A Roadtrip Through Switzerland

So it appears that I have fallen pretty far behind on my blog. Since my last post I’ve gone to a number of new places and lost my cell phone in Mykonos… so I hope all my pictures will entertain whoever found it. On 6/13 a spontaneous decision to leave Prague sent my planned itinerary into the trash for a second time.

6/13 – Matt and I toured the Old Jewish Quarter (Josfove) in Prague and the Communist Museum before deciding to grab a last minute Eurolines bus to Munich. We arrived late that evening and went straight to bed.

6/14 – The next day we did a free Sandeman tour of Munich that gave us a great overview of the city. With the help of our guide we managed to track down a small bar that sold Weissbier brewed by in monks in their monastery. At 7pm got our BMW 3 series convertible from Avis and started the drive to Switzerland. An epic drive on the Autobahn led got to our hotel at around midnight, a rustic place called Gästehaus Hirschen in Schwellbrunn, Switzerland. We had made our reservation on booking.com and warned the place we’d be coming in late.

The place was deserted.

After banging on the door, trying every door around the entire building, and even trying a few windows we gave up. At this point we were very deep in the Swiss Alps and decided to just keep driving towards a hotel that we knew was at the base of Säntis der berg. We passed through a small village on our way that had a locked hotel. When we stood at the front door we noticed nearby was a set of stairs going down to a dark basement. We faintly heard voices on the other side of a sketchy door at the bottom. At this point in the night we were happy for any signs of life.

It turned out that the nearly the whole town (~10 people) were all holed up down there drinking. They offered us free drinks and a place to spend the night. We decided to keep going after a few drinks. As kind as the people were, the place and village had a Human Centipede vibe.

6/15 – We woke up in the middle of the mountains, literally. Nearby was a gondola that brought us 2502 meters (8208 feet) up to the top of Säntis der berg for the legendary view. They say you’re able to see 6 countries from the top of Säntis; Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy. It was epic. After we made our way to the largest waterfall in Europe, Rhein Falls. It was not quite as epic. A short drive brought us to Zurich for night followed by a dinner at Adler’s Swiss Chuchi, a famous fondue spot in the city. It did not disappoint.

Matt (Right) and I (left) on top of Säntis der berg

We spent a couple days in Zurich learning the city… and that the best chocolate is found at Sprüngli and Péclard. Sprüngli was best known for its Truffles De Jour and macaroons (not pictured). Péclard achieved fame through their chocolate, specifically their hot chocolate.

Sprüngli

Péclard

On 6/17 we returned the car to Zurich. Matt flew to London and I took a sleeper train from Munich to Budapest (which got routed through Slovakia due to Eastern European flooding) as a connection to a flight to Athens, Greece. After traveling a solid 28 hours and landing in Greece in the evening I went to bed and prepared for the Greek part of my trip.