Monday 18th August After a quick coach ride we were in Stechelberg from here we took a cable car to

Wednesday, 13th August After a short sleep it was an early start in order to catch the 7am Eurostar (high speed train) travel to murmansk russia from London to Paris Nord via the chunnel as they call it (channel tunnel)(central station). We allowed ourselves plenty of time and to get there and just as well as the Metro ‘circle’ travel to murmansk russia line we took was stopping for all various reasons which delayed us in arriving into St Pancras station. Eg people on the track – trains on the track, aliens on the track – I think they were starting to run out of excuses as what should have taken a 10minute travel to murmansk russia trip took closer to 30min’s
Our trip to London to Paris Nord went smoothly. Upon arriving at Paris we then needed to catch another train via another station. We managed travel to murmansk russia to navigate our way to the next station by foot. Which was trickier travel to murmansk russia than it first looked from the map. We took the TGV (fast train) to Zurich travelling at 250km/hr in places – which seemed very smooth, Steve really enjoyed the scenery as it flashed by polished off a 2 course meal that cost a small fortune. Upon our eventual arrival into Zurich HB we grabbed our gear walked to our hotel the Continental. (The taxi man was happy to give us directions as he didn’t think our fare would be big enough to warrant him loosing pole position travel to murmansk russia in a very long queue).
As Steve was extra attentive on the trip over due to finally arriving at the ‘father travel to murmansk russia land’ he didn’t get any sleep on the trip over and made up for it by crashing on the hotel bed where he did not arise until the following morning...
Our First impressions of Switzerland Zurich were that this was a city that had not seen the blight of a major world war and this was reflected in the buildings that looked very grand well developed with a nice river running through the centre of the city swans. There central train station had a large shopping centre located under it which was a hint of things to come.
Thursday, 14th August travel to murmansk russia After a great nights sleep on a feather duvet like mattress we are able to launch into Steven’s big day of family research, bolstered by a massive full buffet breakfast we went down stairs and jumped into our rental car and headed out of Zurich to Kirchdorf!
Steve was not at home adjusting to driving on the other side of the road as well as having all the controls on the other side of the car. Needless to say we had some exciting moments… The car was equipped with a Nav man, which sent us on a direct route (very scenic) which was the long way straight over the mountains but gave us some awesome scenery along the way. For example we spotted some community gardens where they can have a vege plot even if they are towney’s and witnessed the clanging of the bells around the cows necks on some very green hills.
Finally at the picturess town of Kirchdorf, Berne, we found the church straight away and the minister’s wife (Christina) was home who cleared up one major misconception straight away with regard to the religion of the church which we had assumed was catholic was in fact protestant – Lutheran in origin. Christina happily travel to murmansk russia rang and arranged for us to have access to the church records in another town not far away called ‘Uttigen’. After meeting with Elizabeth and Rosemary (Thanks A Million! :-) )at 5pm they took us into the bowls of their office and we were wading through documents from the 1700’s / 1800’s trying to find some mention of my Great Grand Father’s confirmation etc. Because the books were written in flowing script and German it made quite hard going. Luckily Angela was able to find a dispute between a Senn and some one else which we are yet to fully comprehend. Through the contacts we made we were able to find out that the Senn name and families were located around Uttigen and an old guy by the name of Fritz may be able to help us in our quest of finding our family members still in Switzerland.
While in the office block, Steven noted a very solid door that looked like it belonged to a bank vault but in fact turned out to be a bomb shelter that could cater for upto 100 people for an extended time and Elizabeth informed us that all buildings in Switerland were setup to be able to provide cover in times of war just in case some one tried to attack them.
Afterwards we headed back to Zurich via the Autobahn and spotted a number of medieval castles and quaint villages on the way back. After stopping in at one village on the way home where Steven was able to enjoy a nice ‘Horse’ steak for dinner!!! Apparently it didn’t taste any different to beef…
We had to reluctantly change rooms today for the start of our tour, the room we had prior had a great bed, which is really important to a great nights sleep. It has been raining all day today, so we took a taxi into town and had a look around at the shops to see the different things available; we looked at some nice fashion travel to murmansk russia stores, supermarket, travel to murmansk russia chocolate stores. The choice of cheese in the supermarket travel to murmansk russia was dizzying.
Then heading back to our hotel where tonight we have had an introduction to our tour/guide Merella (Italian Lady) who Steve promptly renamed mozzarella in order to easily recall Her name!! and dinner. Off to bed now to get ready for the first day of our action packed 10 day tour around Switzerland.
Saturday, 16th August We started today with an orientation of Zurich and a walk through the old town, the Fraumunster Church, and the opera house. It was a bit slow at the start. However with the afternoon free we went to the end of Bahnofstrasse Street and took a 1hour trip around travel to murmansk russia the Zurichsee (lake). It was a beautiful day and were able to take some great photo’s (check lake house photo below). On our way back to the hotel we took a stroll through the local market (bit like a swap meet) was very interesting to see what was being sold, from here we carried on through the old town, grabbing lunch from the Coop (supermarket) on the way back.
At 3pm we headed off to the Rhinefalls the most powerful waterfall in Europe. We learnt the Rhine starts in Switzerland from a lake! Next we took a private boat right up close and personal travel to murmansk russia to the waterfall and got a bit misty in the process then headed travel to murmansk russia off down the tree lined Rhine to our dinner date at an ancient town via the Rheinau Monastery church (following the rules of saint benedict). We had to stop and pull the boat out to get around a power station at one point – the Swiss had this all sorted with a boat escalator….
This turned out to be located on an island and was said to be founded in 778 by a man that survived a plunge over the Rhine falls while asleep travel to murmansk russia in a boat!! Unfortunately the exterior was in the midst of a major rebuild so only small parts could be seen. The Church it self was of the catholic persuasion, where you could see as the protestant movement became strong how the catholic church had gone to great lengths to beautify their churches and try to draw members back. This was born out by plain pillars that had been painted to look like marble and ornate carved sculptures and altars located along the sides of the church topped only by the main alter it self. Even the lecterns were a work of art in them selves. After the tour of the abbey we crossed a bridge had dinner at a nearby relatively modern 16th century Tavern and got quick peek at a wedding band and bridge party in action which consisted of a traditional German brass band and two ladies singing traditional songs. After the meal we returned to our hotel via coach. travel to murmansk russia .
Sunday 17th August travel to murmansk russia Well today we are off to Grindelwald, via coach ‘the glacier travel to murmansk russia village’ on the way we stopped at a popluar destination Lucerne. We saw the Lion Monument and Chapel Bridge. The Lion Monument travel to murmansk russia was in recognition of the Swiss that had died in wars for other countries specifically when they helped out the French monarchy during the revolution lost their lives in the process along with the king. We walked across the Chapel Bridge (A very long wooden structure for pedestrian transit only!) which had been majorly restored after having an accidental fire a few years prior. There were ancient oil paintings in the eaves every few meters most of which had a rather grotesque theme like so…
We then went the long way to Grindelwald in the bus (avoiding the motorway) to see Brunig Pass to the town of Interlaken, where a few Para gliders dotted down right in front of us... It was so beautiful we were now starting to see the beginning of a major mountain range unfold travel to murmansk russia around us all with the accompaniment of highland cow bells… see pics.
Monday 18th August After a quick coach ride we were in Stechelberg from here we took a cable car to Murren and walked the streets of a traditional Swiss mountain village complete with deer and marmot munching away on the alpine slopes. It was nice to see picturess houses in their beautiful alpine setting. Our tour director stopped us seeing the schilthorn further up due to time constraints.
On our way back we stopped to see the Trummelbach the only glacier waterfalls in Europe. It was loud!!- roared like a lion, producing a powerful water flow that had carved a way through solid rock to the point that it was essentially underground! only accessible via a lift On our way out Steven and I sat by the river for a while had a bite to eat before heading back to the coach.
When we returned it was early afternoon. We were going to head off Paragliding, But it was fully booked due to the great weather. So we took a gondola with John Lyn from our tour up to the valley from Grindelweld travel to murmansk russia to the “First” Schreckfeld. Here we were able to watch the paragliders travel to murmansk russia launching and take in ar a truly spectacular view of the valley the Swiss alps. With small Alpine lakes feeding rivers travel to murmansk russia cascading down into the valley below Wow!! And no we did not see any Schrek’s ;-) only lots of Nordic walkers…
Tuesday 19th August It was a great day today, the weather travel to murmansk russia has been awesome, which is of great benefit as we are going high into the swizz alps. This was our trip to Europe’s highest railway station that t