Amsterdam
Triple level bike parking.
We spent three days in Amsterdam before our two week
trip in Switzerland. Here are a few things we learned:
Amsterdam has more canals than Venice, Italy.
The Dutch love french fries!
1,281: That’s the number of bridges in all of Amsterdam.
20,000,000: That’s approximately the number of tourists and day-trippers who
visit Amsterdam in a year. That’s about 20 times as many tourists as locals!
Where ever you go in the city, you can find cannabis coffee shops.
Each year between 12,000 and 15,000 bikes are fished up from city’s canals.
Apart from Dutch, people of Amsterdam can speak German, French.
Almost everyone speaks English.
The average height for a Dutch male is 6 feet, and the average height for a Dutch female
is 5 ft 6 inches. This height is attributed to their DNA and healthy eating habit.
SWITZERLAND
Next, we moved on to hilltop village of Gruyere, home of Switzerland’s most famous cheese. We had time to stroll through the small medieval village with its cobbled street and beautifully preserved buildings.We stopped for a lunch of bubbling cheese fondue before setting off for wine tasting at a local vineyard.
Chillion Castle
On the final stretch today’s journey, we traveled on a cogwheel train into the heart of the mountain resort of Zermatt, dominated by the famous pyramid-shaped Matterhorn. The below was the view from our hotel room.
The Matterhorn is one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.
At 14,692 feet above sea level, the Matterhorn is the 12th highest summit in the Alps.
It is perhaps the most recognizable of the peaks that make up the Alps.
The Matterhorn is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy.
The pyramid shaped mountain, which is very difficult to climb, is said to be the
most-photographed mountain in the world.
most-photographed mountain in the world.
We had lunch in the chic town of Stresa on Italy’s Lake Maggiore before continuing to
Lugano in southern Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region.
St. Moritz hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928, and 1948. Rolex watches,
jewelry and Swiss army knives adorn many shop windows. The town is also a spa
getaway for the rich and famous. Here we enjoyed a carriage ride into the Roseg Valley.
The Glacier Express is an eight hour journey by train into the heart of the Swiss Alps. Beautiful!
The pretty city of set on Lucerne is dotted with fine international restaurants and outdoor cafes.
The buildings are uniquely decorated, painted actually, and the old bridges and turrets from the ancient village are beautiful.
