Ljubljana

Ljubljana at 4 am looks like a little lost town finding its feet. Our host Martin comes to pick us up in his blue Peugeot. This is at 8. In the 4 hours, moved luggage and selves across 3 cafes. All in 20 step vicinity of each other. The apartment is perfect. The weather, wet and a bit chill to be summer.  Sure to run into wardrobe problems. There are supposed to be 8 days of rain in July. I'm here for four of them.
Buses are not frequent but do exist and suffice. But most places are walkable if your feet comply. Don't forget to look lost with a map in hand. Friendly ljublanians will stop and ask if you need help.

Three bridges.
Dragon bridge. Many legends about the dragon. And it's green, the same color as the water in Ljubljana's river. There are three Rivers that go round. The Ljubljanica, the Sava, the Gradaščica.
The town hall is housed in an old building. It has a well and a map on its wall of older settlements of Ljubljana - a medieval one and a Roman one. The Romans called it Emona. You can find cafes along the cobbled streets. One of them is an old house with a hearth, solid wooden tables and benches, terracotta floors and the old brickwork can still be seen. One cafe along the river had this sign 'Unattended children will be given a free kitten and a shot if tequila :)' I like these people.

The museums are very well presented to the visitors and the staff are always cheerful and willing to help.  Oh one more thing, Ljubljanians speak English. This sets them apart from the rest of Europe. You can get a 48 hour pass that allows access to museums and sights and transport for 30 €.


There's a sale on at every store. The town square has a silly "own weather" spot and all the kids...and adults walk past it and get wet in the drizzle. It's so stupid, it's sweet. Next to it is a swank store, a shopping centre that is functioning since 1913.

Gelato shops line the Riverside. On some days, you have a flea market and interesting wares and interesting people. One man was playing an accordion, a small smile accompanying perfect tunes. When the song ended, he grinned and told us that its all recorded sound.

The castle is free for visitors, but if you want to go up to the tower, from where you get to see...30% of Slovenia according to the audio guide....A bugle call by suited buglers gets people smiling.


If you have time, visit the Zala cemetery. Bus no 2. People come to tend the graves. Each one has a lantern and a little flower patch. It's like a town. Here and there you can find some interesting sculptures. A rectangle of crosses marks the lives and deaths of soldiers who died in battle.

There's a fresh foods market everyday for fruit and veg, cheese and nuts and local produce. We even found a man selling ghee! You can go for a run in Tivoli park early in the morning. It's a beautifully kept green trail. There's a train station nearby  adding to the quaint air of Ljubljana.

Vienna Mornings

Vienna morning. Vienna pass. Historical museum. Till 2. 100€ 72 hr pass. Hoho bus very slow. And unidirectional. Take a travel pass for metro and bus and tram.

Kunsthistoriche. Took all day. Egyptian collection. The Renaissance works and the royal collection. Titians. Went to Sisi museum as well. She was this empress who didnt want to be. 

Found vegan restaurant called yamm. Good buffet. Wasted a bit of time trying to get to a river cruise or ferris wheel. But the hoho bus makes you hopping crazy with its speed and one way route.

Made it to the Danube tower instead 160m up. Tearing winds. Couldn't take a pic. The camera almost flew off. It was cold. Windy. Scary. Fun. The metro is far so be prepared to walk the distance.

2 museum sets and a tower. Not bad for a day. The Danube looks small after Budapest. But the European flavour and the bustle of the place give you an upbeat vibe.

Second day in Vienna

Morning to museum. soaked in  Monet and Picasso. Egon Shiele, Gustav Klimt steal your senses. There's the humanness that demands your attention. There are also these quotes or stories by and about the art and artist that makes the display imaginative. Imperial jewels are magnificent reminders of craftsmanship and monarchy as supreme. Spanish school for horses was big disappointment. Its raining. 

Vienna is beautiful in the rain. The carriages near the palaces and general imperial feel of the place makes you decide to return for a more casual longer stay. Let the air seep in kind of holiday. 

Took metro. Dashed to hauptbanhauf. And then went to Leopold museum. And then wait...
This was the most rewarding experience. If you go 80 mins before the opera starts at the state opera house, you could get standing tickets for €3 or 4. Imagine. You get to watch world class opera in a theater built for an emperor. It was just super amazing. It was "elixir of love"  

Lucerne to Innsbruck 12.9

Train passes through last of lakes towards Italy and mountains and waterfalls. Change at Goschenen on to Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, the mountainous railroad and change again at Andermatt on to Gornergrat Bahn. Now train goes across Oberalpass,
Can see snow capped peaks. Valleys are closed in. People drive, park and start trekking up. Lots and lots of families with lots and lots of children. So close to the Italian border, now announcements are made in Italian. The Rhaïtiche Bahn takes you from Disentis to Chur (pronounced Kur). Still in Switzerland. Last of. Its a 2 hour ride through mountains. Trip intentionally planned so.

Point to note about S. Very disability friendly. People on wheelchairs, the blind travel freely. Stairs have a wheelchair lift. And people with disability get a discount everywhere. At first I thought that the percentage of people with disabily is higher. But no. Its just that they make it so easy to go on a bus, to a museum or to a restaurant.

Ok lots of fruit trees. And they just put a sheet under them to collect the fruit. What luxury. Its a Saturday and families are out golfing, cycling, horse riding, trekking, climbing, kayaking (they actually camp and cook in a campfire on the banks of the river)  or just having a picnic. I want my Saturdays to be like this. Bliss.

An hours stop at the ancient Town Chur where Romans brought Christianity. Churches, seminary, clock tower, cafes and shops. In the main church, there's a 15th century Pieta and some very old very beautiful altar pieces. There's one house which is fully painted. And in an archway, there was this evocative painting of a mother and child.

Then on to Sargens and caught train to Innsbruck. Now in Austrian rail which has veggie options on its train kitchen menu. Happiness. They even gave pretzels as welcome snack. I like :) We  cross the river after Books(? Spelling) and we are in Austria. Ran into trouble in Innsbruck. Did not have that house number of host. Sat in cafe UFO, with a friendly Turkish cafe owner for about an hour and a half before things got sorted out.
The loft apartment was empty on a Saturday night. It has skylight everywhere and an old radio. 

Frieburg switzerland 10.9

Frieburg is a 25 min train ride from Bern. On the windows screen :), they were showing gently undulating green hills. Houses, farms, forests, fields, cows and deer. Yup spotted ones. Cute and cuddly till I realized that it was a venison farm.

Frieburg - In about 2 hours, early morning walkaround, saw church with brilliant stained glass. There's a crypt which gave me the goosebumps because it was dark when I entered and as I crossed the threshold, the lights came on.

As always, stone trough fountains adorned with multi coloured flowers.  Cafes hadn't opened and the town was just waking up. Walked up to one of the oldest wooden bridge and what do you know.. They let vehicles through.

Apparently the Bible museum is worth the visit as it has history of European culture. The Marionette museum is the other Frieburg attraction. Gave both a miss though. Time issues.

Went back to Bern, collected luggage and took this long way round train to Lucerne which goes through Interlaken. An hour's halt at Interlaken should've been lakeside but spent too much time at the supermarket over lunch purchases that sadly no touching lake happened.

But, the train ride was totally worth it. Went all along the blue green lake with cloud capped hills in the background and blue and white boats bobbing on the edge of the tile-roofed town. Went through farmland, laden apple trees and reached a station where the direction changed and then the train started climbing. Up up to the pass near Hasliberg station. Then down around another lake and another or perhaps that's just one giant uneven splotch of an emerald lake and I get to see all of it.

Bern

Took an early train to Bern. Left luggage at the station lockers(9CHF) because of some time problems checking into Airbnb. The host is also supposed to give you a day pass for transport. Just check if you're planning a trip.

Bern sightseeing  circumference is small enough to walk around. Walk straight down from the station and follow the map that you get at the "i". Walking the marked tour supposedly takes two and a half hours. But you can (and I did) spend the whole day.

First is the town gate where they have kept the measures they used to build the town. The clock tower comes next. Every hour, like clock work ;) there's a show as the clock chimes and there's a bit of hoo ha  and the little mechanical men do their bit for the gawking tourists. They've done so for centuries.

Pretty fountains dot the trail. Then there's the house in which Einstein lived. You can get a tour. Ok. One quaint characteristic of the houses along this old town. All have cellars that open on to the street. Now, people have workshops or a cafe or a storehouse. Even noticed a secret society. 

There's a botanical garden across the river and apart from every type of rose imaginable, has a pretty popular restaurant. Good food. 10 on 10. There's a bear park but it was closed for some construction. A must visit if you ever..

Here's the thing about Switzerland after three days here. Feels like home. The Audi's, Volkswagens, the Vero Modas and the S Olivers, feels like you're on familiar ground. Much much cleaner prettier ground though.

Walked around and came across the parliament house..in session. And you can get a visitors pass and listen in. The bulky guard at the entrance was Spanish and chatty. Talked about Switzerland and its regions and languages. Inside, the Parliament was taking a vote on the current refugee influx. The session was in French. Very civil. Orderly. Made me wonder..What do our Babus do on their foreign jaunts? Could learn a bit.

There's a museum dedicated to Einstein, the blue eyed boy from Bern. But decided to go to the communications museum instead. Again, everything was hands on. You can write a letter with a quill and blot the ink or send an email. Has exercises on how you communicate with words or with signals or with expressions. Imaginative display. Not boring at all.