Switzerland Part 3

From Lake Como we went back into Switzerland to Lucerne.  We travelled on the Wilhelm Tell ferry, which was a lovely way to see even more of the gorgeous countryside.



After one night in Lucerne we went to Zurich.  For reasons unknown I didn't take many photos in Zurich but it was just as pretty as the rest of the country.



After two days in Zurich it was time to start the long trip home.  We decided, given we were flying Emirates, that we would stop in Dubai for a few nights on our way home.  We went on a desert four-wheel-drive tour, and had a BBQ at a bedouin camp in the middle of nowhere.  To be fair, everywhere is the middle of nowhere in the UAE :)


(literally the middle of nowhere)

Switzerland Part 2

Our next stop was Zermatt, at the base of the magnificent Matterhorn.  Zermatt is a car-free town, there are only electric buggies and horse-drawn carts.  It is beautiful.



The Matterhorn is wonderful.  The cog railway that goes up there passes through some wonderful scenery, and then you get this.



Right???



Our next stop was St Moritz.  We were only there for one night, on our way to Lake Como.  I'm willing to bet that St Moritz is quite amazing in the winter, and I think I'll go back sometime to confirm that.  Again, the scenery from the train was well worth the trip.





Our next stop was Lake Como in Italy.  The second the train crossed into Italy you could feel the difference, it was just more... chaotic.  And beautiful.  I will go back any time.







Sweet baby cheese was it hot in Lake Como.  About 39C every day.  Luckily there are plenty of gelato shops to help with that.

Switzerland Part 1

We spend three weeks in Switzerland during June/July, and had what we consider one of the best holidays we've ever been on.  We travelled by train right around the country, and it was magnificent. In a couple of posts you'll find a review of all the hotels we stayed in, so I won't bother telling you about that stuff now; just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Our first stop was Lucerne.  I absolutely loved Lucerne; if someone told me I had to live in Switzerland this is the place I'd choose.  It is just beautiful.





The crying lion is a statue dedicated to Tuileries war heroes.  It is in a lovely little park.



We left Lucerne and went by train to Interlaken.  Switzerland is insanely pretty.



Interlaken is probably the most gorgeous town I've ever been to.  It is very clearly a tourist destination, but it's so pretty you just don't care.  You can see the Jungfrau from the main street:



And you can catch the train (actually three of them) right to the very top of the mighty Jungfrau.  Which you should absolutely do, as it is spectacular.





After leaving Interlaken our next stop was Montreux, which seems to be a whole other country half the time.  They speak French instead of German, it was STINKING HOT, and the mountains were not as big.  However, the lakes were still amazing.

Around Australia

In January (I know, so slack of me to wait until now to write about it) we went on a bit of a driving holiday along the east coast of Australia.  Our first stop was Mallacoota, which is a gorgeous corner of Victoria.



The weather wasn't fantastic, but the beaches there are lovely. As we were leaving, we saw some kangaroos having a bad day:



Our next stop was Batemans Bay in New South Wales. Again, the weather was not on our side for the first couple of days but once it cleared up, it was magnificent. The beach at Batehaven is just gorgeous.





Our next stop was Wollongong which also has a lovely beach:



And then we went to Sydney. We stayed at Bondi Beach, which is probably Australia's most famous beach. It is by no means the nicest, but it's still not bad. It gets extremely crowded on the weekends though:



We also visited Taronga Park Zoo, which has the nicest setting for a zoo, possibly in the entire world.



Whilst at the zoo we stumbled upon the keepers feeding one of the sea lions so we stopped to watch.



We drove home inland and stopped at the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, it is quite a spectacular sight:



We stopped in Parkes to see the CSIRO's radio telescope. The very exciting thing was we saw it being repositioned. It was VERY HOT in Parkes.



We did stop in Yarrawonga for a night on the way home but that wasn't very exciting, more to just break up the long drive. There are so many gorgeous places to visit in Australia and we still have more to see!