Lu-Gerda's Travels

  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...

This is the last post about our Switzerland holiday.  It was great to relive the holiday through the posts on my blog and to look at the photos. It was a wonderful vacation and I was glad to share it with my mom. Our last day in Switzerland, Wednesday 20 July 2011, started early with packing and sorting.   We drank some coffee and ate breakfast before locking the apartment and walking to the tram one last time.   We got on the tram at the Beaumont stop and rode pass Eigerplatz, Hasler, Kocherpark and Hirshengraben to Bern Bahnhof.   While writing I can hear the voice over the tram speakers announcing the different stops.   At the station we got on the train to Zurich.   It was very full but we got two seats in the upper level of the train.   The train left at 11:04. The train stopped in Zurich and then continued to Zurich Flughafen (airport).   We had some trouble to find the correct “Check-in”.   We went to Check-in ...

Tuesday 19 July was our last full day in Switzerland.  At 10:15 we walked from the apartment to the tram stop.  We had to wait 7 minutes for the tram before riding to Bern Bahnhof.  We took a stroll through the old town of Bern. There was a market in Barenplatz and we walked through the stalls.  We walked further stopping at a few shops and taking some more photos of the old buildings and fountains on our way to the Rosengarten or Rose Garden.   We had to walk up a very steep hill but could stop to see an amazing view of Bern’s Old Town and the river.   It was so pretty with the river flowing and all the church towers standing above the houses. We reached the Rose garden and found a table on the grass for our picnic.   There was quite a few people around but it was still calm.   We could not think that there is a busy city not far from us.   After eating we walked through the garden with a lot of different roses and other plan...

Leaving the Rathaus  we walked to the Puppenhausmuseum or Doll’s House Museum.   This museum has a collection of more than 6 000 dolls and doll houses over 4 floors.   We paid the entrance of CHF 7 each then took the lift to the 4 th floor. The 4 th floor has the world’s largest collection of more than 2500 teddy bears.   The oldest beat is from 1904.   On another floor there are dollhouses from the 18 th and 19 th century.   There are miniature schools, kitchens, pharmacies and different kinds of shops.   Each dollhouse has a lot of detail.   This was really impressive.   After spending a lot of time at the dollhouses we went quickly through the rest of the museum.   We were talking in Afrikaans while walking in the museum when a woman stopped us and asked if we are from South Africa.   Her 8-year old daughter recognized the language.   The woman was from South Africa but live in Basel (for 20 years).  ...

After spending the morning at the Basel Cathedral we walked to Markplatz and saw a pretty red building.   We did not know what it was and walked closer for a better look.  The building was the Basel Rathaus of Town Hall and the inside was even more beautiful than the outside.  It is free to enter the courtyard and there was an English information pamphlet at the entrance.  There is not a lot to do at the Rathaus but it is beautiful and a great place to take photos. After Basel joined the Swiss Confederation they decided to build a new town hall.   The rathaus was built in 1504 – 1514.   The oldest part is the three pointed arcades. There were a lot of extensions over the next years. The tower was added in 1899 – 1901. The walls are decorated with painting with two themes: Law and Legislation as well as Basel’s membership of the Swiss Confederation.    The final judgement 

After spending time in the Basel Munster  and cloisters  we went to sit at the Rhine Terrace behind the cathedral to eat and enjoy the view of Klein Basel and the Rhine river.   We saw a ferry on Rhine River.   It is attached by a cable to a block that rides along another cable spanning the river at a height of 20 or 30 meters. To cross the river, the ferryman orients the boat around 45° from the current so that the current pushes the boat across the river. We left musterplatz and walked with some old streets to Marktplatz.   We walked past university buildings, fountains and other beautiful old buildings.   We turned into a small side street and fount this pretty fountain and church.  We walked back to try and go around to the front of the church but ended in Marktplatz.  From the square we had to climb a lot of stairs to get back to the church.  When we re...