Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for switzerland
Fresh Horses
By Linda Tancs
Almost 100 years ago the near-Olympic sport of skijoring was born in the Engadine valley of Switzerland. Skijoring is the running of thoroughbreds without riders but rather with skiers attached. The Olympics’ loss is St. Moritz’ gain; it’s there each Sunday in February that the races take place over a 2,600-meter course ladened with thick ice. Known as White Turf, the race is a test of wills between man and beast. The skier with the highest points is crowned King of the Engadine.
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Europe’s Oldest Wooden House Still Thriving
By Linda Tancs
In the small town of Schwyz in central Switzerland stands a sturdy wooden house as old as Notre Dame in Paris. Known as Bethlehem House, it is Europe’s oldest wooden house, a museum whose last occupants left only 30 or so years ago. Circa 1287, the modest dwelling pre-dates the founding of the country by four years. In fact, Switzerland owes its name and coat of arms to this rural town between the Alps in the south and Lake Lucerne in the east. Its Museum of the Swiss Charters recounts the alliance of the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, whose inhabitants ultimately drove out the Austrians in 1315 by winning the Battle of Morgarten.
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Interlaken Goes a Little Bit Country
By Linda Tancs
They’ll be breaking out the boots and Stetsons this weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland for the 16th annual International Trucker and Country Festival at the former military airfield. With lots of sunshine and weather in the high 20s (Celsius) forecast, expect stellar attendance and lots of campers. Join country music fans, truckers, and bikers the world over for an exhibition of gleaming trucks and bikes, country dancing and plenty of food and drink. Are you a little bit country? As Charley Pride once said, there’s room in country music for everybody.
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Germany’s Switzerland
By Linda Tancs
A new season of the reality show The Amazing Race began on Sunday. First stop: Switzerland. The verdant hills and valleys, quaint churches and exquisite chalets had me channeling Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. Then I got to wondering–where would the Swiss need to go to get away from it all when “all” is so idyllic and charming? The answer might be Germany’s northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In the heart of this province hugging the Baltic coast lies a slice of unspoiled countryside that was once dubbed Mecklenburg’s Switzerland by Georg I in the 1800s. The name apparently caught on, as has Swiss tourism to the area–particularly its Baltic coast–thanks to the City Night Line train to Rügen. All aboard!
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Natural Art Underway at Grindelwald
By Linda Tancs
In central Switzerland lies a tiny glacier village guarded by the Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau mountain area prized by skiers. Thankfully, it’s accessible by car and bus, unlike other resorts in the area, so there’s no excuse not to attend the World Snow Festival in town. Beginning today and running through 24 January, the ice rink in the village’s epicenter will play host for the 27th season to a world of talent practicing their fine arts amidst a canvas of snow and ice. Past designs have ranged from a herd of elephants to the Swiss flag symbol. You can chat with the artists and maybe have a hand in creating this year’s masterpieces. Something to do après-ski. Best of all, it’s free!
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Long Life in Lugano
By Linda Tancs
Ask German born Rosa Rein if there’s something in the Swiss air, wine or water to account for her longevity. She’s now the oldest woman in Switzerland at a spry 111 years. Living in Lugano, she still enjoys the best of health despite some hearing loss. And she could have a partner with which to toast her good fortune. In the area of Misoexertal, Switzerland four men reside over the age of 100. Maybe longevity really is determined by how you choose to look at life, regardless how life treats you. After all, Rosa was widowed as early as 1973 and lost her mother at a Nazi concentration camp. As Swiss psychologist Carl Jung observed, “It all depends on how we look at things and not on how they are themselves.”
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New Swiss Tunnel Provides Speed
By Linda Tancs
All aboard the trains heading for the new Loetschberg Base Tunnel for a speedier run within and between Switzerland and Italy. Although the new base tunnel may bypass some scenic valleys, it will cut travel time from anywhere between 45 and 75 minutes depending on the route. So look at it this way: more time for the pistes.
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Alpine Delights
By Linda Tancs
In the latest edition of Travelrific® Travel Show, the topic is Switzerland. Switzerland is a study in contrasts, from waterfalls and glaciers in the valleys of the Alps to the Mediterranean climate of its subtropical resorts in the south. Discover Switzerland’s alpine delights at www.travelrificradio.com.
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Room With A View
By Linda Tancs
There simply is something majestic about Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux, where everyone gets the room with a view. Open the glass doors beside the bed and admire the lake or mountain view from the cozy balcony with table and chairs for two. It’s hard to resist a bottle of wine and some emmental as you gaze at the Alps or Lake Geneva, or both. If you have the good fortune of getting there when the Jazz Festival aligns with Bastille Day, you have the unmitigated pleasure of enjoying great music during the day and fireworks over the distant French Alps at night. Que magnifique!
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