From Zuerich HB we traveled by train, in extreme first class comfort I should say, making stops in Como/Menaggio, Firenze via Milano, and Venice, Italy. Completing the tourist thing Laurrie and I boarded the Zuerich HB bound rail, again via Milano while Becky and Phil hooked up with their local relations. The entire journey was a rich and rewarding travel adventure, spent with some most excellent traveling companions.
One might expect this writer to rail on (pun was intended) about any and everything that went wrong or didn't meet expectations. Not so, reader, for I have found that even in the best of times something will always go a bit amiss. More importantly, over time the good memories will overtake those that are not so good, thus making the not-so-good trivial or even a small humorous episode (not even a chapter) in the journal titled "Swiss-It2010".
But I would like to share some of my endearing impressions of our journey's.
First the train stations. I loved them all. It was like traveling back in time and being a part of a 1930's melodrama. The crowds all in a hurry to get somewhere. The buildings high arches extending up to transoms that allowed the steam to rise and vent - unfortunately steam engines have long since vanished, but one can still allow the mind to wander - the conductors whistle, the slow movement of the goliath pulling away from the station. The romance of travel in another era all in black and white, transcending itself to the here and now.
Zuerich - I liked the city, as it was a great place to people watch. Everyone seemed to have a purpose, a focus of mind, showing something that needed to be accomplished purposely. It was the structure, and structures that intrigued me. The city was not particularity beautiful (I can not define beauty as a city goes, but I know it when I see it - sorry Justice Stewart didn't mean to plagiarize) but it did have an essence about it, something that drew one in and welcomed their visit.
Fribourg - it was as I remembered it, but then it wasn't the place I visited. Confused? Well so was I went first got out of the rail station. So little looked like what my mind had stored away, yet there was familiarity about it. A welcoming feeling of deja vu soon enveloped me as the streets became avenues to the past.
Geneva - I never really got a feel for this city as our stay was intentionally kept to one day. Someday I would like to schedule a revisit. So much to see, so much to do.
Menaggio - just simply magnificent, as the amount of pictures taken would indicate. Words will never do it justice. A lengthened stay should be on our traveling agenda.
Firenze - the Duomo will forever be in my minds eye, as well as the hordes as they descended down on the Boboli Gardens and the Ponte Vecchio. Alas, however, there were those quiet walks away from the maddening crowds where one could gather an appreciation for the city that gave us the statue of David.
Venice - blown away by the Guggenheim Collection and the Doges' palace where the shutter on my camera was smoking. The long walk back, rather than taking the local "tram" system, was well worth the adventure. I wish we could have done back alley exploring, but neither Laurrie nor I was in any kind of shape to do so.
The scenery - from the lake that abuts Zuerich, to the Alps, both Swiss and Italian, to the vineyards around Geneva, to the low lands around Firenze and Venice there was so much beauty to take in. One regret is that I didn't and couldn't take pictures while traveling by train. There are, however, images burned within my memories, of tiny towns and farms, that I will forever be able to call up and remember. A camera would never have done them justice anyway.
So there ends my ramblings. BFS Vacations did it again. They brought down the house with one terrific journey!
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