homeward bound

Wednesday 28 October 2015

The leaving of Saltzburg and awaiting the 11:56 to Zurich

Loved this station - open and bright and you can see the city beyond

Also loved, during our entire trip, the electronic train maps on every platform telling you exactly where to stand for your carriage.  SO organised.

 This was the first class treat of our holiday

 Luxury.  And lunch was even served at our tables as the morning went on!

This is one of the great train rides - through the magnificent Arlberg Pass.  Glorious scenery for the whole 5 1/2 hours which I didn't do any justice to, photographing through the windows at high speed!

But below is a great video done by Mark Smith The Man in Seat Sixty One, without whom we wouldn't have been able to plan this whole train holiday so brilliantly.  He takes you on the Zurich to Innsbruck part of the ride, so the opposite way to us, but you'll get the picture

And here are my high speed snaps which don't compare but at least prove we did it!! What I haven't captured were the amazing colours - the orange autumn trees set against the craggy snow capped peaks, the distant glaciers and the blue skies.  The glacial rivers running fast and high beside the train and the green flat bottomed valleys and nestling villages.  It was great to sit back and soak in the views on both sides of the train - wall to wall scenery - just amazing. 

Interestingly, according to Google maps tracking, we dipped into Liechtenstein briefly - but we'll have to investigate the route better when we have time.  If so that's two personal firsts for me - Liechtenstein and Austria.

and we finally pull in, on time,to Zurich hautbahnhof - very stark and dark in comparison to Saltzburg station

We walked across the beautiful expanse of the Limmat river to find our Hotel Adler

and had just one wonderful night in Zurich.  The tram system is amazing and the frequency of them was incredible.  We caught the number 4 tram to the trendy Industrial Quarter, where loads of old factories are slowly being converted into cafes, restaurants and clubs. Buzzing with life and we enjoyed walking around and finally settling on a lovely cafe bar with great supper snacks (and a fabulous cherry pastry to finish off)!   Loved the easy fusion of German, English and Italian all around us and the temperature was several degrees warmer than Saltzburg.

Thursday 29 October 2015

We had an early rise and off back to the station for our crowded TGV to Paris

Where we filled the journey with competitive rounds of sevens (which Mike kept winning grrrrrr)

and concentrated bouts of Suguru

Until we were at Paris Nord and awaiting the Eurostar back to London

Where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Dishoom, behind King's Cross

and then our train home to Sheffield

So we did it - 7 great cities in 6 wonderful whirlwind days!  Sheffield, London, Brussels, Vienna, Saltzburg, Zurich and Paris (and back to dear old Sheffield). So if you haven't been following the blog and want to start at the beginning just click here: A tale of seven cities