result of solidity and aesthetic effect ’ (stands still relevant for Plastic Surgery too)
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| Viewing through binoculars |
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| Panoramic view |
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| The quote ! |
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| HeArtist |
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| Pleasant walk |
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| Excellent architecture |
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| Florence city behind her |
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| Such a peaceful location |
Then took the bus to the Santa Maria Cathedral. Had lunch at Mister Pizza and had vegan pizza with whole wheat base! It was good. Then we took a walk around the cathedral. The place was packed with tourists, but still we enjoyed the views, architecture. The city is full of arts and artists. We bought small Pinnochio soveniors, as we deeply enjoyed recent pinnochio movie (2022). The creator of Pinnochio was from Florence! Tasted vegan gelato for then first time at Gelataria Edorado. Rarely we had explored food while travelling. This time at Florence we got a good opportunity to taste vegan Italian dishes to explore !
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| Vegan whole wheat pizza |
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| Posing in front of the cathedral |
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| Posing in front of the cathedral |
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| Almond/ Dark chocolate vegan Gelato in our own container |
Bought a rice cakes, olives from carrefour supermarket. Took tram services and headed to bus station to catch the bus to Milan.
Reached Fermata FlixBus Firenze - bus station on time. It was spacious, with adequate facilities and eateries. We booked FlixBus to travel from Florence back to Milan, in order to experience intercity bus services in Europe. It was reliable, comfortable and safe. We do consider to use intercity, intercountry bus services in Europe in future. From Milan San Danto bus station we took train to QT8 and reached our stay by 10:30 PM.
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| Fermata FlixBus station, Florence |
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| FlixBus |
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Enjoying views of Bologna city en route
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DAY - 7: (Swiss - here we come !)
Today we packed our things and checked out from the stay. Went took a taxi to Milano central station (since metro train frequencies were less on Sundays !) to catch the train to Switzerland ! (Frutigen - town). Had food at Base V Juicery. All of trains we travelled during this trip had adequate space for luggages and cycles. It was Trenord - regional express going up to Domodosolla station. From there we had to change the train.
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| Bye bye QT8 metro |
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| Black rice bowl at milano centrale |
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| Trenord express from Milano Centrale |
We reached Domodosolla a place near Italian- Swiss border and changed the train. The en route was beautiful as ever going through the Lakes and alpine regions.
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| Train Station |
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| Views through the train |
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| Valley |
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| Domodossola station |
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| Inside the train |
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| Random views in Switzerland |
Finally reached Frutigen, a small town in Bernese Oberland region. The station was small and beautiful. The town was surrounded by mountains & small streams. Our stay was in a small village - Wengi B Frutigen that was further 10-15 min away from this place. I asked travellers help desk in the station regarding the bus from this station to my stay. He answered patiently and provided bus ticket and additional travel suggestions.
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| Waiting for the bus |
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| Travel help desk |
We waited near the station for the bus to Wengi B Frutigen. It was once in 1-2 hours. Got into the bus and it started with only 2 of us heading to that village! Got down of the bus and our stay was right next to the bus stopping. The hosts welcomed and introduced themselves. The stay looked like a house straight from our dream! Swiss type wooden house in a small village surrounded by green fields and snow capped mountains. Only sounds we were hearing was from the bells of cow. We could not see anyone outside on roads except both of us. We were just staring in amazement. Started exploring the house and enjoying the views around.
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| Only 2 passengers in bus |
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| View from bus |
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| Ground floor - Our stay at Wengi B Frutigen |
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| Relaxing spot |
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| Balcony |
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| Room in the stay |
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| Well equipped kitchen |
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| View from the room |
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| A tome with the entire history of the town - Frutigen ! |
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| Dinner |
DAY - 8 : (love at first sight)
Today we got up, prepared food and awaited for the bus, right in front of our stay! We headed to Reichenbach im Kandertal station to catch our train for Oeschinenesse hike. We got down and had a walk towards the cable car, through the village. It was calm, alluring and Switzerlandish ! The pathways, viridescent views, with the air filled by the sound of gushing stream were those one can wish for! Reached the cable car station and got in to reach the hiking point. With the Bernese Oberland pass the travel was seamless.
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| Reich im Bach station |
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| Getting into the train |
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| Views |
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| Views from the train |
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| Oeschinenesse village |
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| Gushing Sream |
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| Cable car |
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| View from cable car |
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| Reached the top station |
The views started getting better as we went towards the Oeschinenese lake. Spent en route observing the snow capped mountains, ragged slopes, breathing some fresh air, clicking panorama pics and peace.
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| Panorama with DJI osmo 6 |
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| Two roads diverged in a wood and we took the one less travelled by … |
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| The pic depicting exact travel mode in Switzerland |
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| Peace ! |
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| Mighty mountains with rugged terrain |
As we hiked across enchanting path, slowly neared the lake and started to get the glimpses of the lake with stunning teal coloured water. There was a huge lake surrounded by mountains and hiking trails. There was a pier which added photogenicity to the location. Since we reached the location earlier there were very few travellers around. We had a peaceful time.
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| Oeschinenesse Lake and Us ! |
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| Posing from the pier |
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| Lost in thoughts |
We had our lunch siting on a promontory and absorbing the views. Slowly many travellers started reaching the spot.
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| Panoramic view of Oschinenesse |
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| 240 degree panoramic pic |
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| Camera, the lake and we two ! |
Then we started to hike back to the top station. Took the cable car and returned to the Oeschinenesse - kandersteg station.
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| Happily finished our hike |
The previous day when we were in our stay we were exploring the Bernese oberland map showing various locations in that region. We found a place called Neisen kulm- having one of highest vertical ascend funicular (with guiness record for the continuous vertical stairs for 2300 m) nearby to our stay. It is accessible from the station called Mulenen. Hence we headed to Mulenen. Mulenen was a ‘stop on request’ station. We were not sure how it works. Then we asked a fellow passenger from train and came to know the we had press the door opening switch just before reaching Mulenen station, so that the train operator gets a prompt and stops.
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| Mulenen station |
We got down and found the funicular station in a few metres by walk. The station was having a vintage charm and with only 3-4 travellers from Korea and us. Got into the funicular and witnessed the mouth dropping views as we slowly ascended for 2300 metres at 68% inclination (maximum) for about 30 mins.
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| Niesen bahn (station) |
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| Fellow travellers |
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| Excited about the ride |
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| Niesen Kulm funicular |
After reaching the top station, we got down to see the place covered with snow and fog. There was a trail leading to the view point. There was a breathtaking panoramic sight of Interlaken city with lake Thun and lake Brienz on either side.
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| Lake Thun |
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| Lake Thun, Interlaken, Lake Brienz |
While returning, we saw a lost funicular ticket on the pathway, we thought it might belong to fellow travellers. So we asked them to check, whether it was theirs. It belonged to one of them. So they were happy and thanked us. My wife struck a conversation with them in Korean language (she follows Korean series for long time and picked up a few words and accent). They were shocked and excited to hear it from her. We had a short conversation with them and took the funicular and hurried to the Mulenen station as we were running out of time to catch the train back to our stay. Since it was a stop on request station, we had to press an intimation button in the station, so that the train stops knowing passengers are waiting.
We reached Frutigen. From there we had to take the bus to Wengi B. We had almost 1.5 hrs for the bus. Hence we walked through the streets of Frutigen town. Went to Coop - supermarket (supermarket chain in Switzerland). Got a few vegetables, groceries for us to cook for dinner.
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| After some grocery shopping and never missing our own bags to get the things! |
At first we thought to catch the bus from the stop near the supermarket, but luckily we kept checking the bus and train updates in SBB - app apart from google. It mentioned regarding the change in bus route due to road maintenance works. We confirmed with the road maintanence workers there and ran to the bus stop near the railway station. As the bus frequency to Wengi is low, we didn’t want to miss it.
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| Kander river - Frutigen |
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| Frutigen town view |
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| Sign for pedestrian walk ! |
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| Passion fruit after long time |
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| Pasta with veggies after a long day ! |
DAY - 9: (trains and gandolas)
Today we had to travel a bit longer. Our route was - Wengi B - Reich im Bach - Spiez - Interlaken OST - Grindelwald - cable car station - Grindelwald First. Hence we started earlier, with our foods packed. Spiez station was so out of the world with views of Lake Thun just outside the station. Every station was unique and beautiful. Reached Grindelwald finally after about 2.5 hours. Lots of Indian travellers can be witnessed as we headed towards Interlaken and Grindelwald. Probably due to famous bollywood - ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge movie which was pictured in several locations of Switzerland (Interlaken, Gstaad) . It had Kajol and Shahrukh khan in lead by Aditya Chopra. They too have a statue for Yash Chopra as a tribute.
Reached top of Grindelwald first enjoying the amazing views from cable car. We could not access bachalpsee lake due weather conditions. We headed to Tissot’s ‘first cliff walk’ my wife was very excited. I was anxious and afraid when I saw the bridge suspended at a great height with deep valley below ! Her excitement was equivalent to my fear! She kept encouraging me throughout the bridge route and helped me to overcome the fear.
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| First cliff walk - steel bridge by Tissot - watchmakers |
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| Bridge along the cliff |
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| Excitement and fear ! |
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| Slowly coming out of fear |
Successfully completed the cliff walk. The views were spectacular ! We had our food with views of alps and para-gliders flying across the sky.
We started our journey back. Tried trotti bike on the way. It’s a type of cycle which is ridden standing. It was quite interesting. Took us sometime to get the balance to ride it.
On the way back to stay, we took a break in Interlaken. Had food at
Velo cafe and roamed on the streets. Interlaken is a beautiful city, with a huge tourist crowd. It’s well located between two lakes keeping it scenic at every corner.
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Automatic dispenser where soap comes first followed by water - found it curious
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| Vegan cheese cake at Velo cafe |
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| Mocha |
We returned to our stay by the train. Walked around our near our stay and captured a few moments. The place was calm serene and breathtaking. Prepared zucchini veg rice for the dinner !
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| Stream |
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| Swag ! |
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| Dinner time! |
DAY - 10: (magical hues and vacation blues)
Both of us were worried as our trip was reaching its end ! We pushed ourselves and started early morning, packed our food to reach interlaken. From there we went to Interlaken OST boat station. It was situated just next to the railway station. The boat was ready for the boarding on time. This boat service is a regularly scheduled for public and due to beautiful views its usually filled with tourists.
BLS Boat service
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| A mini restaurant inside Swiss trains |
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| Train station to boat service subway |
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| Black coffee |
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| Boat arrival |
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| Getting inside the boat |
We entered the cruise boat. The cruise boats are almost 100 years, still looking elegant ! People started choosing their places to sit and enjoy the rides.
As the cruise started, the views of the Lake Brienz turned impressive. Many people from Korea who travel to Switzerland had the main tourist attraction in Lake Brienz - Iselwaldt. It became popular after a series named - ‘Crash landing on you’. It was shot in Iseltwald a small village enroute. It has a spot called - Crash landing on you - pier.
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| Crash landing on you - pier at Iseltwald |
The teal colour of the lake and the views around were out of the world, made me to go ‘Instagram live’ right away. The locales were charming at every angle.
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| Delightful Swiss lake views on a cloudy noon |
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| The moments like this make you to think of merging with the nature |
We reached our stop at Giessbach. From the stop, we took the funicular services to reach the hiking spot towards Giessbach waterfall. This is the oldest funicular in Europe (145 years old). It was a smooth ride on a steep inclined path. Crossed a few waterfalls and river on the way.
The funicular stops at Grand hotel Giessbach. A short hike from there took us to the magnificent falls.
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| Route to get lost in nature |
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| A pleasant capture of ourselves with the falls ! |
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| Giessbach falls |
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| Selfie from - behind the falls |
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| View |
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| Capture of us by a fellow traveller |
We hiked back towards the grand hotel. It had a huge garden with resting places. We sat there and took our packed food.
While resting on the wooden lounger, I realised that enjoying the views and sleeping in open nature was the most soulful thing I yearn for in any travel ! After relaxing for a while, we headed back to funicular. Took the boat. Enjoyed the views and reached back interlaken OST.
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| Go pro capturing our moments |
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| Swag mode! |
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| Happy to see ‘Tamil’ greetings in Swiss train ! |
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| The bus which we took everyday to reach our Air bnb |
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| Bus stop right infront of the airbnb we stayed! |
We tried a few varieties of fruits and berries from local market.
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| Flat Peach |
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| Apricot fruit |
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| Strawberry |
Post vacation blue started to creep in as it was last day of our trip. We had to leave early the next day to Zurich. So we packed the things and planned thoroughly and had a nice sleep. We had to travel continuously for 3 days with almost 20 hour transit at Istanbul.
DAY - 11: (long day)
With a heavy heart we started our return journey. We reached Frutigen and got the train to Spiez. From there we changed train towards Zurich via Bern. Reached Zurich on time. Refreshed ourselves at station and placed our luggages at railway station - storage facility - Luggage storage There was almost a floor full of lockers at minus 1 level. The system was awesome! Charges based on the luggage size and duration used. We left our huge trolleys and roamed in the city stress free.
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| Placing back our stay key in the locker before leaving |
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| Zurich railway station - luggage storage floor |
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| Placing our trolleys inside the locker |
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| Self Payment KIOSK system of SBB CFF |
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| Charges |
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| Lockers based on luggage sizes |
Since we could spare a few hours before heading to airport
, we decided for a small ‘chocolate walking tour’. We started from Sprungli from Zurich railway station (
Sprungli ). It is a bit generic for Swiss chocolate, but different from commercial regulars. It is seen in most of the major locations of Zurich.. Secondly we visited
Laderach . Both Sprungli and Laderach are as famous as Lindt in Switzerland. We tasted a sample of vegan dark. It is generally designed as a rustic irregular bar, with a soft and not so chewy consistency, a bit sweeter than expected.
Next we went to Lindt (very prominent company) and Bachmann chocolatier shop and did window shopping. Then visited a bit less popular shop -
Teuscher. It was highly decorated shop giving instant Christmas vibe. Luckily it had few vegan options. We tried almond milk based dark chocolate and loved the perfectly balanced consistency. Finally we reached the exact destination we were hunting for. It was
Max chocolatier in heart of Zurich. The ambience resembled a dream Swiss chocolate shop one would long for. The aroma, mild music with rows of dark chocolate vegan options stole our hearts. The chocolatier was kind enough to give us samples and describe. We bought assorted vegan dark chocolate truffle box, Really enjoyed an amazing impromptu chocolate walk!
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| Max chocolatier |
Then we headed for lunch. Visited ‘Vegelataria’ restaurant. Had a buffet lunch where charges were based on weight of the food taken.
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| Lunch buffet |
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| Lunch buffet |
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| Zurich - railway station |
After lunch we went to the station. Took our luggages from the locker and caught the train to airport. We had 4.5 hours for our flight and thought we were too early. But the airport had a huge crowd and only 2 immigration counters were active! It took almost 2.5 hours for us to reach the gates! Got the flight. Post vacation exhaustion started to set in. We had a deep sleep. Reached Istanbul airport midnight. Did the check in process and the security check got over in a few minutes. Searched for the lounge and reached it.
Used our credit cards for complimentary access.
The lounge was spacious with good facilities. We used shower facility to have bath. It was well spaced and clean. Had light complimentary food and slept off. Then we left the lounge and went to the nap zone. It had lots of recliner seats. Both had a sound sleep there. Then we had a vegan pizza at
Obica - Italian restaurant. It had authentic tomato sauce with olive oil and wheat base. It tasted yum without any cheese! Then we went around to check out the shops. Did window shopping. Filled water in our water bottle from free drinking water dispenser in the airport.Finally we took the flight - back to India (Mumbai).
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| IGA lounge |
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| Nap zone |
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| Awestruck by the connectivity to various parts of the world |
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| Vegan pizza |
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| Free wifi spot and virtual traveller support |
The flight reached Mumbai on time. Finished immigration, took our bags and changed to the departure part to go Chennai.
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| Free Drinking water at domestic departure Mumbai airport |
Got flight to Chennai. Post vacation exhaustion increased and pushed us to deep sleep in flight. Reached Chennai and went to my friend’s house for a small break before getting train back to trichy.
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Reached Chennai !
|
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| Trichy Railway station |
Finally reached trichy, welcomed by rains that ended the summer. Crashed on the bed !
Problems faced and learning’s from this trip !
VISA:
Initially we had planned for enter and exit through Italy and spend a few days at Lake Garda, Italy after my meet. We slotted visa appointment from kochi, but finally came to know that people of Tamil Nadu cannot apply from there (Tamil Nadu was considered south zone, Kerala was considered as west zone) . Severe glitch was present in VFS global website for applying Italian visa. It didn’t show any slots for almost next 6 months. Later, we learnt that due to over tourism at Italy, visa application was not entertained. But with Schengen visa, one can enter almost 27 countries. Hence we clubbed Switzerland along with Italy, applied for Switzerland tourist visa with our plan to Italy we explained.
We selected Switzerland due to following reasons:
- Italy could be easily reached (within 4 hours) from Swiss.
- visa process and appointments were fast (as in 2024). We received visa within 7 days from application.
(Visa processing and appointment availability trend changes according to several socioeconomic/ ongoing war - reasons, needs a thorough research before applying)
- tourist friendly destination. Rejection is low.
- we too wanted to explore that beautiful country.
Credit card:
My SBI credit card, which I have been using for past 7 years, got blocked immediately following my first transaction at Switzerland in spite of prior intimation ! I had to use my debit card and my wife’s credit card for the entire trip. I tried to contact the helpline, but there was no way to reach from international number ! I emailed them, but got reply the next day and asked me to submit Aadhar, PAN Card xerox with signature to re activate my blocked credit card. It seemed pointless to sort out in the middle of my travel. Always be aware of such situations.
- have a basic emergency fund in local currency.
- have a back up credit card and international debit card.
SIM card:
Somehow, after several research, I decided to buy Matrix sim, due to following reasons.
- I got it at reasonable price.
- the Europe package sim included Turkey ! I had a major transit there.
- It got activated seamlessly once I landed.
- good coverage with decent customer support. Extended the connection a day extra just by a call to customer support.
For my wife, as she had Vodafone sim, it had a free international roaming for 7 days. It had activation problem, that was sorted immediately by customer support through WhatsApp ! Then used Maya - eSIM services for remaining days. It had an excellent coverage and seamless.
Swiss Pass - types and our choice:
It covers all modes of transport like tram, train, funicular rides. Lots of vlogs, information about Swisspass is available in YouTube. It’s pass used for economical travel in Switzerland. But the cost of pass is high too. Yet various types and combinations had to be calculated to avoid burning our pockets. We selected Swiss Half fare pass and bought Berner oberland pass (combination). It found to be useful for us in terms of our budget and the days of travel. Our destination was mainly in Oberland zone, hence it was a good option and worked out well. On the last day got 24 hour - Zurich pass while booking the train ticket (combo).
( map showing eligible zones and routes included in Berner oberland pass )
We can also check live statusand weather of most of the locations through cctv - running live in following link
Metro trains:
Switzerland :
We had Swiss half fare pass and oberland pass in our mobile with QR code. In Swiss trains we had this checked by an officer in train in almost 75% of the travel. In trams, usually there is no checking during our travel, but we always had physical ticket or pass in our hand ! We do not violate laws of any country we visit, as it directly has unforeseen impact on us and our country’s credibility! Swiss trains, trams were the most comfortable, user friendly and best as per our knowledge! SBB app in mobile is a great tool to access Swiss bus and train. In Frutigen, the house owner of our stay provided free bus pass of that region for our entire travel days!
Italy :
Milan had a standard metro system and pass. It had 24 hour pass, 3 days pass at a reasonable price. It is the cheapest and efficient mode of transport and the pass included trams and buses services too. Milan trams are one of oldest working ones in the world, we were lucky enough to use it. It had the true vintage vibe. As in any other city, it is a bit unsafe to travel in less busy stations in after hours and vice versa in highly crowded areas.
Intercity and inter country travel:
Intercity and inter country trains are available for cheaper prices if booked in advance. It’s price raise as the journey dates are closer. Most of the trains are route specific rather than both route and time specific! Always check the type of the ticket booked. Flix bus is a new addition in long travel in Europe. As per my research from the internet and my experience, it’s really a game changer in intercity and inter country travel. We traveled Florence to Milan (one way - 4 hours - 370 km) with INR 350. Found it reasonable.
Other bus service - blah blah bus
Other trans country train pass - Eurail pass
Airport:
Istanbul - Turkey:
Had adequate Lounge facilities with shower and food. Nap zones were good. Free WiFi was only for an hour and need to pay for extra duration. It had a decent variety of food options and restroom facilities.
Zurich - Switzerland:
It had a good connectivity to the city with efficient metro services. Had grocery stores, SIM card, food court. Only issue we had is a very long delay in immigration with one or two officers clearing it. It was a sad state to see people running, panicking and missing their flights! Needs more immigration counters and officers to handle the huge international passenger crowd
Stays in Italy & Swiss:
We stayed in airbnb which was within our budget with a good kitchen facility. In Swiss and Italy, hotel stays are costly compared to an airbnb. Even hostels are highly priced, which were about 4000 -6000 INR per person. So when travelling as a couple or family, airbnb falls within our budget.
Sustainability:
We took our own basic cutlery, steel straws, cups, boxes, napkins. At restaurants we used our containers to collect the takeaways. Also refused single use plastic cutleries. At coffeeshops, we used our own cups to get coffee and sip it on the way! At Florence we requested to serve the ice cream in our container for take away. They initially refused and told us to take single use cardboard containers as they don’t take any extra charges for it. But then we explained the reason and insisted on it. Finally they provided. Other customers looked at us puzzled.
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| Things we carry during travel |
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| Things we carry during travel |
We can use restrooms at metro stations or other public areas to wash our utensils and prepare them for the next use. If no water is available, we use dry towels to clean the cutlery and wash them later when we find a water source. Wherever we stay/travel, we refill our water bottles to avoid buying packaged water. So far, restaurant/cafe staff have always been willing to help with this.
Traveling in a sustainable way can sometimes be challenging due to various practical issues. However, it's crucial to always consider the environment and take steps toward sustainability wherever possible. Even the smallest effort can have a significant impact when combined with others. While it may occasionally feel tiring or futile, we must continue learning and adopting more efficient sustainable practices. We both are in a phase of learning, still a long way to go!
Thanks to Dr Indumathi, Dr Geethan, Dr. Ashok, Mr Mahesh karthik (my school friend), Mrs Annapoorni (school senior)for helping us with tips during final minutes to apply for visa!
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