The Switzerland Traveler

I’m clearly getting into hotel corridors at the moment. After the recent post on the Riders Palace, here’s another interesting ski and boarding hotel.
The Cube in Savognin is designed to be enjoyed apparently, with a modern lifestyle architecture.
The idea is that most of the time you spend in the htel, you aren’t in your room, and even if you are, a lot of the rooms are for four people so you can still socialize.
The hotel features a wellness area downstairs, and there’s also a climbing wall if you fell like, er, climbing a wall.
There’s a club (the Cube Club) in …read more

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Lago Bianco – White Lake.
Except it’s not really white, unless it’s frozen and snow covered. And given that it is 2234m above sea level (over 7000ft) that happens quite frequently.
If you happen to be staying in the Bernina area of Switzerland, you might want to travel along the Bernina Pass and take a look at this little lake. It’s about 1.5 square km, which is less than a square mile, so there’s not masses of walking to get round it, but expect to do some clambering. Remember: sensible shoes…
The pass, which is located in the eastern end of the country, …read more

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The main station has a Christmas Market on at the moment, the Christkindli Markt.
It’s full of little wooden huts selling craft items, or food, pretty much all of it of reasonable quality.
But the thing you notice first is the Christmas tree.
Provided by Swarovski, the entire thing (and it’s massive) is decked out with tons of sparkly crystals.
Once again showing that Switzerland is a great place to be wealthy…
Photo Flickr: Brujita

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The Riders Palace Hotel in Laax is one of the coolest destinations for snowboarders in Switzerland.
I’ve never bneen there because A) I ski, not board, and B) I’m not cool.
But if you’re into gaming and stuff like that, it’s the sort of place that has a playstation in every room.

And there’s a club where you can throw shapes (or whatever it is that one does these days)  until the early hours.

I’ve just worked out that if you’re the sort of person that’s likely to go there, you won’t want any more info from me, but I hope you like the …read more

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 The six day bike race is a bit of a tradition.
The history of six day racing seems a bit unclear, and seems to have started either in the UK or the US, but is no mainly popular in mainland Europe.
A number of events are held throughout the year, and one of the oldest is in Zurich.

This year the 52nd Six day race will be held, and it’s as much a social occasion as a sporting event.
Social in the sense of groups of (mainly) men eatring, drinking and smoking cigars – although the latter might be getting a bit less popular.
The …read more

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Fancy a new wallpaper for your PC?
How about this image, taken in Eastern Switzerland, near the skiing area of Flumserberg.
One day I really must find out what HDR means. Obviously it’s something to do with really bright colours!
Photo: Flickr – Tambako the Jaguar

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This weekend, classic car enthusiasts from all over Switzerland will be congregating in St Moritz for the annual British Classic Car show.
The show focusses mainly on posh stuff, rather than sports cars, but still has plenty of interest.
Main Marques represented are Bentley and Rolls Royce, with Jaguars, Austin Healeys and Aston Martins and Lagondas also featuring.
Only one MG and one Triumph are on the list, but I’m sure there will be more to see in the visitors’ car parks.

The cars will run up the hill, and given St Moritz’s location, they will have had enough practice at that on the way …read more

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 Switzerland is completely sport crazy at the moment.
Not only do we have the EM (Did I mention that?) but there’s also the Tour de Suisse, one of the biggest annual sports events in the country.
It’s not as big as the Tour de France, but then France is much bigger than Switzerland.
But as Switzerland consists mainly of hills and mountains, it is a major event for cyclists.

It runs over 9 days, and covers 1411 km (close to 900 miles). That’s 100 miles per day, over hilly passes. Rather them than me!
It finishes on the 22nd June, so still plenty of time …read more

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I couldn’t resist this extra shot of the footballer “sculpture” in Zurich, so here it is.
I kind of guess that it makes sense to have 11 players in it, but I’m surprised they didn’t make it one player from each country…
Photo Flickr: Beat

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As tickets for the matches are like gold dust, many people are opting for the next best thing.
Public Viewing Areas are springing up all over the place, even in the lakes, as you can see here in Zurich.
The idea is to promote the party atmosphere of the EM, and generally get loads of people out on the streets celebrating-
Some will be family areas, one I saw being built was sponsored by Migros the supermarket chain. Others will be corporate jollies.
I’ll probably opt for a local biergarden with a large screen and nice shady trees…
Btw – EM is short for Europa …read more

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