More visitors!

Our very close friends from Haifa, Debbie and David Block Temin, were here for a quick and wonderful 3 days.  We squeezed in a lot and fortunately, the weather was terrific.  A real Indian summer with beautiful fall colors.

Day 1:  We visited Stein am Rhein (our 2nd visit--blog followers might remember we were there in August).  This a charming little town, north-east of Zurich, with beautiful painted walls.


 With Debbie and David at Stein am Rhein

We had a terrific lunch at Hohenklingen Castle overlooking the town.

 Me and Debbie walking up to the castle

View of castle from the town

We then took the train to Rhein Falls, the largest falls in Europe.  Beautiful!

 




In the evening, we went to see Blue Man Group, the performance art company.  This is a very unusual show made up of painted faces, drums, music, visual/sound effects, humor, splashing paint and audience participation.  It's hard to describe and lots of fun.

Groupies with the band

Day 2:  Debbie, David and I spent the day roaming around Zurich city center while Miles worked. We started off with a free walking tour that described downtown Zurich, then strolled Bahnhofstrasse (major shopping street) and ended up having lunch at Hiltl, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world which dates back to 1898.  There were at least 100 different dishes to choose from in the buffet.  Even carnivores would find something good here!

Enjoying our Hiltl meal

In the evening, we had a typical Swiss meal of raclette and fondue.  Everyone knows fondue, but what is raclette?  Raclette is a special cheese that is melted and then scraped off onto a plate.  It is then eaten with cooked potatoes, cocktail onions and pickles.  Fondue and raclette are considered peasant food--good hearty cheese, bread and potatoes perfect for Swiss farmers!

Raclette2.jpg
This is a traditional way to serve raclette (internet photo)

Instead, we had individual grills which melted our sliced cheese and then we scraped the little pan with a spatula.  Interesting (and delicious!)


Our final day was spectacular!  We first had a 2-hour trip by train to Interlaken where we boarded a boat to Giessbach Pier along Lake Brienz. 

Boat ride Lake Brienz


 Autumn colors along steep mountains

Next, we took a 4-minute cog wheel funicular ride and arrived at The Grand Hotel Giessbach.  In 2015, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers --Miles is a life member) recognized this 1879-era single two-rail track funicular for its unique switching design at its short passing track.


ASME plaque
 
Cog-wheel train tracks

Funicular station top of the hill

The Grand Hotel is 170 years old and really majestic.  What a setting!

 We hiked nearby up and around Giessbach Falls.


That's us on the walkway behind the spray

View of hotel from the trail

Beautiful fall colors


 Enjoying our lunch on the hotel's terrace

On the way back to Zurich...zzzzzzzzz




Comments

  1. Miri and LarryOctober 23, 2017 at 3:57 PM

    OH WOW, what an amazing, fun-filled, action packed, scenery-laden, gastronomic, energetic 3 days that must have been. You certainly know how to maximize your time. YOFI. I want to eat at Hiltl.
    What a treat it must have been to dine at the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world, not to mention the bountiful choices of food.

    ReplyDelete

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