Postcard 4 – Billy no mates tour of Switzerland

So, it’s wet. Yesterday was great though so the yings and the yangs are in balance. I take my time with breakfast which is part of the deal and it is substancial if you like it that way. I’m a breakfast light sort of man but I enjoy not rushing.

I have some swimming and floating in a hot tub to do this morning but I do have a visit to the Swiss Transport Museum planned for later.

The weather forecast is notoriously difficult in the mountains, but today, sadly, they got it right. After a brief shower, a float in the hot tub and a good hour in the infinity pool I’m ready for an orienteering session that involves map reading variously, on-foot, by rail and also by bus. The first two are easy but the third is more of a challenge. Not because of maps but the ‘interesting’ layout of the timetable. I revert to Google maps as it not only tells you which bus, it also shows you which stop and even leads you there if you’re more than a few metres away from it.

The train drops me in the middle of the town and, as it’s currently dry, I walk across the bridge and stop to admire the medieval buildings. It’s stunning and reminds me of the archetypal Swiss people depicted in the Harry Potter film. The film script adapters had taken the roof shapes, especially the spires and turrets, and applied them to ladies bonnets and men’s head gear and it’s only now that I appreciate the cleverness and creativeness of it all. Simply marvellous.

The town was established in 800 AD ish to house the serfs who supported the Benedictine Monks so it’s been around for a long time and the varied architecture is the wonderful proof of point. I’d come here again and just walk…

I find the bus parade and catch the 24 which is a bendy-trolley-bus 🚃 and enjoy the journey to the Swiss Transport Museum which is an excellent place to be on a rainy day. If you come here there’s more to it than the outside area with some wonderous stuff on the upper floors of the main building. There’s also some exciting VR experiences in the most unlikely places. The trick is to leave inhibitions outside and jump aboard. There’s also a mountain climbing experience that’s a mixture of climbing wall and VR. Since I’ve no desire to climb the Eiger I manage to talk myself out of it. 😱

I wrap the day up in sunshine around the centre with a reasonably priced meal and a (one) Guinness at £10.23 a pint!

Enjoy the snaps G x

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