A SWISS Escape (part 1)

Hello, I’m back—-from blogging & TRAVELLING 😅

(07OCT21) First off, I didn't really mean to be on hiatus for 3 long months yet time has been constraint for working, fangirling and dealing with reality. I even had 2 drafts on queue all along but let me put my recent travel first since it's finally allowed to travel overseas!! Thank goodness that most international borders have eased up their restrictions. However, please bear in mind to travel with caution and only consider to travel when you are fully vaccinated. 
I also celebrated my birthday this month and on that week, I pushed through with my last year’s plan to go to SWITZERLAND. 🙈 Everything is so surreal like, “pinch me, I must just be dreaming THAT I AM TOURING THE PLACE WHERE HYUN BIN & SON YE JIN FILMED CRASH LANDING ON YOU” 😭 There’s a lot of beautiful sceneries which are truly worth an escape from reality. 💜

This first part covers a short guide of my trip preparations/tips and my journey in one of the Swiss Alps. I am saving my nostalgic CLOY feels on my next entry ;p The guide is applicable for UK residents holding Philippine passports and Filipino tourists coming from the Philippines as well. ^.^

**NOTE: Safety COVID precautions were observed throughout the whole trip.

As what I’ve mentioned on the latter, it is much savvy to travel when you are fully vaxxed even if you wish to apply for a Schengen tourist visa. Nothing’s new with the visa requirements but most countries require a proof of vaccination and passenger locator form upon arrival. In Swiss, they require a covid certificate whenever you go to an event, enter a restaurant or social facility. So make sure to request for a covid pass letter via the NHS website (UK) or the VaxCertPH (PH).

Before reading further about this entry, let me just say that this has been the most expensive solo trip I’ve ever had by far. Truth be told, Switzerland is the richest and most expensive country in the world. I won’t be going in to details with my expenses here as I have seriously spent a lot! Though I did not regret it since everything was worth the penny. My only piece of advice is to prepare your wallet (alongside your emergency savings if you have one) whether for shopping or necessities. And NEVER count what you spent nor convert money to your usual currency. Trust me, you will never enjoy this place in a thrifty manner. I know, I feel quite strange saying these for the first time ever.

FLIGHT

I flew via British Airways from London City Airport (LCY) and the flight time took about 1hr and a half. The flight going to Swiss have not much checks prior to boarding but to some trips, they require a Fit to fly/Test To Return covid tests. Check out their website for more info about it, they offer discounted rates of the swab kits once you booked with them. If you wish to choose seats for free, check-in 24hrs before your flight. ;)

Just like Gatwick Airport, LCY has a silent airport protocol. Make sure to read their flight-screen announcements!

TRANSPORTATION

Since I planned to visit several cantons/counties in Swiss, I purchased a Swiss Travel Pass for unlimited rides to trains, buses, boats and trams around the country. (note: there’s another pass which is only applicable in Zurich)
Their transport system is awesome, I enjoyed riding the trams so much! I even wonder, do these people pay when they ride?! ‘Cause I couldn’t find any card taps on either of their “haupbahnhof” or stations! Navigation throughout the road can be overwhelming at first but I just got used to it with the aid of Google Maps, CityMapper and Rome2Rio.

Zurich HB is the largest station in the city and there are numerous underground shops in it so stroll for it! This is one of the few shopping centres that are open on a Sunday.

HOTEL

I stayed at Hotel Hirschen located at Niederdorfstrasse which little have I known that it is the main area for bars, café and food ry has restaurants on ground level. I am in favor of the location while service-wise was fairly fine.

I simply adored their single bedroom except on how difficult it was to open and lock the doors! I felt like an idiot in using the hotel key -__-

ITINERARY & TIPS

A lot has been asking me how I managed the trip on my own?Honestly, I was also worried about this beforehand especially that there’s a language barrier (and of course, the restrictions). I even have fears that they might not accept me at the border as the rules were newly changed that time. And this is why I kept this trip secretly besides to a few close friends and fam ;D So I took a risk and wrote notes prior to date. I jot down things of where to go, how will I go and set up goals of what to do when I get there. Pretty much, it helped me to be productive throughout my 4 days of stay in the country. Moreover, the city is a very safe destination to travel so feel free to journey on your own! I love it that I wasn’t the only solo traveller during my guided tour to Jungfraujoch. It was such a fulfillment at the end. ^^

(09OCT21) I joined a tour hosted byBestofSwitzerland Tours (booked through GetYourGuide) going to Jungfraujoch with a side trip to Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen. The tour was very informative as we passed by several cantons for the whole day. There are many interesting points about the ‘lands’ in Switzerland.

Our first main stop was in Interlaken. With only half an hour for sightseeing, I bet this place is more than a county between two lakes. I actually went near this town twice while I was on my way to Sigriswil (which I will tell more on my next blog entry ^.^)


All throughout the tour, our guide mainly emphasized the beauty of their earthly reservoirs, how they cherish their cows from grazing them to how they produce high quality cheese and milk. I found it funny at some sorts but hey, these animals are living the life. At least they are born and raised in Swiss. ;p


The route to the Swiss Alps also passes through the town of Grindewald (not much of a Fantastic Beasts fan but I’d love to see more of this place if I come back here!). In this terminal lies our cable car ride towards Eiger Glacier.

Here's our Swiss passport to Jungfraujoch that contains maps, infos and vouchers to shops in this 'Top of Europe'. Don’t forget to stamp this passport at the main hall!

The Eiger Express—the world’s most modern tricable gondola lift. For someone who loves height-thrilling rides, I can’t stop swooning as we ascend our way to its station.This 15min cable car ride brought us to heavenly views of the North Face. Just simply, wow. Some clips of the ride are uploaded on my Instagram Story Highlights.


& while we wait for our cogwheel train ride to the Top of Europe, we spent some time at the Panoramic Hall to have a glimpse of the glacier alps. Bless this fine sunny weather for us to see 'em!
This train ride is like a blast from some enchanting children movies. Isn’t it amazing on how they built a railway tunnel inside these icebergs?! Wicked! Though make sure to bring a bottled water at this point for being in an area of a very high altitude could sometimes lead to motion sickness or less body oxygenation. 



Finally, we’ve reached this UNESCO World Heritage—Jungfraujoch (pronounced as ‘yung-frow-yock’), Europe’s largest glacier with various tourist attractions. To my mind, it felt like the icy town in heaven for being 11000+ ft above! Basically, we can either tour on our own from the entrance hall or follow the recommended trail map of our tour guide (which I did).


Sphinx Terrace- the main observatory offering more stunning views of the Glacier. They said that on clear days, you can see some mountains from France, Germany and Italy since Switzerland is geographically the centre from these countries. With so many mountains, I wonder how do these locals identify their names?! Haha.


Alpine Sensation- A “Small Small World” kind of attraction that gives tribute on how the railway was built and its early days as a tourist destination. This sky full of Edelweiss surely lights up this world like nowhere else. ;)




Ice Palace- Legit slippery and frozen, this area is filled with crystallized sculptures. Cold cold heart, indeed!It's pure cuteness that they included this little critter from Ice Age in their arts. Also, a lot asked the temperature inside this venue? Based on the booklet they gave, it can go around -4 to -11 degrees celsius 🥶

At the end of that stroll is Glacier Plateau where you can see the breathtaking scenery of the Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier of the Swiss Alps.

This is absolutely beyond my wildest dreams, bucketlists and whatsoever. And the proud moment was, I have made it on my own. :”) I once learned not to wait for other people in order to achieve what I want. I'd rather take that leap and see what happens. Like what my fav travel motto says, travel alone but never be lonely. ^^ So I think I’ve reflected too much no. Haha! anyway! There are activities that you can do from this end such as hiking and skiing.


After the musings come souvenir-shopping! Make sure to grab a memorabilia from their flagship store. Pricey but it’s pure Swiss-glacier quality! Tissot is just one of the brands there; But it's a total must to buy a Swiss watch ;) Price-compare from Zurich, there are more affordable items here.

Who wouldn’t forget about Lindt Chocolate Shop?! Again, it’s Swiss-made and I even bought myself a box of these praline sweet meats.

My food at the alps: Swiss pasta with applesauce and lemon mousse. Very, very delicious! Jungfraujoch only has 2 restaurants on deck and this one I took was self-service.

 By almost evening, we descended back with 2 train changes towards Kleine Scheidegg station. Our ride there took us to more stunning sceneries of villages until we reached Lauterbrunnen where we alighted for our bus heading to Zurich.

I love how nature-friendly the villages are here; There's even a district which is car-less and only has the train as their means of transportation! Better consider yourself a millionaire too if you own a chalet in this place!

So that's all for ze first part; Hoped y'all enjoy my comeback as I pave my way to my writing prowess again 😅 Stay tuned for the second part--dedicated to my CLOY/BinJin heart! ^.^
SUPERRR THANKYOU FOR EVERYONE'S BIRTHDAY GREETINGS!!My whole birthmonth has never been as jam-packed as this year. I went on a trip, worked during weekdays then consecutively had parties every weekend with fangirling moments in between most days. Whatta start of my 28th year.💜